Psionic Disciplines

In System Shock 2, Psionic Disciplines or Psi Powers, are abilities that the Soldier uses to cause a variety of effects in the game. Some Disciplines are offensive, some defensive, some affect the player's statistic or skill values, some result in status effects, and others provide some other special ability. Psionic Disciplines require the player to wield a Psi Amp to use, depend on Psionic Ability statistic (or PSI) and consume Psi Points when activated.

Since Psionics fills the same role that magic does in a fantasy RPG, Psionic Disciplines correspond to individual spells. Carrying this analogy through shows that the Psi Amp fills the role of a wand, Psi Points like magic points or spell points, and Psi Tiers like spell levels.

New Psionic Disciplines are unlocked at Psi Upgrade Units using Cybernetic Modules.

Tiers

Psionic Disciplines are grouped into five Tiers, or levels. The number of the Tier equals the number of Psi Points required to activate any particular Discipline from that Tier. That is, Tier Four Disciplines require four Psi Points to use. Each Tier contains seven Disciplines, giving a total of 35 available Disciplines in the game.

Prior to acquiring any new Psionic Discipline, the player must have also unlocked the Tier to which that Psionic Discipline belongs. This is also done at Psi Upgrade Units, and costs the same number of Cybernetic Modules as a Discipline for that Tier. Tier unlock upgrades are not Disciplines, and have two passive effects: They make it possible to unlock Psionic Disciplines at that Tier, and they provide a permanent increase in Psi Points equal to twice the level number. Thus, unlocking Tier Five increases maximum Psi Points by ten (2 × 5). Tiers need not be unlocked in order, or at all.

After training, all O.S.A. Agents start with Tier One and Tier Two unlocked, along with the Projected Cryokinesis Discipline and any two of the other six Tier One Disciplines.

Overloading

Some Psi Disciplines can be overloaded to increase their effectiveness, by holding down the left mouse button. A progress bar will appear in the center of the screen, filling as you continue to hold the mouse button. Once it reaches the yellow box at the right side of the bar, release the button and the Psi Power will be cast with a bonus of +2 to your PSI stat, to a maximum effective PSI of 10 (however, for that the player needs to have PSI 8 before casting).

The overload bar

Missing the yellow box by releasing too early uses the Psi Power at its normal level. Releasing too late causes Psi Burnout. The Power will fail, and you take damage unless you've installed the Power Psi O/S Upgrade or you have high enough PSI (only 8 is wholly safe though). The progress bar moves faster for higher Tier Psi Disciplines, increasing the difficulty of overloading. It is worth noting that upgrading the PSI stat also makes the yellow overload box bigger, easing overloading.

Cybernetic Module costs

The cost of any Psi Upgrade Unit item depends on the Tier and difficulty level. The cost of any given Tier is the floor of one-and-two-thirds times the cost of the next Tier down. That is, a Tier Two upgrade costs one-and-two-thirds times what a Tier One upgrade costs, rounded down. Tier Three the same with respect to Tier Two, and so on. These values are then scaled according to the difficulty level.

Difficulty level versus Tier impact on Psi Upgrade costs (in Cybernetic Modules)

	T1	T2	T3	T4	T5
Easy (×0.85)	2	4	6	10	17
Normal (×1.00)	3	5	8	12	20
Hard (×1.4)	4	6	11	16	27
Impossible (×1.8)	5	8	14	21	35

While there are technically enough Cybernetic Modules in the game to obtain all 35 Psionic Disciplines, the cost on Hard and Impossible would be over half of them. As a result, few players opt to get every Psionic Discipline.

Psionic Disciplines by type

Offensive Disciplines

These are the Disciplines that cause damage to others.

	Tier	Base dmg.	Dmg. type	Notes
Projected Cryokinesis	1	3 + PSI	Cold
Localized Pyrokinesis	2	5 per 2 sec.	Incendiary	Follows player when active ; AoE: 5 + PSI ft. ; duration: 7 + 8×PSI sec. ; does not cancel Photonic Redirection if activated first ; renders player immune to incendiary damage
Projected Pyrokinesis	3	5 + 2×PSI	Incendiary
Cerebro-Energetic Extension	4	18	Standard	Smasher adds 6 to its basic damage
Soma Transference	5	10 (+5×PSI for each PSI >5)	Special	Harms organic enemies only (except Swarms) ; transfers HP to player's HP pool ; PSI cap is 10 instead of 8
External Psionic Detonation	5	30	Psionic	Area of Effect of 10 ft.

Defensive Disciplines

These reduce damage from a variety of sources.

	Tier	Dmg. Reduction	Dmg. Types	Notes
Psycho-Reflective Screen	1	15%	All	20 sec. + 30×PSI sec.
Neural Decontamination	2	80%	Radiation absorption	10 sec. + 5×PSI sec. Does not reduce accumulated dose
Energy Reflection	3	50%	Energy	20×PSI sec.
Neural Toxin-Blocker	3	100%	Toxin absorption	10 sec. + 5×PSI sec. Does not reduce accumulated dose
Metacreative Barrier	5	Fixed barrier	All	Barrier HP is 150 (+ 50×PSI for each PSI >5) ; PSI cap is 10 instead of 8
Psycho-Reflective Aura	5	60%	All	10 sec. + 20×PSI sec.

Healing Disciplines

These Disciplines directly refill the player's Hit Point pool.

	Tier	HP	Notes
Cerebro-Stimulated Regeneration	2	2×PSI (instant)	PSI cap is 10 instead of 8
Advanced Cerebro-Stimulated Regeneration	5	5 + 5×PSI (instant)	PSI cap is 10 instead of 8
Soma Transference	5	10 (+ 5×PSI for each PSI >5) (instant)	PSI cap is 10 instead of 8 ; must target an organic enemy (except Swarm)

Status Disciplines

Self-targeted

These Disciplines affect player stats that are used in a variety of calculations. In most RPGs these would be called "buffs".

	Tier	Statistic	Degree	Duration	Notes
Neuro-Reflex Dampening	1	Ranged weapon kickback	-100%	60 + 20×PSI sec.
Psychogenic Agility	1	Agility	+2	120 + 60×PSI sec.
Psychogenic Cyber Affinity	1	Cybernetic Affinity	+2	60 + 30×PSI sec.
Anti-Entropic Field	2	Weapon decondition rate	-100%	10 + 20×PSI sec.	Ranged weapons
Adrenaline Overproduction	2	Melee weapon damage	×(0.13×PSI2 + 1)	10×PSI sec.
Psychogenic Strength	2	Strength	+2	120 + 60×PSI sec.
Recursive Psionic Amplification	2	Psionic Ability	+2	10 + 10×PSI sec.	Psi Point costs doubled when active
Photonic Redirection	4	Player visibility	-100%	5 + 5×PSI sec.	Prevents Cameras and all enemies (except SHODAN and her avatars) from detecting the player
Psychogenic Endurance	4	Endurance	+2	120 + 60×PSI sec.
Remote Circuitry Manipulation	4	Cybernetic Affinity and Hacking	Set at 0.5×PSI (round up)	One hack attempt	Inherent Hack/CYB, Hack software & O/S Upgrades are ignored ; allows ranged Hacking ; PSI cap is 10 instead of 8 (although 9 is enough)

Non-self targeted

These Disciplines cause status effects to others. In many RPGs these would be called "debuffs".

	Tier	Effect	Degree	Duration	Notes
Remote Electron Tampering	1	Decrements XERXES alert timer	5 + 5×PSI sec.	Instant	PSI cap is 10 instead of 8
Psionic Hypnogenesis	3	Calmed status	Hybrids, Cyborgs, Arachnids	20×PSI sec.	Immediately cancelled if damage taken
Photonic Redirection	4	Enemy awareness	0%	5 + 5×PSI sec.	Prevents Cameras and all enemies (except SHODAN and her avatars) from detecting the player
Electron Suppression	4	Paralyzed status	Only pure Mechanical	3×PSI sec.	Not interrupted by damage ; doesn't affect SHODAN and SHODAN avatars
Imposed Neural Restructuring	5	Charmed status	Hybrids, Cyborgs	10×PSI sec.	Will attack any non-human entity (i.e., not players) ; immediately cancelled by damage from a human entity

Other Disciplines

These Disciplines cause a variety of effects.

	Tier	Description	Duration	Notes
Kinetic Redirection	1	Pulls targeted object towards player	2×PSI sec.	PSI cap is 10 instead of 8 ; item speed is 60
Molecular Duplication	3	Chance to duplicate one "clip" of a consumable inventory item ; consumes Nanites	Instant	Chance is (30 + 10×PSI) % ; Nanite cost is the normal difficulty hacked Replicator cost ; cannot duplicate Psi Hypos ; can replicate Psi Boosters and Worm Clusters
Electron Cascade	3	Charges any energy-powered weapon or item	Instant	Adds 20×PSI % charge, up to maximum charge allowed by Maintenance skill
Enhanced Motion Sensitivity	3	Shows nearby enemies on minimap	30×PSI sec.
Remote Pattern Detection	4	Shows specific items on minimap	60×PSI sec.	Doesn't show all types of items
Molecular Transmutation	4	Converts one "clip" of inventory items into Nanites	Instant	Amount recovered depends on PSI, amount of clip consumed, and an item-specific factor ; PSI cap is 10 instead of 8 ; may produce more Nanites per clip than the Recycler, but the Psi Point cost matters
Instantaneous Quantum Relocation	5	Teleports to a designated point on the current map	Instant	First use designates destination, second use teleports, clearing the marker

See also

• Tier One
• Tier Two
• Tier Three
• Tier Four
• Tier Five
• Psionic Ability