Ring of Phasing grants the player the ability to walk through walls, losing the ability to dig in the process. While inside walls, the player is unable to attack with their held weapon, vision range is reduced to only immediately adjacent tiles, and most enemies will stop moving.
Enemies that can walk through walls (Wights, Ghasts, Ghouls, Spiders, and Shopkeeper Ghosts) or act without regard to the player's current relative position (Bats, Clones, Mushrooms, Slimes, Zombies, Exploding Mushrooms, and Exploding Gargoyles) will still continue to act normally while the player is phased. Enemies with special conditional attacks (Armadillos, Dragons, Gargoyles, Mimics, Minotaurs, and Ogres) will attempt to use their attacks if the player comes in range, but will not move outside of these circumstances.
Enemies that have not yet moved will continue cycling through their beat pattern normally while the player is phased, but will pass their move. Once an enemy has moved at least once, phasing into the wall will instead lock them into their current position in their beat cycle.
In addition to chests and shops, Ring of Phasing can also be obtained by activating a Shrine of Phasing. This comes at the cost of almost all of the player's other items.
Notable Interactions
- Dagger of Phasing - Allows the player to attack while inside walls.
- Golden Lute - Deals damage as the player exits and enters walls.
- Torches - Negate the vision reduction while inside walls.
- Monocle/Circlet of Telepathy/Glass Torch - Reveals Wights, Ghasts, and Ghouls, which will aggressively attack the player in the walls if they get too close.
- Miner's Cap - Auto-digs walls, in most cases defeating the purpose of phasing.
- Nazar Charm - Removes Wights, Ghasts, and Ghouls, making walls considerably safer.
- Boots of Leaping - Allows the player to phase through doors without opening them.
- Boots of Pain - Deals damage on the same beat the player exits a wall.
- Fireball Spell - Can be safely fired from inside walls.
- Holy Water - Can be safely used from inside walls.
- Bombs - Can be safely planted inside walls - just make sure not to get hit in the blast.
Strategies
Ring of Phasing is a poor choice for score running, but when used properly makes for an excellent survival or speed build by allowing the player to bypass most combat. This is especially strong in zone 4, where walls will always link the start and exit rooms in a predictable fashion.
The most difficult part about using the Ring of Phasing is learning how to safely enter a room. Torches will help immensely with identifying safer entry points within a room. If no safe entry points are available, non-weapon attacks such as Fireball, Holy Water, or Bombs can be used to force a safe entry. In addition, Armadillos and Minotaurs will charge at the player if lined up, but cannot inflict damage upon breaking the wall the player is standing in. This can be exploited to allow safe entry into otherwise difficult rooms. The player can also provoke a Red Dragon into blasting enemies away, making for a much easier fight.
Ring of Phasing doesn't serve much purpose during most boss fights. It prevents the use of shovels against King Conga's throne, but allows Cadence to bypass the first stage of the NecroDancer fight by planting a bomb directly on the stage to free both the NecroDancer and the Golden Lute.