Psychometry

This information is reliable as of patch 2.0.201.47. If this is no longer the current patch, you can help by updating it.

This information is reliable as of patch 2.0.201.47.

Psychometry

	Mental
	4
	Psychometry
	yes

Psychometry

You read the history of artifacts by touching them, learning what they do and how they were made.

Unerringly identify artifacts up to complexity tier (level based).
Learn how to construct identified artifacts up to complexity tier (level based) (must have the appropriate Tinker power).
You may open security doors upon touching them.

Psychometry is a mental mutation which allows users to look into the past of artifacts to understand them, as well as learn how to build them.

Psychometry adds an additional option to the menu when selecting an item. It that item is an unidentified artifact, the player can "Read history with psychometry". This will identify the artifact with guaranteed success, unless the user is astrally burdened. The maximum complexity tier Psychometry can identify is determined by mutation level; if the artifact's complexity tier is higher than this, it will be "too complex" for the player to reconcile.

Complexity is a value assigned to artifacts that represents how sophisticated their technology is. This is different from difficulty, which is used to determine how difficult it is to correctly identify an artifact with a normal examine. In addition to their default complexity, any Mods on an artifact will also increase the complexity of that artifact depending on the mods.

For players with the Tinkering skill, they will gain access to another option when selecting an item. If that item is an identified artifact that can be constructed, the player can "Read early history with psychometry", granting them access to that artifact's recipe. The maximum complexity of artifacts whose recipes can be learned is determined by mutation level. Contrary to the description, Psychometry will grant the ability to construct artifacts without needing the appropriate Tinker skill; only the base Tinkering skill is required to learn and build the recipe. Mods cannot be learned through Psychometry.

Formulas

The following formulas are used to determine maximum complexity tier for identifying artifacts and learning blueprints (rounded down) based on mutation level.

Identify Complexity	4 + Level / 2
Learnable Complexity	2 + (Level - 1) / 2

Advancement Table

Mutation Level	Identify Complexity	Learnable Complexity
1	4	2
2	5	2
3	5	3
4	6	3
5	6	4
6	7	4
7	7	5
8	8	5
9	8	6
10	9	6

Advantages and Disadvantages

This section is opinion-based. Your mileage may vary.

Advantages

• Gives Tinkering-focused characters a much wider range of available recipes.
• Gives low-Intelligence characters the ability to identify and craft artifacts they would otherwise be unable to.
• Allows for much easier exploration of locations with many security doors, like the Rusted Archway

Disadvantages

• High cost at character creation
• Can't learn mods, so characters will have to take Tinker I anyway to learn some mods
• The effect of opening security doors can be replicated using security cards

Other Considerations

• A low-strength Pyschometry effect can be replicated by eating meals containing sun-dried banana.
• With Goat in Sweet Leaf, a free level 1-2 Psychometry is guaranteed and easy to access as long as the player buys an Ezra recoiler.