Psyker needs a buff/rework

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Gameplay Feedback
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So a few thoughts
-Smite is really weak at base right now, so maybe having it add stacks of Soulblaze as well would help give it some usage, or the explosions of enemies does AOE or something. Also reducing cost or increasing base damage would also help, it shouldnt need another perk entirely to be usable.
Perhaps add a heavy lighting strike attack where you call down a bolt of lightning to give it some damage?

-Assail is strong in lower difficulties but somewhat anorexic in higher ones, this comes from the time needed to get the shards out. What if the main attack launched all shards at once? Youd deal with the spammyness by making it a one off, and add value to the ranged single shard attack, while also giving it use it upper tier and making it a good midway between Brain Burst’s High single target damage and Smite’s crowd control. It would be decent at both but not as good as either, and it wouldnt e as obnoxious to other players as it would be a one off.

-Brain Burst needs some form of AOE or stun, it makes Psyker’s too vulnerable for too little pay off.

-Telekine shield shouldnt feel so weak, its biggest strength is blocking ranged, which is good, but maybe ad a 3rd perk node that applies Soulblaze to enemies that enter it or some status effect lie that?

The main issue with all of these abilities is they prevent you from using your weapons and hinder movement, unlike alot of the other classes with grenades. They also come with the peril meter attached, so they SHOULD feel a little stronger than other classes abilities, especially to make up for a Psyker’s squishyness. Right now its hard not to feel like Psykers are weak and OP at the same time, they are OP in niche annoying ways, and weak all other times. this makes them unfun to play and unfun to play with. They need their powers to be strong to make up for their weakness, they ARE the glass cannons of the game. The problem is they feel too restricted in perks and powers, and their abilities never feel strong enough to use at the high end, and too strong at the low end. They should feel lie another aspect of the team, but they are either seen as ruining the fun by using too strong abilities at lower tier and a liability at the upper. Bug though it may be, the unlimited Smite build at least makes them an asset to the team at upper tiers, and somewhat annoying at lower. Im not saying keep unlimited Smite around, just consider why something like this, a bug that should be game breaking, instead feels game balancing in some way. You wouldnt call an Ogryn OP for tanking damage, you wouldnt call a Zealot OP for supporting the team.

What are your problems with Psyker, both playing with and as one, and how would you fix it?

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lol.

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I’ve dabbled in psyker but am no means an expert. That being said I’ve played with a lot at auric maelstrom and this is my feedback.

Assail makes everyone else feel bad. It’s far too strong in it’s current format due to the excessive uptime you can use it for. It’s fine to be a strong ability, but currently it has no cooldown and so trivialises the lower gameplay difficulties. This is a double edge sword because not only does it make the gameplay less fun for others but it teaches psykers bad habits that gets them killed at higher difficulties. The changes in the next patch are welcome but I don’t think they will resolve the core issue with the ability.

That’s about it.

Apart from that I think psykers are amazing and I’m happy to have them on the team. They are great at dealing with priority targets and controlling threats. The dome is an awesome safe spot to hunker down in and the placed barriers when used properly are fantastic against disablers like mutants and dogs.

Sure they could use some number tweaks here and there, but overall I don’t think they need a buff or rework.

That being said I’d love for a way to convert smite from a CC ability to a massive lightning bolt blast. That just sounds like fun.

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Psyker is very strong at the moment in most regards, not just a handful like you suggest. I genuinely try to refrain from saying this, at least without further elaboration but…

Genuine skill issue. That’s all there is to this one.

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Maybe, why do you say they are very strong in most regards? at least explain your logic before throwing shade, though you might not be entirely wrong, im not the best player by any means.

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There’s a reason the first comment on this thread is literally just “lol”. This post is like the complete opposite to what you’d call common knowledge about current class balance, look at any balance discussion almost anywhere and you’ll get some of the reasons Psyker is strong.

For one they’re really not that squishy when they have some of the most versatile, accessible, and stackable sources of toughness gen in the game. Peril is vastly less restricting than actual ammo or limited grenades, all their blitz effectively function as an unlimited ammo 3rd weapon that is at worst extremely useful in specific niches and at best play the whole game for you beneath Damnation (and still play a lot of it for you on Damnation). Peril management is only not completely trivial if running Scriers, which is strong enough to justify a little micro. Their melee weapon options are all extremely strong at the moment as are all their staffs. They have a lot of very strong stand alone talents as well as the best base stam regen delay in the game, with generally high mobility allowing for surprisingly high survivability through evasiveness.

They only thing they’re kinda lacking after patch 13 vs before is max toughness, but that’s a very good trade for everything else they got.

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Psykers are insanely strong. Voidstrike 2 shots crushers and melts hordes. The force swords are great at killing everything. Assail destroyers gunner mobs and specials. Their support and horde management is unmatched.

What are you talking about? Everything you said is nonsense. I average 400k damage on my zealot, and 6-700k on my psyker, and im bad with psyker, and great with zealot. The only class lacking right now, is veteran. Psykers and gunluggers are tied for most op atm.

If you think psykers are “squishy”, go play vet. psykers have great toughness regen talents, and force sword dodging is like zipping around. Not to mention the shield is just ridiculous. I would genuinely like to see a recording of you playing a match to see what you could possibly be doing wrong to have this sort of stance on current psyker.

For perspective, I only play auric maelstrom on damnation.

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I agree on the “skill issue” part of the other comments. Why? For example, you clearly don’t see what smite purpose in your kit is.

Smite isnt there for killing. It is there for crowd control. And it is probably the second strongest CC in the entire game, behind only crit zealots constantly spamming chorus (which requires for you to have a very specific build, not just choose your blitz). You can stunlock huge hords of enemies giving your team necessary time to regroup/heal/kill specials.

Assail is still faster than grenades other classes have. On those you not only have to wait to get them out, but also have to wait for their actual explosion. Compare that to assail that requires no aim, pickups that you have to compete with other teammembers, and is actually very efficient in both dealing with hordes and single enemies.

Brain burst is the only one i somewhat agree with, that thing needs just a damage buff, because some specials now require 2 brainbursts instead of one as pre patch 13.

Havent tried the shield yet myself, but seeing as other psykers just throw it in the way of 5-7 gunners laying fire into it, and this thing actually surviving for a decent amount of time i also can’t say that it’s weak.

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