Phasmophobia – Becoming a Pro Ghost Hunter – Guide

Becoming the best Ghost Hunter in all the Land

Becoming the best ghost hunter any paranormal activity has ever seen starts with having a little bit of Phasmophobia, the fear of ghosts. One of the top played games at this time is Phasmophobia by an independent developer at Kinetic Games. You’ll be up against twelve different ghosts spread out between different maps and contracts where you’ll play alone or with others up to a group of four. Starting with the basic items may seem hard, but it isn’t once you get used to what you’re looking for on each of the maps. We’ll break down each ghost and what to bring once you know where the ghost is on the map.

The team at Gnarly Guides have been followers of Kinetic Games Phasmophobia release because of the amount of fun that game has instore for most gamers looking for a thrill with others or have the skills to embark on an adventure alone hunting for a deadly ghost. With the independent developer having a long-lasting roadmap for the community to look forward to upcoming releases of bug fixes and new content, it’s great to see that Phasmophobia won’t be dying anytime soon.

Figuring out what you’re up against

Starting, we’ll take a look at each of the twelve ghosts and what to look out for with each of them once you find their room. You’ll want to start with a thermometer or an EMF reader and go to each of the hallways and rooms around the map to see if you get cold temperatures where you can almost see your breath or if the EMF reader starts to beep. (You’ll only need to open the door; no need to walk all the way in) Below we’ll breakdown what each of the ghosts will trigger to find out what you’re dealing with.

Banshee:

1. First, EMF Reader hits level five, being the red light.
2. The second will be Fingerprints; you’ll need to use the UV Light and scan doors and light switches for fingerprints and/or handprints; footsteps don’t count if you see them after the ghost goes through salt.
3. The final evidence you’ll find for the Banshee will be Freezing Temperatures. That will be below 3°C/37.9°F on the thermometer or if you see your character’s breath.

Demon:

1. The first evidence you’ll want to look out for with a Demon will be Freezing Temperatures. That will be below 3°C/37.9°F on the thermometer or if you see your character’s breath.
2. The second evidence you’ll find will be Ghost Writing. Once you find the ghost’s room or roundabout where it spawns in the hallway, you’ll bring the ghostwriting book into that area and ask the ghost to write in the book, or place the book in your hands or place it in the room until writing appears in it.
3. The final evidence will be the Spirit Box. You’ll want to do this last most of the time with a demon because usually, it’ll already be hunting you by now or will say die or death in the box, so you’ll want to leave after that.

Jinn:

1. First, EMF Reader hits level five, being the red light.
2. The second evidence will be Ghost Orbs. You’ll want to place cameras in the ghost’s room or in the hallway outside after you find it’s room and go back to the car and look at the computer. This step will be the first you’ll want-to-do after finding the ghost’s room.
3. The final evidence will be Spirit Box. Knowing a Jinn is very territorial, so just like the Demon ghost, you’ll want to find this third evidence piece last and then leave.

Mare:

1. The first evidence you’ll want to look out for with a Mare will be Freezing Temperatures. That will be below 3°C/37.9°F on the thermometer or if you see your character’s breath.
2. The second evidence will be Ghost Orbs. You’ll want to place cameras in the ghost’s room or in the hallway outside after you find it’s room and go back to the car and look at the computer. This step will be the first you’ll want-to-do after finding the ghost’s room.
3. The third piece of evidence you’ll find for a Mare will be the Spirit Box. Mares like to see everyone in the dark, so be sure to ask it to talk while you’re in the light.

Oni:

1. First, EMF Reader hits level five, being the red light.
2. The second evidence you’ll find will be Ghost Writing. Once you find the ghost’s room or roundabout where it spawns in the hallway, you’ll bring the ghostwriting book into that area and ask the ghost to write in the book, or place the book in your hands or place it in the room until writing appears in it.
3. The final evidence you’ll get from an Oni will be the Spirit Box. Onis like when people are around, so be sure you ask it questions with the spirits box in its room or your hand while your team is around.

Phantom:

1. First, EMF Reader hits level five, being the red light.
2. The second evidence you’ll find will be Freezing Temperatures. You can find this before or after getting the EMF reading when trying to find the ghost’s room. That will be below 3°C/37.9°F on the thermometer or if you see your character’s breath.
3. The final piece of evidence for a Phantom will be Ghost Orbs. For a Phantom, you’ll want to be in and out of the map quickly, so you’ll most likely find the Freezing Temperatures first and then EMF readings, but during that time, you’ll want to place the cameras too, to find the ghost orbs.

Poltergeist:

1. The first piece of evidence will be Fingerprints; you’ll need to use the UV Light and scan doors and light switches for fingerprints and/or handprints; footsteps don’t count if you see them after the ghost goes through salt.
2. The second evidence will be Ghost Orbs. You’ll want to place cameras in the ghost’s room or in the hallway outside after you find it’s room and go back to the car and look at the computer. This step will be the first you’ll want-to-do after finding the ghost’s room.
3. The final evidence you’ll get from a Poltergeist will be the Spirit Box. A Poltergeist throws objects around on the map, just like the movies, so you’ll be able to find the room or area it’s in somewhat quickly most of the time, and if you find objects on the ground, then it’ll be best to use the Spirit Box there.

Revenant:

1. First, EMF Reader hits level five, being the red light.
2. The second piece of evidence will be Fingerprints; you’ll need to use the UV Light and scan doors and light switches for fingerprints and/or handprints; footsteps don’t count if you see them after the ghost goes through salt.
3. The final piece of evidence for a Revenant will be Ghost Writing. The Revenant ghost is the worst during a hunt because they’re fast and killing machines. So once you’re able to find its room with hopefully EMF Level five and maybe fingerprints once it has activity, then get the ghost writings and leave before it starts to hunt.

Shade:

1. First, EMF Reader hits level five, being the red light.
2. The second evidence will be Ghost Orbs. You’ll want to place cameras in the ghost’s room or in the hallway outside after you find its room and go back to the car and look at the computer. This step will be the first you’ll want-to-do after finding the ghost’s room.
3. The final piece of evidence you’ll most likely find for a Shade will be Ghost Writing. You’ll be able to figure out it’s a Shade quickly if you find its room by the EMF readings and then place a camera to find the orbs and the ghost book in the room to see the orbs near the book as it writes in it.

Spirit:

1. A Spirit can be tricky at times, so the first evidence you’ll want to find is the fingerprints in the ghost’s room with the UV Light.
2. The second evidence will be Ghost Writing. Once you find the ghost’s room and it writes in the book almost instantly, then it’ll be best to look out for fingerprints or the third evidence below.
3. The final evidence to look out for with a Spirit will be the Spirit Box. Spirits like Smudge Sticks once they’re activated in its room, so do that if you think it’s a Spirit ghost and then try to use the Spirit Box.

Wraith:

1. The first evidence you’ll find for a Wraith will be Freezing Temperatures. Once you have located the ghost’s room, you’ll be able to see your breath quickly with a Wraith, or you’ll tell from your thermometer. That will be below 3°C/37.9°F on the thermometer.
2. The second piece of evidence will be Fingerprints; you’ll need to use the UV Light and scan doors and light switches for fingerprints and/or handprints; footsteps don’t count if you see them after the ghost goes through salt.
3. The final evidence you’ll find for a Wraith will be the Spirit Box. While the wraith doesn’t leave footsteps and also travels through walls, you’ll be able to place salt around its room(s), so you can get a good reaction out of it to take to you.

Yurei:

1. The first evidence you’ll find for a Yurei will be Freezing Temperatures. That will be below 3°C/37.9°F on the thermometer or if you see your character’s breath.
2. The second evidence will be Ghost Orbs. You’ll want to place cameras in the ghost’s room or in the hallway outside after you find its room and go back to the car and look at the computer. This step will be the first you’ll want-to-do after finding the ghost’s room.
3. Your final evidence you’ll find with a Yurei will be with Ghost Writing. Once you find the ghost’s room, you’ll want to find the first two evidence pieces above first and then smudge the room to get the ghostwriting since Yureis tend to wander a lot and quickly take away sanity too.

Now that you know what to bring to the map and where to go after that, you must stick together if you’re with a group and ensure the lights are most of the time turned on. This will ensure that the ghosts who do like to attack in the dark stay away slightly. We’ll breakdown more what-to-do once you know what ghost you’re dealing with below.

Knowing what-to-do

Now that you know what to find for each of the ghost types, it’s good to know what they do once they’re triggered. Each ghost has different weaknesses and powers when it comes to figuring out what they are quickly or what-to-do when it starts to hunt.

Banshee:

1. Most of the time will only start showing it’s evidence pieces when a player is alone with it.
2. Best to bring a Crucifix with you and leave one of the two inside or outside of its room if you know its general location, and then one with you when it starts to hunt to throw outside of the room you’ll be hiding in.

Demon:

1. The first thing that will make you think it’s a Demon ghost will be that it starts to hunt out of nowhere for no reason, even sometimes when you haven’t found its room yet. So it’s always best to have a hiding room while wandering around the map.
2. It is best to find an Ouija Board when you find it to ask questions like where the ghost is, how old it is, etc. So once you know the ghost is answering you from that, go back to the car to see if your sanity is lowering; if it isn’t after talking to the ghost through the board, then you can always tell it’s going to be a Demon.

Jinn:

1. A Jinn is very Territorial. So if you see that your ghost is sticking to its room and getting mad once you enter it, then note down that it could be a Jinn.
2. The second piece of advice for the Jinn ghost will be to know your surroundings when it starts to hunt. If you’re across the room from the ghost when the hunt starts and it starts to charge to you, and you know it’s probably not a Revenant, then it’ll most likely be a Jinn.
3. Keeping the fusebox off and lights off for the Jinn will help slow it down during a hunt and keep it close to its room.

Mare:

1. The only tip for a Mare will be to keep the lights on. It would help if you had at least some lights on most of your contracts at first until you know what you’re dealing with. A Mare will be fast and active in the dark and like to attack often in the dark too, so keep some lights on in some places.

Oni:

1. An Oni can be tricky at times, just like finding its evidence, so keeping a close eye on different objects you bring into its room and seeing if they move will be a great thing to look out for.
2. The final tip for an Oni will be to stay in your group of players to get it to become active.

Phantom:

1. A Phantom ghost is a Sanity killer. Finding its room will be somewhat easy, but ensure you have a camera with you to take lots of pictures around it even if you don’t see it, so you have time to get your gear and keep it away for a little bit.
2. You’ll need to find the Ouija Board for the Phantom most of the time to know where it exactly is on the map and get to know it, so it doesn’t instantly kill you off from your sanity dropping.

Poltergeist:

1. The only main thing to look out for with a Poltergeist will be the number of objects it’ll throw at you or move around when you aren’t in the room. So ensure you place cameras around its room(s) and take a mental note on where everything was.

Revenant:

1. A Revenant will be, most of the time, the worst ghost to deal with. You can’t run from it during a hunt, and it isn’t very pleasant on sanity when trying to figure out what it is.
2. Don’t try to run from the Revenant when it starts to hunt, know your hiding room when you know where it’s going to spawn, don’t be close to it. Once you’re hidden from it, it’ll get mad and go back where it came from.

Shade:

1. A shade is easy to notice most of the time because it won’t like when people multiple people are around, so it’ll show no activity most of the time or hunt when you’re together. Breaking up into small groups of one to two people and checking if your carboard says the ghost likes when people are alone.

Spirit:

1. If you’ve gone through most of the evidence pieces to narrow down if it’s a Spirit, then ensure you have Smudge Sticks to keep it in its room to get the last of what you need to leave.

Wraith:

1. If you haven’t heard of a Wraith before, know that it flies/floats so it can go through walls/doors. So ensure you hideaways from its room while it hunts and before it sees you because closing the door behind you won’t do anything.
2. While the ghost does float so salt won’t show any footprints, the Wraith doesn’t like the smell of salt still. Ensure you bring that into its room and area where it spawns to keep it away from where your team is.

Yurei:

1. A Yurei almost acts like a Spirit but has different pieces of evidence. Both ghosts like the smell of the Smudge sticks, though, so ensure you burn that around its room and area to keep it there while you get your equipment. Doing this will help your sanity, too, since it quickly takes your sanity when it’s active.

Now that you have the knowledge and skills of becoming the best ghost hunter the world has ever seen, it’s time to get yourself a crew to break open some contracts to the professional level. Phasmophobia has a great road ahead of it for being an indie game. With a developer that will be bringing new ghosts and maps to the party, we’ll ensure to keep this guide updated for each of their movements and abilities so that you can go into your next job like a boss. When going into your next contract, sticking to your gut will be key when the first pieces of evidence start to arise. Look out for the basic evidence pieces and the ghost’s activity to appear intelligent to your fellow ghost hunters.