Phase · Game Mechanic Compendium

Definition

Phase lets the user cross solid matter that would otherwise block it, such as a wall, floor, gate, or terrain, by becoming intangible or by opening a passage. Invulnerability is the case in which attacks pass through the user while walls still block it, so Overwatch’s Wraith Form and Apex Legends’ Into the Void stay there. Blink relocates without crossing the space between; dash bursts through open space and at most through attacks. Invisibility leaves the user unseen but solid, and Gaseous Form is a shapeshift that seeps through gaps, not matter. Permanent digging is not phase, and the barrier crossed is often the lock of lock-and-key.

Behaviour

Intangible forms are self-cast and last a duration or a crossing: the Armor of Etherealness lets its wearer “move through solid objects”, and Ascend carries Link up through a ceiling. Passage forms place a hole or portal in a surface, as Pass-Wall and Void Passage do. Phase Door joins the two, a passwall only its caster can use. Intangibility usually costs interaction: no attacks in ethereal armour, hands that pass through objects under the oil, and no object interaction on Soul Reaver’s Spectral Plane. Only creatures able to go out of phase can attack the ethereal wearer, and Shadow Step ends early if Kayn is immobilised.

Variations

Opened passage (Dungeons & Dragons; Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition; Apex Legends): a temporary hole or portal that others can also use.
Private door (Greyhawk): a passage only the caster can use, for seven crossings.
Ethereal or spectral shift (Greyhawk; Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition; Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver): a parallel state that matter does not block, at the price of attacks or object use.
Leashed terrain phase (League of Legends): Shadow Step ends after 1.5 seconds outside terrain.
Directional phase (Tears of the Kingdom): Ascend goes upward only.
Figure-only phase (League of Legends): the Ghost summoner spell ignores unit collision but not walls.

Gating

Tabletop forms take high-level slots, 5th for Pass-Wall and 7th for Phase Door and Etherealness, plus a full action in 5th edition. Items carry a finite stock: 49 uses of the armour, staff charges, a single oil. Phase Door is itself a stock of crossings, seven in 1975 and one per two caster levels in 1978. Many forms limit what the user can do while phased rather than how often. Single-player video forms are at will and gated by the level: Soul Reaver’s phasing is an earned ability that works only on the Spectral Plane, and Ascend needs a solid object above Link. Competitive multiplayer adds a cooldown, 21 to 13 seconds for Shadow Step.

History and provenance

Under the definition, which admits opened passages, the earliest documented use is Pass-Wall in Men & Magic (1974). Monsters & Treasure adds a Gaseous Form potion that seeps through any place not air-tight, an antecedent. Greyhawk (1975) holds the earliest documented self-intangibility, the Oil and Armor of Etherealness, with Phase Door; its phase spiders shift out of phase as a monster trait. Eldritch Wizardry (1976) makes etherealness a psionic power. Earlier tabletop rules, including Chainmail, remain unsurveyed. Bomberman (1985) reportedly has a power-up that walks through brick walls, which is unconfirmed; Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (1999) is the earliest video instance cited. Multiplayer games later put it on cooldowns.

Notable examples

Notable examples, in chronological order. Notes describe how the ability behaves in each game; gating is what limits its use there; the latest reference is a widely played game from 2020 or later.
Game	Year	Medium	Gating	How the ability behaves
Dungeons & Dragons Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (Tactical Studies Rules)	1974	Tabletop RPG	Spell slots, Charges	Pass-Wall, a 5th-level Magic-User spell, "opens a hole in a solid rock wall, man-sized and up to 10' in length" for 3 turns at a range of 3 inches, and anyone can walk through it. Monsters & Treasure also gives Passwall as one power of the Staff of Wizardry, which spends charges.
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk Gary Gygax and Robert Kuntz (TSR)	1975	Tabletop RPG	Spell slots, Charges, Consumable	Phase Door, a 7th-level spell, is an invisible passwall that only its caster can use, for seven uses. Armor of Etherealness lets its wearer "move through solid objects", attackable only by creatures also out of phase and unable to attack, 49 times in all. Oil of Etherealness does the same through solid substances, but the user's hands pass through objects.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Crystal Dynamics (Eidos Interactive)	1999	Video	At will	On the Spectral Plane, pushing against a gate makes Raziel "dematerialize and phase through it", an earned ability for fences, gates and grates. He can shift to the Spectral Plane at any time, but returning needs full health and a planar portal, and nothing can be picked up or opened while spectral.
League of Legends Riot Games	2009	Video	Cooldown	Kayn's Shadow Step gives 40% move speed, the Ghosted state, and movement through terrain for 7 to 9 seconds; he heals on first entering terrain, and it ends early if he is immobilised or spends more than 1.5 seconds outside terrain. Cooldown 21 to 13 seconds, no cost, in current values. The Ghost summoner spell ignores unit collision only.
Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition Wizards of the Coast	2014	Tabletop RPG	Spell slots, Action cost	Passwall, 5th level, range 30 feet, opens a passage up to 5 by 8 by 20 feet in a wooden, plaster or stone wall, ceiling or floor for 1 hour. Etherealness, 7th level and 1 action, moves the caster into the Ethereal border for up to 8 hours, interacting only with ethereal creatures, and shunts it out with force damage if it ends inside a solid object.
Apex Legends Respawn Entertainment (Electronic Arts)	2019	Video	Cooldown	Alter, added in Season 21 (May 2024), has the tactical Void Passage, which "Creates a portal passageway through a surface"; a Level 3 upgrade cuts its cooldown by 10 seconds. The official notes give no base cooldown, range or depth.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Latest Nintendo	2023	Video	At will	Ascend gives Link the ability to pass through solid objects above him, rising through ceilings, hillsides, and even certain enemies and coming out on top as a shortcut. It works upward only and carries no cost.

Provenance

Earliest documented use: Dungeons & Dragons (1974), tabletop rpg. Confidence: medium. The definition admits an opened passage as well as an intangible user, so the earliest documented use is Pass-Wall in Men & Magic (c. p. 29), which opens a temporary hole in solid rock. Confidence is medium because the spell makes a hole anyone can use rather than making its caster intangible, and because earlier tabletop rules, including Chainmail and Blackmoor play, remain unsurveyed. The earliest documented self-intangibility is Greyhawk (1975): the Oil and Armor of Etherealness, which let the user move through solid objects, and Phase Door, a passwall only its caster can use; the scan cited is a 1979 printing, and identity with the 1975 first printing is unconfirmed. The Gaseous Form potion of Monsters & Treasure (1974) seeps through any place not air-tight, gaps rather than matter, and is an antecedent filed as a shapeshift. Greyhawk's phase spiders shift out of phase as an innate monster trait. Bomberman (1985) reportedly has a power-up that walks through brick walls; this is unconfirmed, and the earliest video instance cited is Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (1999).

Sources

Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. (1974). Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 1, Men & Magic. Tactical Studies Rules. Rulebook Magic-User spell table, 5th level (c. p. 21); Pass-Wall (c. p. 29). Accessed 2026-10-24. Pass-Wall as a man-sized hole in solid rock up to 10 feet long, lasting 3 turns at a range of 3 inches.
Gary Gygax and Robert Kuntz. (1975). Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk. TSR. Rulebook Phase Door, 7th-level Magic-User spells, p. 25; Phase Spiders, c. p. 39; Armor of Etherealness, p. 47; Oil of Etherealness, p. 48. Accessed 2026-10-24. The caster-only passwall, the ethereal armour and oil that move through solid objects, and the phase spider trait; the scan is a 1979 printing.
Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. (1974). Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 2, Monsters & Treasure. Tactical Studies Rules. Rulebook Potions table and Gaseous Form (c. p. 32); Staff of Wizardry (c. p. 34). Accessed 2026-10-24. The Gaseous Form potion as an antecedent, and Passwall as a power of the Staff of Wizardry.
Gary Gygax. (1978). Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook. TSR. Rulebook Passwall, 5th-level Magic-User (c. p. 81); Phase Door, 7th-level Magic-User (c. p. 88). Accessed 2026-10-24. Phase Door at one use per two caster levels with a verbal component only, the caster disappearing on entering it.
Gary Gygax and Brian Blume. (1976). Dungeons & Dragons Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry. TSR. Rulebook Psionic major abilities, Etherealness (5/turn), p. 20. Accessed 2026-10-24. Etherealness as a psionic power costing points per turn, with a carry limit set by mastery.
Eidos Interactive. (c. 1999). Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver instruction manual (PlayStation, US). Eidos Interactive. Rulebook Earned Abilities, Phasing Through Gates; Living and Dying in Nosgoth; Shifting between planes. Accessed 2026-10-24. Phasing through gates on the Spectral Plane, the lack of object interaction there, and the full-health and portal conditions for returning.
Riot Games. (2026). Data Dragon 16.21.1, champion and summoner data (Kayn; Ghost). Website Kayn, spells, Shadow Step (E); summoner.json, Ghost. Accessed 2026-10-24. Movement through terrain for 7 to 9 seconds, the 21 to 13 second cooldown, and the early exit after 1.5 seconds outside terrain; Ghost ignoring unit collision.
Wizards of the Coast. (2014). Basic Rules (2014), Spells. Rulebook Spell descriptions: Etherealness; Gaseous Form; Passwall. Accessed 2026-10-24. The 5th edition values for Passwall and Etherealness, and Gaseous Form for the boundary.
Respawn Entertainment. (2024). Apex Legends: Upheaval patch notes. Electronic Arts. Website New Legend: Alter, Tactical (Void Passage), upgrades. Accessed 2026-10-24. Void Passage as a portal passageway through a surface, and the upgrade that cuts its cooldown by 10 seconds.
Nintendo. (2023). The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (product page). Nintendo of America. Website Ascend. Accessed 2026-10-24. Ascend passing through solid objects above Link, through ceilings, hillsides, and certain enemies.
Blizzard Entertainment. Overwatch hero page: Reaper. Website Abilities: Wraith Form. Accessed 2026-10-24. Supports the boundary only; Wraith Form makes Reaper faster and invulnerable but unable to shoot, with no passage through walls.

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West, James, Jr. (2026). "Phase." Game Mechanic Compendium, updated 2026-10-24. http://localhost:4321/abilities/phase

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