Psychometry

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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.
As of Patch This information is reliable as of patch 2.0.201.47.
Psychometry
Psychometry mutation.png
Category

Mental

Cost

4

ID?Use this ID to wish for the mutation
(example: mutation:Psychometry)

Psychometry

Reality DistortingReality distorting mutations
cannot be used under
the effects of normality.

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. Refer to the Artifacts by complexity page for a list of artifacts and their complexity.

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.

In addition to allowing one to open security doors[1], Psychometry grants the ability to activate or deactivate the following powered objects:[2][3][4]

† Objects above marked with this symbol have special Grit Gate variants that cannot be disabled with Psychometry. Instead, these objects in Grit Gate can be activated or deactivated by the chrome security card.

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
Mutation
Level
Identify
Complexity
Learnable
Complexity
11 9 7
12 10 7
13 10 8
14 11 8
15 11 9
16 12 9
17 12 10
18 13 10
19 13 11
20 14 11
Mutation
Level
Identify
Complexity
Learnable
Complexity
21 14 12
22 15 12
23 15 13
24 16 13
25 16 14
26 17 14
27 17 15
28 18 15
29 18 16
30 19 16

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

References

  1. XRL.World.Parts.Door
  2. XRL.World.Capabilities.SecurityClearance
  3. XRL.World.Parts.PowerSwitch
  4. XRL.World.Parts.ForceProjector