Paranormal Investigator

It's bad. Close Encounter is nearly worthless, if it were a "knock"-like spell that unlocked and opened locked chests and triggered traps that'd be great. Hell, bump the cooldown on it up higher if you give it those abilities, the utility of it would be incredible. Skepticism doesn't do anything. I used it on a Bee Arthur, did nothing. I used it on a random named monster, nothing. I used it on a CoE monster, nothing.

 

No effect whatsoever, or resisted?

 

Zero effect. Did not display a "RESIST" message, didn't display ANY message at all.

 

Skepticism doesn't work on named monsters. You can't cheese them that way.

 

So its purpose is to simply change a plain old Batty into a Blobby into a Zomby into whatever? How wonderfully useless.

I thought the point was to be a tool to get out of a sticky spot with a named mob, sacrificing the juicy XP for survival or something.

 

To negate casters is the primary use.

 

Well, it's not entirely useless. You can get rid of monsters that can wreck your build instead of having to overcome that weakness. Of course, when such a monster spawns as a named one it becomes a whole different thing, but you should have some resources prepared to take care of named monsters either way.

It's just like Psionics and wands - they do have a lot of uses, but you have to know when to use them.

 

I took it on my current build to mitigate the horrible casting recipe discovery system in hopes of trying out encrusts. Unfortunately, you can get the same recipies over again with it.

There are some uses for the skills but they are limited. It's a pretty terrible line.

 

Xenochemistry says differently.

Seriously that skill is astounding. Who needs any points in alchemy when you can change a bit of ooze into a phylactery with a bit of luck.

 

Worth it for that alone IMO, but it needs some changes elsewhere to make it a nicer skill tree to pick.

 

Close Encounter is far from worthless, depends on the build. Opening doors is always hazardous, particularly with characters wanting to keep a good distance from enemies, i.e., mages, snipers, etc. I found the skill priceless. Skepticism not only changes creatures into other creatures, but also into loot - sometimes even very valuable loot. Xenochemistry is useful for recycling useless potions (some reagents are categorized as potions, don't know why). Alien Autopsy is probably the least useful, at least, it is if you take it late game; early, it probably really helps bend the arm of the RNG god to get some decent recipes. Alien weapon can target anything within sight and over/beyond walls, making it pretty good for Zoo's and other mobs (even better when paired with a decent ).

Completely disagree it's "bad". Like many classes, again, it depends on the build and how well it synergizes with other ones.

 

Yeah I'd forgotten Scepticism, which is miles, miles better than it's equivalent in the Magical Law tree.

 

I don't understand this mentality have that every skill should be great in all situations and able to carry a character by itself.

 

As a melee character I'd much rather spend a cooldown to remove a Corrupting monster than to spend bolts/booze.

 

Wait... what? Close Encounter is my go-to spell for monster zoos.

1. Open door.
2. It's a monster zoo! Close door.
3. Back up to edge of sight range, or behind a pool, or whatever
4. Throw a couple walls up to make a bottleneck
5. Open the door with Close Encounter
6. Chuck bolts from a safe distance
7. Repeat step 6

I can finish monster zoos on levels 10 and beyond without ever taking damage. Rational Explanation is a great low-level resist for melee characters, and a cheap way to get necro resist in a pinch. Autopsy gets you recipes BEFORE you really need them, which makes all the difference (I had a Bolt Eruptor and Pyromancer gloves by floor 4).

Skepticism is great for just what these guys have been saying, that it removes a spellcaster or other annoying monster. Yes, it doesn't work on named monsters, but how many instant-gratification spells actually do? Is that such a surprise?

 

I think that that a lot of people have forgotten the incredible utility of Rational Explaination, which allows melee users to pound those annoying Octos into mush with little or no danger. When CotW first came out almost every melee charter I built had this skill. I've moved away from it some, due to my ever-hungery demand for variance, but it's very, very good for that alone. It also negates brain worms!

Skepticism, as others have mentioned, can give you things. Sure, it can't turn named mobs into things, but any one hit kill power that works on named mobs has weird interactions with Dredmor and Digula.

Alien Autopsy = rawk for crafting. Particularly if you're going for encrusts.

Also, Xenochemistry, for reasons mentioned above.

So yeah, it's not an Engine skill, for sure. But as a Turbocharger or Fuel Tank, it's pretty sweet.

 

A common mistake i've seen people make time and time again when rating skills (mods or vanilla) is measuring by the standards someone looking to build their entire playstyle around any tree they pick. The mistake they make there is trees like that are supposed to be the minority, not the norm. In a game like DoD, they are supposed to represent less than a third the overall number of trees.As such, if you're looking to rate a tree, esp. in vanilla, the odds of you looking at a skill tree that was designed to be a play-style defining tree are VERY slim. Quite a few trees, in fact, offer nothing more than a quality of life improvement (Ley Lines, for example). If you compare trees like that to say, Clockwork knights, where almost every level seems to do something huge, then you are actually doing it wrong.
The bottom line: DoD is first and foremost a SINGLE PLAYER GAME. As such, there is NOTHING WRONG with trees NOT BEING EQUAL as long as it's not BLATANTLY OVER/UNDERPOWERED. And a skill that fills a utility/niche role is not "underpowered" per se. At most, I'd say some numbers needed to be tweaked up (and they kind of did last patch). But that's about all i'm willing to concede, really.

 

Using Alien Weapon on Brax is hilarious though. Especially when you see the results.

Just cast it on him as many times as you feel you have the patience for, then aggro him. Watch the fireworks.

 

PI also has the +1 to consider. It's not much, but it's enough for a tanky warrior-type to distill most of the booze he finds and make healing/invisibility potions. Handy in the extreme.

 

How much damage does Alien Weapon do? the wiki doesn't have an entry for it.