Stellaris Is Psionic Ascension Really The Weakest?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 มี.ค. 2022
- Psionic Ascension In Stellaris is often viewed as the weakest ascension path, but is this fair? There are three ascension paths available in Stellaris; synthetic, biological and psionic ascension. How does the psychic ascension path stack up when compared to the other paths?
Lets dive in and find out!
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They should update Shroud mechanics at some point. The randomized outcomes feel like a temporary solution rather than a fully developed feature.
The way the Shroud works now should be how non spiritualist interact with the Shroud. Like a part of space that goes against logic and reasons hence why it feels like a slot machine. Whereas Spiritualist Should be able to over time take control of the shroud like teleporting armies right onto enemy worlds or having a swarm of warp beasts that attacks any thing on sight but you can choose where it spawns etc.
@@almalone3282that would be cool yeah. I usually just use mods to make psionics better and just more fun in general.
@@almalone3282 That is 100% what I have been saying.
Well, I've also been saying that the immortal chosen one trait should be better on the ruler. You'd expect it to give extra unity, or more influence than it does considering how important it is to the galaxy that someone became immortal from a realm beyond our own.
@@almalone3282 Theres a mod that adds this, Pisonic Species Expansion, it makes the psionic path even more fun (and maybe even as powerful as synthetic, but idk about that). It basically adds another shroud mechanic that allows you to alter your empire or the galaxy or other empires etc. It uses a mechanic called Psionic power as a resource. For example, if you have enough psionic power you can summon the creatures of the shroud enemy in random systems of the galaxy, excluding your own. really cool mod, makes psionic super fun
@@almalone3282 This. You are supposed to be the most faithful and closest to the dark Shroud and its horror and benefits. Maybe make it like the Menace mechanic. Start out with the Slot machine we have right now. But the more you interact with, the more goals you achieve: the more control you gain over the Shroud. Give us, simulteiniously, a God-mechanic. You can choose which Shrouded entity (or "God") you want to pursue and pray too, be faithful to. But when you gain the highest amount of control possible for a 2nd Dimension based on Chaos and Uncertainty: You become one of those Gods yourself (or atleast your leader) and can choose (depending on which path you took during your weaker phase) if you want to be benevolent Entity or an Angel of Chaos and Cosmic Horrors for the other Empires.
Psionic was always the one I went for so this is a surprise to me. I find the shroud to be a very fun game mechanic aswell as a good all around path
I agree. I also find the shroud interesting. If psionic theory popped up I always went psionic. I only went other paths if the RNG was bad.
Similar, I've done that far more often than the others.
The flesh is weak puny squishy mortal
I hate the RNG of psionic and wish it was more predictable, but asode from that I am completely committed to the God Emperor.
I love psionics, but I also hate it. I don't mind some randomness, but it is uneccessarily and wildly out of tune. You can get bonuses you want immediately or literally never.
It's definitely the most interesting!
I wish the others had more interactive elements that actually make a huge difference like it!
Like the biological eventually becoming a clone dynasty or a clone army akin to the machine revolt, or have the sinths eventually become a gestalt Empire should they wish to do so, Sooo many wasted oportunities.
The situations system is the prime opportunity to reshape some of these issues
the "sea of consciousness" and "dimension of suffering" events can also give you psionic theory. Great if you find them early in a game.
Yup. I tend to play Materialists, but i try to put a scientist with Maniacal on Society Research specifically for triggering Psionics. Technological Ascendancy is something i always pick anyway too, so that makes the trigger chance decent even for non-Spiritualists.
Never had any interest in psionics, but I found sea of consciousness very early into a game yesterday and just went down that path blindly, lol.
Personally, i love it. I go fishing for Psionics every game even though i'm usually Materialist, absolutely wonderful race-wide trait.
@@Amyante I was a materialist necrophage (not lithoid) in the process of building robotic pops when I got it. About as unlikely for psionics as it gets.
@@alaricvis09 Nice. :)
Did you have a Maniacal trait on your Society researcher, by any chance? I know that and Technological Ascendancy ups the odds of it appearing, though it's still pretty low for a Materialist.
Montu alluded to it in the video, but the thing I want to emphasize is the early power spike that Psionic Ascension offers.
Psionic is only "weakest" if you fail to take advantage of it at the time of the spike. If you sit within your own borders & wait, a materialist can eventually go Synth and surpass you.
So don't. Ascend, take your psychic admirals, and go knock him over while he's still trying to roll droids. Because by 2080 yeah, your bonuses don't compare so well to his anymore.
"surpass" not really. Honestly if one gets lucky at RNG slot machine Synths will never surpass you. Some covenants are really insanely good if you get them early - and since you are asked if you want to form them - then there is no RNG if you get such option. There 2 I like most one for Research and another job output - both covenants with combination of superior psychic traits compared to synth when it comes to governor , scientists etc totally overpower 1 dimensional but strong bonus to output from synths.
This is totally myth that Psi Ascension cannot brutally overpower Synths - it can ... it may not. Shroud gives, shroud takes.
End of Cycle is always last resort, but even if super rare and with huge consequences - Psi player always has fair chance to overpower any opponent.
just to add one thing - I'm not saying Psi ascension is faceroll ... but it is impossible to rank this ascension compared to others - since RNG can totally make each game for psionic very different in both positive or negative way. Saying it is either stronger or weaker than Synth is out of place then. Though all in all I think it is stronger with "average" RNG. As Montu mentioned there are many great benefits to psi ascension you can reap early and so it is great.
@@Mario-kf3ej It is easy for synths to surpass synths. Yes there is the events you need to complete in order to progress, but once you complete it the benefits are better than psi.
The biggest is the how becoming synth takes out the most useless resource in the game.. food. While keeping the happiness factor of a biological species.
When you have 100 pops that no longer need to work food, those pops will surpass any benefit that the shroud can give you (exception is the end of times).
Then there is the other buffs, cheap upkeep, warforms, great leaders, 100% hab (not that it matters at the point you become synth most of the time) and resource bonuses across the board.
Another big change that synths benefit from is actually the factions. Whenever a pop becomes synth, it is often forced into the materialist faction. Meaning you can easily get 80% materialist faction percent. If you keep them happy (which is easy) you will be seeing a 30% happiness boost across 80% of your empire.
@@xroin3811 1. "It is easy for synths to surpass synths" dude wtf ?
2. "The biggest is the how becoming synth takes out the most useless resource in the game.. food. While keeping the happiness factor of a biological species." - this aint actually working as you suggest - robots take other resources then and usually food is easiest to produce and pops have best yields with it.
You suggest robots suddenly are "perpetum mobile" nothing like that.
3. "when you have 100 pops not on food" ...I have literally NO idea who puts 100pops on food anyway. Even in 1k + pops empires. I will totally ignore this argument as it is just some fallacy.
4. "Then there is other buffs etc" - other buffs not including covenents from Shroud are vastly superior to synth buffs. And if you win at slot machine - you can nail bonuses like 20%research on top of research covenant ON TOP of psi researchers being already better than synth ones ...
5. "can easily get 80% materialist" ... if only I wasnt 90% + spiritualist every single time with "One Vision" - psionics are also attracted to spiritualist even without that.
But that is just icing on cake - Psi got way WAY WAY higher stability due to bonuses, buildings and superior happiness ...
Literally every single argument you used turned against you. And I'm not trying to be mean.
You literally suggesting that pops are more happy in synth empire than in Psioncs which are by default happy because trait itself for psionics boost it, not to mention psi corps, governors bonuses to stability absutelly blew my mind ... We must be playing totally different game.
I'm not saying Synths are weak , but arguments you used are actually ... PSI arguments , synths nowhere close to that.
TLDR you say "Synth pops are more happy than 100 stability 100% happiness psi people " ...ok dude ... whatever ...
If you pair this up with the clones origin it’s even stronger
While i go Psionic the most, mostly because i love playing Spiritualists, i have big issues with the shroud alot of the time you dont get anything out of it, or u get a negative, the other 2 perks dont really come with negatives (aside from Spiritualist fallen empires instantly hating you for going synthetic) i just feel with Psionic and the shroud more times then not i get a negative out of then anything worth while
You also have to pay to enter the shroud...as if adding insult to injury.
I rarely get the debuffs. But that's because I usually take blue or green choices.
The shroud is just a gamble, but if you just not use it at all, I think their are no problems you can have.
That is something that I do hope they will stay strong on. That kind of randomness is what makes it so unique and it fits with the idea of magic being risky to use. Machines are predictable.
But u can also get psi drive and shield. And that kinda early if ur lucky. And than ur fleet can be ass kicking easy.
One of the most powerful start i've had was, zroni precusor on a merchant slaver build, early shroud access and lucky enough to get psi jump drive and shields. I steamrolled very quickly it was really an enjoyable run. Every time I take psionic, I am always having a blast. Next thing to try out now is the end of the cycle :D
I once had a materialist technocracy empire get zroni origin, which is basically the only way to get psychic materialists, and it was ludicrously strong, academic privilege with psychic scientists is so much free extra tech, I was ludicrously far ahead in tech that I had titans out when others were still on tier 3/4 ships
@@Corundrom You can get psionic theory via that living ocean consciousness event chain as materialist tho. it's a bit rng, but still possible.
@@gandalf8216 i did say basically, not literally, I've literally never gotten that event in dozens of runs, but I've gotten zronii start multiple times, so realistically you're not gonna get psychic without it, unless I believe you manage to import a psychic researcher
Zroni is busted. I once rolled zroni and got the free terraforming tech via abandoned terraforming equipment, and the zro I got from colonizing the zroni colonies financed all the terraforming I could manage. I legit had like 10 planets undergoing terraforming by year 20. The unlimited early-game energy credits you can get from colonizing zroni sites make it the best precursor by far IMO
I've always like psionic ascension. I think most of the dislike for it is spiritualism. Which I think is far more viable now than formerly. And then the RNG of the Shroud. But honestly, if you're patient and take blue or green options, you'll get bonuses far more often than not. And once you've rolled a Chosen One or a good Covenant, you're golden.
Plus, people undervalue the knock-on effects of having ultra-high stability.
@Explain the fun away Well, that's like when I got the head of Zarquon as a Driven Assimilator. You can never count on it. But it's nice when it happens.
I remember running psionic games with 100% stability on every planet. And that was back before we had all of the happiness buffs we do now. It was a combination of psionic, black sites, Psi corps, 100% happiness, and various other stability buffs I could get. My economy made the game feel easy.
Psionic is not linked to spiritualism. The RNG is the biggest problem.
"... If you're patient..."
"...Once you've rolled a chosen one..."
These are issues for a structured game. Rolling up an empire with Inward Perfection for the purpose of swapping out of it trough the chosen one is such a risky move. You only get 1 shot at rolling the chosen one with 50/50 odds of getting it. If you then don't roll it your game-plan is gimped.
The same thing with the tech trough the shroud, if you are unlucky you might not see the techs for psi jump drive and psionic shields in 200 years.
Even worse, the associated precursor is the rarest in the game while also being the most prone to getting it's chained events jumped to inaccessible terrain.
------------
A lot of stars need to line up for the psionic fantasy to be achieved.
I once got a Chosen One admiral and decided to do everything in my power to make him the beefiest man in the galaxy. I would literally micromanage wars, switching him from fleet to fleet to make sure he racked up as many victories as possible. By the end of the game, he had: Chosen One, gale-speed, engineer, aggressive, unrelenting, cautious, trickster, dragonslayer, and caravan counter(or whatever that one is called). He still didn’t make a monumental impact on a fleet when he was in command, and I definitely would’ve gained more power by letting other admirals gain levels and perk alongside him. But it was a really fun side project while I painted the map.
@@Deshiba The wiki says the Chosen One event can only happen once, but I am 100% certain I’ve failed it and got another chance in several games. Idk if they changed that, the wiki is wrong, or the game sometimes bugs and starts the event again, but I’m positive I’ve done it a few times.
I would love to see the custodian team revisit the ascension paths because all three could use some tweaks. All o them have issues. I think synth ends up on top so handily because it's got the best of everything. Pop growth. Resource output, more colonization options, can eek out more with customization, but customization isn't required. Bio gets hammered hard by needing way too much micro. psionic gets hit by RNG with the shroud and not have enough of either pop growth bonuses or having resources production bonuses that offset it, while not being tied to stability.
Granted, psionic has gotten better. I want to say they've recently boosted psycorp buildings, since I don't think the jobs there always boosted resource production directly by 5%. So the telepath jobs are really solid right now because you get the unity, resource production boon and on high pop worlds, you'll want the crime reduction they bring.
Bio is great on Necrophage Lithoids. Basically 100% habitability on everything, Necrophage all species other than 1 to breed. So you only need to manage 2 species, the rest are purged.
The biggest problem with psionic is that while the otehr two come from techs that eventually show up if you follow the path, getting psionics is up to RNG even at the start, you can get it very late or super early and the fact the only thing that makes the shroud good is tied to precursos which are quite random... Is frustrating. Getting the Zroni as a materialist/synth is the absolute most frustrating thing
I've always sworn by psionics, the shields, jump drives, and combat computer are so good, and it's definitely the go to for a tall build, especially now with tall builds being far more powerful.
I think you can rip out shields and jump drives from spiritualists FE as well
@@Toxic_bnnuy no. you can't steal their tech.
@@colejosephalexanderkashay683 who said anything about stealing? WE ONLY REVERSE ENGINEER WITH OVERWHELMING FIREPOWER
What's powerful about being spiritualist is that you get an extra industrial district on your homeworld. In combination with masterful crafters that's an additional building slot for free.
how is that powerful? XD
@@Asraeks it saves you a lot of time
@@Multichar getting all that ascention perks then researching those special projects etc saves you time in getting 20 build slots on your capital?
@@Asraeks yes but I was talking about the spiritualist ethic. To get more building slots you have to build a city district which takes a lot of time to build or if you have masterful crafters you have to build 3 industrial districts which take the same time (480 days I think) to build. That's why being spiritualist is so good with masterful crafters because you not only get an extra industrial district which takes 480 days to build but you ALSO get a free building slot which would've taken you another 480 days to build too. By going spiritualist you're saving 960 days of building and in competitive MP that's a huge advantage.
My brother in God just click "build Industrial district" lmao
Fantastic video as always Montu! My only wish for psionic assencion is that either the shroud was less RNG or that you could get zombies for more pop growth.
Just build robots, the only penalty spiritualists get is -5 happiness from the spiritualist faction. Your pops should already be at the max happiness bonus even with the -5, so just do it anyway.
This has always been my favorite ascension path narratively, I just wish there were more interesting mechanics. The passive benefits of Psionic leaders, pops, and the psi-corps buildings are nice, but the Shroud itself is kinda lackluster. As it is, you're essentially just waiting for the chance to pay a few thousand credits to take a spin on the slot machine. It would be much cooler if you could interact with the shroud to have unique effects, like creating shrouded worlds that would further boost the effectiveness of psionic pops, or other effects like that.
The best way to buff psionics is to make the Shroud more accessible. My idea for it is to allow the Shroud to be accessed after the mind over matter ascension path but make it more expensive, then make it more reliable after Transcendence. After MoM, you could access the Shroud, but it’d be for a higher energy cost, say, 2500 energy. The boons would also be a bit worse and there’d be no option to get a covenant, chosen one, or psi techs. Then when you get transcendence, you gain access to a job which creates zro and the ability to influence the shroud events. You could spend zro to specifically look for a psi tech, a covenant, etc., but it’d cost more the more specific you get. As well, the cooldown should be able to be shortened with zro. Even the possibility of simply renewing a boon instead of going into the shroud again, but with a higher fail chance each time.
Amazing video. Precise and to the point!
I came across an event recently where you basically find a portal to wherever the Event Horizon went, a place of pain and horror. I opted to close it and got the research options of both Psionics and Psionic Shields nice and early.
Thanks Montu!
I've said for a while, I don't think it's a good way to think of the Psionic, Biological, and Synthetic ascension paths as worst to best. Rather, it's most to least intense. Synthetic is the best IF you have the time and spare engineering to get the techs to support it, take the perks, do the massive engineering research twice to first cyborg and then roboticize your population, and then reconfigure your economy to ditch all the food and get more energy and minerals. But that's a LOT of work, and often times, you win or lose the game before you are in a position to do that. Psionic's main strength is nothing more than it's the cheapest and easiest ascension path to do, and if you're in trouble early, you might need that power sooner rather than later.
When it comes to the Chosen One trait, it is not worth messing up the whole build when the option to reform the empire is presented.
When the list of candidates for the Chosen One is presented you can check the list of your leaders to see who is the potential Immortal and make your choice accordingly.
During one of my runs the list of candidates did not include the current ruler of the empire but it did include the heir to the throne. The heir successfully became the Chosen One
and when the emperor died he ascended to the throne as the new immortal emperor. And because I was running Imperial Authority from the very beginning the option to reform
my empire did not present itself.
It's worth it when you are specifically going for it trough Inward Perfection. However doing that in and off itself is a gamble with the 50/50 chance of rolling the chosen one.
I know they would still like to take a look at Psionic, time allowing, but I've always felt Psionic needs to compete by getting more out of existing pops rather than growing or building new ones like Synth and Bio do. I hope that is kept.
Yer, Psi should be about being tall and having great pops, quality over quantity. They should get immortal leaders if you ask me, and a bigger production bonus, no pop growth though! Maybe all leaders are just dead elders, that lead your people through the shroud, or something like that?
Montu has transcended
Don't forget the Psionic jump drives and shields.
And precognitive computers.
I love playing Materialist and oh boy its tricky but it's so nice to finally unlock this down the track
Good vid! Also, I completely forgot about the civic swap, which is actually a really powerful benefit if you set your empire up correctly to utilize it.
How I play psionic however, is I always go neutral on psionic-materialist scale and then go for synths anyway. The big weakness of the build you presented here is not getting the pop assembly, but if you are not spiritualist, there's no need to actually limit yourself in regards to those. You can still build synths with that sweet +15% output (+5% from synth trait, +10% from synth tech) and then stack all those crazy psionic ascension stability and productivity bonuses on top of that to get both a good growth speed and the most productive pops in the game. Also, if you go for synths + psi mix, you can mix-and-match combat computers to suit your needs and similarily mix-and-match synth and psi leaders. Some synth leaders are better than psi simply because they don't usually die of old age, so you can benefit from always having 10th lvl leaders.
While this is true, I hate that if I try to go spiritualist synths they rebel as you can't give synths citizen rights, so you really can't get that extra synth tech.
@@williamschubert4819 True. That's why I don't go spiritualist. Still, if you go regular spiritualist, not fanatic, you can still go for synths, just some of your pops will be somewhat unhappy.
I’m took psionic for the first time (never went down any three) today, and it’s very helpful when working with the ACOT mod
Yes Inquisitor,this video right here...
Great video Montu! Thanks,bi actually love playing psyonic, even if the RNG gets annoying sometimes..I also like playing spiritualist (yeah I'm dumb I know) and like unity builds. I do miss making robots at times but having psyonic armies mind flaying the defense troops. 😊
damn montu you've created a psionic awakening with this video
I was not aware of the psi Corp building's resource bonus!
I did not know about the chosen one event chain. kwisatz haderach play through here I come.
I just like the rng behind the shroud with the ship components.
Thank you, I will try it next time I make a new empire
Thanks! Now do a detailed guide on biological ascension and how to best micro-manage the pops. ^^
NOOOOOO, Montu is revealing my secret Covenant of Zarqlan build. xD
Starting Inward Perfectionist and playing all passive with my friends and then swapping out with the Chosen One and going from Tall to Wide.
For me, it's all about the flavor of what fits with the civ's lore I'm playing with. Also when I need variety. The Psi admirals, the psi combat computer, the better shields all add up. Synthetic admirals are nothing to sneeze at either, but precognition does defeat thinking at the speed of light like a synth, being defeated before the synth can even make their move. With friends, we also play with the "fix" that allows a psionic to form the End of the Cycle pact, since it's so rare. Plus the 'Reckoning' isn't nearly as powerful as it used to be, most of its power is in shields, quick retrofits and boom, you're all set.
It may be a bit of a smaller video, but I'd like to see you talk about the Shroud Covenants more. Going over when each one of them is the best option and ways you can abuse the terms of the Covenant to get extra value.
All what psionic asscension needs guaranted chance (at first perk) to has Zroni precursors and more chances to take Head of Zarkan.
And addition options at new psionic enclave.
Psionic ascension is weaker generally, but I feel that the jump drives, if you can get them, bring it back into making a decision instead of one being *just smarter*.
Further, if you get Psionic Theory very early on by a lucky roll, it's very good for unlocking your dragon quickly since you don't need a follow-up research to finish the ascension path.
Psi :faster and easy but random
Synt : xenos love this but eat so much alloys and time to do it
Bio: good bye social techs and free time, full micro and go to perfect pops for all of your planets
Psionic ascension is my favourite path, by far. I just wish it wasn't locked behind the psionic theory research, I've had games where that didn't show up until way into the late game!
@FUQ CENSORSHIP STASI buts it’s still possible? I got it on fanatic materialists before
@FUQ CENSORSHIP STASI the chance doesnt actually multiply. the multipliers add together to determine the overall. its not 2x2x2x2x2x0 its (2+2+2+2+2+2+2+0)x1 if you dont have any bonuses to it(not having maniacle or psionic) its just 0x1. actually that statement is wrong. the x0 statement is actually a all must be true statement containing a all must be false statemement that means the person cant be psionic expert or maniacle
@FUQ CENSORSHIP STASI i realized my mistake and fixed it. the 0x modifier is on a situational basis. it is on a set of if all are true. one of them is materrialist and the other is not filling a bunch of things including researcher with maniacle make it so its not 0x i regullarly play materialist psionic
@FUQ CENSORSHIP STASI you learn how coding works and actually do your research
i wonder how much of a difference psionic ship components make when it comes to fleet design, (i guess that can also include all other non-standard components from crisis or leviathans), because psionic shields are the most powerful.
And precognitive interface has by far the best tracking for our battleships.
Yes Commisar, this video right here...
montu, in the last playthrough you promised to show the build through spiritualists, I hope that psionics will be your way
Despite being an almost Psionic exclusive player.
I agree that it is absolutely the worst. Especially since it is based entirely on RNG and things just going right.
In the last 3 games I've played I've had only 1 boon, I've had 7 emperors killed with shroud incursions, and I've had several failed psionic entities that result in incursions.
I almost exclusively play with a mod that increases my luck, or outright prevents negative events from the shroud. The RNG is absolutely atrocious for something like this. The curses are extremely damaging and the boons rarely help. (Aside from that sweet, sweet research, and naturally that evasion, or sunlight speed boond are hella nice. But everything else doesn't help me specifically much.)
Reason I play Psionic is because it's the most enjoyable part for me. Sometimes I can get that extra fleet power, or a powerful soldier that helps. Sometimes if RNG Jesus is looking down on me, he can bless me with the Immortal trait.
I never go for the covenants because I simply don't like playing with them. Sometimes I spice it up tho.
Kinda wished that the spiritualist ethic lowered negative effect chances by 5% and 10% tbh. Or a civic existed that helps with luck with the shroud.
Lol after I got four negatives/curses in a row from the Shroud, I assented into a save spammer. Always enter the Shroud right after a save and if the roll is crap, reload the game.
But but end of the cycle! This is the way
Telepath jobs could reduce empire size instead of or in addition to the crime benefit (or the Unity one, frankly, depending upon balance needs)--could be really interesting, and with adding a way to spend (maybe unity/influence) currency to "push" the Shroud RNG a particular favored direction, it might be just that little push needed to close the gap many at least feel there is between Psionic and the other 2 ascensions.
Having a ton of psionic pops is great, like, the amount of energy credits you can generate with a wide empire is surreal.
Going Psionic is the only way to get my favorite ending. The End of the Cycle.
If you survive the initial collapse, you get a hilarious -1000 diplomacy with everyone for "Doomed us all"
master crafters + aquatic + prosperous unification strikes again!
I absolutely love the psionic playstyle, even more than i love tech rush XD
After watching your technocracy rush video, I have two words for you: Holy Robots.
its my favorite one, but I didn't know about the bonuses psi corps gives, wow
What a coincidence... I've just started my first psionic playthrough as I found this channel, as this is uploaded
I hope it helps!
@@MontuPlays I got stuck between Raiders and a fallen empire, playing tall isn't actually so bad with a Peaceful, Fanatic spiritualist empire with access to the shroud!
Nice video, but you missed one of the biggest boons of psychics. Namely the special psychic ship shields they get. They almost double your shield hp, which gives you a massive decisive advantage over everyone else. Seriously in my present game, with a non-optimised fleet I am butchering everything because of those super shields, they are major. Also in terms of defences you might want to take another took at regen hulls as these have now changed in this version. All regen hulls give a fixed percentage heal a month, rather than healing a fixed number. This is a rather large deal with say a juggernought with lots of slots, as they really can heal almost as fast as they are taking damage if you set them up right, it is a huge change good sir to the meta. By the way love your video series, best broadcaster on this game for strategy and by a large margin. Would love to see you do a fresh video on building ship defences as the meta has changed a lot (regen hulls are really now much more worth it) and psychic shields really is so good it needs a larger mention. Warm wishes.
My quickest time on the psionics path was when I stumbled onto the zroni plot while a fanatic spiritualist
I had a long time ago an event after psionic ascension that a big ship (or some sort) came from the shroud and it was really powerfull
You dont need the evasion boon from the shroud, you can get an empire modifier called flagellating movement from an anomaly for another +5% that gets them to 89%, and a tiny bit of excess energy can get you to 90% evasion destroyers
would love to see a video on the mechanics of the mods gigastructural engineerings endgame crisis blokkats and the katzenland and flusiones cant find informative video anywhere
Balance brought to the like button
The Chosen One also technically works with Fanatic Purifiers and the like I believe. (I just have not had the time to fully ts this.)
Of course the spiritualist boosted ascension perk is gonna require belief in RNGesus. Some strong points you're preaching here, either way.
Aaaaaall my empires are pretty much psionically ascended. I just find it so thematic and fun. The only thing I dislike about it is how much of a gamble the Shroud chances are. I tend to not be a fan of RNG-based things, so I wish it would get a rework that isn't overpowered. *Coughs* Synthetic ascension...
I like being spiritualist so I always take this ascencion. Also some Shroud benefits/bonuses are realy good. From tech you can get not only Psi Jump Drive but Psi Shield (best shields in game) and Precognitive System that are almost good as Sapient System. Also you can say Psionic are good agains Contingency because they are immune from their infiltration and Precognitive system are immune to Ghost Signal. Also sometimes Shroud can give you Psionic Awatar... sometimes as Army member or as Fleet member.
But this Shroud bonuses are very powerfull If you got Zron precursor relic... more positive and more ofter Shroud bonuses? I think I get because of that maybe 3 bonuses.
bio engineering or mechanical spec pops leaves a lot to be desired for since you can not set which pop should fill in the job slot. u can influence it but never have the exact pop in the desired slot.
My latest Psionic playthrough was a blast because the leaders and jump drives make everyone ludicrously fast.
I'd like to see how well those evasion destroyers actually fare against meta fleets. Not just artillery battleships, but also mixed fleets with carriers.
The Crown of Saint-Louis de France? In your best build videos? Mmmokay... But they'll need to add a "Big Blue Blob" achievement to the game, also.
I really like psionic for it's military applications. It gives you a nice science boost, so your ships are always powerful, and gives you the best components for your ships, which is very nice for militaristic empires.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD!!!!
Love the Chaos gods there.
I know it would be overpowered, but I would love to be able to mix psionics, cyborgs and some genetic engineering (I know how to cheese the game to get myself psionic cyborg.. but its hard)
I don't play with mods, but I would love to simulate stuff like from star wars or warhammer 40k
Tell me how to achieve what you have achieved
I made an empire that's supposed to be the ethereals from XCOM. Gave them Syncretic Evolution so they could have mutons as soldiers and labor (it was the only way to guarantee it). But it really needs access to all three ascension paths to be accurate, in order to make versions of all the other units.
It would be cool if you were able to mix two of the ascension paths together by not fully committing to either, ex: mix mind over matter and the flesh is weak, but you cannot get transcendence or synthetic evolution or any of the bio perks.
@@slitherthewizardofwither6959 well its a bit complicated... so here I go. First I went with fanatic materialist for extra research (doesn't matter), then I was praying to get psionic theory via research or event... after that I build robots on almost all of my planets and was waiting for the robot uprison chain event to start... after that I moved all robots on one planet so when the uprison starts it will be only there. Then I'll wait some time for robots to assimilate the population on that planet. THEN (and only after then) I'll beat the uprising and I'll have my spiece WITH cyborg trait... then you have to apply that template on all of your population and after that you'll take the mind over matter and transcendance...
ofc you can be smart and give one of your small planets to robot assimilator (your neighbour) and he will assimilate them and you should be able to use that template even if you don't have any of that pop in your empire.
I manage to do this with clone army and the it was SO busted!!!
there should be an easier way, but I don't know about it :/
@@tom_mirom Thank you so much this is awesome and I can't wait to use this
I have a obsession with mix matching army so I have the strongest armies in the game
As well as collecting them like Pokemon
Psionic Ascension has always been my fav
While it is good i do hope they rework psionics one day, maybe giving it a progression mechanic similar to the crisis or archeology. Maybe with a special path for materialists psionics
For Chaos! Chaos is strong! Death to the false Emperor!
Really should develop this ascension path. It has so much potential.
Usually early bonuses are better and more snowbally than later game bonuses. So yeah, thx for the shift in perspective.
You can go down the Psionic Ascension path as a Materialist/Fanatic Materialist if you get the Zro as your precursor.
Tuna people -> psychic space fish -> worship of a Dark God from Beyond -> become the crisis -> star-eating warp-fueled fish mutants?
Nice
I personally really like the psi path and I have gone for it more than any of them but it's nice to see someone saying it isn't ass for once.
The thing I like about going psionic is it's the only way to remove otherwise unremovable civics. I had a really fun Clone Army/Barbaric Despoiler run once, using that civic to get the extra pops I needed to supplament the limited clone pops. Then eventually went for god emporer and god rid of despoiler when it's usefulness had ended. Thinking of doing that again with a gaia seeder start. Anyways the big downside to this is the massive dependence on RNG. You pretty much want to restart until you get the Zroni precursor because without that relic to shave 50% off shroud dive cool downs..... PAIN.
You can use the mod "known precesstor" to insure that you will get the right one all the time)
Declaring the galactic imperium can actually change normally unchangeable civics too, I also did a barbaric despoilers run and removed it in the late game.
I just take it in order to get "the chosen one" event and recreate Dune/Warhammer 40k, immortal emperor and repression included.
You forgot Psi Shields as well. Another huge benefit.
I just love my fanatic materialist psionic megacorps build where we scientifically proof that the shroud abs magic exist
All hail the Shroud! All hail Transcendence!
Psionic is my favorite ascension path. I most often play this way. But I never get it started before 2280 without the Zroni! I would genocide many xenos to get started in the 2220s.
Montu: Gets Psionic Theory in 2230
Me: Still waiting for Psionic Theory in 2280 with a maniacal researcher and a spiritualist empire
Post note: Having a planet with Shroudwalker Teacher decision on it also increases the chance of it coming up, by x2.
The problem isn’t that The Shroud is random. It is that you cannot choose to allocate resources to reduce the randomness. You don’t have the option of throwing something very valuable at the issue, such as allocating one of your scarce Capital Planet Building slots to a Shroud Studies Institute, or running an Edict, or assigning a Science Leader as a Shroud Incursionist.
That’s different from the Tech card system, where you can indeed allocate resources to mitigating the randomness.
Love Psionic one of my favorites. Shroud could use some work.
Summary: I like psionic the most, i want spacemarines & psionic combined and thank you for vid.
When i go psionic, i choose shroud origin and i just love the flexibility of 1 free ascension perk slot(usually saving this up for become the crisis perk as joker game winner) and easy/early adaptation of psionic. Whatsmore, i am playing singleplayer vanilla game without any mods, and if i am in bad shape, i do the save&load trick as embedded cheat. Other ascensions are very good , however in psionic, there are covenants, regular bestows, free avatar fleets (save&load cheat part) and there is a chance for good events to buff our planets permanently. As a warhammer fan, i wish there was a way to mix a bit of cybernetic modifications and DNA remapping along with psionic path, just the initial steps would suffice you know what i mean =). For our content creator, it is very training, entertaining and updated series of quality work, i love the initial edits and references of your videos, please keep up the good work and keep us updated. Sorry for long post, thank you.
FOR THE DARK GODS!!!
Hello, are you making some mining robots for this ascension?
"Oh shit, it's Tzeentch."
- me every time I come across the Whisperers in the Void
You're doing a great job and granted I disagree on some things. You have given me ideas on trying different things. I think psionic has the most role-playing and fleshed out. Like becoming the crisis as a non psionic just seems strange. And they seem to get more events the shroud for one. I also think it's the best as far as natural bonuses without having to micromanage and specialize pops for certain tasks. That being said it can be an absolute pain to pop psionic theory to research.
It is curious because actually I am just finishing my first psionic campaign haha. Yeah I liked the bonus and also i picked enigmatic engineering ascension perk so noone else can steal my jump engine and techs and I was playing tall with subterfuge for most of the game until late game wich kinda work pretty well
It's the most fun but least consistent. Therefore weakest
I like the negatives that show up. It makes it distinct. But the positives should be bumped up to compensate, maybe? Maybe a forced chosen one as the first person to breach the shroud too?
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD SKULLS FOR THE-
ahen sorry, automatic reaction seeing the thumbnail.
What was this video about again?
I like psionics, it was always my favorite ascension. The shroudwalker really cheeses it too, because the origin excludes a bunch of civics and whatnot but those limits are for selecting the origin so I guess you can just reform in game and go technocrasy if you can conquer some materialists. I got technocratic materialists on year 20 and by year 30-40 the spiritualist faction disbanded and I had 30% materialists and 0 spiritualist. So it takes the right conditions but really awesome to techrush with psychics, I think they draw better techs too.
I only go for it either when bored or I’m making another try for end of cycle
Dang, I'm sad I missed that EU4 sale
I have NEVER seens Psionic Theory appear as a normal R&D project, Synth being much the same with Positronic AI. However, I have gotten Theory several times from the Living Sea chain, and once as an Archeology result. As a regular Bio empire, technocratic admittedly, Maniacal Scientist, Techno Ascendancy, +3 bonus research choices, it gave me only three t3 social tech choices total and no theory twice in a row, then adding in t4 stuff.