TFT Set 17 Guide: How to Play Psionic

How to Play Psionic — TFT Set 17: Space Gods

Psionic is the item trait of the set. This means the comps you play with Psionic might change based on what the items for the trait are each game. Historically, there tends to be an item combination that is very strong and often becomes a go-to when the opportunity to play it exists.

Item traits tend to be stronger in the early and mid game as having an extra item up on your opponents does a lot when there are not many units on the board. Oftentimes, by stage 5 or 6 these type of traits tend to fall off a bit.

This trait only has a 2 and 4 active trait, so it likely gets tossed in with other compositions and may lead to flexible comps depending on your items and who your carry is based off the Psionic items. Let’s go over the items after looking over the trait bonus first.

This guide was written by Silverfuse.

Explore all of the new Set 17 traits here!

Psionic Trait Bonus

Champions: Gragas 2g / Pyke 2g / Viktor 3g / Master Yi 4g / Sona 5g

Gain Psionic items that can be equipped to any ally.

• (2) Gain the Psionic item 1.
• (4) Gain the Psionic item 2, Psionic items gain extra effects on Psionic units.

Psionic Champions and Synergy

Psionic does not have any natural synergies, but it has some easy tie ins for the trait web:

• Gragas (2G) - Brawler
• Pyke (2G) - Voyager
• Viktor (3G) - Channeler
• Master Yi (4G) - Marauder
• Sona (5G) - Commander + Shepherd

The Psionic Trait

Psionics have a lot of solid synergy options. For instance throwing in Tahm Kench as a Brawler can help beef up the board. Fiora as a legendary unit can give Marauder to Master Yi and act as a duo carry.

LeBlanc can also be played as a Shepherd to go with Sona. Finally, Bard as a legendary unit can be a Channeler to tie in with Viktor.

Gragas (2G) - Brawler

[Link to Champion Page]

Gragas is a brawler who has the ability Chemical Rage. He heals a percent of his health (Health & AP) over a duration of seconds. Then, he deals (AP) magic damage to adjacent enemies and chills them.

Gragas is a tank, but in the past healing for a percent of health tends to be a lot stronger in the early game than it is in the late game. So, he will likely fall off hard as the game continues, but be a solid early game pick up.

Pyke (2G) - Voyager

[Link to Champion Page]

Pyke is a Voyager which gives damage amplification and shields to himself. His ability Marked for Death makes him reposition up to one hex to throw a harpoon at the furthest enemy.

The harpoon pulls the first enemy hit one hex forward and deals (AP) physical damage. Pyke then teleports behind them and cleaves, dealing (AD) physical damage to them and (AD) physical damage to nearby enemies.

Viktor (3G) - Channeler

[Link to Champion Page]

VIktor is a 3 cost unit with the ability Psionic Storm. Viktor channels a one-hex psionic storm that follows enemies. Each second, the storm grows larger and deals (AP) magic damage to enemies within, reduced by a percent for each hex from the epicenter.

This is damage over time, so Viktor will not always be the best at cleaning up units. This means that he will likely want another carry with him or to be well itemized to actually be able to complete kills.

Master Yi (4G) - Marauder

[Link to Champion Page]

Master Yi has the ability of Psi Strikes. With his passive, every third attack strikes an additional time for passive (AD) bonus physical damage. For his active ability, he briefly meditates, entering a Psi-State for a number of seconds, gaining omnivamp, attack speed, and increased movement speed.

Twice a second, he fires a psychic projection at a random nearby enemy that deals (AD& AP) physical damage.

Sona (5G) - Commander + Shepherd

[Link to Champion Page]

Sona has a 5 cost unit with the ability Psionic Crush where she hurls a chunk of magnetic debris at the nearest target without one, dealing (AP) magic damage and sticking it to them. If an enemy with debris dies, it passes it to the nearest enemy without one.

Every number of casts, instead rip off all debris dealing (AP) magic damage, then crush all the debris onto the target, dealing (AP) magic damage and briefly stunning them.

Disclaimer: Since numbers are always changing up until release, please take everything with an extra grain of salt.

There are 5 different Psionic items: Drone Uplink, Malware, Matrix, Biomatter Preserver, Sympathetic Implant, and Target-Lock Optics.

Drone Uplink is an AP item where the holder’s attacks and abilities' damage is repeated by the drone. The recommended users are Sona and Viktor for this item.

Malware Matrix has damage, attack speed, and omnivamp. Its ability is to deal physical damage to an enemy and reduce the target’s armor by 2. Master Yi and Pyke are the recommended users of this item.

Biomatter Preserver is a health item in which it gains 5% max health and deploys 3 Life Orbs. Every 4 seconds of combat, one drops restoring a percent of the holder’s missing health. Gragas is the recommended user of this item.

Sympathetic Implant has AP damage as well as mana regeneration. Every 5 seconds, the user gains 1 additional mana per a second. Sona and Viktor are the recommended users.

Target-Lock Optics gives attack damage and attack speed.The holder’s first attck on each enemy deals 150 additional physical damage. Pyke and Master Yi are the recommended users.

Thanks for reading! If you want to try and come up with your own team comps for Set 17, check out our Team Builder. For a full overview on the new set, check out our TFT Set 17 Reveal Page.