Comprehensive Guide to Psychic Blast v1.0

Name: Mental Blast
Rating: 0 stars (you must take this power at level 1, but don't add slots to it!)
Level: 1
Type: single-target moderate damage ranged attack
Effect(s): This is the first power in the Psychic Blast powerset. As such it is a moderate damage single-target attack. At level 1, this power does 9.29 psionic damage (unenhanced) to a same-level villan. At level 20, this power does about 19 damage (unenhanced) to a same level villan. At level 36, this power does 30.61 damage (unenhanced) to a same level villan. In addition to doing damage this power also reduces the recharge speed (attack rate) of the target. However the reduction in attack rate is so small that I could not detect it with my stopwatch (so I reckon that it's on the order of 10%). The reduction in attack rate lasts about 6 seconds. Note: you CANNOT move while activating this power.
Endurance Cost: approximately 6.5 endurance
Activation Time: 3 seconds
Recharge Time: 4 seconds
Duration: Attack Speed reduction lasts for 6 seconds
Range: 100 feet
Enhacements: Accuracy, Damage, Range, Endurance Cost, Recharge Speed
Recommended Slotting: 1 Accuracy, don't add more slots to this worthless excuse of a power.
Commentary: This is the worst "first power" of any blast set because the activation time is a glacial 3 seconds. Team-mates can die in the time it takes for this power to activate and you'd be powerless to do anything to "defend" them. If it had a faster activation time then I'd be a little more enthusiastic about it, but the activation time has multiple downsides, not the least of which is that this power can only be used once every 7 seconds (3 second activation + 4 second recharge) which is the worst of any first power from a defender (or blaster) damage powerset. I'd tell you to skip this power, however since it is the level 1 power you are required to take it. Don't add slots to it, you'll regret it later if you do. At level 35 I almost never use this power.

Name: Subdue
Rating: 0 stars (avoid this power!!)
Level: 2
Type: single-target moderate damage ranged attack, with chance to immobilize
Effect(s): This is the second power in the Psychic Blast powerset. Unlike most other blast powersets, this second power is NOT higher damage than the first power. Instead it is another moderate damage single-target attack. At level 2, this power does 9.94 psionic damage (unenhanced) to a same-level villan. At level 20, this power does about 19 damage (unenhanced) to a same level villan. At level 36, this power does 30.61 damage (unenhanced) to a same level villan. In addition to doing damage this power also has a chance to immoblize the target, however the target can still attack (either with range or melee). The immobilization effect lasts about 5 seconds. Note: you CANNOT move while activating this power.
Endurance Cost: approximately 11 endurance
Activation Time: 2 seconds
Recharge Time: 8 seconds
Duration: Immobilization lasts for 5 seconds
Range: 100 feet
Enhacements: Accuracy, Damage, Range, Endurance Cost, Recharge Speed, Immobilization duration
Recommended Slotting: skip this power, it has a very poor damage/endurance ratio, a poor damage/recharge speed ratio, and the immobilization effect is too random and short duration to justify the steep endurance cost
Commentary: This power has a faster activation than mental blast, but the endurance cost is nearly twice as much for the SAME damage. This power has has a very poor damage/endurance ratio, a poor damage/recharge speed ratio, and the immobilization effect is too random and short duration to justify the steep endurance cost. Immobilization isn't a particularly good crowd control effect used by itself, and the duration of that effect on this power is short anyway, making its usefulness for either damage or crowd contol very suspect.

Name: Psionic Lance
Level: 4
Rating: 3 stars (if your play style works well with sniper attacks you will want this power, if your play style doesn't work well with sniper attacks you can do without this power)
Type: single-target long-range extreme damage sniper shot
Effect(s): This is the third power in the Psychic Blast powerset. This is a long range "sniper shot" which does "extreme" damage to it's target. At level 4, this power does about 32 psionic damage (unenhanced) to a same-level villan. At level 20, this power does about 52 damage (unenhanced) to a same level villan. At level 38, this power does about 95 damage (unenhanced) to a same level villan. In addition to doing damage, this power also reduces the attack speed of the target for about 10 seconds. The attack speed is only reduced slightly, I could not detect a difference when using my stopwatch. This sniper shot has a higher than normal accuracy (Hero Planner 1.55 says that you get a 20% accuracy bonus when using this power). Note: if you move while activating this power, you interrupt the power, lose the endurance cost, and the power does not activate. If you get hit during the first 4 seconds of activation, the power will not activate and you lose the endurance cost.
Endurance Cost: approximately 19 endurance
Activation Time: 5 seconds
Recharge Time: 12 seconds
Duration: Attack speed reduction lasts for 10 seconds
Range: 175 feet
Enhacements: Accuracy, Damage, Range, Endurance Cost, Recharge Speed, Reduce Interrupt Time
Recommended Slotting: If you get this power, you'll eventually want to slot it with 4-6 damage enhancements, though you might want to add an accuracy and endurance reduction depending on your needs.
Commentary: If you plan on using this as your lead attack when you solo, you will want to take this power at an early level and slot it heavily for damage. This attack can also be used to "single pull" villans from a larger pack, especially if used at long range on roaming targets that are out of sight of most of their comrades. If you lack good crowd control or innate defense (ie you have Empathy or maybe Kinetics as your primary), you may find this attack particularly helpful for pulling and fighting one villan at a time. If you need to lead off with a debuff (Radiation Emission, Storm Summonic, or Dark Miasma primary) you may find this power to be less useful in the long run, though if you're very focused on blasting and can make it hard for villans to hit you this might compliment TK blast and Will Domination in your single-target attack arsenal.

Name: Psychic Scream
Level: 10
Rating: 3 Stars (if your play style will support an AE attack then you will love this power, if you cannot use AE attacks then skip this power)
Type: cone-shapped AE ranged attack, with attack rate reduction debuff
Effect(s): This is the fourth power in the Psychic Blast powerset. This is a medium range cone-shaped AE attack, which is wider and longer range than most cone attacks. At level 20, this power does about 20 psionic damage (unenhanced) to a same-level villan. At level 36, this power does about 31.84 damage (unenhanced) to a same level villan. In addition to doing damage, this power also reduces the attack speed of the target(s) for about 10 seconds. The attack speed is only reduced slightly, I could not detect a difference when using my stopwatch. Note: you CANNOT move while activating this power.
Endurance Cost: approximately 15 endurance
Activation Time: 3 seconds
Recharge Time: 12 seconds
Duration: Attack speed reduction lasts for 10 seconds
Range: about 50 feet
Enhacements: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Cost, Recharge Speed, Increase Cone Range
Recommended Slotting: 1 accuracy, eventually 3-5 damage, possibly 1 endurance reduction
Commentary: This is the very best cone shaped AE damage power from ANY defender powerset because it has a long range and a wide cone, as well as doing moderate damage for a relatively small endurance cost. This power has a longish activation time, but it has the potential to deal so much damage (summed across all targets in range) that it is usually worth it. If you can deploy AE attacks safely you will love this power, however if you don't have good defenses (Empathy and Kinetics) then you'll find this power difficult to use while soloing. This power can be great in AE groups since you can add a noticable amount of damage with it over a wide area.

Name: Telekinetic Blast
Level: 16
Rating: 5 stars (get this power, its the best - damage/end, damage/recharge, and fast activation - single-target damage attack in this powerset)
Type: single-target high damage ranged attack, with knockback
Effect(s): This is the fifth power in the Psychic Blast powerset. This is a high damage ranged attack. At level 20, this power does about 20 smashing damage and 13 psionic damage (unenhanced) to a same-level villan. At level 36, this power does about 30.61 smashing damage and 19.59 psionic damage (for a total of 50.2 unenhanced damage) to a same level villan. In addition to doing damage, this power also has a good chance of knocking your target back by 20-30 feet. Note: you CANNOT move while activating this power.
Endurance Cost: approximately 11 endurance
Activation Time: 1 second
Recharge Time: 8 seconds
Duration: instant
Range: 100 feet
Enhacements: Accuracy, Damage, Range, Endurance Cost, Recharge Speed, Enhance Knockback
Recommended Slotting: 1 accuracy, eventually 3-5 damage, possibly 1 endurance reduction
Commentary: This is the best single-target attack from this powerset. It has the best damage/endurance cost, the best damage/activation time, and the best damage/recharge time. It only does slightly less damage than Will Domination and the knockback effect has great defensive value. This power has the added advantage of doing both smashing damage and psionic damage, which is nice if you're fighting a villan that is resistant to Psionic attacks (like Mek Men, and any other robot-like villan other than clockworks). If you only have room to take 1 single target damage power (other than Mental Blast) from this powerset make it this power!!

Name: Will Domination
Level: 20
Rating: 4 stars (get this power, its the highest damage "fast cast" single-target damage attack in this powerset)
Type: single-target superior damage ranged attack, with sleep effect
Effect(s): This is the sixth power in the Psychic Blast powerset. This is a superior damage ranged attack. At level 20, this power does about 39 psionic damage (unenhanced) to a same-level villan. At level 36, this power does about 60.01 psionic damage (unenhanced) to a same level villan. In addition to doing damage, this power also has a good chance of putting your target to sleep for up to 5 seconds. Note: you CANNOT move while activating this power.
Endurance Cost: approximately 13 endurance
Activation Time: 1.5 second
Recharge Time: 14 seconds
Duration: 5 seconds
Range: 100 feet
Enhacements: Accuracy, Damage, Range, Endurance Cost, Recharge Speed, Sleep Duration
Recommended Slotting: 1 accuracy, 3-5 damage, possibly 1 endurance reduction, possibly 1-2 sleep duration
Commentary: This is the second best "fast cast" attack power from this powerset, second only to Telekinetic Blast. It also has some crowd control value, since it can put the target to sleep for 5 seconds. This is one of the most damaging single-target attacks from any defender secondary powerset. The only real down-side to this power is the long recharge time (14 seconds), though if you have Hasten this won't be a significant problem.

Name: Psionic Tornado
Level: 28
Rating: 2 stars (unless you are a hard-core AE fiend, or need 4 seconds of AE knockback for crowd control, skip this power)
Type: targetted ranged AE blast, with knockdown and recharge speed reduction
Effect(s): This is the seventh power in the Psychic Blast powerset. This is a moderate damage ranged attack. At level 28, this power does about 5 ticks of 4.33 psionic damage (unenhanced) to a same-level villan. At level 36, this power does about 5 ticks of 5.44 (27.2 total) psionic damage (unenhanced) to a same-level villan. In addition to doing damage, this power also knocks down all targets in range, and slows (by a negligible amount) their attack speed for 10 seconds.. Note: you CANNOT move while activating this power.
Endurance Cost: approximately 25 endurance
Activation Time: 3 second
Recharge Time: 20 seconds
Duration: 10 seconds
Range: 100 feet
Enhacements: Accuracy, Damage, Range, Endurance Cost, Recharge Speed, Enhance Knockback
Recommended Slotting: 1 accuracy, possibly 3-5 damage, possibly 1-2 endurance reduction, possibly 1-2 recharge reduction
Commentary: I don't recommend this power. It has a long activation time, a long recharge time, has a very poor damage/endurance and damage/recharge ratio, and costs alot of endurance for minimal crowd control (25 endurance for 3-4 seconds of AE knockdown). If you LOVE AE attacks and have endurance to burn, then you might find this power useful, but I'm skeptical of this.

Name: Scramble Thoughts
Level: 35
Rating: 2 stars (if you are desperate for a single target crown control power take this, otherwise skip it)
Type: ranged single-target minor damage power, with strong disorient effect
Effect(s): This is the eighth power in the Psychic Blast powerset. This is a minor damage ranged attack which will disorient anything other than bosses. If you have enough recharge reducers in this power you can use it multiple times on a boss to acheive sporatic disorientation (ie the boss will be disoriented only as long as two or more scramble thoughts are still active). At level 35 this power does 9 points of psionic damage (unenhanced) to a same level villan. Note: you CANNOT move while activating this power.
Endurance Cost: approximately 13 endurance
Activation Time: 3 seconds
Recharge Time: 20 seconds
Duration: 12 seconds
Range: 100 feet
Enhacements: Accuracy, Damage, Range, Endurance Cost, Recharge Speed, Disorient Duration
Recommended Slotting: 1 accuracy, possibly 1-2 disorient duration, possible 1-2 recharge reduction, possibly 1 endurance reduction
Commentary: This power can be used to disorient a minion or lieutenant, but a single use of this power will not disorient a boss. If you find yourself short on crowd control powers (ie if you are an Empath or Kinetics primary) then this power might provide you with the defensive oomph you need when soloing or to help your group if you're the only defender or controller, otherwise I'd skip this power.

Name: Psychic Wail
Level: 38
Rating: 3 stars (it is a very powerful but situational AE power that can take out same-level minions, but drains you of all endurance)
Type: point-blank extreme damage AE attack, with strong disorient effect
Effect(s): This is the ninth power in the Psychic Blast powerset. This is an extreme damage point blank AE attack which will disorient anything in range for a long time. It will also drain you of all endurance just after it activates. At level 38 this power does 96 points of psionic damage followed by 2 ticks of 46 damage (for a total of 192 unenhanced damage) to a same level villan. Note: you CANNOT move while activating this power.
Endurance Cost: approximately 11 endurance (but drains you of all your endurance once it goes off)
Activation Time: 1 second
Recharge Time: 6 minutes
Duration: 15 seconds
Range: 20 foot radius
Enhacements: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Cost, Recharge Speed, Disorient Duration
Recommended Slotting: 6 damage
Commentary: This power does extreme damage and also extremely disorients all foes within range. Fully slotted with 6 damage SOs it should be enough to take out minions even 1-2 levels higher than yourself, as well as taking a sizable chunk out of Lieutenants. Anything that is still alive after this power goes off will likely be disoriented for about 15 seconds. However this power also drains you of all your endurance and prevents you from regenerating endurance for some time, so has to be used carefully. Any villan that gets "missed" by this power will be ready to pound you into a pulp.... so be careful! This power has a 6 minute recharge, and due to the endurance drain effect, gets relegated to the "situational power" category and hence does not earn more than three stars in my estimation.

Psychic Blast is a powerset that matures later than most. It's first two powers are terrible and I recommend avoiding them and not slotting Mental Blast. If you want single-target attacks you have to wait until level 20 until you get your awesome 1-2 punch of TK Blast and Will Domination. This powerset has a longer range than any other Defender secondary powerset, all of its powers have about 25% more range than their counterparts from other powersets. The superior damage Will Domination has a MUCH larger range (100 feet) than it's counterparts from Radiation Blast (Cosmic Blast - 20 foot range) and Energy Blast (Energy Burst - 20 foot range). This powerset has some nice single-target crowd control: knockback, sleep, disorient, attack rate reduction, but lacks Aim and the attack rate reduction effect is minimal and cannot be enhanced. This is a great powerset for anyone that prefers to solo just one or two villans at a time, or that has a primary powerset that can provide the defensve necessary for soloing more than 2 villans at a time. This powerset has a very high damage 1-2 punch that can be quite useful for group play, to pick off stragglers or knock out any villans that break through the defenses and threaten the controllers, defenders and/or blasters.

It is difficult to give hard and fast advice that is helpful to all people. With that in mind I'll try to offer some off-the-cuff advice broken down by playstyle.

A defensive oriented Defender might do well to choose:
Telekinetic Blast (1 acc and 3 damage),
Will Domination (1 acc and some combination of sleep duration and recharge reduction),
and either:
Scramble Thoughts (1 acc and some combination of disorient duration and recharge reduction)
or Psionic Tornado (1 acc and some combination of recharge reduction and endurance reduction)

An offensive oriented Defender might choose:
Telekinetic Blast (1 acc, 3-5 damage, and possibly 1 endurance reduction),
Will Domination (1 acc, 3-5 damage. and possibly 1 endurance reduction),
and, depending on their needs, some combination of:
Psionic Lance (5-6 damage and possibly 1 acc)
Psychic Scream (1 acc, 3-5 damage, and possible 1 endurance reduction)
and Psychic Wail (6 damage)

A balanced defender might choose:
Telekinetic Blast (1 acc and 3 damage)
Will Domination (1 acc and 3 damage)
and possibly:
Psychic Scream (1 acc and 3 damage)
or Psionic Lance (1 acc and 3 damage)

I am a self-annointed "offensive defender" and at level 38 I have Telekinetic Blast (1 acc, 4 dam, 1 end reduction), Will Domination ( 1 acc, 4 dam, 1 end redcution), and Psychic Scream (1 acc, 4 dam). I plan on getting and fully slotting Psychic Wail either at level 38 (I haven't decided yet) or at level 41. I will eventually get Psionic Lance and fully slot it. However, I solo just fine with Hasten+AM as my buffs, Radiation Infection and Enervating Field as my debuffs, and TK Blast and Will Domination as my blasts with an occasional Psychic Scream tossed in when I'm fighting larger numbers of yellow and orange minions.

I'm especially interested in hearing from other people who may have different experiences with the Psychic Blast set, in particular people who take either a "defensive" approach or a "balanced" approach to playing their Defender. Once the community has had a chance to offer up their advice on this powerset I'll synthesize the data and repost this guide.

StrawberryBlond, level 38 rad/psy Defender

Great summarize of the Psy Blast set, thanks for the great work

Maybe you could add somewhere a disclaimer that the Psy nukes do indeed scale correctly with level, as I see still quite a few posts of people saying that it's damage scaling is bugged, cause they didn't read the full thread back then when Geko clarified it.

For my personal play style, I do play the offensive variant too, Telekinetic Blast, Will domination, and Psychic Scream are my main attacks (each with 1 Acc, 4 Dam, they will get 6 slotted eventually, around 37 or so, not sure yet if I go 1Acc 5 Dam, or 1 Acc 4 Dam 1 End. That will depend on how I feel my Endurance holds out once I got a 6 slotted Stamina).
I do use the sniper, but not that often, mainly for long range pulling, but not during the actual fighting. It has currently 1 Acc 3 Dam, and I think that's how it will stay.

As for our final power, I am not sure if I get. Since it drains all endurance, it will shut of toggles.
And since I am usually the defense of our little teams, that is something I tend to avoid, since we rely fairly heavily on Hurricane, Steamy Mist, and to a lesser extent Snow Storm.
Maybe you could clarify this in your description of the power, that, once you use it, the sideeffect will be that all toggles get shut off (kinda obvious, I know), so people like me, how are the center of defense of a team, should think twice before getting this, not only you can't do much for a short while after activating it, but with all toggles down, the defense of the team is down too, for Storm defenders in particular.


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I'd tell you to skip this power, however since it is the level 1 power you are required to take it. Don't add slots to it, you'll regret it later if you do. At level 35 I almost never use this power.

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Yeah, so true.... those two slots i put in Mental Blast still mock me everytime I look at my Enhancements. I can't wait for respecs to correct that mistake. I removed it even from my Hotbar several levels ago.

Thank you for reminding me. Yes, the damage from Telekinetic Blast and Will Domination DOES scale properly as you level. I originally believed that their damage did not scale but this was based on some faulty data, and Geko provided the correct data that clearly shows that they do scale.

As for Psychic Wail, you are right it WILL turn off any toggles that you have running because you run out of endurance. However, it should be noted that the toggles don't turn off until AFTER the power activates. This is an important point, since you WILL get the benefit of Enervating Field (to boost Psychic Wail damage by 41%) and your defenses WILL stay up until you have blasted your opponents and left them disoriented (assuming you hit all of them...).

StrawberryBlond, level 38 rad/psy Defender

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...assuming you hit all of them..

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That's the point

When we fight Nazis, or Nemesis, or Rikti, we usually have a few mobs not so close using ranged weapons, so I would always hesitate to use something that shuts down my defenses, and thereby the teams defenses.

Anyway, just some thinking on my part about the power, all theory for me, I am only 32, so can't even get it yet. When I will be able to get it, I probably try it a bit on test first, before I make my final call. For now, I don't see myself getting it, cause of the toggle issue. I feel nekkid without Hurricane

Great stuff here. Thanks for all the work in gathering it all together.

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Psychic Blast is a powerset that matures later than most. It's first two powers are terrible and I recommend avoiding them and not slotting Mental Blast.

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There are a lot of harsh words out there reserved for Mental Blast and Subdue, and I don't understand why the sentiment is so stacked against them. Yes I agree they appear weak, but not overly so.

In fact against tough bosses who refuse to be Will Dominated to sleep I rely on Mental Blast a ton to keep their damage output as low as possible, which is just the advantage I usually need to keep my damage output ahead of them.

Also, I use Subdue all the time as a way to defeat running tactics (which helps a lot since my running ability is impacted by how I must remain still when so often using my blasts), as a low-end quick-shot option to finishing off mobs at slivers of health, and as a way to keep mobs out of range of attacking me. I have never regretted adding a couple slots to either. By 30 I had more than enough slots on all my powers and was soloing and teaming quite well.

Certainly once I got TKBlast and WillDom, then MBlast and Subdue got backbenched a lot. But neither early power is really as vile as has been being suggested. Unless I'm missing something...

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But neither early power is really as vile as has been being suggested.

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I dunno, a power that takes a skillpoint to get, a power that gets some enhancement slots, that, once you get to higher levels and aquire better powers you won't use anymore, that to me is terrible.

Once I had Telekinetic Blast and Will Domination, I hardly used them anymore, and thereby wasted one powerslot, and 2 enhancement slots, for powers you no longer use. That's bad to me.

All that makes them vile to me, and to be avoided at all costs.

The way CoH is designed, you dont really get upgrades to powers, they all scale with level, and as such should be usefull from level 1 to 50. Situational, certainly, but defenatily usefull from start to end.
Subdue's high End. cost, and slow animation, combined with poor damage, doesn't justify this, even if it is the only immobilize in the set.
And Mental Blast with its hideously slow animation and poor damage certainly falls into that category as well. I wish I wouldn't have to take it upon creation, and certainly kick myself from time to time having put 2 slots in it.

The thing is, this guide is written from a high level perspective, so it's recommendations apply to a whole range of levels. Around 10 when I put 2 slots into Mental Blast, I thought, oh, well, its not that bad, and I have to do some damage. But once I got Blast and Domination, I stopped using it altogether, cause it was that terrible. And no power should be like that, not with the level scaling of powers in this game.

This is certainly only my opinion, and as usual, your mileage may vary, but, and I think that's what this guide is all about, people should be informed how powers play out in game, at low levels, and at higher levels. So I wholeheartingly second SoulHealers recomendations on them.

Great to see a Psy guide. Thanks for the post Soulhealer.

At level 32, here is what I have and my experience with psy:

Mental blast: at this point I use it only a few times per level. I am close to removing it completely. I just cant afford to be locked into the 3 second animation when I have to defend my team.

Psy Lance: 6-slotted. I co-pull with blasters(assisting) and with one interrupt redux SO, I can use this behind will domination and get the blast off. It's a nice snipe with awesome range(runners beware).

Psi Scream: This is my favorite. In every fight, this is the first blast I use once I apply Freezing rain. It has got to have some inherent accuracy bonus, because I can hit cons 8 levels above me with this(debuffed by rain), while all the other blasts miss. The size of the cone is sweet, and the moment hesitation that it causes on what it hits helps me keep the mobs in the rain longer. Being a stormy, AE damage is king.

TK Blast: My second favorite. I wish I had gotten this one before will domination. Both are good, but the quick fire and faster recharge on this one win-out over the higher damage of WD.

Will Domination: Nice too. The sleep is just long enough for me to get off lance against a tough con.

That's it thus far. I have tried Tornado on the test server. It's OK, and I will likely get it at 35 or 41. I do wish it would cast faster and last a bit longer. From my standpoint, it is another tool to keep the MOB in place to max my debuff and AEO.

My other option at 35 is Scramble Thoughts. I would want this to disorient bosses, however the post above notes that it doesn't work on bosses. The question is: If I used thunderclap in near the boss to stun the minions, then applied scramble thoughts to the boss, won't that disorient the boss for the overlap time?

As for Wail, I see it as a sweet thing for storm builds: Approach a tight mob with mist up, cast your lightning storm, freezing rain, psy scream the mob, and, if they are still in range, Wail away. Your lightning cloud will fire at any MOB still standing. If you are teamed, have your teammates instructed to work on the mob at the edges of your scream. Another option is to start with T-clap(stun duration and acc enhancers) and roll through the same cycle. If you have psy tornado, use that behind T-clap?.

I must say that Psy has some great powers. I have defenders with energy and rad blasts, and I would take psy over these for my storm defender anyday. Now, if I can just respec out mental blast...

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Will Domination: Nice too. The sleep is just long enough for me to get off lance against a tough con.

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It's perfect too for shutting down toggle users, even if the sleep is just a few seconds, it turns their bubbles, hurricanes, what have you off

My reason for hating Mental Blast is based on having played every defender secondary powerset and knowing how each of the "first powers" works. ALL of the other first powers take between 1 and 2 seconds to activate, EXCEPT Mental Blast which takes 3 seconds. However Mental Blast does EXACTLY the same damage as every other first power, except Neutrino Bolt (which casts VERY fast, costs less endurance, but does only 66% of the damage of the other powers). Basically I hate mental blast because it is hideously slow at activating (which also prevents me from defending my team if something goes wrong during the long activation), because it has the longest total re-use cycle (7 seconds) of any "level 1" blast power (Dark Blast is 5.5 seconds, Charged Bolt is 6 seconds, Energy Bolt is 6 seconds), and costs the same endurance and does the same "pathetic" damage as the aforementioned powers. At the higher levels, Mental Blast takes such a small percentage out of a same-level villans health that it's just not worth the 3 second activation time. Also, why waste 3 seconds trying to activate Mental Blast for 72 damage (assuming 4 damage SOs at level 36) when in the same amount of time I can activate BOTH Telekinetic Blast and Will Domination (assuming 4 damage SOs in each at level 36) for a combined 260 damage and still have half a second left over.

Subdue activates a bit faster than Mental Blast, which makes it a little more practical to use, however it costs alot more endurance which makes it impractical to use. Mental Blast costs about 6.5 endurance while Subdue costs 11. Keep in mind that the "high damage" powers from the other Defender secondary powersets also cost 11 endurance. Since Subdue only does moderate damage (ie the same damage that Mental Blast does), it has a VERY poor damage/endurance ratio which makes it very undesireable since as we all know Defenders are very starved for endurance (at least well into their 20s). The immobilize effect is too unreliable, and besides, why would I want to spend 11 endurance to immbolize a target when I can use Telekinetic Blast for 11 endurance and typically finish off a runner.

I'm sure that some people might find uses for these powers (mental blast and subude). I don't mean to say that such isn't possible. But since someone asked why they are so maligned, I thought I'd elaborate further on the subject.

Just my .02.

StrawberryBlond, level 38 rad/psy Defender

Thanks for the guide!

I got my storm/psychic alt up to 14 last night. I rely on psionic lance a great deal (I have it and scream 5 slotted and both will have 6 at 15). For stormies, hurricane and/or gale can be quite helpful in getting a snipe off. This is especially true with hurricane in a confined area. I can snipe all day long and rarely get interrupted.

Scream is an absolutely wonderful cone attack. I have one (training) range increase in it, but I'm not sure it really needs it. I can't stress this enough...I really hated the other cone attacks I've tried but Scream is very easy to use and effective.

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My other option at 35 is Scramble Thoughts. I would want this to disorient bosses, however the post above notes that it doesn't work on bosses. The question is: If I used thunderclap in near the boss to stun the minions, then applied scramble thoughts to the boss, won't that disorient the boss for the overlap time?

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I haven't personally tried this combo, but it certainly seems like it should work. Typically hold/disorient/mez effects stack, so a disorient from Thunderclap and another from Scramble Thoughts should stop a boss. Of course, that's assuming you don't miss with one or the other....

Great summary of the Psy set, Soulhealer. One minor quibble - if you have this saved somewhere for reposting later, you might want to correct the spelling of Enhancement.

In playing up to L13, which is the highest I've gone in this set, I do notice a difference with the recharge time slowdown secondary effect. My toon is Kinetics/Psy, so Siphon Speed and the slow secondary effects make an effective boss/Lt. neutralizer. Usually I'd pull with Lance, hit Siphon Speed, and then do Mental Blast. With all three of those active, I could hit Lance with no fear of interruption - whereas if I only had Siphon Speed, sometimes I'd get hit while trying to use Lance. The slowdown effect may be minor, but it does stack with other effects and so can be useful.

How embarrassing. I've changed "enhacements" to "enhancements" in my saved copy. Thanks for pointing this out to me.

StrawberryBlond, level 38 rad/psy Defender

*applause*

The best summary of the psychic powerset I've seen. Wish I had this before I made my ff/psy guy, who now has four-slotted MB and Subdue.

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My other option at 35 is Scramble Thoughts. I would want this to disorient bosses, however the post above notes that it doesn't work on bosses. The question is: If I used thunderclap in near the boss to stun the minions, then applied scramble thoughts to the boss, won't that disorient the boss for the overlap time?

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I haven't personally tried this combo, but it certainly seems like it should work. Typically hold/disorient/mez effects stack, so a disorient from Thunderclap and another from Scramble Thoughts should stop a boss. Of course, that's assuming you don't miss with one or the other....

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I've tried it, and it does work. It's one of the only reasons why I have Psychic Wail and Scramble Thoughts in my current build. I can use Scramble Thoughts on a boss, then run up to it (and the rest of the group of mobs my team is engaging) and release a Wail. The boss is then stunned, just like the lieutenants and minions.

Great post, SoulHealer. Informative and insightful.

psi wail does wonders for me but that might be becuase i can fire of recovery aura first and i have no toggles to worry about. Also it seems to be a -recovery after wail not a no recovery so stamina with recovery aura and you still regen. Also interesting point adrn boost seems to be able to stop toggles from dropping after wail our ff defender wailed after i adrn boosted him and his bubble and asault toggle didn't drop though his tatics did. anyone else have any similair experinces with adrn boost with nukes not taking down toggles?

So, does anyone have any speculation on why Mental Blast and Subdue are sub-par compared to the other Defender 1&2 blast powers? Was it some poorly executed balancing attempt to make up for the fact that Psionic damage isn't resisted as often as other damage types? Or is it some attempt to compensate the other blast lines because they don't have all the high-end punch that Psi does?

What gives? And is there hope that one day that Mental Blast and Subdue might get some developer love?

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*applause*

The best summary of the psychic powerset I've seen. Wish I had this before I made my ff/psy guy, who now has four-slotted MB and Subdue.

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Seconded.

Boy do I regret 5-slotting Mental Blast. At least I avoided Subdue.

At 18, Mental Blast and Psychic Lance are the only powers I've taken so far from this line. Stupid manual! I avoided TK Blast because I thought it was similar to Force Bolt from FF, which I relied on heavily for soloing the first levels (also 5-slotted; woe is me). Now that I have a better idea of what is going on and understand my team role better, I'm committed to the Fitness and Leadership pools for the next few levels. Can't wait to pick up TK Blast and Will Domination, though.

One comment on Lance. With Mental Blast as my only other offense, I rely on Lance a lot (pictures of round tables...). Fortunately, with Dispersion Bubble running and since I don't draw a lot of aggro, I rarely get interrupted even in the middle of a big battle. More often I waste it because someone else finishes off the mob before it fires (but that's rare too, just more common than being interrupted). This is also true when soloing. I'd say I get interrupted once every 20 times, if not less frequently. If I'm really concerned about being hit while Lancing, I put a mob on his back first with Force Bolt. And the range makes me the go-to guy for pulling. I get lot's of jealous comments about the range.

Thanks for the guide SoulHealer, even if a bit too late to help me avoid some early bad decisions.

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My other option at 35 is Scramble Thoughts. I would want this to disorient bosses, however the post above notes that it doesn't work on bosses. The question is: If I used thunderclap in near the boss to stun the minions, then applied scramble thoughts to the boss, won't that disorient the boss for the overlap time?

[/ QUOTE ]

I haven't personally tried this combo, but it certainly seems like it should work. Typically hold/disorient/mez effects stack, so a disorient from Thunderclap and another from Scramble Thoughts should stop a boss. Of course, that's assuming you don't miss with one or the other....

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I've tried it, and it does work. It's one of the only reasons why I have Psychic Wail and Scramble Thoughts in my current build. I can use Scramble Thoughts on a boss, then run up to it (and the rest of the group of mobs my team is engaging) and release a Wail. The boss is then stunned, just like the lieutenants and minions.

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Thanks for the info. I was thinking that it would work.

Far as I know, T-clap is a Mag1. Sounds like scramble is a mag 2. I know it takes a total mag3 to stun a boss, so the stacked affect should be Mag 3= boss is stunned. Of course, accuracy comes into play here, but two acc SO's in each and a stun duration SO or two, and you have a nice mezz that can snare minions in an AEO and a boss too. Then, Wail on top of that should do big damage and leave em stunned for a good while if they are not yet defeated...

I just started a Rad/Psy Defender and this info is invaluable for planning my character. And yes, Mental Blast is just awful. Thanks for the informative discussion, everyone.

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I rely on Lance a lot (pictures of round tables...)

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/guffaw

If they cut the act time of mental blast by like 1-2 secs and made subdue a minor damage root (ie roots 100%), the set would be great imo.

It is great anyway.

I am 11th lvl with my new rad/psy, and I have 6 slotted mental blast because all I have are mental blast, lance, and scream. I passed on subdue, figuring I would save a power choice that way. I committed to mental blast, and it's ok for what it is. I guess I just don't expect a lot from it. I have nice rad debuffs, so I can often use the psy lance in the fray, which is nice. Also, the cone range of psychic scream is out of this world. I think it might be bigger than tentacles.

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Also, the cone range of psychic scream is out of this world. I think it might be bigger than tentacles.

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I think you're right. Scream has an awesome cone range. Of course, that means you get the aggro a lot of the time....

It would have been really nice if this guide had been handed to me at level 1. i.e Before Picking up subdue, and wasting 4 slots on Subdue and Mental Blast.

Finaly have enough of my primary needs covered that I can pick up and slot more attacks. Will Domination is great, I can't wait until I get TK blast and P Scream. In 2 man teams with tanks, I'm regularly outdamaging them, especially when we take on COT, with the ghost type creatures.

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Also, the cone range of psychic scream is out of this world. I think it might be bigger than tentacles.

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Psychic Scream *DOES* have a larger cone range than Tenebrous Tentacles by a noticeable amount. Both are wide cones, but Psychic Scream is longer.

StrawberryBlond, level 38 rad/psy (a bit too tired of the "grind" to put on more levels atm)

Anyone know how Rad blast's Electron Haze compares to Psychic Scream on cone area? I'm very much torn between the 2 secondaries at the moment. Radiation has more ae (1 moderate cone, 1 moderate ae dot, 1 moderate targeted ae, 1 extreme ae vs 1 moderate cone, 1 moderate ae dot, 1 extreme ae) which I like. But Rad blast doesn't seem to be as efficient as Psychic Blast.

The comparison between Electron Haze and Psychic Scream is very lopsided:

- both take 3 seconds to activate
- both do "moderate" damage, Electron Haze does about 20% more than Psychic Scream
- Psychic Scream costs 17 endurance compared to 21 for Electron Haze
- Psychic Scream recharges in 12 seconds compared to 16 for Electron Haze
- Psychic Scream has about twice the range (ie cone length)
- Psychic Scream has about twice the cone width (at the same distance)
- Psychic Scream covers ALOT more area (more than 4x the area of EH)
- Electron Haze has a chance to knockback, which can be good but can also be very bad if you were trying to keep the villans clustered.

I've played around with both of these powers, and Psychic Scream is so much better IMHO there is NO comparison. Now, I'm not saying that Psychic Blast is better than Rad Blast, simply that Psychic Scream is better than Electron Haze.

StrawberryBlond, level 38 rad/psy Defender