When the crucifix is used on an entity, Rush's far ambience can be heard faintly. [ citation needed]

If Void is likely to appear and the player is not on low health and is wanting to use the crucifix later on, unequip the crucifix immediately to prevent it consumed by Void. Crucifixes in biblical stories are known for banishing demons or exorcising them, concluding that the entities are demons of some sort. Some people think that when they used the crucifix, they banished Seek. This is actually because when they watch Seek being banished, the chase is still ongoing, multiple doors have been opened, and they have been teleported by Void.This also supports that the Guiding Light is not present in The Rooms, as wielding the crucifix will give the player a message saying "Your crucifix feels lighter than normal..." and will not work against the entities that inhabit The Rooms. This adds that Guiding Light powers the item. There is reason to suspect that the crucifix's design is inspired by Phasmophobia's crucifix due to the similarity in their designs. Both have a similar use animation, with the crucifix burning/lighting up and then breaking. [ citation needed]

Using crucifix on Ambush is effective if there are not enough closets or if a player is unexperienced. These are based on gameplay experiences and how the crucifix might be useful or not during some situations. There is a glitch where three players, each holding a crucifix and using it on Seek at the same time, will glitch Seek out of the Hotel, and it will be "banished". The players cannot use more than one crucifix on one entity. If they attempt to do so only one person's crucifix will be used. The crucifix does not work on A-60, A-90, or A-120. This is likely due to Guiding Light not being present in The Rooms.This message, when translated and ran through the Caesar cipher, reads "OneOfTheThreeArchitectsMarkedByCelestialsAssistsYou." However, a difference of the crucifix from the Totem of Undying is that the crucifix is activated when the player would have taken damage, while the Totem of Undying activates when the player would have died.

The crucifix is technically a simple cross. For it to be defined as a proper crucifix, it must depict Christ on it. If the player is bad at dealing with entities like Ambush and Halt, they can use the crucifix to banish them. If the player is using safespots to hide from either Rush or Ambush, holding the crucifix out while being at the safespot can be a great way to ensure survival, as if in case either Rush or Ambush catches the player at the safespot, the crucifix will be used, saving any and all players hiding at that spot, and if the safespot worked, the crucifix will not activate, which can be saved for later.There was a problem when using the crucifix on Rush or Ambush when in multiplayer, as the ray-casting of said entities would still kill other players while the entities were getting banished by the crucifix. This has since been fixed. Dupe and Void are currently the only entities that cannot be seen being banished directly. Dupe is only implied that to be banished.

If a player attempts to use the crucifix in The Rooms, there will be a message saying "Your crucifix feels lighter than normal..." Using a crucifix on Rush is only useful if all closets are taken or a double-rush occurs in the Greenhouse. However, using the crucifix on Void will restrict it from dealing significant damage to the player. While the Figure and Seek are also hostile entities, the crucifix cannot banish them. It will only stun them for a period of time.

If one is in the path of the Figure and they cannot escape it or outrun it, they can use the crucifix to buy them time to escape before the Figure breaks free. Alternatively, using it against Ambush or Halt is recommended, as they're arguably very difficult entities to survive. However, once one is skilled enough to avoid them, it is not worth it to use the crucifix anymore against them, unless the player is speedrunning.