The Best Psycasts In Rimworld

Rimworld’s Psycast mechanics are interesting, adding a new dimension to player choices in and out of combat. However, prioritizing which ones to learn can be tricky — especially as the neurotrainers for each can be pricey. Players looking to mold their Psycasters into forces of nature should focus their resources only on the most powerful of Psycasts — those that combine flexibility and potential for creative usage with low Neural Heat generation and Psyfocus cost.

To assist in making these important choices, this tier list explains the effect and costs of every Psycast in Rimworld and gives advice for potential use cases. The resulting ranking divides Psycasts into groups based on how much effort players should put into obtaining them should the opportunity arise. It also provides ideas on how to use the Psycasts automatically learned by pawns at each Psylink level.

S Tier Psycasts

The Best Mix Of Flexibility & Power

These Psycasts can easily turn the tides in battle, or avert disaster in the colony. As a result, pawns who learn them should be the player’s most valuable asset. When available to buy or as quest rewards, don’t skip them.

Stun

Stun is one of the easiest ways to get the upper hand in combat, as it prevents an enemy from acting or moving for a time. In addition, with a heat cost of 12 and Psyfocus cost of 1%, it can be cast repeatedly.

The time the enemy is affected is based on their psychic sensitivity, which means it is slightly less effective on pawns with the Hussar Xenogerm. However, it can be used on dangerous Insectoid enemies to great effect, especially when combined with areas that have enough open space that many fighters can attack the stunned pawn simultaneously.

Burden

Burden, like Stun, is a fantastic combat Psycast. It slows down the target drastically, making it an excellent strategy against melee fighters. Simply cast Burden onto them and kite them around the tile. This Psycast can also easily be used multiple times, as the heat cost is only 8, and the Psyfocus cost only 1%.

For best results, one pawn should cast Burden while another uses a ranged weapon to maximize offensive uptime while kiting. Long Range weapons like the Sniper Rifle can be effective due to the space they allow the pawn to keep between themselves and the target, but slow reload times often mean that using an SMG or LMG works just as well.

Waterskip

Waterskip is the first non-combat-specific psycast on the list. It summons water into a moderately sized target area, dousing fires with ease. As a downside, despite its low cost of 1.5% psyfocus, it is unlikely that pawns can use it more than a couple of times in quick succession, as it inflicts 25 Neural Heat.

This Psycast is best used to quickly douse fires before they grow, especially by pawns that would otherwise be incapable of firefighting. For maximum results, combine it with movement Psycasts such as Skip, or abilities that increase the Neural Heat the caster can manage (such as Neural Heat Dump) to allow for repeat casts over large areas.

Smokepop

Smokepop is a psycast that closely mimics the Smokepop pack item in the game, releasing a cloud of smoke that prevents enemies from locking onto targets with long-range weapons. This is also effective on turrets and mechanoids.

This makes it useful for gap-closing on ranged fighters or turrets. While Smokepop can be replaced by a crafted item that is unlockable fairly early in the tech tree, the psycast does not cost any materials or labor to make, which is a massive advantage. Instead, it merely costs 2% of the caster’s Psyfocus and causes 30 neural heat.

Skip

Skip is a deceptive Psycast, as it isn’t straightforward how to use it effectively. However, it is one of the best in the game due to its flexibility. Skip allows the player to select a pawn and another location to which to teleport them. The range is moderate, but it is much faster than walking there. This Psycast causes 25 neural heat, but only costs 2% Psyfocus.

In combat, Skip can be used to reposition fighters rapidly, such as moving ranged fighters further away. In addition, it can be used to jump from cover to cover, allowing pawns to gap close on turrets without taking fire. Finally, in non-combat situations, it can be used to shorten travel time to urgent tasks, such as rescuing downed colonists or putting out fires on valuable buildings.

Skipshield

Skipshield, like Skip, can be used to prevent damage to fighters during combat. However, instead of transporting the pawn to a nearby tile, it instead teleports projectiles around that pass through an area, effectively making them immune to gunfire and bows. The effective radius is just under 5 tiles, and the ability costs 4% Psyfocus, and inflicts 50 neural heat. While the duration scales with the psychic sensitivity of the caster, the base duration is 15 seconds.

To effectively use Skipshield, cast it in front of ranged enemies, or turrets. This makes their weapons temporarily useless until they either move away from the radius or the duration expires. As such, it is a powerful engagement tool when the enemies have better shooting or ranged weapons than the player does. Have melee pawns rush the ranged enemies during the Skipshield, which will put them under threat, and prevent them from resuming fire after the Skipshield ends.

Skipshield is not useful when relying on ranged ally pawns to deal damage, as it will also prevent allied projectiles from passing through the area. However, the projectiles will fly up to the radius, meaning there is a risk of friendly fire without any possible benefit. To counter this, have ranged pawns hold their fire until after the Skipshield ends, or avoid using them entirely.

Word of Trust

Word of Trust is a 1.2 special psycast that can be used to reduce a pawn’s resistance against being recruited. It can cover the colony’s weakness in social skills until a pawn can be trained, or it can simply increase the efficiency of a skilled warden. The amount of the total reduction of the target pawn’s will is modified based on their psychic sensitivity but has a high base effect of -20 Resistance.

The ability costs a whopping 60% Psyfocus, but generates no neural heat.

Word of Trust ranks highly on the list despite its lack of combat usage because it allows the player to quickly and reliably recruit imprisoned pawns. While it will not immediately make them join the players’ faction, it will drastically reduce their will, sometimes putting it straight to zero despite the starting value. This allows wardens to come in and recruit the prisoner in a much shorter timeframe, even if their social skill is low.

Word of Inspiration

Word of Inspiration is another 1.2 Special Psycast, but instead, is primarily used on allied pawns instead of prisoners. This Psycast grants the target pawn an instant Inspiration — a powerful temporary buff that can help players craft Legendary Items, or allow pawns to perform tasks that would normally be outside their skill range.

Frequent use of this ability requires that the caster meditate almost constantly to generate Psyfocus, but is a worthy pastime for Royals, who are normally excluded from a variety of work activities anyway. Additionally, the ability is best used in low-stress situations, so players can prepare to use it in advance quite easily.

A Tier Psycasts

Reliable Options For Discerning Players

A-Tier Psycasts are generally characterized by a strong effect, although not as strong as S-Tier picks. When possible, learn them, but don’t worry if it is currently out of the colony’s budget.

Far Skip

Far Skip is a difficult Psycast to pass up. This is because it allows the player to send a target pawn and nearby allies to another ally on a far-away map tile. Therefore, while it cannot replace transport pods completely, it can be used to transport reinforcements to a Caravan that is in trouble and can easily save a group of pawns that would otherwise perish in an encounter, or from traveling hazards such as temperature and starvation.

However, Far Skip remains in A Tier rather than S Tier due to the challenge of using it reliably and effectively. To use Far Skip, players need the caster to be a pawn in a controllable state (on a generated encounter or home tile, while not downed or in a mental state). Additionally, the caster must meditate nearly constantly, as this ability costs 70% Psyfocus. Finally, while many players may not realize an encounter is going sideways until pawns start to go down, the ability requires at least one ally in the receiving location to be conscious, so the window to use it is quite narrow. Effective use of Far Skip almost requires a Royal whose primary task is keeping their Psyfocus near max at all times.

Painblock

Painblock is another ability that can save a colony from the brink of disaster but isn’t S Tier despite its low Psyfocus cost (1%) and Neural Heat Penalty (8) because of the inherent risks in using it. This Psycast allows a pawn to continue functioning as normal despite their current pain level. This means a downed pawn can get up to perform urgent tasks such as supplying food, rescuing an ally, tending to a wound, or defeating an intruder.

However, Pain is a mechanic in Rimworld that often protects pawns from mortally injuring themselves, especially in fights. Pawns that cannot feel pain risk dying outright from injuries sustained long after they should have gone down, and must be watched carefully if the player wants to avoid losing them. For best use, only use Painblock in emergencies and/or on dispensable pawns.

Neural Heat Dump

Neural Heat Dump is a solid Pycast choice when the caster also has other high-value Psycasts, such as Skipshield, Skip, or Smokepop. When used, it allows players to “dump” a Psycaster’s Neural Heat onto an ally, setting the caster to zero and allowing them to use double the Psycasts they could otherwise cast. The only downside is the receiving ally falls into an immediate nonlethal coma, going out of commission for several in-game days, as the ability costs no Psyfocus and generates no Neural Heat.

To most effectively use this ability, keep a non-crucial pawn adjacent to a combat Psycaster in combat encounters. When the caster’s Neural Heat is nearly maxed, dump it onto the ally and keep fighting. Many players have found that choosing an enslaved pawn, a prisoner, or a nonessential colony member such as an artist is the best choice of recipient for a Neural Heat dump.

Beckon

Beckon is an interesting Psycast, that has lots of fun uses for creative players, and alright uses for less creative ones too. The Psycast Beckon can be used to make a pawn approach the caster non-aggressively for the duration, and can be used on allies or enemies. Each casting of beckon costs 1% Psyfocus, inflicts 20 Neural Heat, and has a base duration of 8 seconds.

Some ways to effectively use Beckon include moving enemies out of cover, getting them to walk through traps, or using it as a gap close to ranged enemies that would otherwise be dangerous to approach (similar to a reverse skip). With an ability like this, though, the options are situational and nearly endless, which is part of why it ranks so highly on the list.

Focus

Focus is a Psycast that can be used to great effect in or out of combat. When used on an ally, it greatly boosts their sense of sight, hearing, and movement speed. The result is a pawn that can shoot more accurately in combat, making ranged weapons even more effective, or cover distances quickly to rescue a pawn or put out a fire. Their enhanced senses also increase the efficiency and speed of most tasks — such as butchering, constructing buildings, or crafting items.

This Psycast, since it is beneficial to the target, can be used on allies without diplomatic consequences. It is also cheap enough to use multiple times in quick succession with its 3% Psyfocus cost and 15 Neural Heat generation in exchange for a 60-second effect (before taking psychic sensitivity into account).

Manhunter Pulse

Manhunter Pulse does exactly what it says on the tin: It makes every animal in the area aggressive to all nearby pawns, regardless of faction. This can be used on caravan animals, although it automatically makes the caravan hostile to the caster’s faction. Additionally, animals often in caravans (like chickens, dogs, or horses) are not great at fighting. Instead, it is best used on wild animals near enemies, or on animals in settlements during raiding.

The cost of this Psycast is quite high, but it will likely only be needed once in an encounter anyway. It costs 4% Psyfocus and generates 50 Neural Heat. The duration, before taking Psychic Sensitivity of the target into account, is 60 seconds, and the range is 67 tiles from the selected casting point.

Word of Joy

Word of Joy is a temporary mood boost that the caster can bestow on a pawn. The moodlet is a whopping +30, and can be very useful for preventing breaks during trying times (such as after the death of a loved one) or to offset personality traits such as Depressive or Greedy. However, it is similar to a Joywire in that it also dulls consciousness, reducing work efficiency. This means that affected pawns should be kept away from high-complexity tasks where quality matters, such as building furniture or crafting clothing to prevent wasted resources.

Word of Joy is a non-combat-focused Psycast, and has similar requirements and durations to Word of Inspiration. Casters must consume 40% Psyfocus, but generate no Neural Heat. The resulting buff on the target’s mood lasts for 5 days, with deviations for Psychic Sensitivity.

Despite the positive nature of this Psycast, using it on allies has diplomatic consequences, and should be avoided.

Invisibility

Invisibility is a strange Psycast, but does exactly what it suggests. While under the effects of Invisibility, the pawn cannot be attacked by anything but AoE attacks and Psycasts. This can allow a pawn to reposition to their heart’s content, accessing areas that would typically involve taking hostile fire to reach. Notably, it remains active even when the targeted pawn attacks — so it can be used to mask melee attackers or snipers.

While using Invisibility, keep in mind that enemy pawns will path as if the affected pawn isn’t there, so using melee pawns to block enemies from closing on ranged attackers doesn’t work well in conjunction with this Psycast. In addition, it has a high Neural Heat generation (45 per cast) while also having a pretty low duration of 15 seconds. It is unlikely to have this Psycast active on a single pawn for an entire encounter, and nearly impossible to do it for multiple pawns.

B Tier Psycasts

Interesting Options That May Lack Flexibility

B-Tier Psycasts often share the strength of those in A-Tier, but are too niche or costly to justify a higher ranking. Learning them is a fairly low priority, but can help colonies that have no better options.

Chunk Skip

Chunk Skip allows the caster to teleport 5 chunks into a target area, and can be useful to generate instant cover during caravan encounters. However, when inside the faction base, players should not need quick cover. They should have a killbox or other system of defense against raiders built in advance.

Casting Chunk Skip, should players choose to do so, is quite cheap. It costs 4% Psyfocus to cast Chunk Skip and generates 14 Neural Heat. As it is most often used offensively on other tiles, the pawn will likely be at or near their desired Psyfocus from meditating during the caravan, so be sure to set that appropriately.

Blinding Pulse

Blinding Pulse is a Psycast that produces a bright flash of light in a target area, blinding nearby pawns (reducing their sight to 0.5 efficiency). Blinded pawns are less accurate when using both ranged and melee weapons, and cannot dodge attacks effectively. It negatively impacts allies in the area, so using it with caution is advised. For best results, cast when the enemies are mid-engage, and not in melee range with the player’s colonists yet.

Blinding Pulse costs 1% Psyfocus and generates 20 Neural Heat. Its default duration is 30 seconds. As such, players will likely have more than enough casts to make their enemies blind for the entirety of the fight’s duration. However, Blinding Pulse is not as good as Stun — which completely prevents a pawn from fighting back rather than simply acting as a hindrance.

Wallraise

Wallraise is a funky little Psycast that immediately raises a rock wall across a 3×3 tile area when used. This wall is temporary, and will decay over four hours of game time, meaning its out-of-combat utility is very limited. However, it is useful as cover during engagements away from the colony’s defenses.

Wallraise costs 2% Psyfocus and generates 35 Neural Heat, which is a substantial cost for a middling Psycast. The best way to use it, should the player have a pawn with Wallraise, is to block enemy turrets while approaching. To do this, conjure the wall immediately in front of the turret’s muzzle. However, Smokepop would accomplish the same task with higher versatility — Wallraise isn’t worth buying the skilltrainer for when there are other options.

Berserk

The Berserk Psycast is one best used on a powerful enemy in a large group, such as a Go Juice user during a Tribal Raid. This is because Berserk causes the target pawn to have an immediate violent mental break, attacking any pawn in the vicinity. The pawn typically prioritizes targets that are closest, so standing clear is the best way to ensure the target attacks its own allies.

While Berserk is a straightforward and solid Psycast choice with a reasonable cost (4% Psyfocus and 40 Neural Heat) it is quite low on the list due to the limited effect it has. When used to target a member of a large group, the other attackers will likely put down the berserk pawn very quickly. In a small group, it would be nearly as effective to attack the enemy group with the player’s own pawns.

Vertigo Pulse

Vertigo Pulse is a niche but interesting Psycast that inflicts sickness on those in an area. It can be used to disable enemies, slow down fleeing opponents, and even increase the chance to capture neutral pawns. When used, affected pawns will wander aimlessly in a small area for 20 seconds, and this duration scales with their psychic sensitivity. If the pawn is of the flesh and blood variety (as opposed to a mechanoid) they may also begin vomiting.

While Psycasts like Stun or Burden accomplish the same outcomes with more reliability, Vertigo Pulse is by no means a travesty if learned by the player’s pawns. It is multi-target with a decent range, and costs a measly 2% Psyfocus while generating a reasonable 30 Neural Heat. It’s also flavorful and straightforward to use.

C Tier Psycasts

Underwhelming Options With Some Uses

C-Tier Psycasts are fine if they are automatically learned with Psylinks, but are never worth the money or effort to obtain them from traders and quests.

Word of Love

Word of Love is by no means a bad Psycast. On the contrary, it is very good at allowing the player to play matchmaker with their pawns. It induces romantic feelings between pawns, greatly increasing the chances that a relationship forms or a marriage occurs. Combined with the player’s ability to force a romance attempt by right-clicking a pawn while the desired partner is selected, the player can effectively pair up with anyone in the colony they like.

The only downside to this plan is that the Psycast has a limited duration, after which the pawn’s typical opinion of their partner returns. This can result in a breakup (and the associated mood problems) if Word of Love isn’t repeatedly cast on the pawns. Not only is this an additional layer of micromanagement for the player to remember, but it is also very expensive due to Word of Love’s Psyfocus cost of 50%. Unless two pawns being in a romantic relationship is very important to the colony’s story, it is often better to let relationships develop organically.

Flashstorm

Flashstorm allows the player to summon a lightning storm on a target area, although it has diplomatic consequences when used on a tile owned by another faction (-35). The resulting lightning will start fires, panic nearby pawns, and destroy some structures. It is especially effective against tribal outposts, where most buildings are made of wood.

However, players who don’t raid will often struggle to find a use case for this Psycast, as it doesn’t usually benefit the player to start fires on their home tile. Additionally, the Neural Heat generated by the Flashstorm is quite high at 60, and the random nature of the lightning strikes means that your mileage per cast may vary. Overall, unless the player plans to attack tiles controlled by other factions frequently, there are better Psycasts to learn.

Berserk Pulse

Berserk Pulse is a nuclear option for when fights are going poorly, but is otherwise difficult to use. This Psycast causes all pawns near the target to attack each other regardless of affiliation, which sounds fantastic — until all the caster’s allies also go berserk. Unless the caster is alone and surrounded by enemies, there is a sky-high risk of friendly fire.

Sadly, despite its questionable effect, Berserk Pulse is also quite expensive. It costs 6% Psyfocus to use and generates 65 Neural Heat. The range is a 5×5 tile area around the caster, and the duration is approximately 10 seconds (depending on the Psychic Sensitivity of the targets).

Neuroquake

Neuroquake is a rare Psycast, as it is both level 6 and costly to learn. When used, the caster will meditate for 12 seconds before falling into a several-day coma, and every creature outside a 5-tile radius around the caster becomes Berserk. In addition, faction bases feel the echoes of the Neuroquake, and the player loses a moderate amount of goodwill with every nonhostile faction.

This Psycast is very cool and powerful, but it’s hard to see a situation in which using it is a net positive. It is very costly in both Psyfocus (50% per cast) and in goodwill, while effectively making the player’s Psycaster a sitting duck. Other than situations where the player is fighting against pawns much better equipped than their own colony, using it isn’t worth it.

F Tier Psycasts

Options With Little To No Use In Regular Play

Players should skip these Psycasts when available to buy from traders, and lament if they are the free ones learned by their pawns. These Psycasts lack both power and utility.

Chaos Skip

Chaos Skip is possibly one of the worst Psycasts in the game, as it cannot be used strategically due to its random nature. In this Psycast, the caster can select a pawn to teleport, but cannot choose the destination. Instead, they will appear at a random location near their starting location. The results could help the player, such as by teleporting ranged combatants to a position from which they can no longer shoot, but it is much more likely to have a neutral or negative effect on the encounter.

In addition to its questionable usage, Chaos Skip generates 12 Neural Heat and reduces diplomatic relations when used on allies. However, it has a pretty low Psyfocus cost at 2%. Players whose pawns learn this Psycast, and are determined to find a use for it might consider casting it on a pawn standing near a wall, and hope that they get teleported through it. This requires luck but could help to breach high health structures.

Mass Chaos Skip

Mass Chaos Skip shares all the issues of Chaos Skip, but on a larger scale. Instead of acting on a single target, Mass Chaos Skip affects all pawns within an area, causing them to teleport to a random position within 25 tiles of their starting location. While this could theoretically disrupt enemy attack formations, the AI in Rimworld is unlikely to utilize complex enough strategies to justify such a Psycast.

When cast, Mass Chaos Skip generates 40 Neural Heat and costs 3% Psyfocus. Notably, however, it has a much smaller impact on diplomatic relations with allies than other Psycasts — only resulting in a loss of five points instead of the fifteen-point penalty of Chaos Skip.

Solar Pinhole

Solar Pinhole is hands down the strangest Psycast of the bunch, both due to its weak effect and strange mechanics. Solar Pinhole purports to create a window to the core of a nearby star, generating both light and heat. However, it only generates heat when the temperature is under 20 degrees Celcius. In addition, while it creates enough sunlight to work with, it does not allow the player to grow plants. Overall, these strange hoops the game jumps through are probably intended to prevent unintended usages, but this effectively makes Solar Pinhole one of the most inconsistent Psycasts in the game, and the least flexible.

Players who are unfortunate enough to have their pawns learn it can use its low cost (it generates no Neural Heat and costs 8% Psyfocus) and long duration (5 in-game days) to light up their workshop, saving on a small amount of electricity or wood from other light sources. Alternatively, it can be used to give pawns with sunlight sensitivity (such as Dirtmoles or Sanguophages), a disadvantage in combat when they otherwise wouldn’t have it (such as during the night or indoors). Neither of these uses, however, seem in line with the power level of other Psycasts in the game.