solipsist class category idea: Psionic/Mental Manipulation

[Zeyphor]

this is a level 10-22 category, unlockable at level 10 at 1.3 mastery

I know solipsists got enough stuff and are plenty powerful already but I wanna get these ideas out there

Psionic/Mental Manipulation

Shut Down
Level 10/11/12/13/14
22/24/26/28/30 Cunning
Use mode: Activated
Psi cost: ???
Range: 7 or less, undecided
Cooldown: ???
Travel Speed: Instantaneous
Is: a mind power
Description: Shuts down the opponent's eyesight, blinding it for 3/4/5/7/8 turns if it fails a mental save; duration increases with talent level and the chance to blind increases with mindpower.

Compulsion:
Level 14/15/16/17/18
30/32/34/36/38 Cunning
Use mode: Activated
Psi cost: ???
Range: 7 or less, undecided
Cooldown: undecided, but high
Travel Speed: Instantaneous
Is: a mind power
Description: Compels the target to do strange things that aren't related to combat, lowering global speed by x% for x/x/x/x/x turns as well as giving all talents a 10% chance to fail if the target fails a mental save; global slow increases with mindpower(20-30% at 100 mindpower at base level 5, undecided) and duration increases with talent level.

Amnesia:
Level 18/19/20/21/22
38/40/42/44/46 Cunning
Use Mode: Activated
Psi Cost: ???
Range 7 or less, undecided
Cooldown: undecided, but high
Travel Speed: Instantaneous
Is: a mind power
Description: Causes the target to forget things, giving the target an x% chance(15% at 100 mindpower) each turn for 3/7/11/15/19(at 1.0 mastery 3/6/9/12/15) turns to place a random talent on cooldown for its normal cooldown duration if the target fails a mental save. At talent level 5 the target also loses its target in addition to having a random talent put on cooldown. The chance for a talent to be forgotten each turn increases with mindpower, and the duration increases with your talent level.

Mind Control:
Level 22/23/24/25/26
46/48/50/52/54 Cunning
Use Mode: Sustained
Psi Cost: 50 or 100, undecided
Range: probably less than 7; undecided but maybe 3
Cooldown: undecided, but high
Travel Speed: Instantaneous
Is: a mind power
Description: Wrests control of the mind of the target, granting you complete control of all of its actions for x/x/x/x/x turns if the target fails a mental save against your mindpower and then willpower; when making the mental saves the enemy gets a +20 bonus to those mental save rolls. While controlling the opponent's mind you cannot perform any other actions. Bring unfamiliar with the body that you now control, the mind-controlled enemy's global action speed is reduced by 30%; this penalty is lowered to 20% if the enemy is of the same type as you, and lowered instead to 5% if the enemy is of the same sub-type as you. When you are about to release control of your oponent's mind, you take advantage of its very, very vulnerable and extremely exposed mind, and you instantly inflict x mind damage as an automatic mental critical strike against your opponent when Mind Control ends. You may choose to end mind control at any time before the duration expires. Mind Control will not work on rares, bosses, or undeads. Mind control will break if the controlled enemy moves more than 10 tiles from your location. Mind Control is considered a psionic channel and thus will break if you move and you will not inflict mind damage when it breaks if it is broken by your movement. The duration increases with your talent level and the chance to control your opponent's mind and mind damage dealt upon release increases with your mindpower.

that description is quite a mouthful, hopefully someone would know how to consolidate that, but to clarify, even though you can't move your character while sustaining mind control and its also a psionic channel, its not redundant because if the solipsist is knocked back or moved by the likes of mindhook or bone grab while mind controlled the effect ends without inflicting mind damage, and also your thoughtform still acts freely while mind control is sustained, but you attempting to take control of your thoughtform while sustaining mind control will end mind control
as well, the mind damage dealt by mind control's planned release hits as hard as all 5(6?) ticks of a 1.0 mastery level 5 Agony, except all combined into one damage value

either way; I hope someone finds this interesting, and I'd appreciate feedback!

[Ivels]

I don't think it fits solipsists thematically very well. Solipsists are more about dreams, bending reality, and blurring the lines between the two. They have some raw mind damage in Psychic Assault, but it's hardly their defining feature. I've always thought of solipsists as somewhat talented psions, who've chosen to retreat into fantasy and dreams, rather than hone their mental powers. In that sense, Discharge is a good fit for them, because it's raw and uncontrolled mental backlashing fueled by pain.

This tree is a much more straightforward (and controlled) case of applied mindpower that would look better on Mindslayers, or a new class of aggressive telepaths. And from the balance perspective, solipsists don't really need more single-target debuffs, given their amazing crowd control skills (plus inner demons, waking nightmare and psychic lobotomy). Mind control seems like a gimmicky one-pointer, given that it can't work on rares or above. That damage bonus upon breaking the link would be wasted on normal enemies, it puts you into a vulnerable position, and you can't do a whole lot with a regular critter anyway (who's slowed and can't even go very far). Yeek mental domination works better, being a free, instant cast, that dominates normal enemies and you have the option of assuming direct control for N turns by right clicking. Domination hex is a similar ability, that actually works on rares. And of course solipsists already have a way to leave their bodies behind, either via Over-Mind or Projection.

Amnesia's pretty nice, but it can't justify the cat point by itself.

[Zeyphor]

Thanks for pointing that out ivels, I guess I hadn't realized this from my long and stillongoing haitus from playing ToME.
Actually, I'm not sure if those sorts of skills fit any class ingame at all; mindslayers are more about telekenesis and energy manipulation, and doomed are too angry to do anything more intricate than "come here shadows" or "i hate you this much" or just smacking them with the force of their will which probably doesn't have much to it, and I don't think the fears category jutisfies those talents either. Again thanks for pointing that out ivels.

[astralInferno]

I think these talents would fit Doomed better than Solipsist, but Solipsist still better than Mindslayer. As he says, a new class would be best.
(They'd actually fit fairly well on my Blighted class as it happens.)

Personally I'd be leery about unlocking a tree that had no actual damage on it, but I cannot emphasise how bad I am at this game enough.

[Ivels]

I had an idea to improve Mind Control, as I don't see players using a cat point just to mess around with normal enemies.

1)Player uses mind control on a randboss
2)If the boss fails a mental save, player gains control of the enemy for 0 turns
3)Player is allowed one action, this could be a step, a basic attack or talent activation. If it's a talent, you're allowed to choose the target.
4)Control switches back to the player, and Mind Control goes on cooldown. Player has used his turn.
5)The boss performs the chosen action during its next turn, overriding its AI
6)The boss gets debuffed by Mind Control's damage increase

Now it becomes a much stronger ability. I imagine most of the time it would be used as a precision sustain negation, but you could also waste dangerous abilities, force enemies to teleport away, or even have them kill their allies or themselves. For an added bonus, at level 5 it could be made instant, similar to yeek racial.

I think the first skill in the tree could be improved as well. Perhaps in addition to shutting down eyesight (which isn't that strong by itself), it could disable other senses. For instances deafness could give a flat chance of arcane spell failure, due to enemies not being able to hear their own incantations. Loss of tactile perception and vestibular sense would incur a miss chance on melee abilities. Or give enemies a chance to trip every time they move.