Best Pins and Power Upgrades in Psychonauts 2

Become the best Psychonaut you can be!

Psychonauts 2 gives you many distinct Psychic Power skills and abilities to experiment with, all of which can be upgraded in various ways using the Psychic Powers menu or by equipping Pins that you can get from the Otto-Matic. However, to get the best experience out of Psychonauts 2, you must first know which upgrades to work towards. This does, in part, depend on your playstyle, but some pins and upgrades are just too good to ignore. On the one hand, these can give you a serious edge in combat as you take down the game’s diverse baddies.

Best Power Upgrades in Psychonauts 2

These will include the skills and ability upgrades that you can unlock in Psychonauts 2’s manual. To bring up the manual, press M on PC, TouchPad on PlayStation, or Change View button on Xbox. Afterward, make your way to the Psychic Powers section. Here, you should be able to see all your Powers and the upgrades you can unlock for each of them in exchange for Intern Credit.

We will review all the abilities we recommend upgrading first for the best Psychonauts 2 experience.

Summarized information about the best power upgrades: 

Upgrade TypeAbilityUpgrade NameBuffs
Power UpgradeMelee AttackDodge AttackAllows players to dodge an attack while also landing an attack on the enemy
Power UpgradeMelee AttackShockwaveGround pound will create a larger shockwave. Damaging enemies on a larger radius
Power UpgradePSI BlastOverchargePSI Blast deals more damage
Power UpgradePSI BlastChain BrainPSI Blast projectiles split into smaller pieces on hit
Power UpgradePyrokinesisTres Bon FireAllows players to burn their enemies on a much larger scale
Power UpgradeLevitationPouncy BallAllows you to jump higher than you can with double jump
Power UpgradeMental ConnectionDark ThoughtsAllows you to grapple onto the dark blue thought bubbles
Power UpgradeTime BubbleTime ZoneAllows players to hit more than 1 enemy with the time bubble attack
Pin UpgradeTelekinesis Psychic PowerPluckyDeals away with the limitation of availability of throwable items
Pin UpgradeTime BubbleBubble WrapIncreases the area of effect for the time bubble ability.
Pin UpgradeMental ConnectionHeavy ThoughtsAllows players to anchor their enemies in place for a few moments
Pin UpgradeMelee AttackStrike-onautProvides a massive damage increase
Pin UpgradePSI BlastChain GainAdds another mini projectile to the pieces that break and explode on hit

Melee: Dodge Attack

Upgrade Type Power Upgrade
Ability Melee Attack
Upgrade Name Dodge Attack
Effects It allows you to dodge an incoming attack while simultaneously striking the enemy

Let’s be honest; you’ll spend a lot of time dodging in combat. The Dodge Attack upgrade, therefore, is a good choice since it allows you to follow up each dodge with a nifty attack. It’s essentially the best combination between attack and defense! This can be especially helpful in later stages of the game when you’ll have to dodge multiple enemy attacks regularly. To perform the move, simply hit the Attack button once you’ve initiated a dodge in any direction. You’ll subsequently see Raz land a fluid kick onto the enemy.

Psychonauts 2 Best Power Skill Ability Pin Upgrades
Dodge Attack

Melee: Shockwave

Upgrade Type Power Upgrade
Ability Melee Attack
Upgrade Name Shockwave
Effects The ground pound generates an expanded shockwave, causing damage to the opponents 

The Ground Pound move is a useful attack to land damage to multiple enemies within a small area. However, unlocking the Shockwave ability will give your Ground Pound more oomph. Every time you use the move, it will be followed up with a small but powerful shockwave. This allows you to damage enemies in a larger radius than before. It will, therefore, be easier to deal with clusters of baddies.

Psychonauts 2 Best Power Skill Ability Pin Upgrades
Shockwave

PSI Blast: Overcharge

Upgrade Type Power Upgrade
Ability PSI Blast
Upgrade Name Overcharge
Effects The Blast will directly deal a large amount of damage

Sometimes, you just want to keep your distance. That’s where Raz’s PSI Blast power comes in. The Overcharge upgrade improves upon this ability by allowing you to power up your PSI Blast before firing it to deal more damage. All you need to do is hold the PSI Blast button for a second or two and watch Raz conjure up a mighty psychic projectile. Aim for your target, and release the button to unleash extra damage. This skill will be especially deadly against those little Regrets in Psychonauts 2.

Overcharge ability
Overcharge

PSI Blast: Chain Brain

Upgrade Type Power Upgrade
Ability PSI Blast
Upgrade Name Chain Brain
Effects On impact, PSI Blast projectiles divide into smaller pieces

How do you further complement your Overcharge ability and make it even stronger? Simple, you unlock the Chain Brain upgrade. This skill makes your PSI Blast projectiles split into smaller pieces on impact, which then do a small amount of area-of-effect damage. This upgrade acts as another boost to your ranged capabilities, ensuring that you can keep threats at a distance when the going gets tough.

Psychonauts 2 Best Power Skill Ability Pin Upgrades
Chain Brain

Pyrokinesis: Tres Bon Fire

Upgrade Type Power Upgrade
Ability Pyrokinesis
Upgrade Name Tres Bon Fire
Effects The player can easily burn their enemies on the larger level

Who doesn’t love a quick barbeque? The Pyrokinesis power is already a strong weapon in your arsenal, allowing you to cook off any baddies that get too close. The Tres Bon Fire upgrade, however, makes this power several times stronger. It allows you to burn enemies in a much larger radius. This is great for when you get swarmed by multiple enemies. All you need to do is hold down the Pyrokinesis button until the bubble swells to its maximum size, and then let it go. This ability will be especially potent against any Doubts you come across in Psychonauts 2, considering how flammable they are.

Psychonauts 2 Best Power Skill Ability Pin Upgrades
Tres Bon Fire

Levitation: Pouncy Ball

Upgrade Type Power Upgrade
Ability Levitation
Upgrade Name Pouncy Ball
Effects You can Jump way too high with this upgrade

Our next recommendation takes a break from combat and focuses on a very important exploration tool that Raz has – the Levitation Ball. The psychic orb lets you traverse faster and jump farther. Yet, unlocking its full potential requires acquiring the Pouncy Ball upgrade. This ability allows you to jump higher than you can with double jump. Considering the platforming nature of Psychonauts 2, this upgraded skill becomes vital in exploring certain locations. To use it, simply hold the Attack button while using the Levitation Ball, and release it when it has charged up fully to watch Raz rise higher than ever before!

Pouncy Ball ability
Pouncy Ball

Mental Connection: Dark Thoughts

Upgrade Type Power Upgrade
Ability Mental Connection
Upgrade Name Dark Thoughts
Effects You can use a grappling mechanism onto dark blue thoughts to reach the new locations

The Mental Connection ability is useful for grappling onto thought bubbles to reach new locations. However, soon after you’re introduced to the ability by Agent Forsythe, you’ll see some dark blue thought bubbles that can’t be grappled onto like their white counterparts. These are ‘dark thoughts,’ and you need this upgrade before you can latch onto them. Since the thought bubbles can often lead to unattained collectibles, this is a skill you’ll want to upgrade to as soon as you can, especially if you’re a completionist.

Psychonauts 2 Best Power Skill Ability Pin Upgrades
Dark Thoughts

Time Bubble: Time Zone

Upgrade Type Power Upgrade
Ability Time Bubble
Upgrade Name Time Zone
Effects The player can use a time bubble attack to hit more than one enemy at the same time

Our last Power Upgrade recommendation for Psychonauts 2 is the Time Zone ability. Sure, the Time Bubble is an invaluable power in its own right, allowing you to slow down baddies to dish out more damage, or decelerate fast-moving objects to pass through or over them. But it can only target a single enemy or object at a time. The Time Zone upgrade, on the other hand, transforms this power into an area-of-effect ability. This means you can hit multiple targets at once, a skill that will prove extra useful in combat as you progress through the game.

Psychonauts 2 Best Power Skill Ability Pin Upgrades
Time Zone

Similar reads: Emotional Baggage Locations in Hollis’ Classroom.

Best Pins in Psychonauts 2

Pins are equippable items that you can buy from any Otto-Matic machine. Just walk up to a machine, open the catalog, and go into the Pins section where you’ll find an abundance of pins up for grabs. Some pins are for purely cosmetic changes, such as the various Lev Ball pins which change your Levitation Ball’s color. Conversely, others can give you and your abilities a massive leg-up. And since you can only equip three pins at any time, it’s important to know which ones to prioritize.

Plucky

Upgrade Type Pin Upgrade
Ability Telekinesis Psychic Power
Upgrade Name Plucky
Psitanium Cost 400
Description If there are no items to telekinetically manipulate, just grab a piece of ground chuck and hurl it

The Telekinesis Psychic Power is useful for ranged attacks but can be limited by the availability of throwable items in your surroundings. The Plucky pin does away with this limitation. Now, even when you’ve exhausted items that you can hurl at enemies, Raz can pluck chunks out of the ground to use as ammunition. This will serve as another great addition to your ranged arsenal, allowing you to keep dishing out damage from afar. Censors, beware!

Plucky pin
Plucky

Bubble Wrap

Upgrade Type Pin Upgrade
Ability Time Bubble
Upgrade Name Bubble Wrap
Psitanium Cost 500
Description Expands your Time Bubble to decrease a significantly larger area

The Bubble Wrap pin greatly inflates Raz’s Time Bubble attacks, assuming you’ve unlocked the Time Zone upgrade. With this, you can affect a much larger area, and hence many more enemies. So, the next time you’re getting overrun by baddies, simply press the Time Bubble button. Everyone will slow down to a crawl, leaving them open for any attacks you may want to throw their way.

Psychonauts 2 Best Power Skill Ability Pin Upgrades
Bubble Wrap

Heavy Thoughts

Upgrade Type Pin Upgrade
Ability Mental Connection
Upgrade Name Heavy Thoughts
Psitanium Cost 200
Description Utilize Mental Connections to immobilize your opponents

Sometimes you just need a little space. By default, the Mental Connection ability grapples and pulls enemies to you. Useful for unloading a few punches, sure. However, buying and equipping the Heavy Thoughts pin will anchor your enemies in place for a few moments. This can be critical for crowd control and will give you some breathing room to plan out your offense.

Psychonauts 2 Best Power Skill Ability Pin Upgrades
Heavy Thoughts

Strike-onaut

Upgrade Type Pin Upgrade
Ability Melee Attack
Upgrade Name Strike-onaut
Psitanium Cost 600
Description The damage output will get increased when channeling psychic energy into your punches

Unlike the other pins, the Strike-onaut pin does not give you any flashy upgrades or modify your powers. What it does do is give all your melee attacks a massive damage increase. And considering that you’ll probably be punching enemies for the most part, this makes it a valuable pin in our books.

Strike-onaut pin
Strike-onaut

Chain Gain

Upgrade Type Pin Upgrade
Ability PSI Blast
Upgrade Name Chain Gain
Psitanium Cost 500
Description Having the PSI Blast upgrade for Chain Brain, will directly add additional links to the chains

If you’ve unlocked the Chain Brain ability for your PSI Blast, there’s only one more thing you can do to completely max out the power of PSI Blast. That is to get the Chain Gain pin. This pin adds another mini-projectile to the pieces that break and explode on any PSI Blast hit. This further increases the damage output of your PSI Blast powers, which is why you won’t want to navigate Psychonauts 2 without this pin.

Psychonauts 2 Best Power Skill Ability Pin Upgrades
Chain Gain

Conclusion

That concludes our guide on the best pins and power upgrades to boost your skills in Psychonauts 2. Did you like the mentioned pins and abilities as much as we did? Moreover, do you have any other ability suggestions that did not make our list? Let us know in the comments. And while you’re here, you may also be interested in our tier list for the Best Warriors in Warframe.

FAQs About Pins and Power Upgrades

What are the best Psychic Power upgrades to unlock in Psychonauts 2?

We recommend prioritizing the Dodge Attack and Shockwave abilities for Melee, the Overcharge, and Chain Brain skills for PSI Blast, the Tres Bon Fire power for Pyrokinesis, the Pouncy Ball upgrade for Levitation, the Dark Thoughts ability for Mental Connection, and the Time Zone ability for Time Bubble in Psychonauts 2.

How can I upgrade my Psychic Powers in Psychonauts 2?

You can do this by visiting the Psychic Powers section in your manual. To open your manual, press M on PC, the Touch Pad on PlayStation, or the Change View button on Xbox.

What do I need to upgrade my Psychic Powers in Psychonauts 2?

Upgrading your powers requires Intern Credit. You gain Intern Credit every time you level up in the game.

What are the best pins to equip and use in Psychonauts 2?

For us, the best pins in Psychonauts 2 are Plucky, Bubble Wrap, Heavy Thoughts, Strike-onaut, and Chain Gain.

How can I buy and equip new pins in Psychonauts 2?

New pins are available at any one of the Otto-Matics spread throughout the world of Psychonauts 2. Just go to an Otto-Matic and open the Pins section.

What do I need to buy new pins in Psychonauts 2?

Buying pins requires Psitanium. You can find Psitanium by exploring various locations, or by beating enemies.

How many pins can I equip at any time in Psychonauts 2?

You can only equip three pins at a time.

How do I change my equipped pins in Psychonauts 2?

This can be done from the Pins section of the Raz’s intern manual. To open your manual, press M on PC, the Touch Pad on PlayStation, or the Change View button on Xbox.

Was this article helpful?

Thanks! Do share your feedback with us. ⚡

How could we improve this post? Please Help us. ✍

Get up-to-speed gaming updates delivered right to your inbox.

We don’t spam! Read more in our privacy policy.


Sulaymaan Ahmad is a Senior Writer on eXputer who covers all the latest and greatest games. He has an engineering background and a knack for decimating players in First-Person Shooter games. He also enjoys narrative-driven games with characters he can emotionally invest in. Sulaymaan's love for gaming has been going strong for several years which is evident on his gaming profiles at Steam and PSN. Experience: 3+ Years || Written 150+ Guides || Mainly Covers Strategy Guides on eXputer

Related Articles