WARNING - This thread isn’t made for new players or those that seek guidance on how to use said class, please look for proper threads regarding it such as class overviews and build guides. Design Breakdown is a design discussion thread only and has no purpose to help players on practical aspects of the game.
Starting another Design Breakdown this time not with one nor two, but three classes to cover - Pyromancer, Cryomancer and Psychokino. At first this was supposed to be a duo breakdown but it felt like Pyromancer has some points to discuss regarding Psychokino and it would miss the chance, as it is too much information to be covered (and read) there’ll be a day difference from each release and then the clash will be added later. In case this is your first time on a Design Breakdown topic go to this link for some basic information.
Psychokino - RANK 3 - ATTACK
“Psychokinos use psychokinesis to control gravity, or pull enemies and throw them around.”
A fair description for the class, the deal with Psychokino’s is to have enemies on where they want and they do that with the almost unique psychokinetic property. This makes it a damage over time and control class that works as an blend of Pyromancer and Cryomancer identities, which is one of the points to be discussed later. The theme behind Psychokino is blend of esper and magician, both variations on costumes are flamboyant as stage performers along with skills that move things around and teleportation, yet that can be arguable for the special costume.
Psychic Pressure (B) - Relief
For what this skill does it feels like it represents the failure on trying to move an object by forward, it’s a raw output of power that can’t achieve the desired goal. If that’s the case it’s a great use of the class system as it is right at the bottom of the class while Gravity Pole the real skill as it is way more refined. Something that can’t be shrugged of is how it has no particles to display the skill and even something as vague as a fog could be enough to tell something is going on.
Psychic Pressure has the same fundamental flaw as any channeling, it can be stopped when the caster is hit, and this is addressed with the stun attribute and also at the last circle with the focus one. However the stun is only relevant for mob fighting as bosses will just ignore it and for melee magic skill it is just odd to not be uninterruptible by default. The ability to change direction during channel is great and having more targets to be taken with level also sells it. Lastly it isn’t informed in the skill about the hit frequency as this kind of skill can range from hitting every 0.2 to 1 second.
Telekinesis (E) - Midground
Whenever someone thinks in psychic powers moving objects without touching them is at the top of the list, it’s something that magicians have explored over decades and brings awe, even tho it’s made brutal. Having the enemy to be isolated on a bubble is great for clarity as it restrain all enemy actions and helps to identify whom the skill is being used on, it also seems like uses visual elements found on sci-fi force fields to tie it up.
There are few things working for Telekinesis, to start things up it has a limited execution for the skill concept and also goes with 3 scaling factors as damage, hit count and duration. As usual having more hits and damage, along with a lack of floor on hit count, gives it a snowball effect where point investment output grows exponentially yet despite all that it still a terrible skill. The major and most visible issue with it is how it uses an enemy as the damage source itself which means that once it dies the skill will end, ironically by having the damage factor to increase with level it is more likely to kill the enemy in less hits instead of completing it. If that weren’t enough there are only 4 directions to redirect the enemy and along with the fixed distance the skill has it is fairly hard to pull it off as a crowd damage skill, in fact the distance is just long enough to allow enemies to avoid it and hit the user and since the movement is locked out it is impossible to run away. On the few things this skill does right is how it makes use of enemies size and how it has an option to deals extra damage when hitting an empty space, yet right now the only real use for it is to destroy a single enemy with massive damage and try to input directions as quick as possible. Lastly, there’s no way to end the skill unless by killing the snatched and this can be troublesome if the skill is used by accident or if the user don’t have enough damage to finish it of while is getting hit by hordes.
On the range possibilities this one has at least three. The most obvious one is delay any damage to the enemy to the end of the skill when hitting another foe, that alone is enough to get the skill to deal all the damage it can. Another option is to have each hit to capture an extra enemy and turn it into a skill that collect enemies to deal damage, this can even make use of AAR to limit how many enemies can be kidnapped or even use their ADR as additional AAR for the skill. Lastly it can have the mechanics revised and be changed completely, it’s possible to remove the movement input and replace it by the default Z attack as it throws the enemy directly at the targeted unit and have the assigned skill button to slam it on the ground. Regardless of the approach this skill needs more directional inputs or, if it already has them, be easier to use on the X pattern.
Swap (D) - Lead
A classic magic trick where the performer swap objects that are far from each other but here is applied on caster instead of two different elements.
It can sound weird but Swap is indeed the Lead skill as it can reposition several enemies at will, even tho the skill isn’t attractive at all as the only component is enemies to be swapped. The lack of floor makes make points more valuable but also put an invisible barrier at the entry point, even if we ignore that the skill won’t take enemies outside the targeting circle and it’s fairly hard to cram 10+ enemies on that tiny area. Being straight to the point, it will require too much effort to make this skill engaging and the only short term solution is to make the target area bigger.
Teleportation (E) - Gimmick
Just as the previous one this is also a common magic trick used on escapes, the random nature of the skill may be a way to connect it to the source as part of the performance was to surprise people showing up at unexpected locations.
Teleportation is an interesting skill but has one of the least interesting leveling factors in the game and even worse than Swap. Having the distance as the skill improvement isn’t bad but it is hard to measure it when the skill takes a random location by default and as few other skills do mention space measurements it is hard to keep track on how much it improves. The skill also doesn’t mention it can be controlled by having an input along with the cast and for a description as short as “Teleport to a random location” it isn’t an excuse to not include it. It’s another case of a skill that is cornered at a spot that makes improving it hard.
Easily one of the worst circles in wizard tree, only two skills are really functional and one is a pure gimmick. Both offensive skills can be wasted by their own mechanics being Telekinesis almost impossible to be used for anything else than bullying. Swap and Teleportation are the same skill with the slight difference that one teleports more things, it makes no sense for them to be two skills as they can easily be merged and keep the quick Teleportation for short key press.
Magnetic Force (B) - High Lead
From the thematic point this can see as another form of telekinesis focusing on moving all objects to a specific location. The skill visuals can be deceiving as it’s possible to interpret it as a lightning magic, along with the name, yet that may have been the best choice as few elements can communicate the idea effectively.
Magnetic Force is odd. It has a delayed activation that cannot be avoided as it staggers enemies that try to move then it groups them and deals damage, this creates a visual effect that feels like enemies are taking damage when they’re only being trapped in place. There are two ways to address it, one is by taking the effect away and replacing it by a slow or shock and the other one is having it to deal damage for each tilt.
Heavy Gravity (B) - Midground
Despite the fitting name the mechanics behind skill are different, here all the psychic energy is being used to push enemies towards the ground which causes deals damage and can slow them down.
This skill filled a void within the class as the damage skills were either channel or slow and Heavy Gravity does none. A weird phenomenon that happens here is when the theme tries to simulate the identity using other game elements, the whole concept of changing all enemies to ground type does that and this is something to question when analysing if it aligns with the identity or not and it gets more nebulous as Heavy Gravity and Raise cancel each other. One thing that is missed here is how the damage component doesn’t interact with flying enemies, it would be interesting to have it to deal extra damage when hitting a flying enemy (which is a single hit) and that opens up the possibility to use Raise as a damage amplifier even for a brief moment. The slow attribute is great but regarding theme but it would fit better to have it as (Mineloader card) shock instead as it also prevents jump to be performed and that matches the skill concept more.
There’s a significant improvement on how the class is played here, the previous circle has too little to offer on its own and even the utility skills perform poorly. With Magnetic Force it’s possible to pull out Swap effectively but that barely matters as the skill itself gives enough time to play around it, this change with Telekinesis as it can hit them a couple of times enemies a couple of times before they regain mobility.
Raise (C) - Grand Lead
In every single aspect this is the opposite of Heavy Gravity, even tho this skill is way older than the counterpart. The visual design takes the influence into sci-fi aesthetics on how visible force fields would be perceived in motion and it kinda works, yet it should be better to have it lighter.
All interesting points stated at the previous skill on how to deal with identity and theme apply here. Raise is a top tier debuff as it can even be removed nor dispelled and for the whole duration it gets enemies inside render useless and for rank and circle placement it is acceptable, yet they target limitation feels odd and having both r2 classes without this restrain makes it questionable and creates an overscale that isn’t really needed. It’s also odd for it to be a c3 skill with no damage on an true offensive class and even if they add it it won’t may not feel right as well, there’s this weird gap on the skill design that makes it feel like a c2 skill yet it is fairly good to be improved significantly. The easiest way to address it is by removing the target count or take it to 15 and add a new minor component that is improved with skill level or even a gimmick that can be used once per enemy.
Gravity Pole (D) - Relief
Back then when this skill used to drag enemies to the center it would be justified with the energy beam but at the current state it is nothing more than a longer Psychic Pressure.
To analyse Gravity Pole we must first understand its origins. As the name suggests this skill had an attraction effect that dragged enemies to the center and had then aligned with the beam, however that caused it to bug frequently and even crash players when used. Over time this component was slowly reduced till the point of complete removal and as result Gravity Pole became a long range Psychic Pressure that can’t be redirected. It is redundant and disappointing to have a slightly different version of a c1 skill to be added at the final circle and even the natural bind effect can be obtained with the counterpart.
Even at its prime having both skill was shady but due the later one unique use it was reasonable and that was further sustained by Psychokino’s lack of offensive power, this however was addressed over several class changes and at this point it isn’t doesn’t make sense to have this current version along with Psychic Pressure. It would work as good to change it into a range expansion attribute and get a new skill to replace it.
The last circle is concluded weirdly, Raise is a great skill but has sole use for control while Gravity Pole brings nothing new to the class as a whole aside extra channeling damage, none of them is useless but it’s hard to say they match their placement. One point to address here is how having a cloned skill allows a rotation with 20 seconds of channel for 10 seconds of downtime, it is a rather boring type of playstyle and can lose relevance later on as those skills need time to be effective and stronger skills can do more with less.
Conclusion
Psychokino is a class that is at the edge, it’s good enough to be enjoyable and useful yet it never feels complete. With skills such as Telekinesis, Teleportation and Swap, even tho those lasts two have use, it is hard to have a consistent kit where points feel well spent even when the class is taken at its final stage. It’s also ironic that the most useful skill gets an updated version at the end but also can’t be ignored as it is required to reach the circle in the first place, and as much no one is forced to take both skills the class has either hurdles or skills that aren’t interesting enough to even make players question. There’s been a recent change on it to give extra damage towards Mutants and despite being nice it isn’t something that relevant to be taken in consideration, a bonus can’t make up for design issues.
| C 1 | C 2 | C 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity | D | B | C |
| Theme | B | C | C |
| Gameplay | E | C | C |
| Cohesion | D | B | B |
| Point Distribution | D | C | D |
| Dropout | D | B | A |
The discussion doesn’t end up here. If you haven’t read Cryomancer’s and Pyromancer’s go take a look at the overall points at least as those are shorter to read and going deep on skills isn’t that necessary, it’s too much to ask to read all them so if you’re already aware of the classes just skip to the end.
and the same goes for magnetic force…