v2.0.0 Beta Preview: The Clone System is a major feature introduced in the upcoming v2.0.0 expansion. If you are playing on the live public branch (v1.8.0), this feature is only accessible in developer-hosted playtests, public beta branches, or private modded test servers.
Introduction to the Clone System
As seekers have become increasingly efficient at scanning specular highlights and listening for whistle sound cues, hiders have received a massive strategic tool in the v2.0.0 update: the Clone System.
This system allows hiders to deploy a static holographic copy of themselves to distract seekers, buy rotation time, or set up stun traps. Understanding the mechanics of decoy deployment, bait positioning, and seeker counters is critical to mastering high-tier matches.
1. Decoy Deployment Mechanics
To spawn a clone, hiders must use the new utility key bind (default: G on keyboard, or D-Pad Right on gamepads). Refer to the Controls Guide to customize this bind.
Key Deployment Rules
- The Snapshot: When you press the deployment key, the server takes a snapshot of your character’s exact model state. This includes your active paint color, roughness value, metallic level, and locked posture.
- Utility Lock: You must remain completely stationary during the 1.5-second deployment window. Moving or jumping will cancel the spawn and place the utility on a 10-second cooldown.
- Decoy Lifespan: Once deployed, the clone remains active for up to 45 seconds, or until a seeker swings their tag mallet at it.
- Physical Properties: Decoy clones have solid physics collision. Seekers cannot walk through them; they will run into them just like a real hider, making physical sweep routes highly susceptible to baiting.
2. Advanced Hider Mind Games
Simply spawning a clone in the middle of a hallway will rarely fool an experienced seeker. To make your decoys believable, you must place them in plausible hiding spots.
The Double-Bluff Setup
Find a corner with two identical pillars or columns. Paint yourself to match the surface, then stand against one of the pillars and lock your pose. Spawn your clone there.
Once the clone is successfully spawned, immediately cancel your pose lock and slip into the adjacent pillar’s shadow. Paint yourself a slightly different shade if the shadow values are deeper. When the seeker enters the room, they will see the clone first, tag it, get stunned, and leave you completely unchecked.
The Corner Escape
If a seeker is closing in on your zone and you have no clean exit lanes, spawn your clone behind a low wall or partition. Run around the corner and hide in an open, slightly obvious spot painted as a simple prop. The seeker will rush around the corner toward the clone they saw, leaving you behind their back as they sweep forward.
Whistle Syncing
Decoy clones do not whistle automatically, but they can be used to mask your manual whistles. If you whistle while standing next to your clone, the seeker will triangulate the sound to your general location. If you slip away immediately, they will run directly to your clone, thinking it was the source of the sound. See the Whistle Guide for sound radius details.
3. Seeker Mallet Counters
For seekers, hitting a decoy clone is highly punishing. It triggers a false-positive notification and inflicts a 2.5-second movement stun, leaving you vulnerable to hiders rotating behind you.
SEEKER ENCOUNTERS HOVERING MODEL
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[Focus Flashlight (Right Click)]
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Does model emit an electric hum or flicker?
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(Yes) (No)
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[Decoy Clone Identified] [Real Hider Detected]
- Do not mallet sweep. - Mallet swing.
- Search nearby shadows. - Tag successful.Specular Checking
When you spot a suspected hider, do not instantly swing. Hold Right Click to focus your flashlight beam. Decoy holograms have a minor rendering defect: under high-intensity light, they will occasionally display a subtle pixel flicker or emit a low electric hum.
Shadow Inspection
Holographic clones do not cast dynamic shadows matching the sun or spotlight directions. If a model is standing in a brightly lit corridor but has no corresponding floor shadow, it is guaranteed to be a clone decoy.
4. Interaction with Game Modes
The usefulness of the Clone System shifts drastically depending on the match rules:
- Normal Mode: Best used as a late-game delay tactic when you are one of the last surviving hiders. Spawning a clone in a high-priority sweep path can waste the seeker’s valuable remaining seconds.
- Increasing Oni Mode: Early in the round, clones can confuse the starting seeker. However, once the seeker count snowballs to 4 or 5, seekers will sweep zones in pairs, making it easy for one seeker to clear the clone while the other watches the escape routes. Refer to our Game Modes Guide for setup adjustments.
- Double Mode: Highly effective. Since two seekers are patrolling, you can bait one seeker into a stun while escaping into the zone being patrolled by the other, as they will likely be out of position.
5. Strategic Synergy & Map Recommendations
- Mansion Map: Hide clones behind the grand piano or inside the library fireplace. The dark wooden panels make the clone’s subtle flickering nearly impossible to spot without close flashlight focus.
- Sewer Map: Place clones on curved pipe joints. Since seekers must crouch to navigate pipeline junctions, they will often run face-first into the clone’s collision box and panic-tag it.
- Beginner Onboarding: If you are new to the game, read the Beginner Guide and Hider Tips to master color-blending before incorporating decoy clones into your matches.