Vanerin's Guide to Psionics

After a long day there was nothing more she wanted than to have a drink and relax for the night. The Sotted Sow was, by reputation, a bar for the rough and criminal of the non-human population. But at three in the morning, it was her only choice. With the hood of her long cloak pushed back Aara walked in through the doors and sat down at a corner table. An angry looking goblin boy was at the table a moment later.

With a little smile Aara headed up the stairs to her room. After entering the chamber and closing the door she glanced back at the entrance. The door glowed briefly and then clicked. Laugh quietly to herself Aara knew that her rest tonight would be undisturbed.

The psionic is a master of mental combat. They do not rely on physical strength or the edge of a weapon. Their primary ability is the power of their mind by the manipulation of ethereal energy. Forsaking the way of the spell book, the psionic has a somewhat smaller repertoire of usable spells. These spells, however, are always ready to be used and powerful in there application. Such as viewing places through others eyes, powerful area attacks and the psionic's ability to change their appearance to look like an object. The mental discipline of the psionic is unimaginable to the average laymen and this edge is what makes them deadly. Having spent ten long years in study, young psionic's are ready to leave their boring monasteries in search of adventure.

Psionic Proficiencies

Proficiency Name	School	Complexity
DAGGER	Weapon	1%
HAND TO HAND	Combat	1%
HIDE	Technical	30%
MACE	Weapon	1%
MAGICAL ITEMS	Mystical	5%
MEDITATION	Mystical	40%
WHIP	Weapon	1%

Psionic Spells

Spell Name	School	Complexity
BAR	Thought	22%
CANCELLATION	Thought	92%
DESCRIBE	Thought	0%
DISRUPT SIGHT	Thought	30%
DOMINATION	Thought	30%
ESP	Thought	14%
FLOAT	Thought	8%
FORCE FIELD	Thought	7%
FORGET	Thought	85%
INDUCE AGGRESSION	Thought	44%
IRRITATION	Thought	15%
KNOCK	Thought	22%
MEMORY DRAIN	Thought	65%
MENTAL DISRUPTION	Thought	88%
MESMERIZE	Thought	50%
MIMIC	Thought	30%
MIND SHIELD	Thought	56%
NULLIFICATION FIELD	Thought	91%
PENSE	Thought	4%
SENSORY ENHANCEMENT	Thought	34%
SPOOK	Thought	40%
TELEKINETIC BASH	Thought	30%
TELEKINETIC EXPLOSION	Thought	70%
TELEKINETIC PIERCE	Thought	33%
TELEKINETIC PUNCH	Thought	1%
TELEKINETIC SHIELD	Thought	56%
TELEKINETIC SLASH	Thought	45%
TELEKINETIC WAVE	Thought	65%
TELESMATIC FORCE	Thought	40%
TELEVIEW	Thought	70%
TRANSFERENCE	Thought	39%

Since all the psionic's spells are of the thought type, no spell book is needed to cast the spell. Although weak in skills they are strong in mental ability.

Class Abilities

Weapons
Dagger has a high accuracy but a relatively low damage capacity. Since the psionic does not have the backstab skill, dagger loses much of its appeal. Mace is a high damage weapon but one with a low accuracy. Lastly, whip does medium damage and has a mostly low accuracy rating as well. Of these three choices, dagger is probably your best get.

Combat
Being a non-fighter class, the psionic is given only the hand-to-hand ability for combat skills. This proficiency is useful to a character if they are unarmed or lacking a weapon. However since a psionic is never truly "unarmed", the hand-to-hand skill is virtually useless to practice.

Other
The only other two skills available to the psionic are hide and magical items. Magical items is a useful skill if you are going to be using scrolls and other items frequently. If practices are on hand it might be useful to put some into this skill. Otherwise it is not an important starting skill.

Hide is mostly a practical skill that enables a character to blend in with their environment. If applied successfully the character will appear hidden to most mobs and players. Although hide has a high chance of success, it is only applicable when you're not moving. The hide skill can also be used to bury items and conceal them from sight. This is generally not a good idea since any item lost in this way cannot be retrieved.

Class Spells

Here are some of the better spells available to the psionic:

Describe
A simple but effective spell, describe allows the psionic to determine the information of any item in their inventory. While not useful in any combat situation, describe is excellent for telling you what exactly everything does that you are using. This will let you customize your equipment for better use with your character.

Disrupt Sight
The disrupt sight spell is the equivalent to the blindness spell of the mage. The advantage of this spell though is that it can be cast quickly and without a spell book or reagents. That fact alone makes it a highly desired spell for the psionic. With a complexity of 30%, it is also learned relatively soon and can be used for the majority of your class. This spell is a must and should be mastered as soon as possible.

Domination
This spell allows the psionic to force their will upon an enemy. If domination is successful, the enemy is completely under the will of the psionic. The 'Order' command can then be used to give instructions. The enemy will become part of your formation and follow you as its leader. In order for the domination spell to be used effectively, you must have a higher personality than the enemy you are casting against.

Irritation
The equivalence of the mages plague, irritation makes your enemy believe that they are in fact beleaguered with an illness. The symptoms that result are a loss of energy and concentration. This will negatively influence your enemy's vitality and sanity. In a psionic battle, a loss of sanity may be enough to turn the battle in your favor. Hit point regeneration will also be slowed until the target recovers from the spell.

Float
Float is another simple but highly effective spell. For the adventurer or frequent quester, the ability to levitate over water is very handy. It can give you access to areas that were otherwise unreachable by normal means. In addition, the use of float takes up less movement points when traveling.

Force Field
This spell is the most effective defense spell of the psionic. At 7% complexity it is learned almost immediately, takes very little spell points to cast and lasts for quite some time. As you gain in levels, force field will give you a higher bonus to your armor. An advantage to the spell is that is covers the whole body; therefore giving the entire body a plus to armor. Force field can also be cast upon another target thus making a psionic valuable to a group.

Knock and Bar
Since the psionic lacks the ability to bash or pick locks, knock becomes a valuable spell. A lot of important areas in Alyria are behind locked doors. The ability to open these doors through magical means makes things a lot easier. Also, when wishing to be left alone or when trying to protect yourself in a dangerous area, bar can be a useful spell. It is basically a means by which the psionic can magically lock a door.

Mimic
Mimic allows the caster to assume the appearance of an object. Although the psionic has not actually turned into an object, any casual observer in the same room will see only the object. This is a useful spell for those who wish to remain in an area undetected. Moving or performing any complex action will cause the illusion to wear off. By itself however, it lasts a fair amount of time. Unlike the other spells, a focusing crystal is needed to use mimic.

Pense
This is the mage equivalent to sense life. It is a handy spell to have that enables you to detect hidden or sneaking enemies. It's a good idea to have when searching for those sneaking enemies on quests or when in PK. It is learned at a low level and lasts long enough to make it worthwhile.

Spook
Although not as effective as calm in a combat situation, spook will cause an opponent to flee from battle. This spell is effective when you are stuck in a fight and face possible death. Casting spook will cause your enemy to flee in so doing leaving you to recover enough to survive. For the spell to be successful, you must be more powerful than your opponent.

Telekinetic Attacks
The range of telekinetic attacks is as follows. Punch, bash, pierce, slash, and explosion. These spells are also in range of power. Telekinetic explosion is the most powerful attack available to the psionic and does room damage. Its only restriction is that it requires a focusing crystal to cast. Combined with your normal combat abilities, these spells can be very effective for dominating your opponent. The lower attacks, like punch and bash, are best left alone since they do minimal damage and are not very effective in higher level combat.

Teleview
No other ability exists quite like this one. It is perfect if you've ever wanted to know if the area you were in was occupied. This spell enables you to see through the eyes of any player it is cast upon. The spell requires the use of a focusing crystal and will not work on players that are more powerful than you are. One of the most dangerous areas in Alyria is the moat leading to the Proving Grounds. With the use of Teleview, you can find out if any players are waiting for some unlucky adventurer to stumble in. It's an all around handy spell. Especially for higher level players.

Being a Psionic

As you have most likely already noticed, a psionic relies almost exclusively upon their mental abilities. And because of this it is a good idea to have a strong mental base. Training your wisdom, knowledge and sanity is essential. Sanity will allow you to cast spells more efficiently, knowledge will give you the spell points you need and wisdom will give you those extra practices to master your spells. Vitality is always and good attribute to have high. Mastering it, however, can wait until your fighter class. As long as it isn't too low you'll be fine. The same goes for strength and agility.

Concerning skills, you will have to choose a skill for your main weapon. It will be tempting to make whip that choice since it starts out at a 40% base. Whip is an okay weapon but not one you will be able to lay waste to the masses with. Dagger won't do that either but is more of a functional weapon. Mace can do that but is a heavy awkward weapon most of the time. See equipping yourself for more detail on this subject. Hand to hand can be left exactly where it is at 25%. If you do find yourself in a situation where you are unarmed, your chance at survival will be based on your spells not your ability to punch. This skill can be developed later on in your fighter class if you still want to learn it. Hide is a good skill to learn but not one that is necessary to your survival. If you have the practices, it won't hurt to develop the skill. The only problem with it is that enemies with the spell sense life will be able to see you. So on this skill the choice is yours.

Starting off you should spend your time developing the spells that you learn at the lower levels. Spells like describe, force field, float and pense. As you gain levels and spells, practice the ones mentioned above first. Once you've got these developed fully, you can spend some time on some of the others. ESP is a spell similar to the skill scan. Since you will get the skill scan at a later point, it is up to you if you want to develop it or not. Because mage classes tend to eat up the practices more than the other classes, it is advisable to develop ESP only if you have practices to do so. If for some reason you do have practices that have no place to go, use them on your stats. At first class you can survive without scan.

Equipping Yourself

In first class you want to cover your basics. Even though your combat abilities will only be mediocre, finding an item with haste on it will let you fight a little better. Items such as a ring of bleached bone, a beautiful silk scarf, or an alligator tooth necklace are common low level items that give haste. Invisibility is only essential for characters at higher levels. Psionic's really have no great need for this spell. But if you desperately want to be invisible, a wizard's cloak grants improved invisibility that doesn't wear off in combat. The only problem is that you can't wear the cloak until level 60. Even though you don't need to be invisible, it is a good idea to be able to see those who are. Besides using potions the first item with detect invisibility you can wear is a sand colored ring of level 40. So as soon as you hit level 35 try to have a sand ring on hand.

Mastering your stats in first class is no easy task. Unless you are prepared to spend an unbelievable amount of time questing, go for items instead. Keep an eye out for items that give bonuses to your mental stats. Wisdom, knowledge and sanity. Items that give bonuses to your hit points and spell points are also good to have. Always keep an eye out for items with bonuses to vitality. Having a high vitality will affect your hit point increase per level. The higher the hit points the better.

The psionic is very limited in their choice of weaponry. The weapons they can wield are generally not preferable choices as weapons go. Given these weapon choices, dagger is probably the best weapon to practice. With its high accuracy your chances of hitting successfully are increased, therefore balancing out its low damage. The impressive array of daggers available is also a plus. As a second weapon choice, mace would be your best bet. Although somewhat clumsy, the mace delivers a devastating amount of damage and can turn the tides of a close fight. Some common weapons of each group are:

• Dagger - Sigil dagger, silver dagger, standard issue dagger, and twisted iron dagger.
• Mace - Sigil mace, standard issue mace, small steel mace, and desert mace.
• Whip - Sigil whip, leather whip, camel whip and leather bullwhip.
• See http://www.materiamagica.com/reference/equipment/index.php for more weapons.

In general there is a lot of equipment available to the first class player. As you learn your way around and gain levels, keep an eye out for better equipment. Since you can use the describe spell to determine the vital information on an item, you should have no problem getting better equipment as you gain levels. Compare how each item affects you and decide bases on the best piece. If you're stuck, try the Materia Magica website. It has a wide array of equipment and weapons listed.

Fighting Monsters

Combat in the beginning will be straightforward and fall mostly in your favor. A good idea when confronted with an unfamiliar monster is to use the consider command. This will tell you if you have what it takes to survive or not. Also most of the monsters will have no special attack or use any particularly nasty spells. Against these enemies even normal combat will be enough. These monsters, however, will give you a chance to become familiar with your spells. To see what works best and what you feel comfortable with. If you find yourself in a fight with a hit point heavy monster, trying using spells that will give you the advantage. If the battle still isn't going your way regardless of your spells, you can always choose to flee from combat. Fleeing is not a good habit to get into though. You won't be able to develop your combat skills properly if you are always running from a fight. Other than these things, get used to your character, try some things out and have fun.

Fighting Players

To start with, you should decide early if you're going to be killing other players or not. The psionic is not really a class geared directly towards PK (player killing). With the addition of a fighter class under your belt, you will become very deadly very fast. But until that happens, you might want to consider staying away from active PK. At first class, 98% of your PK experience will be in the arena. Anything other than that should be avoided. If you are dead set on becoming a good player killer, try to get as much arena combat as you can. To start off with, avoid the fighter and rogue classes in combat. They are physically stronger than you and will in most cases dominate the fight quickly. Challenge magic classes until you become comfortable with fighting against a thinking opponent. If possible, spar with a friend in an LPK (lawful player killing) area. When you have some levels and experience on your side, attempt a fight with a stronger opponent. It's always good to know how to react in a situation where you're the underdog.

Even if you decide to not PK, it is still good to know how to fight another player. Some time in your travels I can almost guarantee you that you will end up fighting another player. If you are inexperienced there is a good chance that even a weaker opponent will defeat you. If you stumble into a CPK (chaotic player killing) area, you can lose all of your hard earned equipment in mere moments. It's always better to be prepared.

Class Combinations

The psionic works well with all other classes but some better than others. Here is a list of some classes that you may want to choose. My advice is to select a fighter class instead of another magic class. A fighter class will give you the raw combat ability that you do not have in the psionic. It is always a good idea to compliment magic with strength.

Barbarian/Cavalier
In my opinion, the best second class to choose after psionic would be a fighter class. Barbarians are very strong with strength, of course, being their primary attribute. Since they get the axe skill, they are arguably one of if not the most powerful class available. In edition to the better weapon skills, they get second and third attack as well as dodge, parry, shield block, bash, fast healing and enhanced damage. As these skills combined with your previous mastery in magic will combine for a truly devastating character. Cavaliers get those same skills with the exception of axe. Skills exclusive to the cavalier are lance and riding and their primary attribute is vitality. Since a primary stat requires only 60 practices to increase instead of 80, it makes it easier to master your vitality when playing a cavalier. Both classes are high quality and either will benefit your character.

Rogue/Bard
Rogues are masters of the shadows and most often excellent fighters. The only thing that sets them apart from the true fighters is their lack of raw strength. The skills that stand out from the rogue are scan, lore, track, stealing, sneaking, peek, blind fighting, evasion, snare and their multitude of defense abilities. The noticeably difference between the rogue and bard is the bards ability to play music. While they lack some of the rogue's finer skills, such as track and blind fighting, they make up for that loss with songs. The bard's songs are the equivalent of magical spells and require only an instrument to use them. With around 25 songs to choose from, the bard is an easy match for the rogue in quality. The only big loss when choosing a bard is the lack of the track skill. Track is an important skill and highly used by everyone who has it. However, bards still can survive without it and their music makes them more than a match.

Priest/Monk
The only real difference between these two classes is the amount of spells and skills each get. The monk has more skills but fewer spells while the priest has fewer skills and more spells. If you have the rogue as one of your classes, the monk will lose most of its appeal. In a case like that, the priest has a wider variety of better spells. Spells such as create spring, magic carpet, and summon. Either way, the ball will be in player's court because neither of the classes outshines the other significantly. It all depends on what the player wants more.

Role-playing

As with every character, the psionic has their strengths and weaknesses. It will be a good idea for you to choose what type of player you are going to be from the start. The kind of player you are will be reflected in everything you do. You can choose to be the happy and friendly person or a dark and mysterious someone. Your choices are as versatile as your personality. Deciding on a role to play in the game is a good idea. That character helps you to create a more dynamic fantasy experience when you are playing. An experience that is fundamental to how you enjoy the game. But regardless of the role you decide on, always remember that there are a lot of much stronger players out there. In other words, try not to make enemies too soon. Eventually, all players develop some enemies. It's just the way things go. You simply want to avoid making those enemies early. On the other side of the coin making friends is one of the best things you can do. Friends will be there to back you up in a pinch, to go on equipment runs with you and just make your down time a lot easier. By down time I mean when you are waiting for a re-pop, between quests or just when you're relaxing in social. So whatever you decide have fun doing it.

From what you have most likely already gathered, the psionic is a class whose one and only strength is their mind. The psionic can sometimes be hard to play and does not always make the best first class choice. However, once you get a little experience with the game you will find that things will come a lot easier to you. So level, gain the experience and enjoy your time on Materia Magica.

You are now armed with the power of the mind. You have razor sharp discipline and know how to make those around you into your pawns. Now you must journey out into the world to seek your fortune. Luck be with you adventurer.