Psi combat is conducted by the native life forms of Planet (mind worms, Isles of the Deep, Locusts of Chiron) and by certain advanced technological units. Psi combat seeks to turn the enemy's own minds against them, inducing horrible hallucinations and phobias, which cripple the enemy's ability to defend itself, and may even induce self-destructive behavior.
Morale modifies the basic factors used for psi combat, such as weapon and armor strength. Thus an Isle of the Deep of Mature Boil status (morale level 5) would usually overrun a green unit (morale level 2), but would probably find itself overmatched against a commando unit (morale level 6). Again, normal weapon and defense strengths are completely irrelevant to psi combat — a tiny Unity rover of Hardened status would be more likely to survive than a singularity cruiser of Disciplined status.
Psi combat modifiers[]
- The attacking unit gets a 3-to-2 advantage in psi combat when the defending unit is a land unit.
- Units may install the special abilities of Hypnotic Trance (discovered with Secrets of the Human Brain) and Empath Song (discovered with Centauri Empathy), which each provide +50% in psi combat.
- A faction's units gain a +10% psi attack bonus for each positive level of their Planet rating. Factions with negative Planet ratings receive an equivalent penalty.
- The Neural Amplifier Secret Project gives its faction a +50% psi defense bonus. The Dream Twister Secret Project grants a +50% psi attack bonus.