All Tools
There are 19 tools in Phantom Shapes: 9 for Workers and 10 for the Phantom. All of them are free from your first game.
How tools work
- Your tool bar holds 7 tools. Five are always on the bar. You choose the other two.
- You choose your 2 picks at the lockers beside the Staff Lounge door, before the search starts. Picks lock when the search starts. A swap made later counts next round.
- Press a number key to equip a tool. Any tool can sit on any number key. Press Left mouse to use the tool you hold.
- Levels and Tokens never unlock tools. They only buy looks and emotes.
- Every tool has a counter. Look for "Countered by" and "Counters" on each card.
| Side | Always on the bar (5) | Pick 2 from | Default picks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worker | Flashlight, Scanner, Mark / Confirm, Ghost Salt, Lock Pick | Motion Chime, Phantom Cage, Wake-Up Kazoo, Bob in the Box | Motion Chime, Phantom Cage |
| Phantom | Move Shape, Shape Cloak, Echo Mimic, Phantom Static, Ghost Curse | Ghost Key, Possession, Fake Marker, Signal Jammer, Fake Worker | Ghost Key, Possession |
The Phantom starts a Hunt with its own key, H. It is not one of the 19 tools. Read The Hunt for the rules.
Worker tools Worker
Workers search together. See the Worker page for tips on using them as a team.
Flashlight
Lights up dark corners. It never locks, even when your other tools are locked after a wrong confirm.
How to use: press F to switch it on or off.
- Cooldown None, it is a switch
- Beam 16 m (other players see a shorter beam, 10 m)
- Bar Always on
Scanner
Sends out a pulse that tells you how close the cursed shape is: FAINT, WEAK, STRONG or VERY STRONG. It also gives a rough direction: north, east, south or west.
How to use: equip it and press Left mouse. Walls and floors in the way make the reading weaker. The Scanner is scrambled for the first 30 seconds of the search. It names the floor (up or down) only after half the search has passed.
- Cooldown 9 s
- Readout Stays 4 s
- Reading VERY STRONG within 9 m, STRONG within 18 m, WEAK within 32 m
- Bar Always on
Countered by: Signal Jammer. A pulse inside the zone reads SIGNAL INTERFERENCE. Step out and scan again.
Mark / Confirm
One slot, two jobs. Mark shows your team an object you suspect. Confirm is your vote that the object is the cursed shape. Workers win when more than half of the Workers still in the round confirm the right shape.
How to use: tap Left mouse to mark. Hold Left mouse to confirm. Aim at the object with a clear line of sight.
- Mark cooldown 2 s
- Mark lasts 14 s
- Confirm hold 0.7 s
- Vote lasts 60 s
- Bar Always on
Careful: confirming the wrong object locks every Worker's tools for 10 seconds. Only the confirmer's vote drops. The Flashlight keeps working.
Countered by: Fake Marker (a fake mark that flashes red three times when it appears) and Ghost Curse (smudges a cursed Worker's marks).
Ghost Salt
Throw salt like a snowball. If it hits the Phantom, the Phantom trips and is stunned. It also works in a Hunt.
How to use: equip it and press Left mouse to throw. You cannot throw during the 3-second warning before a Hunt.
- Charges 2 per round, each one comes back 25 s after use
- Stun 3 s
- Salt patch Stays on the floor 6 s
- Range Up to 20 m
- Bar Always on
After a stun, the Phantom cannot be stunned again for 6 seconds.
Counters: Phantom Static and Ghost Curse. Both curses last all round until a teammate throws both Ghost Salts at the cursed Worker's feet. Salt also pops a Fake Worker.
Lock Pick
Opens a door the Phantom locked. It breaks after one use, so pick the right door.
How to use: stand at the locked door and hold Left mouse. Getting hit, caught or possessed stops the pick. Other players can hear the rattle from far away.
- Uses 1 per round
- Hold 4 s
- Reach 3 m
- Bar Always on
If no Worker has a working pick for 45 seconds, every lock gives out on its own.
Counters: Ghost Key.
Motion Chime
A small alarm you set on the floor. It rings for your whole team when the Phantom walks near, and everyone sees which room it was in.
How to use: equip it and place it on the floor. Hold E near it to pick it up again.
- Placed at once 1 per Worker
- Reach Place within 2.5 m. It notices the Phantom within 2.5 m
- Arm time 2 s
- After ringing Rests 25 s, then arms again
- Re-place wait 10 s
- Bar Pick (default)
During a Hunt chimes stay quiet. Every armed chime rings once when the Hunt warning starts.
Countered by: a careful Phantom. The Phantom always sees chimes and hears a faint tinkle within 4 m.
Phantom Cage
Chains drag the Phantom into a cage. The Phantom is trapped in plain sight. It can walk around inside and talk, but it cannot use tools. It works in a Hunt too.
How to use: aim at the Phantom and press Left mouse. You cannot use it during the 3-second Hunt warning.
- Uses 1 per team per round. A miss also spends it
- Wind-up 0.8 s
- Drag 1.5 s
- Trapped 8 s
- Range 9 m
- Bar Pick (default)
After release, the Phantom cannot be stunned by Ghost Salt for 10 seconds.
Countered by: good dodging. The Phantom's screen warns it when it stands in the chain line, and it can step away during the wind-up.
Wake-Up Kazoo
A loud toot that frees a possessed teammate right away. If nobody nearby is possessed, nothing happens and the Kazoo does not use up its wait.
How to use: stand near the possessed teammate with a clear line and press Left mouse. It frees them during the wind-up or while possessed, not during the recovery.
- Cooldown 35 s after a successful wake
- Range 6 m
- Bar Pick
Counters: Possession.
Bob in the Box
A wound-up toy box plays a looping tune that the Phantom hears anywhere on the map. After one full pass, toy Supervisor Bob pops out and hypnotizes the Phantom. The Phantom has spiral eyes, ignores its controls and gets pulled toward the box.
How to use: hold Left mouse to wind it. It sets down and starts to play. Hold E near it to pick it back up.
- Boxes 2 per Worker
- Wind 1.5 s
- Trance 18 s
- After a trance No box can catch the Phantom for 45 s, team wide
- Reuse Pick up and rewind a popped box 60 s after its pop
- Range The whole map
- Bar Pick
In a Hunt, the trance lasts until the Phantom presses the Hunt key 3 times, and never longer than 18 seconds. A box that plays for 90 seconds with no pop ends on its own, with no trance.
Countered by: a Fake Worker that walks into the front of the box pops it early.
Phantom tricks Phantom
The Phantom hides one cursed shape and fools the Workers. See the Phantom page for how to plan a round.
Move Shape
Moves your cursed shape to a new spot. Everyone hears a screech, so use it when it is worth the noise.
How to use: hold Left mouse on your shape to drag it. Let go to drop it. A ring shows where you may drop it.
- Cooldown 35 s
- Range Within 9 m of the original spot
- Bar Always on
Moving the shape ends an active Shape Cloak.
Shape Cloak
Makes your shape invisible for a short time. The hotbar calls it "Cloak". It is fair: the shape still collides, shimmers when a Worker is up close, and every detector still finds it.
How to use: equip it and press Left mouse.
- Uses Once per round
- Lasts 15 percent of the search, at most 20 s
- Cannot start With 45 s or less left in the search
- Bar Always on
It ends early if the time runs out, a Hunt starts, or the shape moves or is dragged. A Hunt that cuts it short gives back the unused seconds.
Countered by: the Scanner (still finds the shape), the shimmer up close, and Workers bumping into it.
Echo Mimic
Replays a Worker's own voice from a spot on the map, so the Workers chase a sound that is not there. It only uses clips recorded in the same match, with consent. Clips never leave the match.
How to use: press J to open the Voice Box, then pick a clip to replay.
- Cooldown 40 s
- Replays 5 per round. Each clip gives 3 normal replays, then one last deep replay, then it is deleted
- Clip length Up to 10 s
- Range 12 m
- Bar Always on
Your own microphone stays off until the Hunt starts. Until then, Echo Mimic is how you make sound.
Countered by: muting the Phantom's source player. A red mic icon shows while a clip is being recorded.
Phantom Static
Turns a Worker's real voice high and squeaky for everyone who hears it.
How to use: aim at a Worker and press Left mouse.
- Uses Once per round
- Wait 40 s before your next curse, shared with Ghost Curse
- Lasts All round, until a teammate salts it off
- Bar Always on
The voice stays squeaky through a Hunt. A cursed Worker cannot be possessed.
Countered by: Ghost Salt. A teammate throws both salts at the cursed Worker's feet.
Ghost Curse
Silences a Worker's voice and text chat, and smudges their marks into blurry discs.
How to use: aim at a Worker until they glow dark red, then press Left mouse.
- Uses Once per round
- Wait 45 s before your next curse, shared with Phantom Static
- Range 12 m, in a narrow 20 degree cone
- Lasts All round, until a teammate salts it off
- Bar Always on
Countered by: Ghost Salt. A teammate throws both salts at the cursed Worker's feet.
Ghost Key
Locks a door shut. Workers need a Lock Pick to open it. Double doors lock together. You cannot lock outside doors or the stage curtain.
How to use: aim at an inside door and press Left mouse.
- Cooldown 40 s
- Reach 4 m
- Locks At most 2. A third lock frees the oldest
- Bar Pick (default)
It will not lock if a Worker stands in the door's swing within 1.5 m. A Hunt opens locked doors for 2.5 seconds, then they slam shut again.
Countered by: Lock Pick.
Possession
Take over a Worker's body and walk it around. The Worker watches and cannot talk. You cannot spend their items or confirm for them. If you start a Hunt while inside, you burst out.
How to use: aim at a Worker and press Left mouse.
- Cooldown 60 s
- Wind-up 0.9 s
- Possessed 15 s
- Recovery 1.5 s
- Range 6 m, in a 35 degree cone
- Bar Pick (default)
Countered by: Wake-Up Kazoo within 6 m.
Fake Marker
Plants a fake team mark that looks like a Worker's mark. Workers may waste time searching the wrong place.
How to use: aim at a spot and press Left mouse. An uncaught Worker must be within 7 m of the spot.
- Cooldown 40 s
- Lasts 14 s
- Aim range 12 m
- Bar Pick
Countered by: the red flash. The fake mark flashes red three times in its first half second. Workers' own marks help too.
Signal Jammer
Creates a zone of static. A Scanner pulse inside the zone reads SIGNAL INTERFERENCE and tells the Worker to step out and scan again.
How to use: aim at a spot (or at yourself) and press Left mouse.
- Cooldown 55 s
- Lasts 15 s, 1 active at a time
- Zone 7 m radius
- Aim range 12 m
- Bar Pick
Counters: Scanner. A jammed Scanner gets its wait cut to 2 seconds, so Workers can try again fast.
Fake Worker
Makes a copy of one living Worker, with their look, their name on the vest and their flashlight on. It walks a short route, looks around, then vanishes in a gray puff.
How to use: aim at the floor and press Left mouse.
- Cooldown 45 s
- Uses 2 per round, 1 fake at a time
- Walks Up to 8 s
- Aim range 8 m
- Bar Pick
Countered by: Ghost Salt, touching it, or aiming Mark or Confirm at it. Any of these pops it early. Confirming a Fake Worker never costs the team a wrong-object lock.
Medkit (not a tool)
Medkits are wall cabinets in the bathrooms. Hold E in front of a stocked cabinet for 1 second to heal half a hit's worth, at least 1 heart. A used cabinet restocks after 60 seconds. Medkits work during a Hunt. The Phantom, caught Workers, possessed Workers and anyone at full health cannot use one.