Right now, when you analyze someone, you're told if they're open, their personality and their stance on Amnesties. You are also knocked off equilibrium for about as long as it takes to use one influence attack. The first and the second can easily be checked by just trying to influence the target. So, I'm proposing that analyze be reduced in equilibrium cost, to give it an advantage over a regular influence attack.

Interesting point.

If you are wrong about the personality type, it takes half your ego to switch types. Wouldn't saving yourself half your ego be worth it?

You don't have to use divert to switch types of attack. Just move out of the room, wait a few seconds (maybe 10, I've never timed it), and then go back in and use the new attack type. But your point holds that analyze saves you something (time or diverting).

This is assuming that you want to know the personality type in order to attack in the way the denizen is most easily influenced. I personally rarely do that. I'm going to do charity regardless unless the guy is a greedy bugger. Plus I usually already know the personality type. So the vast majority of the time, analyze is only useful to see if the denizen is open. And attacking instead of analyzing is just as easy a way to find that out. Though it is much less elegant. I use analyze anyway because it feels wrong to attack uselessly.

And even then, you only need to do that once. I've never had to influence any denizen more than once to identify their personality. After that, I always remember it.

I've always wondered why analyze took so long.