I previously made a thread moaning about the state of Psyker, which has since become slightly obsolete due to updates fixing the most glaring issues, but Psyker still has a lot of problems and most of my criticisms of it are still valid. In that thread, I suggested some changes that psyker needs, but I’m starting a new one to present them more coherently and add some extra things.
Psyker is such a frustrating class because - much like Darktide in general - it’s almost great, it has all the building blocks to be fantastic, but it has so many minor things wrong with it which add up to create an experience that is remarkably tedious.
Although a lot of people are calling for a complete rework, my suggestions here are based on trying to improve the existing model as much as possible rather than changing fundamentals and creating new mechanics.
ULT
The Psyker ult should clear all peril. It is really frustrating that it doesn’t, especially when you are told that it does. If Fatshark keeps their nonsensical aversion to making the ult clear all peril, at least make it clear 75% or so. Clearing half is not enough.
Fix the stagger of the ult and make it consistent. I’m not sure what causes this, but the ult very frequently will simply not stagger enemies within its radius. This is extremely frustrating and has killed at least two runs for me where I was the last player standing and would have been able to revive others if the ult staggered enemies correctly.
You should be able to hold the ult button to see the exact radius of what the ult will be before performing it, like you can do with shouts in VT2. I don’t want to have to guess where my ult radius is when I’m trying to knock back a poxburster, I want to know exactly where it is.
BRAIN BURST & WARP CHARGES
Brain Burst (BB) should cost 40% peril, not 45%. This does not change how many BBs you can cast one after another before reaching 100% peril, but does give slightly more room to use other warp attacks should the need arise without having to ult or waste time quelling.
BB’s targeting needs to be improved so that it is impossible to target a common if there is an elite or special in close proximity to your crosshair. This is the most necessary fix by far, this alone would make Psyker feel much better to play.
The amount of BBs required to kill a given enemy should be consistent across all difficulties. BB is pointless outside of a few niche applications on difficulties 4 and 5 because it takes too many casts to kill important targets.
Refund 1/3 to 1/2 of the peril generated by charging a BB if the target dies before casting is complete.
Warp Charges (WCs) should be gained upon completing a BB cast, not killing an enemy with BB. This incentivises players to use BB for its intended purpose - damage vs elites and specials - rather than mindlessly BB’ing commons to gain WCs.
WCs should either decay one after another, or the decay time should be lengthened the more charges you have.
Using the Force Sword special to kill an enemy should grant a WC, or at least this ability should be unlockable via a feat.
MISC. CHANGES
Revert the Force Sword to its incarnation in the closed beta. Please. Make it only consume stamina.
Revert Quietitude to granting 7% Toughness rather than 5% per 10% of peril quelled. This feat was viable in the closed beta and I found it fun to use, but its current version is very weak. Quietitude has also been indirectly nerfed by making the ult only quell half peril, making it even weaker compared to the closed beta.
No, it didn’t. The Force Sword in the closed beta test only used stamina. You’re talking about the Force Sword at the start of the pre-release beta. Different things.
Eh, personally i dont see the issue with the push attack costing perils, its so negligable that it ends up falling off quickly, and can be cleared thanks to battle trance very regularly.
In all my time playing pysker so far i have not seen it cause 1 issue.
The problem isn’t the peril that it generates - it is negligible and you have to really not be paying attention to overcharge from it - it’s that it stops passive peril quelling, making it awkward and generally extremely annoying to use alongside a staff, especially a peril-heavy one like the trauma staff.
I don’t think that the force sword needs peril on the second stage push to be balanced. It is already balanced by it having no cleave, and although it has decent damage it is still inferior to other options like the duelling sword (especially the mk5 version). Its functionality is similar to something like Bardin’s Axe and Shield from VT2, and that didn’t need peril to be balanced. The peril just makes it frustrating.
Eh, personally? i dont really see the need for the change because your passive quell is so quick and when you start doing things like battle trance where kills can drop 10% its not really a big deal, i have never once run into the problem you are describing in all my time playing the game. Personally i like having perils be the second part of the push attack, that way you can utilize more pushes.
Now if you are saying just remove the cost from the push overall and not cost stam or perils sure why not, but saying make the second push cost stam? Nah, not down for that, i would much rather have the ability to push more because its going on my perils then being able to push less and have it NOT go on my perils.
Ill take your word for it but, i have never seen it be a problem before.
As someone who tries to keep the damage bonus from high peril one of his feats grants (it could be a tad more pronounced, admittedly), I very much like that his active doesn’t clear all peril.
That said, I guess I can see people using it just for peril clear - the ability is so profoundly underwhelming I’ve found myself dying to overheat because I forgot I had it. I use it maybe 3x in a mission.
BB itself needs a lot of fixes; even if it was cheaper and dealt more damage, it’s still boring, unengaging, and alltogether a horrible piece of kit to spend any amount of time with.
The grenades of the other classes have are more fun to use due to their impact and feel, and you barely have to spend any time with them.
Also, BBs charged more than 50% (not sure where exactly the threshold is) grant a warp charge without activating, which already saves a good 20% peril.
And yes, as others have said, I’d much prefer the sword’s push to cost peril, but not stamina. Just both would be annoying.
As someone who tries to keep the damage bonus from high peril one of his feats grants (it could be a tad more pronounced, admittedly), I very much like that his active doesn’t clear all peril.
The way I see it, having the ult only quell half peril for the benefit of one specific playstyle just incentivises you to go with that playstyle, to the detriment of all others. This is a problem Psyker currently suffers from enough without extra stuff on top. Peril is really not slow to generate, especially with the trauma staff.
Also, BBs charged more than 50% (not sure where exactly the threshold is) grant a warp charge without activating, which already saves a good 20% peril.
Do you mean if the target dies when BB is charged more than halfway? I’ve never noticed this but will pay attention in my next game. It’s hardly something that can be relied on though.
This is absolutely horrible
It might or might not, but most likely might not, push Pox Bursters
You never know, and it’s always a joy to find out you popped your “ultimate ability” for that thing to just go lolz and blow up in your face anyway
Among everything that’s wrong with Psyker right now, and there’s a lot, this is the single thing that kills my will to play this game the most
And yes since we’re talking about it, BB should consistently one shot Pox Bursters across all difficulties
