Mind Control

Mind Control temporarily turns enemies into allies, the effect duration depending on the level of the system, and

The Mind Control system can be seen to the left of the Clone Bay

regardless of whether the target is aboard your ship or an enemy ship. Like Drones, you can't give controlled crew orders, rather, they are under a fairly basic AI's control until the effect wears off. While controlled, they can do anything your crew can: fight, man systems, repair, etc. Note that controlled enemy boarders are treated like friendlies and will go through your doors freely attempting to man a system or provide repairs - this will eventually result in further chaos as your crew will have to run them down through your own ship.

Additionally, as mind controlled enemies are considered friendly, they can be successfully targeted by crew teleporters. By mind controlling an enemy on board the opponent craft, then immediately transporting them off the ship, they can be fought on board your own ship. This gives you the advantage of greater strength and numbers. It is especially effective against Engi craft, as their high numbers of defence II drones and low physical strength makes direct shooting difficult, but one-to-one combat extremely effective. Killing all members of the crew this way gives high levels of loot, as you have left the ship intact.

Note: This tactic fails if the enemy vessel has an active teleporter. Even when hacked, enemy teleporters are still capable of retrieving crew from your ship. All teleporters must be shut down prior to this tactic being employed. Alternately, cloaking will prevent the enemy from retrieving crew for the duration of the cloak, and low-oxygen rooms can be used to damage the "friendly" enemy before the mind control wears off.

Mind control requires a view of the target, whether that be accomplished through upgraded Sensors, Slug telepathy, Lifeform Scanner augmentation, Hacking a room with enemy crew inside or teleporting a bomb into it. Note that mind-controlled crew members can be released from enemy mind control if you use mind control on said crew member. Mind-controlled enemies can also be teleported to your ship, either to temporarily assist with on board operations, or to trap and kill once the control has worn off. Like boarding, Super Shields must be pierced before Mind Control can be used on the crew within; however, a Zoltan Shield Bypass Augmentation will allow you to be able to bypass Super Shields. Also, if you have Super Shields and you teleport onto a ship with mind control, your boarding party can be mind controled.

It is used as a blue option in the Large Trade Station event, Black Market Weapon Trader event, Mantis Commando event, Confused Mantis event and Zoltan Security Checkpoint event.

Upgrades to the system make controlled enemies more powerful, granting bonuses to both health and damage. Casting Mind Control on your own crew members being Mind-Controlled by the enemy negates the effect. Slugs cannot be mind-controlled due to their psychic abilities.

Mind Control Upgrades

Level	Cost	Ability	Duration
1	75	Mind control one person	14 sec.
2	30	+15 Health, boosted damage	20 sec.
3	60	+30 Health, increased boost	28 sec.