Psi Issues

[MajorPain]

Being a complete idiot, I played through my first round of X-COM with little to no psionic power on my side. I didn't even build Psi Labs, leaving me incredibly susceptible to Ethereal and Sectoid attacks. In the last few months, I trained up enough soldiers for Cydonia and blew through it with ease (thank you, Beginner). Now that I'm moving up to the next challenge, I'd like to be informed about the ins and outs of psi.

 

First, I'll start out with what I think I already know:

-Psi Strength determines a soldier's ability to resist psi attacks. It cannot be changed.

-Psi Skill dictates a soldier's usage and effectiveness with a Psi Amp. It is increased through training in the Psi Lab.

 

Well, that was easy! On to my questions:

*What would be considered a good Psi Strength? For Cydonia, I only used those with 70 and above.

*How much Psi Skill is required to consistently Mind Control the likes of Ethereals and Sectoids? Even my troops with 40+ Psi Skill had trouble.

*How early should I try to get psi on my side? I'm assuming as early as possible to ascertain Psi Strength.

 

I'd greatly appreciate it if someone could confirm my beliefs and/or answer these questions.

Edited August 12, 2007 by MajorPain

[[NKF]]

Resistence to a psi attack is mainly influenecd by strength. That's what you want to focus on. Skill also influences resistance slightly. Basically it adds on an extra 0 - 20 points to your psi defence. Or think of it this way: Psi resistance is : psi strength + (psi skill * 0.2). That's the easiest way I could think of describing it off the top of my head. Of course, if I'm mistaken, my colleagues who've done extensive research into the formula (and/or have the official strategy guide) will be able to correct me.

 

Also note, psi skill can also improve through actual combat. Even with failed attacks, you earn a chance at improving psi skill. A successful psi attack is worth the same amount of experience as 3 failed attacks. So if you're failing, just fail more. If you're succeeding, at least one good attempt is reasonable. For optimal all-round stat boosts, get in at least 4 successful attacks (or 11 - 12 failed attacks). You can upgrade psi skill this way to 100.

 

The Psi-Lab has the unusual benefit of allowing you to boost your psi skill past 100, so keep that useful tidbit tucked away for a rainy day!

 

---

 

Good psi strength eh? Well, it differs by difficulty level, as the strength and skills of the enemies are ramped up a bit. Without going into the actual numbers and just go by gut reaction, I'd say on Beginner, 60 and up is fairly reasonable. They could benefit with increasing their skill to 100. On superhuman, 70+ are recommended. For TFTD, I'd go even higher.

 

As for what you need to control Ethereals - ooh. It varies depending on difficulty level and your strength level.

 

I recommend checking the X-Com Wiki's game mechanic's section for Psionics. Come to think of it, I should've just pointed you right there in the first place and saved me a few minutes of typing. Oh well.

 

- NKF

Edited August 13, 2007 by NKF

[MajorPain]

Knew I could count on you NKF, thanks for the info.