[quote=@Nosuchthing]
You also said she can impress her emotions on others, if she's terrified a good response is to imprint that on whoever is coming for her. And yes, regarding upgrades I was imagining the wonder drug.

But manipulating, or simply sensing emotions is an incredibly potent ability, many people are driven by what they feel, if you know exactly what they feel then manipulation becomes more a science than an art.
[/quote]

Exactly. I think the reason why Empathy is such a popular power is because its subtle, but versatile and powerful. Since Empathy is also a telepathic-based ability, I imagine it would only really find some resistance when used against other people who have VERY STRONG WILLPOWER or mental-based abilities like August Montgomery, Leah Edmond(The other Empath), or Cleopatra Davidson. I question Lexis Montgomery because I assume her Persuasion is more of a vocal manipulation thing. 

Also, empathic manipulation may not be effective against Jerome since his brain could potentially repair itself from an empathic push, since empathic manipulation would essentially manipulate certain chemicals in the brain to bring about a certain emotional effect.