R.E.P.O. | Monster guide: Mentalist

The Mentalist is a Level 2 monster in R.E.P.O. that uses psychic energy to lift players off the ground and slam them down with brutal force. What makes it especially unsettling is that it moves in complete silence, so you may not know it's nearby until you're already floating.

On its own, the Mentalist is manageable. The real danger comes when it traps you in its aura at the same time another monster spots you, a combination that can lead to near-certain death in later stages.

Behavior

The Mentalist floats around the level until it spots a player. Once it's close enough, it begins channeling a purple aura sphere around itself. Any player, object, or small monster caught inside this aura gets lifted into the air. After a few seconds of channeling, the aura turns red, and shortly after, everything caught inside gets slammed hard into the floor for significant physics damage.

The Mentalist can detect players by line of sight, proximity, and touch, and it will attack crouching players too, so crouching offers no protection.

Hidden usefulness

The Mentalist's aura can pick up small monsters as well as players. If a smaller enemy wanders into the sphere while it's channeling, that enemy gets slammed along with everything else, which can take out minor threats without you needing to do anything.

Weaknesses

The Mentalist only has 150 HP and a low strength breakpoint, so it can be grabbed or stunned with minimal effort. More importantly, grabbing or stunning it while it's channeling immediately interrupts the attack and drops everything it had lifted. The window when the aura turns red is also a clean opening for a melee counterattack, since nothing new can be picked up at that point.

If a player is underneath a hiding spot when the slam happens and cannot physically be lifted, the slam deals no damage at all. Landing on the C.A.R.T., Pocket C.A.R.T., or the extraction point also cancels the damage entirely.

Strategy

• Stay alert whenever a Mentalist is on the level. It makes no sound while moving, so you won't hear it coming.
• If you get caught in the aura, you can still equip and use weapons while being lifted. Use that window to attack the Mentalist directly and interrupt it before the slam.
• If a teammate is caught, grab and pull them out of the aura. Wait until the aura turns red first if you need a safer moment to do it, since nothing new can be picked up at that point.
• If you have two or three Speed Upgrades, bait the attack, then run and slide or tumble out of the aura before it can grab you. This leaves the Mentalist exposed after its missed attack.
• Keep a Pocket C.A.R.T. handy. Placing it under a lifted player before the slam hits cancels the damage entirely.
• Be extra cautious about your surroundings when a Mentalist is nearby. Being locked in its aura while another monster spots you is one of the most dangerous situations in the game.

How to kill

With only 150 HP and a strength breakpoint of 4, the Mentalist is not hard to bring down. The cleanest approach is to wait for it to finish a channeling cycle, then move in for melee hits while the aura is red and it's still recovering. Two to three solid hits from a basic weapon should be enough to finish it off at that HP level.

Alternatively, grab or stun the Mentalist mid-channel to interrupt the attack, then follow up immediately with whatever weapon you have. Stunning it resets its strength breakpoint to 0, making it trivial to pick up and reposition if needed. There is no special weak point or exploit required, just interrupt the channel and commit to the kill before it can start another.