manuele Posted January 20, 2003 Report Share Posted January 20, 2003 hi soldiers,i got a question, when can i use the PSI-amplifier? i had already one training with some soldiers, but in combat i still cant use the PSI-Amplifier, where can i see the PSI-value of soldiers? and how much does it need for a soldier to use the amplifier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iggy Posted January 20, 2003 Report Share Posted January 20, 2003 you have to equip a guy with a psi-amp, see an alien and then use the amp like you were shooting a gun. the stats are at the end of the month and when you go to the soldiers section of the bases section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKF Posted January 20, 2003 Report Share Posted January 20, 2003 Only soldiers who've had their psionic evaluation (i.e. their psi stats revealed) after their first month in the psi-labs will be able to use the psi-amps. This is the only requirement. Your two psi stats are:psi-strength: This determines how well you can defend against psionic attacks. This is the only fixed stat a soldier has and cannot be changed. Your soldiers definitely want lots of this. psi-skill: This determines how well your attacks with the psi-amp are. It can easily be trained through use in combat or slowly by leaving the soldier assigned to the psi-labs. The degree of success for each psi-attack depends on your current psi-skill and the psi-strength of the alien, which will differ between species and rank, and the type of attack you're using. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyfishGreen Posted January 21, 2003 Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 So yeah your potential psionic operator needs to have that month training in the psilab. (And to survive that month, if he's still being sent on missions.) Only afterwards will his/her powers be unlocked. I'll also note on iggy's post that once you have the amp, the psi-guy can spend the entire mission lurking safely in the Skyranger, as he doesn't have to spot the alien himself. Any tank, soldier, or previously controlled alien can do it for him. And if you're lucky enough to uncover a 80+ psi rating, Ethereals will soon succumb as easily as Mutons. With a little practice, of course. Then you can try missions where the psuperman takes on the whole ufo by himself. JFG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slythe Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Psi ability is definitely the most unpredictable and unbalanced aspect of this otherwise incredible game. Ever since I've been playing this game again lately, having gone through the first 5 or so months of several games, I've always encountered psi capable aliens (sectoid leaders) before acquiring psi lab technology. This is almost a certainty. As a sidenote this is why it's basically impossible to ensure, no matter how careful you are, that no soldiers will be lost during the course of a game. It only takes one round of unlucky psi attacks for a soldier to be taken control of and gun down a nearby comrade. As a rule I now try to gain psi technology as soon as possible. I research the mind probe early on (after laser rifles, personal armor, and medkits) to pinpoint a sectoid leader. I'll sacrifice soldiers if need be to charge a sectoid leader, using stun rods to disable him. If anyone has other ways to avoid unnecessary deaths due to psi attacks before gaining psi technology please let me know. Also, once you gain several psi trained soldiers with a high strength, the game becomes too easy, as you can send out a 'scout' and upon spotting the aliens take them over every round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKF Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Well, if you know who your trouble soldiers are, you could get a general idea of what your psi-stats are before getting the lab. One idea would be to attack a sectoid ship, and if you find a leader (or any ethereal mission will do), stun it in order to disarm it. Then go about shooting the rest of the aliens, but do so slowly. You want the leader to wake up again. In the meantime, you might want to carry its body to a small confined area that you you can seal off easily. When it wakes, send one or two soldiers in to stand next to it for a few turns. Don't forget to remove all weapons from the soldiers when you do so. Jot down the names of all the soldiers who get mind controlled instantly -- you'll want to replace these soldiers as soon as possible. Don't forget to note down those who managed to survive a few turns of psi attacks before getting mind controlled -- some will be keepers, but others may need to be replaced immediately. As for those that cannot be mind controlled, just be wary that some of them may have just enough psi-strength to block out the sectoid leader's attacks, but it may not be enough for a high ranking ethereal. This is probably not the most elegant of solutions, but it is one. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slythe Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 It sounds like something I doubt anyone actually does but I appreciate the response. It would be ideal if psi ability were a bit more in balance with the rest of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman42 Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Equip all rookies on the ship with stun rods, with more powerful ones (and GRENADES) on the ground under them [aliens can't pick stuff up]. Equip all psi-talented ones with stun bomb launchers. That'll bring psi-control casualties down... Or even, equip all the rookies with stun bomb launchers, and give the weapons to strong psi-strength troopers. That could work too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 I have done the thing NKF suggested in a sectoid base attack. There was 2 leaders and a commander. I just simply stunned them with rods (it was easy because I just grav-lifted up right next to them in the control room). Then I got my medics up there and simply used the medi-kit on the poor beasts to wake them up. A few guys got psi attacked immediately. All the guys that got taken over pretty quickly I just transferred to a new base. It works pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slythe Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 Hmm sounds like I might have to try that. Just curious though, how did you manage to open the door, charge in, go up the lift, and stun all 3 aliens without getting gunned down or psi attacked before that ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKF Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 I suppose it could have been done in several turns. When storming the command centre, I usually charge into the room with the large grav-lift and wait around or duck behind the vats(cryo? nutrients?) and wait for a turn before making my move. If you have the small launchers, you could always just fire a few stun bombs up at the ceiling where you expect the alien to be standing. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkvenom Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 The one things i hate is that psi ability or psi strength (i dont believe i cant rememba !duh!) can not be improved... i think it was ability... But one thing that was quite strange is that i had a solider that had high strength and an ability of around 50 and another solider with low strength and a ability of 71... The one that had a better strength seemed to pull off mind control faster than the one with 71 but as for panic attacks it was vice versa??? I think it might have to do with the rest of the stats as well but i aint too sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKF Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 It's psi-strength. It doesn't appear to affect the success of your psi attacks at all. I once had a soldier with good psi-skill but very poor psi-strength (below 50 or so), he was still able to mind control aliens with the best of them. The reason that you got the results you did is because of the random element in the game. Sometimes you're lucky and the attack succeeds, sometimes you just aren't. It also might depend on the class of alien your soldiers were trying to mind control. One was probably attacking a soldier and the other was attacking a leader, for example. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkvenom Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Oh i know about the class types i attempted a mind control on the same unit which was a muton solider, but i think the luck factor had a lot to do with the statistics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyfishGreen Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 If you want psi to be less of a factor, you could keep the soldiers using "conventional" weaponry. You don't have to develop the psi-amp, you just want to be psi-resistant. Grade your soldiers for psi-strength* and fire the weak ones, but keep one. Bring him along as a psi-puppet, with no weaponry. (He'll only drop it when panicked.) There ought to be room in the Skyranger for him. He'll take the brunt of the psi-attacks, but the aliens won't gain anything from it. The aliens will be using him to spot, though, so you might want to hide from him anyway. *I'll have to try that "hostile unarmed alien" approach for screening troops before the psi-labs are developed. I assume everyone disarms first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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