Overview
A big, deep-dive guide that aims to simplify the tools and playstyles of Phasmophobia! <3Updated 2020-11-20
Introduction
As a new player to Phasmophobia, it’s sometimes hard to get a grasp on what signs may or may not be important. While this sense of mystery surely adds to the general feeling of insecurity and horror of the game, it’s good to have a general sense of what it is you’re looking for in a house, so you’re not just aimless and at the mercy of whatever phantasm, spectre or horror you’re investigating. In this guide I’ll provide a few ways to break down how to analyze evidence and the interactions with your tools, as well as a general guide for how to play.
Note that this guide pertains to the non-VR version of the game, and is only in place to help people get accustomed to how to play the game. Skip to the “Identifying your ghost”-chapter for a handy guide on how to track ghosts!
Initial info
The difficulty setting of a level majorly impacts the amount of sanity that the player loses in darkness, and the agression of ghosts, as well as the length of the setup phase. After the setup phase runs out, the ghost will become much more active and eligble to hunt. If a level’s difficulty is professional, the player recieves No setup time. (Note. In Professional difficulty, the breaker will always begin turned off, meaning the player will have to seek out the breaker to turn on the lights right away.)
Get to know your tools!
The following tools are all great immediate indicators of evidence for a ghost. If the ghost interacts with any of the following tools, it’s worth writing up in your journal! (Bound to J by default)
EMF reader
The EMF reader is a catch-all detector of ghost-activity in your immediate vicinity. Any ghost is able to set off the EMF-Reader. However, only a level 5, that is to say, a maxed out EMF-reader, counts as evidence for a certain type of ghost. Note that even ghosts that require level 5 as evidence may choose to not give a level 5 EMF-reading right away. So if you’re unsure, you can choose to stick around with the EMF for a while longer. (The EMF-reader will remain activated if you turn it on and drop it on the ground. Make use of this if you suspect the ghost is in a certain room and you need space in your inventory.)
Ghosts with EMF level 5 as Evidence
- Banshee
- Jinn
- Oni
- Phantom
- Revenant
- Shade
Ghost Writing
The ghost-writing book is an empty book which the investigation-team may drop to the floor or on a surface, allowing the ghost to pass over it and write in it. It’s advisable to place the book in a spot where the team suspects the ghost may pass over frequently, or in a room where paranormal evidence has been detected. Only ghosts with ghost-writing evidence will write in the book, others simply leave it alone, but may throw it around if they wish. It’s advisable to leave the book on the floor, as the ghost will automatically write in the book if they pass over it. Leaving the book on a shelf or on a surface that the ghost cannot walk up onto, such as a counter, can lead to the ghost missing the book, making you miss out on potential evidence
Ghosts with Ghost writing as Evidence
- Demon
- Oni
- Revenant
- Shade
- Spirit
- Yurei
UV-light (+Glowstick)
The UV-light is a pseudo-flashlight that can reveal green/white-lit handprints or footprints around the house. For necessity’s sake, it’s sometimes smart to use the UV-light over a flashlight, as it provides light and can uncover evidence. Not all ghosts leave fingerprints, but those that do do so when interacting with certain objects. For example, if the player hears a door open on it’s own, that might mean there’ll be a hand-print on the door which the ghost interacted with. There are three different kinds of things that the UV-Light can detect.
The kind of imprints that can be found are:
Hand-prints – Can be found on doors and windows
Fingerprints – Can be found on light-switches
Footprints – Left behind when certain ghosts step in salt. Footprints do not count as evidence of fingerprints. However, if the ghost steps in the salt and no footprints are left behind, you may be dealing with certain types of ghosts. Otherwise, footprints can be good indicators for which direction the ghost has walked in. Which can be handy if you’re looking to smudge a location later.
Ghosts with Fingerprints as evidence
- Banshee
- Poltergeist
- Revenant
- Spirit
- Wraith
Spirit Box
The spirit box is a peculiar tool that uses the already prevalent voice-recognition to allow you to directly speak to the ghost with V (Default key). The ghost is even able to reply to the team through the box, which always counts as evidence for a spirit box in the journal. Ghosts that aren’t identified by spirit box evidence do not at all interact with the players through the spirit box, and any possible interaction that a non-spirit box ghost may have with the player is likely nothing more than a coincidence. However, it is possible for a ghost that falls under the spirit box category to not respond vocally, and instead by acting out on the player’s questions. For example; Asking a ghost to shut a door through the spirit box may fall under evidence of a spirit-box ghost. If the spirit-box says “Nothing detected”, that means that it heard you, but that no response was detected. Try moving around in the house if this is the case, as the issue may be that you’re too far away from the ghost. Make sure to turn off all lights in your area before using the spirit box, as it will not work otherwise
Common questions to try are for example:
“How old are you?”, “Where are you?”, “Are you a boy/man?”, “Are you a girl/woman?”, “Are you angry?”, “Can you talk?”, “Can you scream?”, “Is anybody here?”, “Show yourself.”
Common responses to these questions are for example:
“Adult”, “Child”, “Kid”, “Old”, “Here”, “Far”, “Behind”, “Away”. Note that the responses may be cut off to a single syllable. Meaning the spirit box may reply with a simple: “E–” or “O–“, leaving the response quite hard to decipher.
Important to note is that not all ghosts appreciate being communicated to through the spirit box. Take caution if the ghost responds with hostile remarks such as:
“Attack”, “Pain”, “Kill”, “Catch”
These responses may indicate that the ghost will hunt you if you linger around.
Ghosts with Spirit Box as Evidence
- Demon
- Jinn
- Mare
- Oni
- Poltergeist
- Spirit
- Wraith
Video Camera
The video camera is a tool that players can activate and place in the house to stream footage back to the screen in the van. To rotate the camera, the player can hold down Left Mouse (Default), to place it, the player may click F (Default) and to activate it, the player may click Right Mouse (Default). It’s advisable to place the video camera in a room where the players have witnessed paranormal activity, and to turn off the lights in that room before leaving to check the screen. The purpose for this is to detect ghost orbs, small specs of dust that can only be detected with the night-vision mode on the video cameras, that can be toggled by clicking on the keyboard in the van. To toggle between cameras, the player can click the mouse next to the keyboard instead.
Don’t worry too much about small, perhaps graphical bugs in the night vision being ghost orbs. If you see a spirit orb, it’s unmissable as it flies around quite a bit. If you aren’t seeing any orbs, try moving the cameras around, or purchase several cameras to place on your first sweep of the house.
Ghosts with Ghost orbs as evidence
- Jinn
- Mare
- Phantom
- Shade
- Poltergeist
- Yurei
Thermometer
(Note. The thermometer is not a default tool, but serves an improved purpose on gathering evidence.) The thermometer is a great tool which can detect the presence of a ghost in a certain room. The default temperature of a certain area is usually around 15-20 celsius, however, if a certain room drops in temperature to below 10, that is a surefire sign that the room you are in has a ghost in it. This happens for all ghosts. However, only a few will show freezing temperatures, that is to say, negative temperatures below 0. Important to note however is that it’s possible to detect freezing temperatures without a thermometer. If the team sees a breath of chilly air streaming behind them, it indicates that the ghost is nearby, and also works as evidence for “Freezing temperatures”
Ghosts with Freezing temperatures as evidence
- Banshee
- Demon
- Mare
- Phantom
- Wraith
- Yurei
More tools!
The following tools are all additive indicators, primarily revealing the location of a ghost and making it easier to either defend yourself or narrow down what kind of ghost you’re dealing with beyond the default tools!
Motion sensor
The motion sensor is a great addition to the camera, which will give off a green light when passed by either a player or a ghost. It will also emit a loud beeping noise in the van when it is passed, making it a clear indicator for the location of the ghost if it goes off whilst all players are in the van. It’s a wise decision to place the motion sensor with F (Default) on a nearby wall in eye-height. The range which the motion sensor detects movement is shown in the van on the map.
Salt Shaker
The salt shaker is a limited use vat of salt which can place down three separate piles of salt with F (Default). If a ghost walks through a pile of salt, it will leave a footprint, and; in some cases, a trail of footprints that can be seen by shining a UV-Light on the area around the salt-pile. Both of these are good indicators for the location of a ghost. Importantly, the Wraith reacts to salt-piles in the same way other ghosts react to crucifixes, meaning it immediately will stop hunting if it steps in it. This however happens at the cost of permanently increasing the ghost activity
Parabolic Microphone
The parabolic microphone is one of, if not, the easiest tool to use when triangulating the location of a ghost, As ghosts usually haunt a certain room or location. The parabolic microphone will pick up any sound that the ghost may make in the direction which the player is facing (Even through walls!). The sounds made will show up as a number on the microphone, adding up to show a higher number if the ghost is making more noise. If the ghost for example throws an object on the other side of the house, in a direction you’re looking in, it will show up as a 1.0-3.0 on the microphone. If the ghost instead does many things at once in a short timespan, such as opening doors, closing a door and throwing something, it could instead show as a much higher number, which indicates a high likelihood of the ghost haunting in the direction that the player is looking in. Do note that other player’s speech, as well as camera shutter sounds show up on the microphone, which can muddy the indicators a bit. It’s wise to ask for silence when scanning all directions around you with the parabolic microphone
Sound Sensor
The sound sensor is a stationary version of the parabolic microphone which can be placed on a wall with F. It holds the exact same properties of the parabolic microphone, however: It’s only possible to see the readings of the sound sensor in the van. A tip is to place the sound sensor on a wall facing a big portion of the house, as it just like the parabolic microphone detects sounds through walls. If placed properly, the player can detect sound in a very big area of the house.
Infrared Light Sensor
The infrared light sensor fills the same purpose as the motion sensor, though it instead lights up an area, making it easier to navigate an unlit room. The infrared light sensor does not provide any feedback to the van when it activates, however, if multiple sensors are placed in a room, it will surefire prove that a ghost is in a room. Do note that just like the motion sensor, the infrared light sensor can be activated by players walking past it.
Glowstick
The glowstick fills the same function as a UV-light, revealing prints in a small area. It’s wise to place a glowstick near a pile of salt, which will make it easier to show when and if a ghost has stepped in the salt. Most of the time however a UV-light will fill the purpose of a glowstick much better (And it is also free!)
Tripod
The tripod is a tool which can be dropped anywhere on the floor of the house. It is useful when there are no good locations to place a video camera, as it gives an almost-eye-height view for the video camera that you mount at the top of it. To lift and place the tripod, the player has to hold the tripod in their hands. If the player changes held items from the tripod to something else, the player will immediately drop the tripod to the ground. This is the coincidentally the only way to place the tripod. After placing it, the player may mount a video camera on it by pressing F on it.
Survival tools and sanity
Sanity is a very important aspect and resource of the game. The investigators may see the sanity of the entire team from the van. Each player begins the game with 100% sanity, and lose sanity whenever they linger in darkness, it’s therefore quite wise to turn on the lights in rooms the team plan to stay in for a long time. (Do note that leaving too many lights on may blow the breaker, causing you to have to turn it on again. Certain ghosts also thrive off of having many lights on at the same time, so be cautious!) Witnessing a ghost event or even seeing the ghost will also drasticly impact the player’s sanity. If the ghost is a Yurei, the drain on the player’s sanity whenever they are in it’s vicinity will be much higher.
Your sanity dropping is an unavoidable part of the game, which, along with the timer at the start of the game will increase the difficulty of the game by increasing the ghost’s agression towards the player. The players with the lowest sanity are more likely to be attacked, and if brought into the house, are more likely to provoke the ghost to attack the crew. (Note that 0% sanity doesn’t mean you will die, it rather implies that the player is at their most vulnerable if they enter the house.) A low percentage of sanity might in fact be beneficial for baiting out paranormal activity in some cases, though excert caution as it will entail attacks and heightened activity. The Ouija Board is a unique tool that can be found in certain levels that can be used to ask the ghost in the house certain questions. Using it will however drasticly drain your sanity, even if you do not recieve an answer. (If the ghost is a Demon however, getting a response will not affect your sanity at all!)
There are many ways for the player to defend themselves against their dropping sanity, such as staying in the light of the van or lit rooms as often as possible, looking away from ghosts, and importantly, bringing the related tools. The tools that assist your sanity are among others; Sanity pills, the candle and the lighter.
Sanity pills
Sanity pills are a one-time-use tool that can be ingested by any players in the crew, restoring 40% sanity per use. That is all they do. You may bring up to four sanity pills.
Candle
The candle is a light-source that does not rely on electricity, and is thus not affected by light-flickering. It’s a good source of sanity for when the ghost eventually shuts off the breaker-box
First of all, let’s define a hunt. A hunt is essentially the ghost being fed up with the player. They can occur at nearly any time if the conditions are right, but can be signified by the exit doors locking, the activity meter in the van spiking to a 10 and lights beginning to flicker (Even your flashlight!). Each ghost hunts differently, but most will chase after the player at the same pace that the player runs, making it possible to outrun all ghosts except Revenants who always run faster than the player.
If the ghost is hunting you, then for goodness sake, run, hide and shut up! It’s possible for all players to pull open lockers and certain wardrobe doors and hiding inside of them. This will more often than not save you from a hunting ghost. But if you’re unlucky, it’ll do nothing (By the time a ghost hunts, you hopefully know enough about it to know how to flee from it!).
However, there are other graces that can save you.
A Crucifix placed on the floor
For example, a well placed Crucifix will prevent a hunt from any ghost from being initiated. (Note that the crucifix is even more useful against a Banshee. If the ghost seems to be particularly shy around your crucifix(es), this could be a sign that you’re dealing with one.) Another good piece of advice is to bring both a smudge stick and a lighter in your other equipment slot to light them with. Lighting the smudge stick with F (Default) will cause it to burn for roughly 15 seconds, which’ll prevent ghosts in the vicinity from initiating a hunt for 60 whole seconds! (Spirits are specificly weak to this, as they will instead refuse to hunt for 160 seconds!) Note that both of these preventive measures however only work if they’re used before the hunt is started. It can be hard to tell if you’ve succesfully prevented one, but you may be able to spot a spike that abruptly ends on the activity-meter in the van if you’ve had any success.
A single set of smudge sticks
Be careful. The crucifix must be placed in the room which the ghost is haunting before it begins a hunt. The crucifix does nothing if used during an already initiated hunt. The smudge sticks will cause the ghost to wander around aimlessly if thrown during a hunt, but will not entirely prevent a hunt, rather than prolong it.
Finding your ghost
Finding a ghost is and should be your first goal in the game. As the previous chapter denotes, wandering around aimlessly isn’t the best idea, meaning efficiency is key! In this section I will break down the phases that the crew should go through in a game of Phasmophobia and how to efficiently beat a mission with minimal casualties.
The first thing that should be on each player’s mind is triangulating or locating the room which the ghost is haunting. Doing this will allow you to start figuring out what kind of ghost it is. Each player has 3 equipment-spaces, meaning that your first equipment, paired with the time-limit, will be decisive on whether you find and identify the ghost or not. The priority for tools to bring for your first sweep should always be in the following order, with the top items being the most important to bring. (Note that this isn’t set in stone, rather; it is a recommendation.)
- EMF-Reader
– A rising EMF-level is a clear sign that you are near either paranormal activity or the ghost itself. - Parabolic Microphone
– A surefire way to listen for sounds and movement in the house. Triangulate the location by periodicly standing still in silence to look around for any further sounds. Simplifies the search remarkably. - Video-Camera (1 or 2, depending on how many players there are)
– An early, and foremost well-placed video camera should always come with the crew once you figure out which room the ghost is haunting, so that you may return to the van and check for ghost-orbs. - Thermometer
– While not necessary, a great tool to check rooms for presences. If the temperature goes below 10 in a room, congratulations! You’ve found the room the ghost is in. Freezing temperatures do not require a thermometer to be detected, as you can see them visually, in front of your mouth. - Salt-Shaker
– Less necessary than the previous tools, though still effective at revealing the presence of a ghost, footprints in salt will be a sure clue that a ghost is in the room you’re in. - All types of sensors (Motion, Infrared Light, Sound)
– All of the sensor tools are quite useful at confirming your suspicions of a ghost inhabiting a room, as they will activate if the case is that a ghost happens to walk in front of it, which they’re prone to do in their haunting-room! The motion sensor is the best at this, as it can be tracked from the van.
As a rule of thumb, it is wise to not mention the ghost’s name. The whiteboard at the start of the game gives you information on the ghost’s name, as well as whether or not the ghost is shy. A ghost that only communicates to alone players will mean that someone who’s brave will have to be alone, preferably in a room with the door closed behind them, before the ghost is willing to give signs about what type of ghost it is. If the ghost isn’t shy, go ahead and bring your friends in for a hug as you ask away!
Be nice to ghosts.
It may sound silly, but; treat the ghost as if it’s a real person that you’re trying to get contact with. Running in head first, shouting the ghost’s name will more often than not just jump up the odds of you getting attacked remarkably. When adressing the ghost, it’s a good idea to first and foremost ask things such as “Are there any spirits here?” or “If there’s anyone here, can you give us a sign?” and similar things, as to get vague hints of the whereabouts of the ghost. Asking the ghost to do things such as writing in the Ghost-writing might work, but do so with caution.
If you must…
…Speak the ghost’s name. If much time has passed without any events, you may have to ask the questions directly to the ghost. If it doesn’t work, at least you ramp up the chances to run into a ghost or paranormal event!
Tools and rounding up evidence
Congratulations! You’re almost done. By now, you should likely have run into a few paranormal events, depending on your difficulty. There are a few things that you need to keep in mind now that you’re coming down to identifying the ghost you’re dealing with. If you’re lucky, nobody’s dead yet, either!
On your first run in, you will likely have identified the location which the ghost is in, or you have a suspicion of a room or two. Make sure the lights in these rooms are off before you go back to the van to check the night vision for ghost orbs. If you found any, congratulations! If not, get back in there, scaredycat! If you didn’t bring them along with a crewmate earlier, then bring in a spirit box, ghost writing book and a UV-light to check for any of those clues. Dropping your ghost-writing book in the room you suspect the ghost is in will likely end up with it getting written in within just a few minutes. Since you’re returning from the van now, check out the salt-piles that you hopefully put down before for any footprints. If they’re stepped in, congratulations! You succesfully found the room your ghost is in.
If you by any chance found a Ouija-board, you can cuddle up with your friends, or alone, and ask a few questions to the ghost after activating it. If you’re lucky, the ghost will spell out an answer on the board. While this doesn’t usually serve evidence for much, the answers will usually be more direct than those from spirit boxes
Identifying your ghost
So, your tools are giving you some mixed responses. Let’s break down what they all mean. There’s a lot to choose from! Every ghost has 3 pieces of evidence each, and there are 12 different ghosts that you can encounter. The chart below breaks down each ghost and their evidence!
You’re getting your evidence, but it’s hard to narrow it down… There are a few uniquities that can distinguish which ghost you’re dealing with.
Banshee
If you’re noticing that the ghost is always targetting the same person during a hunt, you might be dealing with a Banshee!
Banshees are extra weak against Crucifixes, meaning that they affect a bigger radius against Banshees.
Demon
If you’re noticing that you’re getting attacked unprovokedly, for example, whilst walking around quietly or whilst asking an inoquous question, you might be dealing with a Demon, as they’re extremely agressive and may enter hunting mode very often, even unprovokedly.
Catch-all
If you keep check on the sanity meters whilst someone is asking a question on the ouija-board, and a question is successful, but the asker’s sanity doesn’t deplete. You can immediately prove that the ghost is a demon.
Jinn
The Jinn can be hard to identify. Although, if you suspect you’re facing one, you can turn off the breaker, making the ghost a lot weaker and easier to find.
If you notice that the ghost approaches you very fast, but slows down to walking-pace once it catches up to you, it’s quite a confident vote that you’re facing a Jinn.
Mare
Another sometimes tricky-to-identify-ghost. However, if you keep your eyes out for the lights being switched off often, you can be quite sure it’s a Mare, as they thrive in darkness. Turning on the lights will lower it’s chance to attack and enter hunting-mode. If you’re confident, you can even turn off the lights in an attempt to bait out the ghost, as it will be quite quick to attack. Though this is not as reliable for evidence.
Oni
The Oni is extremely active, but notably, they’re usually only active when the players themselves are active. If you’re moving around, talking a lot, using items, opening doors and such, you’re bound to run into the Oni very early.
The oni can be mistaken for a Poltergeist early on, as it throws items at the same strength as one. The important distinction to make is that all ghosts are able to throw items.
Phantom
The phantom can be tricky to spot, but there are a few catch-all signs that will guarantee that you’re dealing with a phantom on your mission.
The Phantom and the Yurei are the only ghosts that have an increased effect on player’s sanity. However, the Phantom only affects your sanity if you look directly at it. If you pair up with a crewmate to lure out the ghost, when you’re both on the same sanity-level, you can more confidently guess that it’s a Phantom if one of you stare straight at the ghost as it hunts, and one always looks away. However, this doesn’t always work.
Catch-All
The Phantom’s ability lets it materialize in front of the players disguised as one of them. If you see a crewmate acting odd, and even appearing disappearing into thin air, you can 100% single out that you’re facing a Phantom, as no other ghost posesses this ability.
If the ghost disappears when you take a photo of it during a hunt, you can usually single out that it’s a Phantom! Do note however that taking a photo of a phantom won’t stop the hunt.
Poltergeist
The poltergeist is the easiest ghost to spot out of the 12, as it is the only ghost in the game that has both Fingerprints and Ghost orbs as it’s evidence. If you set up video cameras early, you can very easily single out a poltergeist. Another decent piece of evidence of a Poltergeist is the fact that they’re extraordinarily weak in empty rooms, which may lead to them materializing in front of you and doing nothing sometimes. However, if you’re unlucky and the ghost is haunting a room with many items in it, you might not fare as well.
Identifying your ghost 2
Revenant
The revenant can be easily mistaken for a Jinn, as they’re both extremely fast. However, the Jinn pales in comparison to the absolute speed at which the Revenant hunts at. If you’re certain that your ghost is a revenant, your plan during a hunt should immediately be to hide, as this will slow it down if you’re the one being hunted, allowing you to survive. Importantly; the Revenant is able to switch targets during a hunt. Most importantly however is that simply running will rarely ever work. Which luckily, in itself is a piece of evidence, when compared to the Jinn, whom slows down once it catches up to it’s target.
Shade
The shade can be quite tricky to single out, as it rarely gives evidence of itself. However, if you’ve gone a very long time without evidence or hunts, you might be able to guess that it’s a shade, upon which you can allow one of your crewmates to walk off on their own to try to bait out the final pieces of evidence. This is due to the Shade being extraordinarily shy.
Spirit
The spirit is without a doubt the spirit that can either be the trickiest or simplest to figure out, as it holds no discernable strength or characteristics. The only thing that specificly singles out the spirit from others if need be is that Smudge sticks prevent the spirit from hunting for 120 seconds rather than 60.
Wraith
The wraith can be tricky to pick out, though there are a few characteristics that stand out. The wraith levitates, and can walk through walls, which means that it rarely ever makes footsteps, and will be able to find crewmates who are hiding in lockers and closets.
Catch-all
If you bait out a hunt, the wraith will immediately stop it’s hunt if it steps in salt, which is a guaranteed way to single out that you’re facing a wraith.
Yurei
The Yurei can be easily mistaken for a phantom when returning to the van, as it affects the crew’s sanity quite noticably. However, it can be discerned from the phantom quite effectively as the Yurei’s ability is constantly active, passively increasing the sanity-drain wherever the crew is in the house.
It is possible to discern a Yurei by the fact that they avoid a smudged room for 90 seconds rather than 60.
Good-To-Know
- All ghosts are capable of throwing items. The only thing that discerns an Oni and a poltergeist is the strength at which they throw them. (And frequence, for Poltergeists)
- All ghosts lower the temperature around you below 10 celsius if they’re near you.
- Phantoms are able to disguise themselves as you, meaning you might see yourself walking around your crewmates.
- Spirit boxes work on a very big range from the ghost and the room that they’re haunting, but not as well.
- Taking photos of collectible items before you pick them up will give you a bigger cash-reward at the end of the game.
- You do not need to fill in all of the evidence in the journal to guess which ghost you’re facing.
- The spirit box and EMF Reader are a good combo. If none of them ever give any response, it is very likely that you’re facing a Yurei.
- You can Turn on sinks yourself.
- Ghosts can haunt a hallway. Which can be a horrible experience, depending on the map size.
Thanks for reading!
Important to note, the advice presented in this guide isn’t set in stone, and you’re free to play as you like. The game is itself the most fun when you play it the way you like to, after all! Make sure to keep the gang together and to be careful!
Hope the guide helped clear up some things about how to play!
If I’ve missed anything, or if you’d like to see info about something else, let me know!
Images are all sourced from the Phasmophobia Gamepedia website[phasmophobia.fandom.com]!