Domination is a staple possible ability of the Psi-Operatives, which allows them to permanently mind control an organic unit.
Due to the random nature of which abilities are presented for training in the Psi Lab, this ability has the possibility to be obtained at any rank, and requires several days to learn (depending on your psi op's current rank and if you have an engineer staffed to your psi lab).
Domination has a single charge per mission, and a 5 turn cooldown if the attack misses. While technically only one enemy can be Dominated per mission, in practice, additional units can be controlled via the random effects inflicted by Insanity or Void Rift, which include a temporary mind-control.
Effects[]
If the attack is successful, the target permanently comes under control of the player, but will not refresh their action allowance until the beginning of the next player round.
Note that if the Psi Operative is evacuated, all enemies under this particular Operative's mind control will break free on the same turn. In addition, any targets under player control at the end of a mission will not provide corpses.
Valid targets[]
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Tips[]
The unit you choose to dominate can widely vary based on the situation and personal preference.
- Assuming you can bypass their high Will, Gatekeepers make amazing Domination targets. Their unrivalled health pool and armour values, their Consume ability to further improve their longevity, their Gateway ability to raise multiple Psi Zombie decoys, and the sheer power of the Gatekeeper Beam makes them one of the best Domination targets in the game.
- Mutons are decent domination targets due to their powerful melee attack, decent durability and ability to shred armor with their weapons and grenades, and due to the fact that they are really easy to mind control due to their low will.
- Dominating an ADVENT Shieldbearer or ADVENT Elite Shieldbearer will allow you to use the Energy Shield for your own squad. This can be very useful for improving the longevity of your squad during a battle. They also do okay damage and have good armor and Hit Points values to make them pretty good fighters as well.
- Andromedons are good candidates for Domination due to their massive health pool and very potent weaponry and melee capabilities. This makes them both a reliable decoy for your troops and deadly damage dealers against other aliens, their will is very dependant on the difficulty setting.
- Codices have higher Will than most units, but their abilities make it worth it to dominate them; While they won't use Clone and their weapon isn't very powerful, they can Teleport to instantly gain a flanking position on the enemy, and their Psionic Bomb ability can disable all enemies that use clips in the radius, along with dealing considerable damage if they remain in it.
- Archons are fast, agile, and powerful units. While their high Will makes it harder to dominate them, their melee capabilities, extreme vitality and dodge stat, and the Blazing Pinions ability can make them a good Domination target.
- Berserkers, Chryssalids, Faceless, ADVENT Troopers, Officers, and Stun Lancers are generally not good Domination targets. While they have low Will and decent health pools, they do not typically last long in combat, and their overall combat abilities are somewhat lackluster (ADVENT Officers can't even use their Mark Target ability if mind controlled, and cocoons spawned with a mind controlled chryssalid will be hostile). Consider using Insanity on them instead.
- Sectoids are slightly more useful than the rest of these units, as they can reanimate a single Psi zombie, but their low health, melee vulnerability, their weak Beam Pistol and Psi Offense make them poor Domination targets.
- During council missions requiring the capture or killing of an enemy VIP, they can be dominated to move to the extraction point, freeing up a soldier who would otherwise have to move adjacent, knock them out, then be disabled while carrying them, those VIPs have 50 will.