This is a specialized form of Shapeshifter where the character morphs into a form that gets a permanent Pass Thru Defense against all physical attacks, Levitate (Buoyancy at 1/2 Speed), and a Disrupt Electronics command on electronic objects and characters, which causes damage and Stun.
By using this Attribute rather than the Displace Image Power, the Phased character can still be targeted and attacked, while also giving the character the ability to use powers while still phased.
The Pass Thru Defence, ffx_phasing_defence in FFEdit, works against all attacks except Mental and Mystical. While in the Phased form, the character's Strength is reduced to 1, so they can't wield or pickup anything. Also they can't inflict any damage with their powers. State-changing (Panic, Hypnosis, Stun, Hex, etc.) Powers still work normally, as well as any Power Swaps (so you can inflict damage with the Mental Damage Swap) and Attributes. Knockback only works with ranged or area powers, not melee.
The Disrupt Electronics command only appears on templates that are listed in the phasingTemplates list (located at the beginning of the Phasing code in ffx.py) or Robots (i.e. Mr. Mechanical and his robots). Also, any character with 'robot', 'computer', or 'hitech' in their m25ai subtype will have the command. Targets take 15-30 pts. of damage and characters get Stunned.
Due to FFX Control Centre having a limit on the number of customizable attributes, Phasing has to be customized manually by opening ffxcustom2.py:
### Phasing FFX_PHASING_CUSTOM=[ ["default","","ranged","effect_pan_teleport"], ["types","UPhased Form","AAnimation","EFX"], ]
### Phasing FFX_PHASING_CUSTOM=[ ["default","","ranged","effect_pan_teleport"], ["types","UPhased Form","AAnimation","EFX"], ["phaser","phaser-phased","ranged",""], ]
In this example, “phaser” will morph into another hero file, "phaser-phased", and use the ranged animation while playing no FX during the transformation.