Haunt helps the user track the opponent that splatted them. In Splatoon, Haunt also gives the user Damage Up, Defense Up, and Run Speed Up while certain conditions are met. In Splatoon 2, when the user splats an opponent they are currently tracking, that opponent gets the effects of Respawn Punisher for that splat.
When the user is splatted, the opponent that caused that splat (if any) is marked with a Point Sensor marker which lasts for about 9 seconds by default or about 4.5 seconds with Cold-Blooded.
Haunt is useful for players who usually flank; and for back liners, since if they are splatted, their team is more likely to notice that an enemy may be coming up from behind.
Once you've respawned, reveals the position of the player who splatted you.
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— In-game description
Mechanics
Haunt now tracks opponents who splatted the user with white silhouettes that can be seen through opaque objects only to the user while at least a certain distance from the opponent (Bomb Defense Up DX increases this minimum distance) and while the opponent is not submerged in ink. Unlike the Thermal Ink, the Haunt effect lasts until the opponent is splatted.
If the Haunt user splats an opponent who they are currently tracking, the victim gets the effects of Respawn Punisher for that splat and the user's Haunt icon will be highlighted by a yellow ring on the victim's splat cam. The Respawn Punisher penalty does not apply if the tracked opponent gets splatted by any other means, but the tracking silhouette still disappears.
There is no limit on how many opponents a Haunt user can track. So even if all four opponents on the enemy team splat the Haunt user, the Haunt user will be tracking four players.
▲ The duration has been increased from 30 seconds to infinite.
If the target afflicted with Haunt is splatted, the effect will disappear as normal.
▲ Number of targets that can be afflicted with Haunt at once increased to four.
This means that if a second, third, or fourth player were to splat someone who has Haunt equipped, the previous players afflicted with Haunt's effects will continue to be affected.