SYSTEM SHOCK 2 - PSI Guide
__________________________
by Enrique Arias - Quiquer
ver 1.0 - January'05
Summary
_______
0.-Versions
1.-Another FAQ of System Shock 2?
2.-About the pure PSI user
3.-PSI Pros and Cons
4.-Strategies
5.-PSI powers, one by one
Credits
0.-Versions
___________
1.0 - Finished guide: added PSI powers, added strategies
0.3 - Finished PSI Pros and Cons
0.1 - Skeleton of the guide
1.-Another FAQ of System Shock 2?
_________________________________
Yeah, but this is a different one. As the information for telepaths in
Gamefaqs is very brief, and is one of the paths offered to the player, I
decided to create one for my own. And, you know, is a really exciting
challenge! So I decided to do a rough guide for Pure OSA guys.
If you want a walkthrough, or just want to begin System Shock 2 for the
first time, or want to go through shooting madly as you would in almost
every other game in the market, consult the other guides, 'cause this is
not for you! :-P
2.-About the pure PSI user
__________________________
So, you decided to abandon all those hightech weapons, to explore the
"magic" way in SS2? Well, first of all, remember that this is no pancake.
In my opinion, the PSI way was not so well designed as the rest of this
great game, I guess that designers just wanted to make life easier to the
player thinking that he was going to do a mix of skills, as the most
players did, in fact. However, when you want to develop a pure character,
the difficulty will arise serious steps. Now I can warn you: the
normal difficulty in this way hasn't anything to envy to the higher lvl
available when playing a mixed character, so as you may guess, this is
a serious challenge. In fact, I think that if you choose Impossible
playing a pure psionic user, you are just mad.
3.-PSI Pros and Cons
____________________
Well, let's resume it quick and easily.
CONS:
- A really high difficulty as this is a no-weapon way
- ... so you need to know this game really well if you don't want to
desperate ;)
- Changing PSI powers is not so quick compared to switch from weapon to
weapon
PROS:
- As you won't waste a LOT, and I mean A LOT of skill points in weapons
skills, you won't waste any too in Repair, Maintain or Modify
- ... and you will have a lot of skill points to spare, not only to your
psionic habilities, but for your STATS too
- Remember all those damned weapons that you had so much problems to
carry around in your not-so-big inventory? Well, you can tell'em a nice
bye-bye and throw'em to nevermore land
- A lot of fun and excitation ;)
4.-STRATEGIES
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- suggested skills when doing the prologo in OSA missions: Psychogenic
Cyber Affinity, + 2 PSI, Psychogenic agility. First one will boost
your CYB in +2 temporarily, quite useful when hacking hard containers,
second is rather obvious, and third... well, between 3 bad options they
give, I think that one is the lesser bad
- keep all that useless ammunition: grenades, bullets... when you find
the item recycler, you'll be able to transform them in A LOT of nanites
- try to remember those replicators that, when hacked, have a prize
of 40 nanites on hypo-psi (instead of the usual 50). Why buying 80
hypos with all those nanites you have kept the last hour of gameplay,
when you can buy 100? :-)
- I suggest hacking all you can: not only it will be safer for you as
you'll be able to quit enemy turrets easily; you can even convert them
to your cause and you will be able to open all closed containers in the
game
- ... and don't even waste a single slot to all those friggin' weapons!
all you'll need in OSA combat will be your wrench and your psi-amp
5.- PSI powers, one by one
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Legend:
Buff -> gives you enhanced skills / stats for a period of time
1st lvl
*******
Psycho-reflective Screen
========================
Protects you from 15% of combat damage.
Natural shield buff - nuff said, right? is a small raise, but
handy as it costs only 1 psi point. It has a regular duration
and maybe you would like to have it on when you explore new
areas. If you, however, don't like the idea of rebuffering you
each time this buff wears off (like me), then this isn't for you.
Available during the 3 year training at the start if you choose
the OSA way.
Duration: 20 seconds + 30 seconds per PSI.
Neuro-reflex Dampening
----------------------
Eliminates all weapon kickback.
Do you really need this? I didn't... the weapons recoil in this
game isn't so painful, in my opinion.
Duration: 1 minute + 20 seconds per PSI.
Kinetic Redirection
===================
Pulls an object toward you.
There is at least four objects in the game that cannot be took
without the aid of KR. They are just regular objects, so this
skill isn't really important. However this skill is so cheap and
its use is so nice looking that I pick it always hehe. You can
even move some big static objects and small enemies around with
this skill :)
Duration: 1 second per PSI.
Psychogenic Agility
===================
Increases your Agility by 2.
Agility buff - an unnecesary buff, if you ask me. Agility is
used mainly for running, and you have implants and hypos if you
need to run faster... unless you have the "strafe syndrome", that
is, doing strafe to every enemy that shoots you, even the shotgun
zombies :p i wouldn't worry about this skill.
Duration: 2 minutes + 1 minute per PSI.
Psychogenic Cyber Affinity
==========================
Increases your CYB by 2.
A really handy and important skill if you are gonna hack in the
game. Instead of buying those last (and expensive) points in CYB,
with just 2-3 points in it and this skill any locked box will be
easy for you.
Duration: 2 minutes + 1 minute per PSI.
Projected Cryokinesis
=====================
Launches a heat-draining projectile at a target. Higher PSI
increases damage.
Well, any gun is better than this, but if you're gonna be a
pure psi user you'll use this skill A LOT. Use the spanner you
got early in the game, and PC against most of the enemies
remaining in the game.
Remote Electron Tampering
=========================
Makes active alarms time out faster.
Another crappy and unnecesary skill. If you have activated the
alarm, just go to any security console and deactivate it.
Time Reduction: 5 seconds + 5 seconds per PSI.
2nd lvl
*******
Anti-entropic Field
===================
While this discipline is active, your ranged weapons cannot
break, and their condition will not degrade.
AEF would be great... if the duration wasn't so small :( at most,
you'll need to recharge this every 2-3 minutes, and this is a pure
psyco FAQ, right?? :P
Duration: 10 seconds + 20 seconds per PSI.
Adrenaline Overproduction
=========================
Increases hand-to-hand damage by a factor equal to PSI.
Using this with your spanner can do some nice damage, and can be
really handy if you still don't have powerful disciplines and are
beginning to encounter serious enemies. Its damage increases
seriously with each PSI point you have.
Duration: 10 seconds per PSI.
Neural Decontamination
======================
Shields you from 80% of radiation damage.
I prefer saving always 4 slots in the inventory for the the
BioHazard suit.
Duration: 10 seconds + 5 seconds per PSI.
Cerebro-stimulated Regeneration
===============================
Regenerates lost hit points.
As you may guess, you'll seriously need this hability. In fact,
CSR is great even for non-pure psionic users, is a rather quick
and easy way to recover hit points.
Amount Healed: 2 hit points per PSI.
Psychogenic Strength
====================
Increases your Strength by 2.
Strength buff. I don't like the dependance the buffs gives,
although this one coupled with the Adrenaline Overproduction can
do great amounts of damage.
Duration: 2 minutes + 1 minute per PSI.
Recursive Psionic Amplification
===============================
Increases your Psionics by 2. Psi point costs are doubled while
active.
Let's see... they give you 2 temporal Psionic points, but your
PSI disciplines will waste double PSI points?? anybody, tell me
this is a joke ¬¬ PSI points are too precious to waste, so DON'T
buy this.
Duration: 10 seconds + 10 seconds per PSI.
Localized Pyrokinesis
=====================
Damages all creatures within a five foot radius. Higher PSI
increases damage to enemies.
A rather low damage hability, but have some serious "positive"
bugs. With the invisibility on, your enemies will receive
damage... without noticing you!!!!!!! Another bug is that protocol
droids cannot hurt you when they explode if you have LP on. So,
use it at your convenience.
Duration: 15 seconds + 8 seconds per PSI.
3rd lvl
*******
Molecular Duplication
=====================
Use some Nanites to duplicate one ammo clip or hypo.
A pityful hability. If a soldier needs ammo, better he goes to
any replicator in the game, that will be cheaper.
Chance of Success: 30% + 10% per PSI.
Electron Cascade
================
Recharges a single charged item or weapon.
Useful for soldiers that rely on energetic weapons/armors.
Recharge amount: 20% per point of PSI, up to the maximum allowed
by your Maintenance skill.
Energy Reflection
=================
Provides 50% immunity to all energy-based damage sources.
Hmmm... if the immunity was against all kinds of damage sources...
naw, I wouldn't worry about this discipline.
Duration: 20 seconds per PSI.
Neural Toxin-blocker
====================
Shields you from 100% of toxin absorption.
I know, toxins are a pain in the ass, but I'd prefer to be more
careful against the source of toxins (spiders/worms). And if I
got infected, I'd use some hypos instead.
Duration: 10 seconds + 5 seconds per PSI.
Enhanced Motion Sensitivity
===========================
Shows the location of all nearby creatures.
Enemies in SS2 can be fearful, but not THAT fearful ;-) I'm
telling you that there's no need to get paranoic and get this
ability, as you can do it fine without it.
Duration: 30 seconds per PSI.
Projected Pyrokinesis
=====================
Launches a fiery projectile at a target. Higher PSI increases
damage.
This skill is crap... if you're not going to do a pure PSI user
path!!! There's plenty of weapons better that the effects this
skill does, however, if you want to open your way using only psyco
habilities you'll need this, as it is the better fire-psi based
projectile, great against organic enemies, like the spiders.
Psionic Hypnogenesis
====================
Target non-robotic creature will stand still and docile. If the
creature takes damage, the effect ends.
Frankly, I prefer to kill my enemies instead ;-)
Duration: 20 seconds per PSI.
4th lvl
*******
Photonic Redirection
====================
Renders you invisible to all creatures. Firing a weapon will
end the effect.
A strategic ability. As I said earlier, I prefer to kill my
enemies directly, although is a fact that in the ending of the
game things go harder, and if you are a pure PSI user that
doesn't know what to do with his remaining cybermodules, it
can be a lifesaver in some ways.
Duration: 5 seconds + 5 seconds per PSI.
Remote Pattern Detection
========================
Shows the location of many useful items, including nanites,
ammo, hypos, implants and audio logs.
As cybermodules are precious, I prefer to find things in the
old way, exploring.
Duration: 1 minute per PSI.
Electron Suppression
====================
Immobilizes any robotic target.
I really don't like this skill. You may guess that it works
against cyborgs, but it doesn't; and the centinel robots don't
respawn in the game so they aren't a big deal.
Duration: 3 seconds per PSI.
Psychogenic Endurance
=====================
Increases your Endurance by 2.
Another buff hability. Another pitiful hability.
Duration: 2 minutes + 1 minutes per PSI.
Molecular Transmutation
=======================
Turns ammunition and hypos into nanites.
I thought this was gonna be an incredible hability for a
pure PSI user: all those ammunitions and weapon related items,
turned into nanites. And guess what, is pure crap: you won't
even gain enough nanites to restore your PSI points buying
hypos to restore those PSI points lost in the process :-(
So wait a little and just use the item recycler you'll get
later in the game.
Remote Circuitry Manipulation
=============================
Allows you to hack psionically. Uses half you PSI stat
(rounded up) in place of both Hacking skill and CYB stat, and
costs psi points instead of nanites.
If you read the description carefully you'll see that hacking
in this sole way won't let you hack harder cointainers. Even
if you are a pure PSI user I suggest you pick the Hacking skill
instead.
Cerebro-energetic Extension
===========================
Turns your Psi-Amp into a powerful melee weapon.
With this you can get one of the strongest melee weapons in
the game. With Adrenaline on you'll be fearful.
Duration: 10 seconds per PSI.
5th lvl
*******
Advanced Cerebro-stimulated Regeneration
========================================
Regenerates lost hit points.
Use cerebro-stimulated regeneration (2nd tier) instead.
BTW, they should have added the possibility here to cure
your toxins, or even radiation levels. A shame they didn't.
Amount Healed: 5 hit points + 5 hit points per PSI.
Soma Transference
=================
Drains target non-robotic creature of hit points, and
adds those hit points to your total.
I thought this skill was crappy (it quits a poor quantity
of health), but as it ignores the Metacreative Barrier you
can do, it leaves you open to suck dry the enemies at the
other side.
Instantaneous Quantum Relocation
================================
Teleports you to a marked location. If there is no marked
location, this will set a marker at your current position.
You can clear an obsolete teleport marker by hitting Alt-T.
As my game had a bug and crashed using this skill... :_(
I guess is really handy, leaving you to return to strategic
places when you wish.
Imposed Neural Restructuring
============================
Causes a non-robotic target to become hostile toward all
non-human creatures.
It would be great if rumblers and robots came together
more frequently, but that isn't the case :-p
Duration: 10 seconds per PSI, or until damaged by a human.
Metacreative Barrier
====================
Creates a wall of psionic force directly in front of you.
A great hability that can save your butt sometimes, as
the barrier has a lot of HP. Used with Soma Transference
can give you a serious exploit.
Wall's Hit Points: 150 + 50 per PSI over 5
Duration: 4 minutes
External Psionic Detonation
===========================
Drops a psionic proximity mine. Does no damage to robots,
and double damage to psionically sensitive creatures.
A magnificent hability to pure PSI users, with this you
will able to kill a matriarch with one mine and one of
those highly annoying cyborgs with two, when lucky.
Duration: 4 minutes
Psycho-reflective Aura
======================
Protects you from 60% of all combat damage.
Now, this is a great protective skill. Use it in hard
places.
Duration: 10 seconds + 20 seconds per PSI.
Credits
_______
Looking Glass Studios for creating a so incredible game that never
gets old
GameFaqs for some helpful tips that I needed early in the game
My family and friends, because not all is gaming in this life...
