Phasmophobia’s tutorial may teach you the basics of gathering evidence and escaping a ghost hunt, but there are plenty of ghost-hunting tips and tricks it doesn't tell you, including pointers for finding the ghost room, identifying the ghost without evidence, improving the likelihood of gathering evidence, and ways to fix frustrating equipment or voice recognition issues.

The list below is far from exhaustive and primarily focuses on the Phasmophobia tips we believe are, generally, the most helpful. While many of these suggestions are aimed at beginner and intermediate players, there may be some useful tips that more seasoned players don’t know about. So, read on for our top 14 tips and tricks for Phasmophobia.

In This Article
  • Recommended starting equipment
  • Fix the Tier 3 Head Gear's blurriness
  • Learn how (and when) to loop
  • Utilize cursed possessions when you need help
  • Use the text-based UI if you're struggling with voice recognition
  • Learn to smudge properly
  • Get in the habit of closing doors
  • Understand unique ghost abilities
  • Get down a Ghost Writing Book early
  • Moving mannequins
  • Account for the weather
  • Turn off your electronics during a hunt
  • Higher tier equipment isn't always better
  • Finding the ghost on larger maps
Recommended starting equipment Make sure to turn off the breaker immediately.

This one is definitely for beginners. If you’ve just started your ghost hunting journey, you may be wondering what equipment to take into the investigation area first. Three of the best starter items are an EMF Reader, a thermometer, and a video camera (though you may need to leave one behind and take a torch for light), as these items can help you identify the ghost and its room.

The EMF will help you detect early activity, with stronger readings closer to where the ghost is, which may lead you to its favorite room. The video camera is useful as, with night vision enabled, it can be used to find ghost orbs. You won’t always find ghost orbs, but if you do, you know you’ve found the ghost’s location. Ghost orbs also count as evidence, but they’re not very trustworthy, as a Mimic will spawn ghost orbs, even if it's not a piece of official evidence.

The thermometer is our favorite starter item, as the ghost’s room is usually colder than the other rooms of the property, meaning you can wander around and take the temperature of each room to find which it is (you may also get a cold breath animation in the correct room). Just make sure you immediately turn on the breaker if it’s off when you begin the contract—to raise the house to normal temperature—and keep it on if you want to test for freezing temperature evidence, indicated by a zero-degree Celsius reading. Do note: if it’s snowing outside, the investigation area will naturally be colder, but a temperature below five degrees may indicate the ghost room.

Fix the Tier 3 Head Gear's blurriness Make the Tier 3 Head Gear's image clearer.

If you’re a more seasoned player who avoids using the Tier 3 Head Gear due to its blurry night vision, this trick might help make it more palatable. When you’re in the van, equip the Tier 3 Head Gear and activate it using the Head Gear toggle button. Go to the CCTV camera screen, with the headset activated, and look at the camera, then step away. This should make the night-vision image clearer, even if it’s still green. If you get a bug where your surroundings are blurry after you take off the headset, look at the camera again (without the night vision headset activated) to fix it.

Learn how (and when) to loop Dining tables are great for looping.

If you also enjoy a bit of Dead by Daylight, you’ll be no stranger to looping. In Phasmophobia, looping is an evasive technique in which you tightly circle an in-map object (like a piece of furniture or a car) while being chased by a ghost during a hunt, staying within its line of sight so it continues to follow you, but far enough away from the spooky spectre to not be killed. It’s a great way to waste the ghost’s time during a hunt, to escape the ghost when there are no hiding spots, or to buy time for your teammates to scarper or gather evidence, especially during more difficult contracts.  

However, looping is risky, and you may die a few times before you get it right. So, it’s worth watching streamers do it first, then practicing on smaller maps at lower difficulty. Be aware that sometimes looping isn’t the best choice, especially against fast ghosts like Revenants, Morois (at low sanity level), Thayes (early game), Hantus (when its cold), Raijus (if you have electric equipment active), and Mimics (if they’re copying any of these ghost types).

Utilize cursed possessions when you need help A risky way to increase ghost activity.

If you’re stuck identifying a ghost room or type, using cursed objects, including the Monkey Paw, Voodoo Doll, and Tarot Cards, may help with your investigation. These objects can increase ghost activity, tell you the ghost’s location, and even resurrect a friend, but using them will drain your sanity -- and some come with even greater risks.

Use the text-based UI if you're struggling with voice recognition

If you’re finding that you’re having difficulty using cursed objects that require voice recognition, like the Ouija Board or the Spirit Box, then it may be worth changing your in-game settings to a text-based UI. Open your menu, go to ‘Options,’ then select ‘Game’. Next to ‘Voice Recognition Mode,’ it should say ‘Voice.’ Select the arrows next to it until you get to ‘Text’, then select ‘Apply’.  Now, you will be presented with a text-based UI menu of interactions and question options when you use an object that requires voice recognition. This is particularly helpful if you don’t have a headset or, like me, have an accent the game struggles to understand.

Learn to smudge properly Make sure you time it right.

Knowing how to properly smudge a ghost with Incense can be the difference between life and death, as it can temporarily blind a ghost, slow it, redirect it, or stop it in its tracks (depending on its tier), giving you a few extra valuable seconds to escape. However, like looping, smudging takes practice, and you may die a few times before you get it right.

Like Phasmophobia’s other equipment, each tier of Incense has different capabilities, with increased range and burning duration at the higher tiers, plus the ability to slow the ghost at Tier 2 and stop it at Tier 3. All require an equipped Igniter to use. To smudge a ghost during a hunt, wait until you hear your heartbeat and are within your Incense tier’s required radius, then either light the smudge and break line of sight to give you extra time to escape. However, the more effective method is to face the ghost, wait until it’s within range, then light your Incense and quickly run through the ghost. During the smudge's brief burning duration, you are invulnerable, so this gives you enough time to walk through the ghost and sprint in the opposite direction to where it’s walking.

Get in the habit of closing doors Keep an eye and ear out for door movement.

It may sound simple, and I may sound like a mother, but closing doors can help you identify where the ghost is and gather evidence. Whenever you and your squad search a property, make sure everyone gets used to closing doors behind them, even in the ghost room. While your instinct may be to leave doors open so you can easily escape to a hiding place if a hunt starts, closing them allows you to easily spot (and hear) if a door moves, helping you work out where the ghost may be lurking or roaming and potentially increasing the chance of picking up UV evidence.

Understand unique ghost abilities Learn the characteristics and behaviors of each ghost.

While ghosts have three pieces of official evidence you can gather to identify them, each also has hidden abilities, characteristics, and behaviors that you can’t tick off in your journal, such as the sanity level it hunts at, its speed, how a room’s temperature or lighting affects its activity, and unique evidence. For example, the Obake is the only ghost that can leave behind a six-fingered UV handprint and shapeshift. 

The best way to learn these behaviors is by reading the ghost’s description in your journal, watching streamers, and, well, playing. Keep your eyes and ears open during the contract, listening and watching for extra tells and getting to grips with differences between each ghost. This skill becomes essential at higher difficulty levels when there's less (or even no) evidence available. 

Get down a Ghost Writing Book early This could take a while.

Getting the ghostwriting evidence can take some time, as ghosts that do have this as official evidence will randomly decide when they’ll scribble something down. So, as soon as you identify the ghost room, you should place down a Ghost Writing Book (or two) as early as you can. If the book remains undisturbed for a while but is definitely in the right room, try moving it a smidge, but don’t rule out ghost writing as evidence. However, if the ghost throws the book, it has rejected it, and you can rule ghostwriting out.

Moving mannequins They're creepy, but they can be useful.

Spotted a mannequin in an investigation area that’s not where it normally would be? It might indicate where the ghost room is. Mannequins can be found in Bleasdale Farmhouse, Grafton Farmhouse, Willow Street, Edgefield, and Ridgeview Court, usually in the basement or garage — though they are also found in the workroom in Grafton and in the attic or master bedroom in Bleasdale. If a mannequin suddenly appears in a location different from its original one, it’s worth checking the room it's usually found in for the ghost, as the ghost can teleport mannequins. Also, occasionally check for a change in mannequin poses or positions, as ghosts can interact with mannequins outside of teleporting them, but not when you’re looking at them.

Account for the weather The Blood Moon makes hunts more challenging.

When you start a contract, look at the weather. Is it snowing? Rainy? Windy? Or is there an ominous red moon in the sky? Weather is randomly generated and can affect your investigation by impacting  visibility, noise disruption, and the temperature of the investigation area, but some conditions have a more noticeable impact than others. The ones to be particularly mindful of are Blood Moon (the red sky), snow, and heavy rain.

The Blood Moon weather condition makes the ghost faster during hunts, increases ghost activity, and increases sanity drain by 100%, but it also increases contract rewards by x10. Snow will mean you see cold breath throughout the property, not just the ghost room, and it drops the overall temperature to between three and five degrees Celsius, which can make it harder to identify the ghost room if one of the ghost’s pieces of evidence isn’t freezing temperatures. Then there’s heavy rain, which stops Tier 1 and Tier 2 Igniters and Firelights from working outside, making it difficult to have the ghost blow out a Firelight in outdoor maps and preventing you from using Incense outside.

Turn off your electronics during a hunt Turn it off to prevent the ghost finding you easily.

Another beginner tip, but one that even seasoned players can forget from time to time. Have you ever hidden from a ghost, only for it to find you, despite not being a Deogen? If you take electronic equipment into the investigation area, make sure to turn it off when the ghost is hunting, especially when you’re hiding. Active electronic equipment makes you more visible to ghosts and, if you’re facing a Raiju, it’ll actually make it more powerful. If you regularly forget, it may be worth using lower-tier, non-electrical equipment to prevent this.

Higher tier equipment isn't always better Use the equipment you feel works best for you.

Just because you unlock the higher tier of an item doesn’t mean you have to use it. In fact, sometimes lower-tier equipment is more beneficial due to its capabilities or general handiness. Take the Salt, for example. Tier 3 Salt slows down a ghost that steps in it, but it also forces the ghost (outside of a hunt) to change direction. This may not be ideal if you want the ghost to come your way or  gauge the ghost’s speed properly. Others choose lower-tier items simply because they prefer them, with some players feeling sick using the Tier 3 Head Gear due to its night vision or preferring to stick to lower-tier non-electric equipment that they don’t need to turn off during a hunt. See what suits you and go with that.

Finding the ghost on larger maps Follow the sound.

Locating the ghost on larger maps like Sunny Meadows and Prison can be tricky, but there are a couple of ways to make it a bit easier. First, check the CCTV cameras in the van for visible ghost orbs that may help you narrow down your search area. You may not see any, but if you do, it can be helpful. However, one of the best ways to find the ghost on a large map is by using a Parabolic Microphone. This item can amplify sounds, so turn it on and follow the direction of any ghost interaction sounds. Just make sure you don’t accidentally follow your teammates' footsteps.