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Marksmanship

Say something hideous and horrible jumps out at you. Something so disgusting that it simply must die.

Sasha Nein

Marksmanship, also known as PSI-Blast or Blastokinesis, is the psychic ability to shoot a deadly beam of energy from one's head.

Psychonauts[]

Raz gets the badge from Sasha Nein in Sasha's Shooting Gallery, where at first he gets a trial badge only able to be used in that mental world, and after completing it he gets a full badge which is able to be used in all of the worlds. This ability allows Razputin to fire a blast of psychic energy at enemies, also known as a PSI-Blast.

At PSI Cadet Rank 40, Raz gains the upgrade Chain Blast, which allows his PSI-Blasts to ricochet and hit up to 3 enemies. At Rank 70, Raz gains the Super Chain Blast upgrade, which allows his PSI-Blasts to ricochet and hit up to 6 enemies.

Character reactions[]

Most character reactions to being hit with Marksmanship are identical to being hit with Psi-Punch (see list on the Psi-Punch page). However, some characters, such as Ford Cruller, have different lines: "Now why I did give him that dang learner's permit?"

Strategies/Uses[]

  • Always have your mental focus locked onto enemies when fighting with Marksmanship. Aiming without it is a lot harder.
    • It also helps to jump from side to side while firing; this allows you to keep moving to avoid enemy fire while still landing shots.
  • Aggression Ammo for the Marksmanship power will appear in the form of bright orange exclamation marks of raw psychic aggression. It can be found from enemies or from smashing objects. With how often you're going to be using Marksmanship, it's best to keep an eye out for ammo. You can also find golden trophies with increases the number of how many more shots you can carry at one time.
  • This power is needed in Sasha's Shooting Gallery to block off the censor outlet targets and to defeat the Mega Censor.
  • In camp, this power is needed to dislodge the wasps nest in order to obtain the Fertility Idol. In the Brain Tumbler Experiment, this power is mandatory to defeat the shadowy monster and the Blueprint Brain Tank.
  • This power is useful in Lungfishopolis to destroy the airplanes and to defeat Kochamara.

Psychonauts In the Rhombus of Ruin[]

Raz can use his PSI-Blast in Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin even while possessing someone else's body. It is especially helpful against the Monstroboto boss fight where Raz needs to dislodge Monstroboto's helmet to fire at his exposed brain.

Psychonauts 2[]

In Psychonauts 2, Raz can lock onto targets or fire freely. He can also automatically lock on to targets in combat. Instead of using aggression ammo, Raz's aggression energy is constantly regenerating, indicated by the four segments surrounding the emblem on the HUD. This means he can fire four shots in rapid succession before it must recharge. The aggression energy regenerates at a rate of about one segment-per-second.

Strategies/Uses[]

  • Unlike the first game, Psychonauts 2 has significant auto-aim, if there is an enemy within range in roughly the direction Raz is facing, he will target it, so locking onto enemies isn't strictly required, though can still be useful. For more precise shots, the Overcharge upgrade creates an aiming reticle while holding the assigned button. There is also no ammo counter, instead uses recharge over time.
  • Some enemies such as the Judge are able to block this attack, unless you steal their gavel first.
  • The Chain Brain upgrade is good for dealing with many weaker enemies at the same time.
  • Psi-blast can be used to cut certain ropes, trigger targets, and break objects.

Upgrades[]

  • Base Power - Blast concentrated beams of psychic energy from your mind to cause damage.
  • Overcharge - Hold to charge your blast for a bigger explosion upon release.
  • Mind Mag - Gain an additional blast before having to recharge.
  • Chain Brain - On impact, bursts into smaller PSI Blast projectiles that do less damage.

Pins[]

  • Stun Gun - Sets your PSI Blast to stun if you'd rather not do damage!
  • Censory Overload - Censors take more damage from PSI Blasts!
  • Chain Grain - If you have the Chain Brain PSI Blast upgrade, this will tack on some more links!

Trivia[]

  • Marksmanship can cause serious injuries or even fatalities if the psychic doesn't know how to control it[1].
  • In Psychonauts 2, the PSI Blast merit badge is signed "Ford Cruller" even though it was actually Sasha Nein who gave Raz this badge. Ford only gave him the learner's permit.

References/Notes[]

  1. Dogen Boole has stated he's accidentally made heads explode using Blastokinesis.
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