We need to talk: Psychic Bolts

[Bibliothekar]

Ever since I discovered my love for Nyx back in U7, Psychic Bolts stood out like a sore thumb. It didn't fit her kit of controlling the enemy and messing with their minds. And of all raw damage powers in this game, it was undoubtedly the weakest.

It had some use back when abilities were still mods, as you could slot it first after putting yet another Forma in her and use it to kill weakened enemies and gain frame affinity quicker. But as soon as you had enough mod energy to mod her properly, the ability would be dropped. Then they changed abilities to the current system and you couldn't do that any more. I'd use it occasionally, but it was just a waste of energy most of the time.

Then they added the augment and for the first time, the ability actually got useful (although I still miss the dancing animation). Some time later, they changed the damage type from Slash to Radiation to make it more in line with her theme - and it became a worse version of Smite, at twice the price.

Spoiler

Psychic Bolts target a handful of enemies, have a 50% chance to inflict Radiation proc, and that's it. It costs 50 energy.

Smite deals half Radiation, half Impact and has a 100% chance to inflict procs of both. On top of that, every hit enemy spawns another half a dozen projectiles that do the same as the first wave and inflict Puncture proc on top. It costs 25 energy. Something doesn't add up here ...

I'm not asking for a full rework, but please, consider to remove Psychic Bolts from Nyx' kit and give her a more useful and fitting ability. I don't know what it could be, but I'm sure that there are more than enough threads with good suggestions out there.

Edited September 7, 2016 by Bibliothekar
Spoilers, honey!

[Hixlysss]

They could tweak the bolts, make them a cycle power like ivara's arrows.

[ThePredicament]

I have always suggested three different things to make Bolts a lot better.

Just needs some more utility, like marking them ala Kavat's Sense Danger, which will give Nyx much higher situational awareness that all, if not most, frames don't even have. Not only is this great for quicker action/reaction, like being able to tell where to aim right after a reload, it would also mesh well with some weapon builds like explosives and punch through.

Another would be opening enemies up for more damage/effect, basically, in a "fear" state (like terrify), which would effect her team play, allowing stuff like status from skills last longer and take more damage from all sources.

Lastly, a guaranteed stun (head reel) when the targets are under Chaos effect.

[AM-Bunny]

If you're criticizing the flavour of the power, Absorb doesn't really fit either.

Psychic powers can really manifest in a lot of ways, so you'd be hard-pressed to find something that didn't fit with it. I mean, a popular psychic characer, the Marvel character Psylocke can create a psychic sword, so what's wrong with Psychic Bolts?

But yeah, it could definitely use a look; it's been a joke as long as I've been playing Warframe.

[Drufo]

35 minutes ago, Bibliothekar said:

I'm not asking for a full rework, but please, consider to remove Psychic Bolts from Nyx' kit and give her a more useful and fitting ability. I don't know what it could be, but I'm sure that there are more than enough threads with good suggestions out there.

This or to tweak them. In any case yes, Psychic Bolts needs to be looked at