So now that the Choke thread has made it clear that, according to most of the posters on that thread, that a class needs to have a viable, reliable way to severely hinder (or completely stop) curing for mana to get toadcurse (or whatever), let's talk about ways to fix telepathy to make it on par with other classes! :)

And let's keep in mind the feedback that Estarra gave us:

Estarra:

I would like to see Telepathy buffed so that it's actually a reliable, viable skillset that mages can rely on to kill in 1v1 combat. For too long has TK dominated the scene, and because TK is fine where it's at, and because SDs are whining about the need for them to reliably toadcurse, it's only right for Telepathy to receive the same kind of attention.

LotR is holding my attention atm, but just wanna say that you're gonna get thwapped by Estarra.

There are telepathy mages in Lusternia? :P

Draylor:

There are telepathy mages in Lusternia? :P

My point exactly...

And Neos, I'm sure Estarra can appreciate a joke!

Telepathy isn't bad.

debate, win.

Shouldn't have to rely on debate. Also, not every TP will be a faeling. Also, debating is completely unreliable

Nothing wrong with debating. I've gotten many debate kills with egovice behind serpent :D

I see where this is going. It's going to get locked!

I'm a prophet.

From the current and previous feedback I have the solution:

You have gained the following abilities in Telepathy:
MindBurst           Kill with the power of a single, deadly thought.
AB TELEPATHY for more information on an ability.
NOTE: Abilities marked with '*' must be locked in order to use.

Commence to go faeling.

Debate, ego-bomb, and mindburst.

Poor, poor TPs. :(

Also, it's pretty clear based on posts 1 and 2 that this is:
1) A bit of a trolling attempt, and
2) Most definitely not a serious thread,

so I don't feel bad about the fact that nobody (including myself) is actually posting anything constructive. :P

Xenthos:

so I don't feel bad about the fact that nobody (including myself) is actually posting anything constructive. :P

Constructive post made anyway!


Thoughts on TP:

TP is viable in groups. With your allies providing hindering and sip pressure, it's possible to get ego down enough to Mindburst. At times, it can even be overwhelmingly strong, such as the infamous TP bomb squads, or with a debater (more on that later).

TP isn't fine 1v1. Psyvamp alone isn't enough to drain ego, and TP has little curing hindering available to it. TP has the following abilities to slow down curing.
- Recklessness: Not viable against intelligent systems.
- Hallucinations: 1s stun. Helpful, especially for sticking illusions, but not enough on it's own.
- Addiction: The best curing hindering available to TP. If timed right, the target will lose 1 or 2 sips of curing (if paired with Dominate sip). However, with the other means of curing ego available (regen, sparkleberry, healing scroll, beast, guild abilities), this isn't enough to get a Mindburst.
- Stupidity: It's stupidity. Intelligent systems don't get hurt by Stupidity. :P

TP + debating is overpowered. Debating is balanced around getting the target to 0 (and it will, eventually), while TP is balanced around getting them to 50. Debating also has other problems in combat (such as paired with egovice), and there should be some mechanic to bar debating while in combat imo, but I'm not sure how to do it eloquently.

One thing that I think will help (and Neos and I have discussed this before), is changing Psyvamp to do a small initial ego drain, followed by several tics of ego drain (example numbers: 3 hits, 2 seconds apart). The total amount of drain should be a bit stronger than Psyvamp is now, but the secondary ego drain tics should not stack from multiple Telepaths, thus limiting the ability to TP bomb someone in a group.

Yes it was a bit of a trolling attempt, only because of the discussions I saw on the Choke thread about SDs absolutely having to have the best cure hindering ever :P

But let's be completely honest... who's had trouble.. or even been killed by a telepath 1v1 at all recently? Group-wise it's very strong.. but so is EVERYTHING ELSE in groups. That's group combat for you.

I believe that TPs need a much more reliable way to hinder curing and get that ego down without needing to rely on debate. Also, if you're using your TP skills like you should be, you're not gonna be debating. If you have to rely on debate to TP-kill, might as well do what Neos suggested and have TP only have mindburst.

I like what Shedrin suggested, but I think it needs to go a little further. Having an ego drain tic for psyvamp would be useful, but it still doesn't solve the problem of getting ego down to 50% with the myriad methods of ego-healing. Perhaps make addiction also double sparkle/scroll times as well for TPs? That might go a long way to help make TP viable 1v1. Just an idea to throw out

Sadly you also failed to meet other criteria. You DO have TK, which is not fine, so you do have a viable option already.

I have nothing constructive I will leave this to Neos and Shedrin.

Off top of head:

Evil Forcefield (Pending Better Name)
Damage to health is also applied to ego while active. Cured by horehound/focus spirit.

This would allow TP mage demense to tick for ego damage, as well as pressure multiple vitals in order to build towards a kill.

But this isn't about TK, this is about TP. That's like saying "don't buff bonecrushers, pureblades are great!"

Never mind TP, buff merian!

(See what I did there?) :P

foolofsound:

Off top of head:

Evil Forcefield (Pending Better Name)
Damage to health is also applied to ego while active. Cured by horehound/focus spirit.

This would allow TP mage demense to tick for ego damage, as well as pressure multiple vitals in order to build towards a kill.

I kinda sorta like this idea, and can see its potential, but it still doesn't solve the base problem: too easy to cure ego.