Phasmophobia: Basic Guide
This is an all-in-one guide for Phasmophobia, it will teach you everything you should know with a lot of details.
About This Guide
This guide will teach you the basics of the game. I am also learning the game by playing it with my friends while writing this guide.
This guide will get updated very often (at least for now).
Phasmophobia can be very confusing at the beginning because the official tutorial doesn’t really explain the details.
I’ll try to explain everything as clear as possible.
Guide Version : 1.1
Game Server Version: 0.176.39
“Guide Version”: The version of the guide. (This isn’t related to the game.)
“Game Server Version”: The server version I am currently using.
“Game Server Version”: The server version I am currently using.
Microphone
Before playing the game you should “Test” your microphone and fix it if it’s not working properly.
You should keep your microphone unmuted all the time.
(Press ‘Space’ to open the menu)
Controls
(These controls can be changed from the settings)
| Key | Action |
| W | Forward Movement |
| A | Left Movement |
| S | Backwards Movement |
| D | Right Movement |
| SHIFT | Run |
| C | Crouch |
| V | Local Push To Talk |
| B | Global Push To Talk |
| Q | Inventory Swap |
| J | Journal |
| E | Pickup |
| G | Drop Item |
| Right Mouse Button | Primary Use |
| F | Secondary Use |
| T | Flashlight |
Lobby
The first thing you see will be a white board which is actually the main menu of the game.
You can use it by clicking on it or by pressing ‘Space’.
Press “Play” and click “Create Public” or “Create Private” to start a lobby.
There should be a invite code next to the title (“Server Lobby”), you can share that code with the people you want to join.
To join a private lobby with a code, click “Join Private Game” and enter the code that someone gave you.
You can play the game with 3 other people. (Min: 1 / Max: 4)
Money
You can earn money from “Daily Challenges” and “Objectives”.
Equipment
Equipment List
| Item | Price |
| EMF Reader | $45 |
| Flashlight | $30 |
| Photo Camera | $40 |
| Lighter | $10 |
| Candle | $15 |
| UV Light | $35 |
| Crucifix | $30 |
| Video Camera | $50 |
| Spirit Box | $50 |
| Salt | $15 |
| Smudge Sticks | $15 |
| Tripod | $25 |
| Strong Flashlight | $50 |
| Motion Sensor | $100 |
| Sound Sensor | $80 |
| Sanity Pills | $45 |
| Thermometer | $30 |
| Ghost Writing Book | $40 |
| Infrared Light Sensor | $65 |
| Parabolic Microphone | $50 |
| Glowstick | $20 |
| Head Mounted Camera | $60 |
Default (Free) Equipment List
You get the items below for free when you create a lobby.
| Item | Price |
| EMF Reader | $45 |
| Flashlight | $30 |
| Photo Camera | $40 |
| UV Light | $35 |
| Video Camera | $50 |
| Spirit Box | $50 |
| Ghost Writing Book | $40 |
Equipment I Recommend
(Default equipment is not counted)
| Item | Price |
| Thermometer | $30 |
| Lighter | $10 |
| Smudge Sticks | $15 |
| Crucifix | $30 |
| Tripod | $25 |
| Strong Flashlight | $50 |
| Head Mounted Camera | $60 |
Gameplay
Starting
The first thing you should do when the game starts is to look at the whiteboard which is in the van.
You can find your objectives and some information about the ghost on the whiteboard.
The name of the ghost can be found on the whiteboard, saying its name will anger it.
Do not do it unless you want to anger the Ghost.
The highlighted sentences/words are the important parts.
“respond to everyone” / “only respond to people who are alone” is important if you are going to use the ‘Spirit Box’ and you have to use it most of the time. If the board says “alone” then the person who is going to use it should be alone in the room, but if it says “everyone” then they don’t have to be alone in the room.
You can find more information about the objectives below.
When the game starts take the items you want from the van.
You have 3 slots which means you can take only 3 items (you can drop them).
Early-Game Items
- (Strong) Flashlight
- Thermometer
- EMF Reader
- Parabolic Microphone
Open the door of the van when you (and your teammates) are ready.
Opening the door will make the Safe Time begin, use this time wisely, locate the haunted room, put your items in/near it, and start gathering evidence.
Ghosts can not kill you during the Safe Time.
Safe Time Duration
Amateur: 5 Minutes
Intermediate: 2 Minutes
Professional: No Safe Time
To enter the building you also have to get the key of it from the van (the key doesn’t count as an item).
Go inside the building and start searching for the haunted room (the room of the Ghost).
You can do several things to figure out which room is the haunted room.
The first thing you should try is entering every single room while holding a ‘Thermometer’, if the temperature is below 13C/55F then the room you are currently in is probably the haunted room.
If the ‘Thermometer’ didn’t help, you can try using an ‘EMF Reader’, go into every single room while holding it, if it goes up to 2 or more then the room you are currently in is probably the haunted room. You can also find the haunted room by listening to sounds, seeing open doors or lights being turned on or off.
If you are in a big map then you probably should use a ‘Parabolic Microphone’ since it’s very useful in medium or large maps like “Brownstone High school” and “Asylum”.
Objectives
| Discover what type of Ghost we are dealing with | Find evidence (check the evidence part for more info), so you can discover the type of the Ghost that you are dealing with. |
| Capture a photo of the Ghost | [Photo Camera] Take a photo of the Ghost while it’s visible. |
| Capture a photo of Dirty Water in a sink | [Photo Camera] Ghosts can turn the sinks on and when they do dirty water will come out of them, take a photo of a sink with dirty water in it. |
| Find evidence of paranormal activity with an EMF Reader | [EMF Reader] Get close to the Ghost while holding an ‘EMF Reader’, it should go up to 2 or more. |
| Have a member of your team witness a Ghost event | Coming Soon |
| Detect a room below 10C/50F with a Thermometer | Coming Soon |
| Cleanse the area near the Ghost using Smudge Sticks | Coming Soon |
| Prevent the Ghost from hunting with a Crucifix | Coming Soon |
| Detect a Ghosts presence with a Motion Sensor | Coming Soon |
| Get a ghost to walk through Salt | Coming Soon |
Evidence
[ ] = Required
( ) = Optional
( ) = Optional
| EMF Level 5 | [EMF Reader] An EMF Reader should go up to 5. |
| Spirit Box | [Spirit Box] You must get a response from the Ghost while using a Spirit Box. |
| Fingerprints | [UV Light / Glowstick] Coming Soon |
| Ghost Orb | [Video Camera] Tiny moving lights are Ghost Orbs, they are only visible on the cameras (night vision should be enabled). Put Video Cameras in the haunted room and monitor them from the van. Since you should turn the night vision of the cameras on you should turn the lights near the cameras off. |
| Ghost Writing | [Ghost Writing Book] The Ghost must type something on a Ghost Writing Book. After finding the haunted room you can just put a Ghost Writing Book in there, the Ghosts might write stuff on it after a while so putting it early might help you in some cases. |
| Freezing Temperatures | (Thermometer) Coming Soon |
Hunts
Hunts can be started by the ghost if the Safe Time has ended.
The ghosts can only kill you during hunts.
Saying the name of the ghost will anger it and it will probably start a hunt.
When a hunt begins flashlights will start turning on and off over and over.
If a hunt begins you should run away or hide somewhere.
You can hide in rooms or lockers though some Ghosts (for example: Wraiths) can see through lockers and doors, they can also go through walls so running away from them is a better idea.
When you are hiding you should keep your flashlight off and you should keep quiet.
You can’t use the B key (Global Push To Talk) during hunts.
Thank You so much for reading through my guide! I would really appreciate if you would like this guide for it to gain popularity and help others getting into Phasmophobia. If you have any questions or constructive criticism you can comment on my guide.
Apart from this guide, if you want us to cover any other guide related to the game “Phasmophobia” do let us know in the comment section. We’re happy to do that for our readers. We’ve also covered few more guides related to this game, kindly check the related posts section below.
Written by: DemirK2