Psychic insanity lance

Psychic insanity lance

A limited-use psychic effector. It overwhelms the target's mind with terrifying perceptual distortions, driving him into a berserk state. There is a risk of brain damage. It has a long range, but requires line of sight.

Base Stats

Type

Artifact

Tech Level

Archotech

Market Value

650 

Mass

0.5 kg

HP

80

Flammability

100%

Armor

Clothing For Nudity

False

Coverage

Waist

Layer

Belt

Technical

thingCategories

ApparelUtility

thingSetMakerTags

RewardStandardHighFreq

tradeTags

Artifact

A psychic insanity lance is a two-use artifact that can be equipped by pawns in the Utility slot and manually activated to cause a target to go berserk.

Acquisition

Psychic insanity lances cannot be crafted. Instead they must be purchased from Exotic Goods traders or faction bases.

Summary

When equipped, a psychic insanity lance is worn in the waist utility slot. Pawns that are incapable of violence can equip, but not use, the lance. Once the wearer is drafted, it can be manually activated by the player to target a pawn within 35 tiles and within line of sight. The lance has 2 charges and cannot be recharged - when both charges are expended, the item disappears completely and no resources be salvaged from it.

After a 0.5s warm-up, the target will instantaneously go berserk - this berserk state is essentially identical to the mental break with the same minimum recovery time of 40,000 ticks (11.11 mins) and the same end condition of unconsciousness. The warmup time before firing is affected by the Aiming Time stat of the wearer. There is also a 30% chance that the target will be set alight and given brain damage in the form of a burn scar. When targeting colonists, this 30% chance is multiplied by the Friendly Fire Chance in the Difficulty settings.

Pawns with 0% psychic sensitivity, such as those with the psychically deaf trait, cannot be targeted by the lance. Sensitivity does not otherwise modify the effect. The three mechanoid commanders are also immune to psychic lances.

If used on a non-hostile faction's pawn, it will decrease goodwill with that faction by 200 points.

Like all utility items, a psychic insanity lance is treated largely like any piece of apparel, however some exceptions exist. Utility items are worn on the waist and are mutually exclusive only with each other, regardless of the layer or coverage of other apparel worn. Additionally, utility items never become tainted, deteriorate from being worn, or inflict a worn-out or tattered mood debuff when damaged.

Analysis

As it has a significantly smaller warmup time (just 0.5s vs 4.5s) and comparable range (35 vs 36), it can be useful for making pesky triple rocket launcher and doomsday rocket launcher raiders annihilate their companions. For best value, use it on enemies with durability enhancements such as go-juice, the Tough trait, power armor, or a shield belt. It is also useful for causing raiders to clump up to target the berserked pawn, allowing a more effective use of doomsday rockets in an expensive but effective 1-2 combo.

It can also exceptionally useful when used on centipede gunners and blasters - not only does it distract the mechanoids around it, it will continue to attack its compatriots until it or the others are dead. Depending on the composition of the mechanoid forces, this can result in anything from just the target centipede dying to the destruction of all but one mechanoid. As all mechanoids are immune to fire, centipede burners are less effective choices as they cannot harm their ex-comrades. However, they still make a good distraction and, sometimes more importantly, the centipede itself will die in the process.

Insanity lances will not work on sleeping targets, even if the target is awoken by using the insanity lance. Therefore, dormant mechanoids must be woken up before targeting them with the lance.

Version history

• 0.12.906 - Added
• 1.2.2719 - Changed from a single-use artifact that occupied the pawn's weapon slot, and had to be activated by selecting a colonist, then right-clicking the artifact and selecting 'Activate' manually. It now also has a limited range and no longer works through walls.
• 1.4.3555 - Mechanoid commanders now immune to psychic lances.

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Utility

Utility

Firefoam pop pack • Orbital bombardment targeter • Orbital power beam targeter • Psychic shock lance • Psychic insanity lance • Shield belt • Smokepop pack • Tornado generator • Low-shield pack • Jump pack • Orbital mech cluster targeter • Bandwidth pack • Control pack • Tox pack • Biomutation lance • Biomutation pulser • Deadlife pack • Disruptor flare pack • Shard animal pulser • Shard insanity lance • Shard shock lance • Turret pack