Cueist Identity V Skill Explanation Guide & How to Play

The newest hunter Cueist (Marcus) has made his way into the Identity V test server, and he’s already making waves thanks to his insane map control and unique “Cue Ball” mechanics. Unlike most hunters, Cueist can manipulate the battlefield by dragging survivors across long distances and disrupting cipher progress. Here’s a complete breakdown of his skills, abilities, and how to play him effectively.

Basic Attack & Animation

Cueist’s normal attack feels somewhat similar to Ripper’s hit animation, while his charge attack looks like he’s striking survivors with his cue ball. The animations are straightforward, but the real power comes from his special abilities.

Skill 1: Contact Point

• Cooldown: 11 seconds
• You start the match with 3 charges.
• Contact Points allow you to place “nodes” between 4m and 35m apart.
• You can place up to 4 nodes at a time before one disappears.

These points create straight-line paths that Cueist can later use for teleportation and combos. Placement is key — think ahead and set traps where survivors will likely rotate.

Skill 2: Maxwell’s Demon

This transforms Cueist into a Cue Ball that dashes across the map. You can control the direction while teleporting, making it a fantastic ability for mobility and chase pressure.

• Backspin: Exiting this form lets Cueist quickly reposition. It also activates his Inertia passive, giving him bonus movement speed and faster interactions like window vaulting, pallet breaking, and attack recovery.
• Buff Duration: 10–20%, extended by 2.5 seconds for each injured survivor.

With this, Cueist becomes one of the fastest hunters in terms of closing distance.

Skill 3: Closed Domain

Closed Domain changes how nodes interact. Normally, Contact Points automatically connect. With this skill, you can place a node without linking it to others.

• Nodes last for 80 seconds.
• When placed near cipher machines, they highlight the machine and scan for survivors.
• Scanning reveals survivors after about 6 seconds, and the scan repeats every 37–38 seconds.
• Cipher machines within range lose 20% decoding progress, making this ability powerful for map control.

This lets Cueist pressure both survivors and objectives simultaneously, which is extremely valuable in competitive play.

Skill 4: Cue Ball

This is Cueist’s signature move — the ability to kidnap survivors across the map.

• Cue Balls travel for 16 seconds along established paths.
• Survivors within a 7–11m radius can be pulled into the ball and dragged back to Cueist.
• Works even at extreme distances, as long as the path exists.
• Survivors placed on rocket chairs can be chained into devastating combos.

Cueist can effectively end chases early by pulling survivors back mid-kite. Combined with his teleportation, this creates terrifying map-wide pressure.

Max Presence

At full Presence, Cueist gains two big upgrades:

1. Cue Ball cooldown reduced by 10%, allowing more frequent use.
2. Faster recovery after Backspin, letting him immediately resume chasing.

This makes Cueist unstoppable in the late game. He can teleport faster, grab survivors more often, and keep cipher control locked down.

How to Play Cueist Effectively

1. Set Up Early – Use Contact Points to control high-traffic areas around cipher machines.
2. Chase Smart – Switch between Maxwell’s Demon for speed and Cue Ball to yank survivors out of position.
3. Deny Objectives – Closed Domain is excellent for cipher control. Place them near multiple machines to slow decoding.
4. Kidnap & Pressure – Once you master long-range Cue Ball pulls, survivors will have a hard time kiting or rotating safely.
5. Late Game Domination – With full Presence, Cueist becomes a map-wide threat. Play aggressively and force survivors into mistakes.

Cueist is shaping up to be one of the most high-skill, high-reward hunters in Identity V. His mix of teleportation, cipher disruption, and survivor kidnapping gives him unmatched control over the battlefield. Survivors will need to adapt quickly, because once a Cueist player masters long-range Cue Ball grabs, there’s almost nowhere safe to hide.