Phobies – Combat Mechanics Guide

Combat Mechanics FAQ

General

Why can’t I use my Phobie’s ability?

On any given Phobie ability, there may be two icons: a lock with a number on it, and a clock with a number by it. The lock number is called the pre-cooldown, and it is the number of turns that must pass after a Phobie has been summoned before an ability may be used. The clock number is called the cooldown, and it is the number of turns that must pass after a Phobie has used its ability, before the ability can be used again.

How is the end-of-turn effect order determined?

The current end-of-turn effect event order is:

• Conveyor Tiles
• Invisible Phobies are stomped.
• Glob digestion damage occurs.
• Traps trigger / trap absorption occurs.
• Healing spas heal.
• Poison/disease tile status infliction triggers.
• Damage abilities trigger (Smiley/poison/disease/lava/fire/etc.)
• Bones resurrect.
• Panic points are captured.
• Heart damage.

How much damage do dimensional Phobies do upon death?

Dimensional damage do their base attack value in damage upon death.

Why can’t my flying Phobie attack a terrorformed obstacle?

This is intentional and by design. Flying Phobies may only target terrorformed walls with their abilities. This helps keep the game’s input system simple, and also adds a counter-measure to flyers to help balance out their mobility.

Displacement

How do I know where a “pulled” Phobie will end up?

First, if there exists a straight path between the pulling Phobie and its target, that will occur. If that does not happen, then pulls will prioritize moving toward the puller’s heart. If neither of these criteria determine the direction of the pull, then the pull will search tile directions in the following order, selecting the first one that is open for placement: NW, NE, W, E, SW, SE.

If the pull targets multiple enemy Phobies, it will go through this criteria for each affected Phobie, with starting with the closest Phobie and moving on to the farthest one. If multiple Phobies have the same distance from the pulling Phobie, then the game will search tile directions in the following order, selecting the first one that is occupied: NW, NE, W, E, SW, SE., for Phobie displacement order.

How do I know where a “pushed” Phobie will end up?

Push rules in Phobies are complex. A special thanks to Ericake on the development team for giving his time and resources to the community to understand them. First, it is helpful to imagine that the Pusher Phobie is in the center of a hexagonal grid. Then, like a circle, we can break this grid into sections every 30 degrees. To do this, we will start at the far-right point created by a line segment that begins at the Pusher Phobie in the center, and travels horizontally and to the right until the edge of the grid. We will call this point 0 degrees. Then, going counter-clockwise, we can increment every twelfth of the grid by 30 degrees. The end result is the diagram below.

From this, the push rules can be plainly stated:

• If the Pushed Phobie is in one of the regions that intersect with a horizontal line passing through the grid at zero degrees (Region 1, Region 4), then the game will always try to maximize the horizontal distance between the Pusher Phobie and the Pushed Phobie. If a Pushed Phobie is on a hex that is split between one of these two horizontal regions (Region 1, Region 4) and one of the other four regions (Region 2, 3, 5, or 6), this rule still prevails. If there are two potential push tiles that result in equal horizontal distance between the Pusher Phobie and the Pushed Phobie, the game will always give preference to pushing upward. If none of these are possible, the Pushed Phobie will not move.
• If the Pushed Phobie is in one of the other four regions (Region 2, 3, 5, or 6), the game will first prioritize moving the Pushed Phobie to the hex that increases both the horizontal and vertical distance between the Pusher Phobie and the Pushed Phobie. If this is not possible, the game will prioritize increasing the horizontal distance over increasing the vertical distance. If neither is possible, the game will prioritize increasing the vertical distance (which will reduce the horizontal distance, incidentally). If none of these are possible, the Pushed Phobie will not move.
• If the Pushed Phobie forms a vertical line segment with the Pusher Phobie, the game will first prioritize moving the Pushed Phobie to the hex that increases both the horizontal and vertical distance between the Pusher Phobie and Pushed Phobie and pushes the Pushed Phobie to its player’s starting side. If this is not possible, the game will prioritize the tile that maximizes the horizontal distance between the Pusher Phobie and the Pushed Phobie while also moving the Pushed Phobie to its player’s starting side. If neither is possible, then the game will prioritize moving the Pushed Phobie to the tile that increases both the horizontal and vertical distance between the Pusher Phobie and the Pushed Phobie and pushes the Pushed Phobie to its opponent’s starting side. If none of these are possible, the Pushed Phobie will not move.

If there are multiple Phobies being pushed by one effect, then the game will apply the push logic to each Phobie sequentially, starting with the Pushed Phobie that is farthest away from the Pusher Phobie. In the case of a tie for distance, the targeted Phobie will be pushed first.

The below image, created by dudiobugtron, visually summarizes the preferred hex tile a Pushed Phobie will go to. The “1|2” in the vertical tiles signifies the game’s separate logic for Player 1 and Player 2 in these scenarios:

The below image, created by dudiobugtron, visually summarizes the full push logic. The push priority order is conveyed by arrow size, where a large arrow denotes higher preference in the push order logic.

For those so inclined…

What happens if I knock a dimensional Phobie into an abyss tile?

If a non-flying Phobie is displaced into an abyss tile, it is instantly killed. However, it is the abyss tile doing the killing. This means the dimensional Phobie’s death trigger does not activate.

Invisibility

How long does invisibility last?

Invisibility will last a number of turns equal to the displayed time on the ability, including the turn the invisibility starts on. Let’s use Sasquatch as an example, which has invisibility that lasts 3 turns.

• Turn 1: Invisibility is used.
• Turn 2: Sasquatch is invisible.
• Turn 3: Sasquatch is invisible.
• Turn 4: Sasquatch is revealed at the start of its owner’s turn.

What happens if I step on an invisible Phobie?

An invisible Phobie will die when another Phobie or obstacle exists on the same tile as that invisible Phobie at the end of the turn. The Phobie will die instantly. This occurs regardless of whether the Phobie stepping on the invisible Phobie is a friendly or hostile Phobie. You will only know if you have successfully stepped on an invisible Phobie when you submit your turn, just like triggering traps.

Do tile effects (lava, etc.) reveal invisibility?

They do not. Only the player who owns the invisible Phobie will see the tile effects occur, but they will occur.

Do traps affect invisible Phobies?

Yes. The trap will still trigger on an invisible Phobie, and the owner of the trap will see the trap animation play. The Phobie itself will remain invisible, but its location will be rather obvious!

Are invisible Phobies still affected by area of effect abilities?

Yes, but the invisible Phobie will not be revealed. All effects, including damage, displacement and status effects, will still impact the invisible Phobie. Heavo 3.0’s fire stands out as a special case here, where he will still place fire on the tile of an invisible Phobie if it is in his area of effect. This means Heavo 3.0 can help you figure out where invisible Phobies are, but they will not be revealed by his attacks.

How do conveyor tiles interact with invisibility?

Conveyor tiles will move invisible Phobies like normal. If the invisible Phobie is displaced onto another Phobie, or another Phobie is displaced onto the invisible Phobie, the invisible Phobie will be stepped on and killed.

What happens if terrorform is used on an invisible Phobie’s tile?

The terrorformed wall will instantly kill the invisible Phobie.

Can invisible Phobies capture panic points?

Yes. They will not be directly revealed, but their position will be rather obvious afterward!

Can friendly Phobies step on invisible allies?

No. Friendly Phobies cannot step on friendly Phobies. However, they can be displaced onto the same tile as an invisible friendly Phobie, and this will kill the invisible Phobie in accordance with the normal rules of invisibility.

Movement

How does Flying movement work?

A flying Phobie can:

• Move past walls.
• Move on top of walls.
• Move past abyss tiles.
• Move on abyss tiles.
• Move past hearts.
• Move on top of terrorform obstacles.
• Attack terrorform obstacles with special attacks.

A flying Phobie cannot:

• Move past enemy Phobies.
• Attack terrorform obstacles with direct attacks.

How does Bypass (AKA Burrow) movement work?

A bypass Phobie can:

• Move past walls.
• Move past hearts.
• Move past terrorform obstacles.
• Move past enemy Phobies.

A bypass Phobie cannot:

• Move past abyss tiles.

Resurrect

How does the Resurrect mechanic work?

At the end of the turn, the bones of a resurrect Phobie will turn into the Phobie they started as, at the listed health on that Phobie’s card.

Bones can be destroyed, along with the source Phobie, by any of the following sharing a tile space with those bones at any point during the turn:

1. A terrorform wall.
2. An enemy Phobie.
3. A friendly Phobie.
4. Lava.
5. Vault.
6. Abyss tile.
7. Wall.
8. If the resurrect Phobie was frozen when it died.

Disease and poison tiles will not destroy the resurrect Phobie’s bones. Fire will not destroy bones.

Status

When does disease/poison damage occur?

Disease and poison damage will occur at the end of the afflicted Phobie’s owner’s turn.

What is the difference between disease and poison?

Poison lasts a pre-determined number of turns listed on a Phobie’s ability. Poison can be prematurely cured through any healing source that mentions “cures poison”. Disease lasts indefinitely, and cannot be cured.

What happens if I disease/poison an already afflicted Phobie?

The latest disease effect will always override any existing disease effect. The latest poison effect will always override any existing poison effect. There is no possibility of “stacking” multiple diseases and poisons, though a Phobie can be both diseased and poisoned at the same time.

Disease and poison tiles are an exception here: they will not override an existing poison or disease effect.

How long do freeze effects last?

Freeze effects will last one full turn of the afflicted player per number by the hourglass. At the end of each turn, the Phobie will go through a defrost phase, giving you a visual indicator that the freeze effect is coming to an end. Note that in the case of Jeeves, the trap effect takes place after the defrost phase.

What happens if a fire attack hits a frozen Phobie?

Freeze requires two defrost ticks to remove. All attacks that have fire damage attached to them will trigger a defrost tick. Additionally, all fire and lava tile damage will trigger a defrost tick. If you freeze a Phobie and then attack it with a fire attack, the attack will trigger a first defrost tick, and then your end of turn will trigger a second defrost tick through the fire tile damage source. In effect, you will remove your own freeze effect from the Phobie. If you change the order, first attacking with the fire attack and then freezing the opponent’s Phobie, then only the fire tile will trigger a defrost tick.

How do fire/lava, freeze, and tile disable effects interact?

When a fire/lava tile is disabled, its damage will no longer occur. This means the defrost tick from that tile will no longer occur. For example, if you have a newly frozen Phobie on the board that you hit with a fire attack, that fire attack will trigger a defrost tick and create a fire tile. If you then disable the fire tile, a second defrost tick will not occur at the end of the turn, preserving the freeze effect.

Do buffs and debuffs stack?

Buffs stack on a per-source basis. A Phobie can benefit from all of the following simultaneously:

1. A stimpad buff.
2. A buff originating from a friendly Phobie.
3. A buff originating from itself (Ogre, for example).

A Phobie cannot benefit from multiple friendly Phobie buffs at the same time. A Phobie cannot suffer from multiple enemy Phobie debuffs at the same time.

How long do fire effects last?

Fire effects will last for one full “turn cycle” per number by the ability’s hourglass. This means that Boss’s fire will be in place on its owner’s turn, the opposing player’s turn, the owner’s turn again, and then the opposing player’s turn again, before depleting, since it has a 2 by its hourglass icon. Snowball’s Shishkabab fire will be disappear at the start of his owner’s next turn, since it has a 1 by its hourglass icon.

Fire will not show up over abyss tiles or hearts. It will show up on walls and frozen Phobies.

Can Phobies affected by Stop still be displaced?

Yes. All push, pull, etc., effects will still function normally.

Can Phobies affected by Stop still use movement-based abilities?

No. For example, Cassowary cannot use his skill, and Rusty cannot use his skill, while they are affected by Stop.

Terrorform

What abilities can target Terrorformed obstacles?

As a general rule, the following can target Terrorformed obstacles:

1. Normal attacks by non-flying Phobies.
2. Single target abilities.
3. Targeted splash attack abilities.

The following cannot target Terrorformed obstacles:

1. Flying attacks.
2. Line attacks (beams).
3. Bad Omen’s Bad Luck ability.

Traps

How do traps work?

Traps are invisible to your opponent, as are the trap-laying animation and whether your trap cooldown is currently active. In other words, there is no way for your opponent to know if you have laid a trap, or where you placed it.

Traps will never trigger on the turn they are placed.

Traps will trigger if an enemy Phobie, terrorformed wall, or enemy trap is placed on their current tile at the end of the turn.

What will happen if a tile with a trap on it is disabled?

If a Phobie like Honey Bear or Charon disables a tile, traps on that tile are also disabled – traps on that tile will not trigger so long as the disable is in effect. You also may not lay a trap on an actively disabled tile.

Bogart

Is Bogart’s Got a Light affected by buffs and debuffs?

No.

How does Bogart’s Got a Light interact with Brony’s Too Friendly?

Bogart’s bombs are unaffected by Brony’s ability, since Bogart himself is not the damage source.

Brony

What kind of damage does Brony’s “Too Friendly!” ability prevent?

Brony’s ability only prevents direct combat damage. That means damage from traps, fire, poison, etc. originating from Phobies affected by Brony’s ability can still occur.

Furnaceface

When does Furnaceface’s Smokey Stokey end?

Smokey Stokey’s effect will end at the start of his owner’s turn.

Does Smokey Stokey protect hearts from damage?

Only direct damage from Phobies. Panic point damage is not reduced.

Gargles

How does Gargles’s ability work?

When Gargles uses Petrify, he becomes untargetable. He is not a wall – he just does not interact with any other effect in the game. While active, he counts as a friendly Phobie for line of sight purposes. This means he breaks line of sight for enemy Phobies, but does not break line of sight for friendly Phobies.

When does Gargles’s ability end?

After 3 turns, Gargles’s Petrify will end at the start of your opponent’s turn.

Can Gargles’s ability be used on a panic point?

Yes. If Gargles uses Petrify on a panic point, he will still capture it. He is an untargetable, undamageable, immovable Phobie – not a wall!

Can Terrorform be used to destroy Gargles during Petrify?

No, because Gargles is a Phobie, and not a wall.

Can Gargles be targeted by friendly Phobie attacks?

No, because Gargles is a friendly Phobie, and not a wall.

Glob

Will Glob engulf a Phobie if it is displaced onto that Phobie?

Yes.

Will Glob engulf a Phobie if that Phobie is displaced into Glob?

Yes, and this includes dimensional pulls.

Will Glob continue to engulf damage while frozen?

Yes.

Can Glob engulf while frozen?

No – this is not possible. Glob will not engulf while frozen.

What will happen if Glob is pushed or pulled while engulfing a Phobie?

Is Glob has an open tile to move to, it will move off of the Phobie it is currently engulfing.

Why does Glob not deal death damage?

Glob’s damage is ability-based. It has no base attack, which is the source of dimensional death damage. It therefore has no damage to deal when it is killed.

What happens if Glob ends a turn on a damage tile while digesting?

Glob will take all tile damage. The engulfed Phobie will not.

What happens if Glob switches ownership while digesting?

Glob will continue to digest the current Phobie, and cannot be moved until it is finished. Glob will continue to digest friendly Phobies until they die.

What happens if Glob engulfs an enemy Glob?

Only the attacking Glob will engulf and deal damage to the opposing Glob. The attacked Glob will not deal damage back on its turn.

What happens if Glob is displaced onto a Phobie on an abyss tile?

Glob will fall into the abyss, and will not deal damage to the Phobie.

What happens if Glob’s damage is buffed or debuffed?

Buffs and debuffs affect Glob’s Digest damage, but are not displayed in his visual at this time.

Grimes

What is Grimes’s maximum damage bonus?

Grimes’s maximum damage bonus is 2,000. This means his maximum damage is always his base damage plus 2,000.

Haphe

How does Haphe’s Temper Temper! Work?

Temper Temper! is triggered as a counterattack. This means it only triggers on direct attacks from enemy Phobies. It will not trigger from allied damage sources, tile damage sources, traps, dimensional death damage, counterattack damage from enemy Phobies like Stabby, etc. If an enemy Phobie attacks Haphe for 0 damage, Haphe’s Temper Temper! will trigger.

Heart Breaker

Where do Phobies targeted by Heartbreaker’s ability end up?

When a player uses Beside Myself on an enemy Phobie, they may choose any tile adjacent to Heartbreaker as the final destination tile. This includes abyss tiles, which means Heartbreaker can potentially instantly kill enemy Phobies.

Heavo 3.0

Which tiles will be lit on fire by Heavo 3.0’s attack?

Heavo 3.0’s attacks will only place fire under the tiles of enemy Phobies.

Hoovey

Can Hoovey heal the heart by attacking walls?

No.

Ivy-1

Will Ivy’s traps deal their poison damage on the turn they are triggered?

Poison damage always occurs at the end of the turn of the player with the poison-afflicted Phobie. If the trap is triggered on the Ivy player’s opponent’s turn, then the poison damage will be inflicted as well (beware of the bonus damage against dimensionals here!). If the trap is triggered on the Ivy player’s turn, then poison damage will not be dealt on that same turn.

Jaws

What is Jaws’s maximum damage bonus?

Jaws’s maximum damage bonus is 10,000. This means his maximum damage is always his base damage plus 10,000.

What happens if Jaws uses his ability on a resurrect Phobie?

The resurrect Phobie will be fully destroyed, and will not leave bones behind. This interaction is currently bugged, and unless the bones Phobie is in a situation where it would normally be destroyed, Jaws will not receive the damage buff from the resurrection Phobie’s death.

What happens if Jaws consumes Werewolf?

Jaws will receive the damage from Werewolf’s current form.

What happens if Jaws consumes a buffed Phobie?

Jaws will only receive that Phobie’s base damage as a buff.

What happens if Jaws consumes a BOOM family member?

Jaws cannot target Phobies without a base damage value with his ability. This means he cannot eat members of the BOOM family, Muffinman, Glob, etc.

Mr. Tramples

How does Mr. Tramples’s ability choose targets?

Mr. Tramples will always prioritize the path with the highest number of targets. If there is more than one path with the same number of targets, he will choose the path that nets the greatest number of keys killed. If both paths are identical in this sense, he will choose the path that deals the greatest damage.

Mummy

Can Mummy control its Mini Mes on the same turn they are summoned?

Mini Mes must wait one full turn after they are created before they can act.

What will happen if Mummy kills a dimensional Phobie?

Mummy will create a Mini Me on the dimensional Phobie’s tile. Mummy itself will not move.

What happens if Mummy kills a resurrect Phobie?

If Mummy reduces a resurrect Phobie to 0 health and it collapses into a pile of bones, Mummy will not summon a Mini Me. This is because the Phobie is not yet dead.

If Mummy then steps on the bone pile, no Mini Me is generated. This is because Mummy generates Mini Mes on the tile the enemy Phobie dies on, and Mummy is already occupying this spot.

In other words, Mummy will never generate a Mini Me from a resurrect Phobie’s bone pile.

What is the limit on the number of Mini Me’s that Mummy can summon?

Mummy’s Mini Me summons do not count toward the maximum Phobie limit.

Currently, players have not discovered a summon limit – over ten have been summoned simultaneously in practice matches to test this limit.

Ogre

What happens if Ogre enrages, and then the heart is healed above his threshold?

Ogre will remain in an enraged state.

What happens if the heart drops below Ogre’s threshold twice?

Ogre will not receive any additional benefit, such as a second enrage, after the heart drops below his threshold a second time.

Sir Probes a Lot

What happens when a Phobie steps on an AoE trap while shielded?

The trap will still trigger. The shielded Phobie will be protected. Phobies in the AoE range will be affected as they normally would.

Werewolf

When does Werewolf transform?

Werewolf will spend two turns in his starting form. At the start his owner’s third turn, Werewolf will transform. He will stay in this secondary form for two turns, which includes his transforming turn, and will then change back. Werewolf will always transform at the start of his owner’s turn.

Whuffalo Will

What happens if the last remaining Phobie on the board is one possessed by Whuffalo Will?

The original owner of the possessed Phobie will win the match.

Zomboni

How do damage buffs and debuffs affect Zomboni?

Zomboni’s self-harm that activates alongside his ability is affected by all damage buffs, debuffs, and damage reduction. That includes stimpads.

How does Brony’s Too Friendly affect Zomboni’s self-harm?

Since Brony prevents all damage from the affected Phobie, Zomboni will not cause damage to himself while healing.