Phasmophobia Tips and Tricks
Each entry below is one mechanic, what it costs you, and the version it was last checked against. Filter by category or difficulty to narrow the list, and use the anchor beside any heading to link straight to a single tip.
Ghost Abilities
#A Demon can start a hunt at any sanity at all
Its standard threshold is 70 percent, already the highest in the game, but its ability ignores sanity completely, so no number on your board is safe. Incense also buys you only 60 seconds against one instead of the usual 90, which is where teams get caught out.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
#A Yokai only hears you within 2.5 meters in a hunt
That replaces the standard 9 meter voice range and 7.5 meter electronics range, so talking through a hunt is survivable in a way it never is otherwise. Its line of sight is unaffected, which is the part people forget, and it still sees you perfectly normally.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Ghost Speeds
#The Deogen is not a two-speed ghost
It runs at 3.0 m/s beyond six meters and then scales down smoothly with distance to a 0.4 m/s crawl inside 2.5 meters, which is why looping it around a table works and backing away does not. Close the gap deliberately rather than trying to outrun it.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
#A Revenant crawls at 1.0 m/s until it detects you
Then it jumps straight to 3.0, and it can detect you by sight, by hearing your microphone, or by picking up active electronics, so staying out of view is not enough on its own. Breaking line of sight does not switch it off either, since it decelerates over roughly 2.7 seconds.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Hunt Speed
#The hunt speed cap is a multiplier, not a ceiling
Line-of-sight acceleration tops out at 1.65x the ghost's own base, so an ordinary 1.7 m/s ghost reaches 2.8. A Moroi at 0 percent team sanity starts from 2.25 m/s instead, and the same rule takes it to 3.71, which no amount of doorway looping survives.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Ghost Events
#Watching a ghost event from across the room is free
Only the player the event targets loses sanity, and only on contact with the manifestation or smoke ball. That costs 10 percent normally, 15 for a Banshee singing at its target, and 20 for an Oni. Standing back and filming one costs you nothing at all.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Hiding
#Being seen entering a closet is not what kills you
The ghost has to detect you while you are inside, through a gap in the doors, through your microphone within 9 meters, or through active electronics within 7.5 meters, and then it forces the doors open. Ghosts cannot enter a closet and do not remember hiding spots between hunts.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Hunt Thresholds
#Hunt thresholds run from 35 percent to 70 percent
Most ghosts start once the average sanity of all living players drops below 50, but a Shade waits for 35 and a Demon opens at 70. The Banshee ignores the average entirely and reads only its chosen target, so it can hunt while the team still looks perfectly healthy.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Sanity Drain
#Dark rooms drain sanity faster on a small map
The base rate is roughly 0.12 percent per second on a small map during the normal phase, 0.08 on medium, and 0.05 on large. Difficulty multiplies that from 1x on Amateur to 2x on Professional and above, while playing solo halves it, so a full team on a small Professional map burns fastest.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Sanity Medication
#Waiting for 50 percent to drink is already too late
That is the standard hunt threshold, so the ghost is rolling hunt checks by the time the bottle looks necessary. You also cannot drink above 95 percent. A dose restores an amount set by difficulty rather than tier, running 40 percent on Amateur down to 20 on Insanity, and higher tiers only work faster.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Setup Phase
#Your sanity cannot fall below 50 percent during setup
The timer starts the moment you open the front door, and until it runs out the dark is free reconnaissance. Amateur gives five minutes and Intermediate two. Professional, Nightmare, and Insanity give none at all, which is what makes those difficulties bite from the first step inside.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Challenge Multipliers
#Four settings drop a custom contract to zero reward
Friendly Ghost switched on, Sprinting set to Infinite, Sanity Drain Speed at 0 percent, or losing items switched off will each clamp the payout to 0.00x. Naming a specific cursed possession is the largest ordinary penalty as well, and picking Monkey Paw alone subtracts 5.00x.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Equipment Tiers
#A used Tier III Crucifix stops no cursed hunt
The cursed hunt block only works while both charges are intact, and using it burns both at once. A Crucifix that has already stopped one ordinary hunt protects you from nothing cursed. It costs $20,000 at Level 80 for a 5 meter radius, or 7.5 meters against a Demon.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Evidence Capture
#Ghost orbs are invisible outside a camera feed
Place or hold a Video Camera, kill every light in the room, and watch the feed in Night Vision. You cannot see an orb with your own eyes, and Tier III Head Gear goggles will not reveal one either, so standing in the dark staring at a corner proves nothing.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Investigation Routine
#Turn the breaker on before you sweep with a thermometer
Powered rooms climb toward 20 degrees C, which makes the cold one stand out sharply. Leave the power off and every room settles into the weather band instead, anywhere from 3 degrees C in snow to 16 at sunrise, and the readings blur into each other.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Evidence
#Undisturbed salt narrows the list without settling it
A Wraith walks through a pile without disturbing it, but so does an enraged Gallu, so a clean pile is not a confirmation on its own. Tier III salt also stops working on a Wraith during a hunt, which is exactly when you are most likely to be reading the floor.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
#Seeing your breath is not Freezing Temperatures
Visible breath starts at 5.0 degrees C or lower, which only tells you the room is cold. Official Freezing evidence wants a numeric reading below 0.0 degrees C, so take the thermometer number rather than trusting your eyes and logging a ghost you have not proved.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
Ghost Tells
#A light switching itself on rules out the Mare
It is the one interaction a Mare cannot perform, so if a room lights up right after you darkened it, cross the Mare off. It hunts at 60 percent sanity in dark rooms and 40 percent in lit ones, which is the reason you were playing with the lights in the first place.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
#Smudging makes the Onryo test impossible to run
Since v0.9.4.1 incense blocks the flame hunt outright, and a third candle blowout during a hunt cancels that hunt, so a team that has been smudging all contract will never see the trigger it is looking for. Stop burning incense before you start testing flames.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
#The Oni no longer throws items farther than anything
That behavior moved to the Poltergeist in the Apocalypse update back in September 2022, and older guides and community cheat sheets still credit it to the Oni. A long throw is a Poltergeist tell now, so a list built on the old wisdom points you at the wrong ghost.
Verified on v0.18.0.1
What to Read Next
- Sanity, Hunts, and Survival. Drain rates, hunt triggers, and hiding that holds up.
- Ghost Types and Behaviors. All 30 ghosts, their speeds, and their ability tells.
- Evidence and Identification. Every evidence type and how to test for it cleanly.
- Equipment and Tier Upgrades. Unlock levels, costs, and what each tier actually changes.
- Maps and Locations. Map sizes, fuse box control, and Weekly Challenge settings.
- Getting Started. The investigation loop, if these are your first contracts.