Drain Psyche?

[loyalreader]

As someone who leveled an AR/Devices blaster to 50 back on Live, I love all of the changes to blasters since I stopped playing. The sustain powers in particular make the AT much more enjoyable to play. 

 

Am I missing something with Drain Psyche though? I'm only level 24 and have this power set up with 1 acc, 2 rechrdx. I feel like it's... useless. I have to get into melee to use it, and unless I'm right on top of my targets it doesn't hit. With Psychic/Mental I'm constantly sucking wind. Also, the secondary power (end/regen drain) doesn't seem to help me in combat unlike, say, the slow in Martial/Time/Ice or the to-hit bonus in Devices. 

 

Am I slotting it wrong? Using the wrong strategy? Does it get better? 

[Coyote]

It is similar to other Sustain powers that give +Regen and +Recovery, except that it's not permanent (it can be made permanent, but it's difficult)... and with a single target in range, it's significantly weaker than normal Sustain powers. And it needs slotting for Accuracy and Recharge while most Sustain get slotted just for Healing, so it's harder to slot properly.

 

Okay, that's the bad news. The good news is that fully enhanced, for the time that it's up, it's far stronger than a normal +Regeneration/+Recovery if you hit enough targets with it. A normal Sustain slots up to around 330% Regeneration... DP is about 140% with one target (much weaker) and 1480% maxed out with 10 targets. It's hard to hit that many with a 10' radius, but it's still over 700% if you hit 5 targets with it. Without going into the numbers, you get the same effect with +Recovery, smaller with just one target and not permanent, but able to get far higher when you hit enough targets.

 

So it has a lower floor and a far higher ceiling than normal Sustains, and it's not "fire and forget" like a toggle that's always on. It does work better with builds that leverage it, for example a fully-ranged Hover Blaster will have problems using it well, while a PBAoE-centric Electric/Mental will be in the middle of mobs for Short Circuit so it would be great for them (and Rad, and probably Dual Pistols). It's more situational, but can potentially be a lot stronger.

 

As for the secondary effect, it's worthless in most situations, and amazing against AVs. -250% Regeneration that is usually up about 30 and down 10 seconds (or less) is a major debuff upon them. The -Recovery is only noticeable if paired with Electric Blast.

 

Overall, it's a very very good power, IMO the jewel of Mental Manipulation. Psy Blast doesn't play smoothly with it because Psy is all range (and with increased range to boot), while Drain Psyche only works at short range, so... not a smooth matchup. Other blast sets will do better if they have reason to get closer (PBAoE or cone attacks).

[kiramon]

It's a pretty good balance between the other sets for the reasons @Coyote mentioned. It's done well. I think its recharge/duration could use some tweaking for Blasters to be closer to perma-by default, but oh well. Or a longer duration by default. 

Edited July 21, 2020 by kiramon

[SwitchFade]

50+DP/mental here...

 

I drop bonfire, jump into melee, hit BU, hit drain psyche, then HoB, then scream, then bullet rain. Everything is dead and my health and end are always pegged at max.

 

Drain psyche, right after BU hits 6-10 MOBs, and I have massive Regen and recovery. With the recharge I have it's perm, I hit it every group. It's so powerful I am carefree and jump right in for the alpha.

 

That said, it blossoms late, post lvl 38. It needs slots, hasten and recharge, and it's best paired with a melee centric set, but once it does blossom.... Wow, it's amazing.

[loyalreader]

Thanks all. Great info. I rerolled this one as a Psi/Atomic because I wanted him to be a flying, ranged blaster (he's a human/fly hybrid for crying out loud...). I'll revisit mental with a primary set up more for blapping.

[Apparition]

4 hours ago, loyalreader said:

Thanks all. Great info. I rerolled this one as a Psi/Atomic because I wanted him to be a flying, ranged blaster (he's a human/fly hybrid for crying out loud...). I'll revisit mental with a primary set up more for blapping.

 

FWIW, Atomic is just as blappy as Mental.  Perhaps even more so.  If you want a ranged secondary, go with Tactical Arrow or Temporal Manipulation.

[Silverado]

Drain Psyche is the single power that allows me to solo AVs and GMs on my Blaster