Psion

The **Psion** is one of the four primary Races in Parasite. They are a singular psionically enlightened member of the Crew, having enough changes to the point of being a separate lifeform from their Human crewmates. The Psion is not chosen at the start of a match, (unlike the Alien or Android), but instead, one of the currently alive Humans will be awakened as the Psion around the 7-8 minute mark.

The Psion has a slow start, not being too different from other Humans early on, however they grow in power exponentially obtaining very powerful abilities, capabilities, and stats if they remain alive. The Psion is a protagonist by default, however they are able to become an Antagonist depending on their actions.

## Description

The Psion is one of the more unique aspects of Parasite, basically 'upgrading' a single random Human near the start of the match. This possibly puts a wrench into other players plans, as it may cause an important member of the crew to have to ignore their Occupation, or cause an Alien to think twice about their next victim. As opposed to the Android who is mostly about perks, traits, and passives, the Psion has very few innate positive traits, but mainly benefits from powerful active Spells.

The Psion starts with two default spells - Psionic Shift (replacing Sprint) and Telekinesis - and the choice between three "starter" Level 1 spells (Psionic Barrage, Electrokinesis, and Pyrokinesis).

The Psion is given an additional choice between three spells starting at Level 4 and every four levels after, but can pick only one. Their choice cannot be un-done, and is permanent for the game. Each spell adds a new hotkey to their characters abilities. Depending on what abilities the Psion picks, their playstyle can vary, ranging from supporting allies, to being incredibly tanky, to being able to chase down and destroy the fastest Aliens.

Compared to the Host or Android, the Psion is relatively weak early-game, however if they are allowed to live to their later levels, they very easily become one of the strongest things in the game, gaining a powerful weapon at Level 12, and a game-changing Ultimate ability at Level 16.

## Abilities

### Psionic Level

Psion works on a 'Level' system which dictates their power at a given time. Their Level is a small, permanently visible sphere and number at the top of the Psion's screen the moment they become Psion. When clicked, a unique UI of Abilities will appear, allowing the Psion to pick them when they reach the specified level. The Psion's Psionic Level grows at a fixed rate, accelerated by the Psion's Psionic Potential percentage (see below).

Besides granting new abilities, each level also gives 10 more Health and Energy.

### Obtainable Spells

Every Ability Tier has its own 'theme', with each Ability loosely relating to it.

* LVL 1 - Basic Ability: A general-purpose ability with a short cooldown, decent damage, and AoE for minion clearing.
* LVL 4 - Core Ability: A more specialized ability that can better shape a Psion's playstyle toward mobility or damage.
* LVL 8 - Utility Ability: A supportive ability that allows Psions to buff/protect/restore themselves or their allies.
* LVL 12 - Psionic Specialization: A major set of passives and abilities, mainly affecting the Psion's weapon, either giving them a new one, or upgrading their existing ones.
* LVL 16 - Ultimate Ability: The most powerful abilities a Psion has, being able to deal immense damage and destruction to their enemies.
* LVL 20 - Psionic Passive: An incredibly powerful and unique passive trait which can give the Psion new capabilities, or enrich their existing ones.

## Passives

### Psionic Potential

Using Spells grants the Psion 'Psionic Potential'. Psionic Potential is unique to the Psion, and is indicated in the top-left of the screen, below the hero portrait. Psionic Potential grants the following benefits:

* Increased Energy regeneration.
* Increased Spell damage.
* Increased rate of Psionic Level growth.

Psionic Potential will begin decaying 2 seconds after the Psion has last used an ability. If the Psion is in combat, Psionic Potential will not decay.

### Upsides

* + Psionic Potential.
* + Gains 10 Health and Energy per Psionic Level.
* + Starts with Psionic Shift and Telekinesis, and a starter spell.
* + Access to very powerful Spells, some of which grant immense capabilities such as huge mobility, the highest DPS in the game, or other incredibly strong actions.

### Downsides

* - Some spells require the Psion to have a certain amount of Psionic Potential in order to use.
* - Has the Psionic tag, causing vulnerability to anything effective against Psionic targets, such as Sub-Zero.
* - Can be crippled by losing Energy such as from a Pulse Grenade.
* - Must manage their Energy in the early game.
* - Cannot obtain Cybernetic Implants.

## Alignment

The Psion has three different alignments: Good, Evil, and Irredeemable.

All Psion's start the game Good-aligned. Good-aligned Psions function just like a Human or Android, having to win with the Crew and kill all the Aliens. However, if they kill a **Human** (Killing an Android does nothing), the Psion will become Evil-aligned.

An Evil-aligned Psion can only win **alone** - being unable to win with the Aliens, nor with the Crew. Additionally, they themselves will become a win condition for the Crew, needing to be killed in order to win, just like the Aliens.

An Evil-aligned Psion can still "redeem" themselves by killing an Alien player. Doing so will return the Psion to being Good-aligned. There is no limit for how many times a Psion can switch between Good and Evil.

If an Evil-aligned Psion kills a Human, the Psion's alignment will become **irredeemable**. Irredeemable is identical to Evil, but, like the name implies, the Psion can no longer "redeem" themselves by killing an Antagonist - for the rest of the game, the Psion is Irredeemable, and their only victory condition is to be the last player standing.

All spells are available for selection no matter the Psion's alignment. However, negative alignment does have certain effects:

* Evil/Irredeemable Psions have 25% less Damage on all Spells/Weapons, including their unique Weapons.
* Evil/Irredeemable Psions are classified as Antagonists, meaning they must be the last one standing in order to win, along with needing to be killed for the Protagonists to win.

Even though an Evil-aligned Psion is an Antagonist, they are not **required** to be always hostile to Protagonists (unlike the Aliens), and they can still team up; especially if the Psion's Evil alignment has not yet reached Irredeemable status. However, once all the Aliens dies, and if the Evil Psion did not redeem themselves, the Psion and Crew must kill eachother.

### Alignment Vs Practicality

An important note is that, regardless of what the game's mechanics may claim, the actual function for how Alignment works can be a bit different. If a Good-aligned Psion intentionally attacks a Human or Android, they may be classified as **Evil**, regardless if they actually killed a Human to become Evil.

The Psion does not have the same rules that Humans or Android have towards each other, meaning a Psion can be killed by an Android or Human without obtaining Grief or losing Karma. This does not mean that people can kill Psions whenever they want, however it does mean that Good Psions can be killed by the crew from doing evil actions, or acting maliciously regardless of if the game says they are Evil-aligned or not.

Much of this comes up to Crew interpretation and preference. They may choose to forgive a Psion who has killed half the Crew, or execute a Psion who made an honest mistake at the drop of a hat.