Comprehensive Guide to Psychic Blast v1.0
By
Aggressor_NA,
Posted on: 2004-07-21 23:02 in Player Guides
Bump and adding to the list of thanks for this guide. I also have a question and didn't want to clog up the board with a new post.
Any kin/psy players want to share their thoughts? I've read how a few of the powers aren't great for kinetics because of aggro but I wanted to know what others are doing. The more I play my kinetic guy the more I think psy was a horrible choice. I typically put myself near the melee for heal, siphon power, and ID. If I pick up Psychic Scream at 14 (which was my plan) I could end up eating dirt. But, at level 13 I only have MB and Lance and it's really hard to solo and I don't get to help offensively very much.
After a long session in Boomtown, I'm thinking that I should look to travel power pools at 14 (what a long walk that was) and waiting until 16 to add to my offense with TB.
Thank goodness for this guide. Like someone else I thought TB would be like the FF power and wasn't going to get it.
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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
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I would be one of those people. With respec seeming to be close I have chosen the path of a dark miasa/psy def. I chose of course mental blast but also subdue along with psy lance. I use these as a 1-2-3 punch to take out most attackers. I plan on using them so I can do some damage and when I can respec at 24,I think, I will get rid of them. So I find them useful for the lower few levels to get by but I also see your point in them becoming useless once the other blasts become available.
also to agree with others I read later on, I too regret putting any slots into either. I have only put one in each but with the info from this guide I see I can't improve them at all so I am regretfull of that slot choice but once again, yay for respec. 
Good day all, I've been perusing the forums for a bit now, but with news of the respec coming, I thought I'd jump in for some advice. But, that's not what this is about (not directly at least).
My primary character has been a Dark/Psyonics defender from the beginning (currently half way to level 24). I just wanted to pop in with a couple cents on this topic. I wanted to be a team player, but knew I would be soloing a lot as well, so I took all the initial psychic powers just so I could deal some damage. I too am regreting taking subdue as well as slotting that and mental blast, but that's not what I want to focus on here. I wanted to chime in about the use of psyonic lance. This has been one of my favorite attacks and when I got Will Domination, it just made it that much better. It has actually become an in battle power rather than just an advance power. I have it slotted with a recharge reudction and an interupt time reduction to help me out here. At any rate, I can keep my target villain asleep long enough to fire off the lance and by that time, the sleep is almost recharged to put him right back to sleep again (sorry, I don't have my stats readily available. I don't know exactly HOW these are slotted). When circled by mobs, this is still viable. My hover makes me slightly harder to hit and I have taken to using Howling Twilight to debuff the baddies so I don't have to worry about them interrupting the lance. It is only now looking back that I regret not taking Darkest Night as that would make the whole thing MUCH easier. I don't have TK blast yet...and frankly don't know why I held off, but am looking forward to adding that to my arsenal.
At any rate, I am looking forward to respec so I can straighten some of my mistakes out and was curious as to any other Dark/Psy d(I know there must be one or two.) efenders out there had any insights.
Great guide. I would like to point out though to anyone who hasn't figured it out that if you are fighting 1 minion/lieut that if you hit them with any slow attack (even Mental Blast) their refresh time (for most villians) becomes greater than the time to cast Psionic Lance. This means wait for them to swing (miss or hit) and immediately fire PL. You won't ever get interrupted this way and at low levels nothing can compare to the damage of PL.
Also on this note.
If you take Air Superiority it does about the same damage as Mental Blast but has a faster, cast, recast and gets a knockdown EVERY time. The time it takes a villian to stand up is more than enough time to get off a sniper shot with PL. AS refreshes quickly enough that you can often keep one mob down almost all the time so that they don't get to attack much. It takes mob about the same time to stand as it does to cast Mental Blast so in very early levels you can use a 2 attack combo AS, MB, AS... without any down time waiting for a refresh. At early levels where you don't have a lot of attack powers this can get you out of the Brawl basement.
This is also why Mental Blast isn't worth it. Getting a knockdown every time and a much faster attack makes the pool power much better IMO. For anyone who hasn't fought using knockdown you have to try it. As long as you keep hitting them they just bounce up and down without getting to fight back, it is very powerful.
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You can't please everyone, so lets concentrate on me.
Honestly think its nonsense MB and Subdue have been underrated as they are. Granted the other sets have better newbie blasts but how the hell can you say subdue sucks? Hi..uh its got an immobilization, and does the same level of damage as any of the other newbie attacks, and oh wow the activation time is 2 seconds..big deal, as soon as I hit it, it pretty much fires off, Mental Blast is slow yes but its pretty nice with the foe -recharge.
And all of the slow attack effects seem to stack, and most of the powers have them. It does slow down the attacks pretty well. It seems to slow down the Recharge of a attack, not the actual attack rate.
Now with sleep the way it is on the training server, I will dominate (to sleep), siphion power, transfusion, then lance the guy, or will dominate again...
I still like subdue to hold the runners, or give me a chance to run if I have to.
I really don't get it... Why do you all hate subdue and love psychic lance? Ok, yeah subdue is a bit pricey in end for the damage (though on test it's much better, only 10 end). But, it takes no time at all to get off a subdue. Psionic does twice the damage, drinks twice the end, and takes 5 seconds to get off. Not that psionic lance doesn't have its uses, though, I just don't see why you hate one but love the other.
Subdue will probably be a part of my attack chain permanently. It's quick enough to throw in between the two heavy single targets without interfering with them. It lets me snipe people at maximum range without fear of retaliation. What more do you need?
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I really don't get it... Why do you all hate subdue and love psychic lance? Ok, yeah subdue is a bit pricey in end for the damage (though on test it's much better, only 10 end). But, it takes no time at all to get off a subdue. Psionic does twice the damage, drinks twice the end, and takes 5 seconds to get off. Not that psionic lance doesn't have its uses, though, I just don't see why you hate one but love the other.
Subdue will probably be a part of my attack chain permanently. It's quick enough to throw in between the two heavy single targets without interfering with them. It lets me snipe people at maximum range without fear of retaliation. What more do you need?
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I would like/need something that is more reliable. The imm affect you get doesn't occure often enough to count on it. The Lance at least lets you snipe from 175 rather than most at 150 and the end to dam ratio is much better. The time it takes to get off isn't that big a deal, expecially if you have a +def or -acc power, like for me I use twilight grasp, unconventional I know but I use it. So I lance then TG and I can lance all I want and not worry about interruption so much. Larger groups of course require AOE debuffs/buffs but with 175 range I have yet to have a bad pull where I couldn't kill my target before the others even get in range.
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I really don't get it... Why do you all hate subdue and love psychic lance? Ok, yeah subdue is a bit pricey in end for the damage (though on test it's much better, only 10 end). But, it takes no time at all to get off a subdue. Psionic does twice the damage, drinks twice the end, and takes 5 seconds to get off. Not that psionic lance doesn't have its uses, though, I just don't see why you hate one but love the other.
Subdue will probably be a part of my attack chain permanently. It's quick enough to throw in between the two heavy single targets without interfering with them. It lets me snipe people at maximum range without fear of retaliation. What more do you need?
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Answer is simple. You get PL at level 4 at that point and for a long time PL + another attack can often drop a white-green mob before they can even attack. Some Green and most grey mobs drop in one shot. PL has a large accuracy bonus so you don't need to add a lot of Acc Augs which means it does even more damage because you have more damage augs on it. PL works from extreme range so you can shoot at mobs that can't even reach you, split them off groups and retreat if group follows or retreat and stay out of their range till it is up again. PL on a Abomination means NEVER getting hit by acid (if you don't want to) since at max range an abomination will stop closing and forget about you before it ever gets within it's attack range and a second PL will kill it. In a backhanded sort of way PL actually has a lower END cost because of it's long animation you get back a lot of END. I rarely have any END problems if I am using PL.
In short PL allows you to put big damage where you need it in one shot and at long range if necessary. Subdue can't do any of these things.
Also I prefer runners to immobalization. I can hit a runner with PL an drop him with no risk to myself. If I immobalize him he will start shooting at me while I get off next attack. I prefer not to get shot at at all.
If you like subdue, good for you. Nothing better than having something you like. But post is about people's opinions based on their experiences and most people didn't have your good experiences with subdue. If there is some special tactic you use it for that we are missing please post it. You opinion is just as valid as anyone else's.
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You can't please everyone, so lets concentrate on me.
Assuming I want to kill a single mob from a distance, here's the general pattern: TK blast from max range, run away if everyone follows, stay if just the guy I'm looking for does. Back up and let him follow out of group aggro range. Subdue, then mental blast (will replace this with will domination when I get it). Total damage: About the same as PL with 2 seconds left, and I can continue to chain the set rather than waiting 18 seconds to fire another shot if it doesn't kill the guy.
The imm effect on subdue seems to be hitting about 75% of the time. When it doesn't hit it's just a matter of backing up a bit for the next recast, no prob. The only thing that can match me in range is the occasional burst or slug, most stuff you are out of range anyway.
But, the thing is one enemy per 18 second PL is a really crappy way to play anyway. Rather than doing all that above, I could have just ran up to the group of 3-4, thrown darkest night on the leuit, backed up to range, hit psychic scream while they're still packed up, thrown out a pet gaze at the leuit, then used subdue + tk blast to kill a minion or two, hit them up with another psychic scream, etc. How would PL help me in any of that? None, the moment some minion gets a lucky shot in I just wasted 6 seconds and 20 end.
I guess it really all comes down to playstyle... I'm not the biggest fan of stand-off sniping guys one at a time, it's a waste of my defender primary powers. For what I do, subdue is the better attack by far.
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Psionic does twice the damage, drinks twice the end, and takes 5 seconds to get off.
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Lance does triple the damage. 
I find it hard to justify Subdue as part of a DPS attack chain. The DPAT is mediocre, the DPE is laughable.
It's only when the (contrary to popular belief) reliable immobilization comes into play that the power becomes attractive. Slotting it for damage just wouldn't make sense if it didn't have long range root utility.
And for those of us who still think the damage is too poor to bother (myself included), it's still worth a second slot for acc and root duration. The root sticks 80% of the time; it's no TT but at 100 feet range we can't really expect better.
yeah sorry 1/3 the damage for subdue, my math is off lately I was comparing the listed base to what subdue was doing for me but forgot to take into account slotting. Anyway, I'm not saying subdue is the best attack ever or anything. What I am saying is that lets say you're level 25 or so, you have perma hasten and stamina so the end isn't as big of a deal, especially with the end bonus on test. You have one really great cone aoe, one long-range high-damage single target power with a recharge of about 5 secs, one long-range high-damage single target power with a sleep with a recharge of about 8 secs.
You can cycle those two and come nowhere near being in a continuous attack chain. With subdue, you have a nice little moderate damage attack with a nice effect you can throw in between blasts for about half the damage of the other two and a useful side effect. There's really no other power in the set that fills that role, Mental blast has too long of a cast time, it steps on your other powers, PL is fine as an opener but once they're shooting at you it's too much of a risk.
Yeah I should qualify my post too. Once you finally get the higher level attacks PL isn't as uber. But up to 16 I find it hard to beat. Even with to-hit debuffed stupid abominations hit way too often and hard. I found picking them off much simpler and safer. With Haste and/or recharge it doesn't take long to come back up again either.
One thing I haven't tried is the interrupt reduction augs. But I suppose PL would be the power to use them on. Normally I just Radiation Infect group and since no one can hit me I just use it as a normal attack, but occasionally get interrupted.
Even if you don't snipe PL + Scream will kill most white mobs at this point so why not start with that so one mob is down already?
IMHO immobalization is bad for you/your group as often as it is good so I don't want it on a standard attack. Many mobs do a lot worse damage at range than they do in melee, the 5th column come to mind immediately. So while it is very nice to have a special use attack that immobalizes I don't want all the time. Of course this may reflect my primary set of Radiation. I want all the mobs staying together in my little RI zone. Way too many sets to have played them all to a decent level. lol
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You can't please everyone, so lets concentrate on me.
Resurrecting this thread...
My take on Subdue is that Psychic gets 2 versions of the first attack. Comparing Subdue to everyone else's first power (other than Neutrino Bolt):
Subdue does the same damage and has the same activation time. Bonuses: adds Immobilize (which I personally greatly prefer over knockback), and has 20 ft longer range. Penalties: costs a little bit more endurance and has a longer recharge.
It seems like a fair tradeoff to me. But Mental Blast is the real stinker here. Its secondary effect is terrible, and 3 second activation is too long to wait for any power. It's just too bad we don't have a choice of which version of power 1 we get to pick.
Once I get to 24, it's possible I'll respec out of Subdue, but since the other choices for me are Force Bolt (crap damage with knockback or moderate damage with immob? I'll take the second...) or PFF (nice, but is it necessary?), I may just as soon keep it, and just strip the one extra slot off of Mental Blast that I put there (and possibly add it to Subdue).
Fighting against a single enemy, I can Psychic Lance, then Subdue, and if necessary finish off with Mental Blast, all with 100 range or more, which outranges most enemy attacks. Or, sometimes I will Subdue, then back up even further and fire off a Psychic Lange. A long-range immob definitely has its uses.
What I'd like to see them do is make the Immob 100% effective, at least versus minions. Spines has Impale that is better than any of their other single target attacks plus does immob 100%. Subdue is worse than most of Psychic's other single-target attacks, so why can't it immob 100%?
I am as some in my supergroup call me a d00d defender, or more recently a blastender. Make no mistake, I am first and foremost an emp defender. I dislike soloing, prefer grouping, and I know and fulfill my role in said group, but I deal damage. Plenty of it, both solo and in groups.
I figure if I have to take Mental Blast, I might as well make use of it. Sure, it's slow, but why pass up an attack? Currently three slotted with damage SOs. ( I use tactics as my accuracy. 5 slotted, 4 buffs and one end discount makes for more damage for me, and a nice buff when I group.)
I picked up subdue, and while an immob was nice to have, getting stuck in animation lock was not my idea of a good time, preticularily because I'm emp, and I can't exactly tell the scrapper that's hit red to wait for my animation to finish for me to heal them. It used to be 3 slotted, again only damage, until it got the axe in respec at 33.
Scream I picked up at 12. I still remember people in the first few weeks of release looking around trying to figure out what that sound was. Solid, long range AoE damage that keeps my main tank hopping with provokes. Good times for all. This is 4 slotted and at 35 does about 100 points to a white minion.
Telekinetic Blast is a power I almost passed on till I saw it used. Fast, high damage, knockback for a little single target cc and a different damage type for psy resistant mobs. Three slotted it does ~150 total between the two types.
Wondered where the damage slots from subdue went at respec? Will Domination. This power alone let me solo again after having given up on it for a dozen levels. A little crowd control with heavy damage goes a long, long way! Similar damage to TB, and a good long duration sleep. Night boys!!
And my newest toy at 35, Psionic Tornado. I have been told that with proper slotting the DoT can add up to similar to Scream, if not more. Moderate DoT, impressive animation, and 4 second knockup. I can't stop giggling over this power. I'm currently still playing with enhancers for this one.
I've heard nothing but good things about wail....27 bubs to go!
Since the respec i've had the pleasure of having ALL of the Psy-blast powers and i've come to the conclusion that this set maynot be the most powerful, but it does have potention when slotted correctly.
Mental Blast-- yes the activation time is slow, however, it's still a good power. a minimum of 4 slots dam makes it an effective blast. i've hit foes +5 my lvl for ~50HP. i know compared to a blaster thats minor, but for the set, its wonderful to me.
Subdue-- i use it as a secondary "mental" blast with the immobilization being a good status effect. i've slotted it just like mental blast.
Psionic Lance-- the longest ranged snipe out there @ 175 ft, its a wonderful power with great damage. i respect'd out of it because i didnt like the interrupt. for the risk of being interrupted i can get off Mental Blast , Subdue, and Tk blast before i could fire the Lance.
Psychic Scream-- a good cone AoE with the same amount of damage you get out of Mental Blast. i've used this blast to mitigate the attack rate on a mob surrounding my tanker.
Tk Blast-- this is the double hitter of this set it does moderate psionic damage + smashing damage. with a base damage like that of Mental Blast the added smash brings this attack close to tripple digits if slotted correctly.
Will Domination-- this attack has been my life saver because of its fast casting and tripple digit damage. i use the sleep as a status effect and added this power to my arsenal because if its damage output.
Psionic Tornado-- again i respec'd out of this power because i didnt like it. the knockup is nice, however it wasnt worth the arggo i kept gettin for using it.
Scramble Thoughts-- this power rock! its not a damage dealing power, however the disorient/stun effect is king. my blaster/tanks love me for this power. i've 4 slotted it with Enhance Disorient and at lvl38, i've been able to stun an lvl 41 AV. be mindful that to do this you must stack the attack with other disorient/stun/sleep attacks. using Mental Blast+Subdue+Will Domination to lower a foes recharge time and defenses will help Scramble Thought do its effect against very high foes and monsters.
Psychic Wail-- as your uber psychic blast attack, this power drains you of endurance completely. a side note to the power- if u dont make a successful hit to all foes in the area of effect, u will still be left with some endurance. it deals great damage as well as disorienting your foes.
-The Elite-[50's]Va'Leria�X'hian�Stormy Monday�Radical Burn�Mo'Mentum�Heat-Source�Professor Blaze
-World Wide Evil, Inc-[50s]Soulfire�Perma.Frost�Kold Soul�Foxphyre�Pitch-Black�Corrupt Fusion�Cassanova Brown�Tyler Thorn�Iron Siren�Solaura�Fortunauta Wade�Look'Alike�Arctic Engineer
The Psychic Blast powerset makes me wish I'd made my Force Field Defender a Controller with Mind Control and Force Fields instead.
Sometimes it's nice, but usually it leaves me lacking. At lvl 32 I'm certainly NOT a damage dealer on any par. It even takes me multiple shots to drop mobs 20 levels lower. Mind you, since I'm a FF Defender most of my slots have gone for boosting my fields, but that's simply ridiculous.
I became interested in this power set when my Tanker got Unstoppable and started fighting Unstoppable and MoG'd Paragon Protectors. Most player toons are vulnerable to Psionic Damage. What about the baddies? Can a Psychic blaster be a major source of damage in the end game, or do they always fall short of what Blasters can do?
At 32 I can say that it's getting better but I can't compete with a blaster. The problem with MoG is that it adds to +DEF and I have trouble just hitting. It's also hard to compete with a Nova like power where the entire room just falls.
I think it will get better as I progress. I should get more attacks maxed out and hopefully more mobs will be vulnerable to Psychic.
One bad thing, it's a major kick to the crotch when you face something that is Psy resistant like BP. You struggle all this way and then someone is resistant to your meager attacks. Like I didn't struggle before?!! Geessshhh. Give me a break.
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I became interested in this power set when my Tanker got Unstoppable and started fighting Unstoppable and MoG'd Paragon Protectors. Most player toons are vulnerable to Psionic Damage. What about the baddies? Can a Psychic blaster be a major source of damage in the end game, or do they always fall short of what Blasters can do?
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We can definately provide some niche damage in those sorts of situations. I've teamed up with a scrapper fighting paragon prtectors several times. MOG fires, and they can't hit it at all. My hit rate was unaffected by MOG, and neither was my damage. In short, once the mob got to 10% health, I finished it off, while the scrapper went on to another target. (Of course, I did some of the first 90% as well...)
You convinced me to take this secondary. Played dark and eng seconds to death. Thanks again.
this is like maybe, my 3rd or 4th post on this topic, and each time i read the thread, i always come across the several rants on how horrible Mental Blast and Subdue are. right now, post 2 (count'em "2") Respecs, i have NEVER dropped these powers. they are a key part of my attack string. i know the animation lock sucks and the slow activation time bites, BUT it's THAT BAD! i've respected 2 times, and i've at lvl40 now and they both are two of the best attacks i have.
5slots Damage / 1 slot Accuracy, and i can pop a lvl41 Paragon Protector, yea the ones with that stinkin MOG, for ~ 100HP of damage, no less than 85 if i'm mistaken about the #'s
i lead with Will Dom, knock'em back with TK, pin'em with Subdue, and finish'em with the MB -> Psy Scream combo. if that doesn't take themem out in one round, i repeat. now i know we all wish the status effect for the blast set would work like its SUPPOSED to, but it doesn't so i think, again, we should stop ripping on how much the power set sucks, and start posting out ideas on what would make it better.
ALL other AT's have done it and we should start doing it too. psyblast is a potent power, it works EXCELLENT for ALL the villans who have it, but the hero version is awful in its status effect.
a lvl41 Portal mission against the ClockKing and his minions, who all possess psionic attacks, destroyed my team just last night (10-27-04). all be cause their psy attacks were sleeping, pinning, and reducing their attack rates soo badly no one could recover.
Psionic energy IS the most powerful attack in the game simply because IT hits when all else fails, and i think its time the hero version starts reflecting that. because its a psychic power it should have a inherent Accuracy bonus!! it seems as if all villian versions hit more often than the hero version.
no i call to arms, ALL my psyblast heros, stop naggin to each other about why ur power sucks and tell it to the DEVS! we need improvement on this!
Va'Leria
The Elite
lvl40 FF/PsyBlast Defender
Pinnacle.
-The Elite-[50's]Va'Leria�X'hian�Stormy Monday�Radical Burn�Mo'Mentum�Heat-Source�Professor Blaze
-World Wide Evil, Inc-[50s]Soulfire�Perma.Frost�Kold Soul�Foxphyre�Pitch-Black�Corrupt Fusion�Cassanova Brown�Tyler Thorn�Iron Siren�Solaura�Fortunauta Wade�Look'Alike�Arctic Engineer
I think this guide is a bit out of date now. I don't know when it happened but I started an Emp/Psy defender 2 days ago and my Subdue only takes half a second to activate and does slightly more damage. It also seems to immobilize about half the time.
Could someone with more current experience say if there where changes in any of the other powers?
Nice! Thanks!
One minor point in FAVOR of mental blast... range. This power has longer range than nearly any blaster powers excepting the snipes. This means that at level 6 you can hover blast foes that cannot hit you. It takes a while, but you can do it. Between the lack of knockback and the long range, you can also use this power to single pull. This is very useful at the lower levels and not so bad even in the mid levels.
BTW, I have so far been an entirely defensive defender. I have Mental Blast and took Will Domination very late at 24 because I couldn't even manage grey kill missions solo with mental blast alone. I will probably find a way to take tk blast and lance at some point, though I have no idea whether I'll ever get them slotted. (I need to rework my build soon).