Word of serenity

Word of serenity is a level psycast that ends the target's mental break by sending them into a short coma. 
== Acquisition ==
== Summary ==
Upon casting, Word of serenity will instantly end any mental breaks on the target pawn, while simultaneously inflicting the Psychic coma hediff for , scaling with the target's Psychic Sensitivity. Valid targets for Word of serenity include any non-hostile, psychically sensitive human pawns currently in a mental state. Uniquely, the psyfocus cost of Word of serenity is not fixed, instead scaling with the severity of the mental break on the target pawn - 30% for a minor break, 50% for a major break, and 70% for an extreme break. Additionally, it should be noted that Word of serenity is ineffective against a select few mental breaks - Word of serenity's use is prevented on pawns in the Jailbreaker mental state, with the given reason being that it doesn't work on the "inducing prisoner to escape" mental state, while pawns who have suffered the Run wild mental break are incapable of being targeted. Additionally, pawns who have suffered from a Crisis of belief cannot be targeted, as they are not in a mental state despite having suffered a mental break. Lastly, like all other "Word of" psycasts, the caster must be directly next to their target to use Word of serenity.
== Analysis ==
Word of serenity is a powerful crisis management tool, allowing one to instantly end any mental breaks, be they a minor inconvenience or potentially catastrophic, at zero risk to their own pawns. Assuming one is capable of keeping their pawns reasonably happy, Word of serenity can near-entirely eliminate the impact of mental breaks on one's colony, or at the very least stave off the worst of them. While slightly limited by the substantial psyfocus costs, Word of serenity is nevertheless a potent method to neutralize any potentially harmful mental breaks, while also incurring less risk or penalty than other methods of accomplishing the same. While it does temporarily incapacitate affected pawns, this outcome is almost always preferable to a mental break.
The use for Word of serenity is fairly obvious - shut down any unwanted mental breaks. However, as the psyfocus costs can make repeated casting cumbersome or impossible, some care should be taken when electing to use Word of serenity, as opposed to letting a fairly harmless mental state run its course. Priority targets include mental breaks with far-reaching or potentially lethal repercussions, such as Murderous rage, or a Targeted tantrum intending to eliminate an item of particular value - potentially the ever-present threat of targeting an antigrain warhead. Other high priority mental states include Insulting spree, Hard drug binge, the list goes on - see the associated page for the list of all mental breaks and their effects. Additionally, pawns more critical to the function of a colony or its defense should be prioritized, especially if afflicted with a particularly long lasting break, such as a Catatonic breakdown. Lastly, note that Word of serenity is effective on non-mood based mental breaks, including Social fighting, and trait-based breaks such as Pigging out from the Gourmand trait, though the benefit of casting Word of serenity on any of them is relatively minor, as most of them are fairly harmless.
Additionally, note that use of Word of serenity is considered a natural end to a mental break, unlike downing or imprisoning an affected pawn. This means that any affected pawns will be granted the (or Void Catharsis, where applicable), providing a hefty mood bonus without having to suffer through the mental break. In comparison, imprisoning a pawn will not only not grant any mood bonus, but will also incur the , making further mental breaks more likely to occur. Likewise, downing a pawn via force incurs the risk of permanent damage or death, as well as a mood malus from any Pain-related thoughts from their injuries, as well as a lack of Catharsis. As such, use of Word of serenity should be prioritized when possible over other methods of mental break cessation. As an aside, Word of serenity will still allow pawns with the Tortured artist trait to potentially gain Inspired creativity, making it a slam dunk for use on them, as well as allowing one to repeatedly push them to the breaking point to farm inspirations without fear of the repercussions of the resulting mental breaks.
However, despite being a highly useful psycast, Word of serenity suffers from the range restriction imposed upon it, requiring target and caster to be directly adjacent to one other. As many problematic mental breaks are both time-sensitive and have the affected pawns moving directly towards an intended target at full speed, this can make it difficult for the caster to intercept their target before the damage is done, forcing one to resort to the aforementioned methods of imprisoning or downing the pawn with a nearby colonist instead, incurring all the drawbacks listed above. As such, if one intends to make the most of Word of serenity, it would be prudent to ensure the caster has a sufficiently high Move speed to allow them to intercept their target before any damage is done. Several options exist to accomplish this purpose - bionic legs, juggernaut serum, yayo, to name a few. In particular, as a psycaster, the pawn will have access to several psycasts allowing them to reach their target - Focus can multiply their Moving by , and Skip can allow them to move the target to themselves, or vice versa, or merely cover ground more quickly. In contrast, Stun or Burden can be used to immobilize or slow their target at range, while Wallraise can be used to block their pathing entirely.
== Version history ==
* 1.2.2719 - Added.
* 1.3.3387 - Now works on catatonic breakdown.
Category: Psycasts