Phasmophobia: Surviving Ghost Hunts

A lot of new players, and some not so new, have a lot of trouble avoiding ghosts when it comes time to be hunted. Some of the mechanics can be a bit confusing, so I’m writing this guide in order to help others understand what I do during hunts that helps me survive.

Preparation beforehand is just as important as your actions during a hunt. Before a hunt, make sure you set up the following;

The best course of action after finding the ghosts room is to scope out the area for hiding spots. Don’t choose anywhere too close, since the ghost can spawn in nearby rooms as well as it’s own. Closets can be inviting, but ghosts will see you immediately if they happen to open the door, and on higher difficulties most of them will be blocked off. Choose a place behind a door, or even better multiple doors, where you can hug the wall out of sight. Any door, open or closed (besides tent doors, which only work closed) will block line of sight, meaning if you can’t find a good spot with a closed door, try opening the door towards you to help cover yourself.

If you’ve been in the house a while and have lost a fair bit of sanity, make sure to at least bring a smudge stick and lighter somewhere inside, preferably near the ghost room. These are invaluable if you’re in a bad place to run when a hunt starts, just make sure you light them when the ghost is close to you. Crucifixes are great as well, but they only cover a 3 meter radius area of protection (5 meters if it’s a Banshee), meaning on bigger maps/rooms, they can fail quite often. However, they can work well as a gauge for when the ghost is trying to hunt you due to the visual cues of the crucifix’s deterioration.

As you likely know, the beginning of a hunt is characterized by lights flickering, electronics malfunctioning, and the ghost likely making some noises. In this instance, there are three extremely important things you can do to avoid the ghost’s wrath.

Sprinting directly into a hiding spot while the ghost is nearby will cause them to find you very quickly. Use your sprint to gain a few feet away from it, then walk to your hiding place of choice. Crouch walking may also help, since it makes you harder to see.

Ghosts can track you down through electronics that are left on, such as your flashlight or EMF reader. Make sure you turn these off before getting to your hiding spot, so the ghost won’t be attracted towards you. This can also be used to your advantage – the ghost will investigate dropped electronics that are left on, so you can deliberately set up something like an EMF reader in another room to draw its attention.
On top of this, do not ever talk locally or use your radio if the ghost is hunting. It can hear sounds from far away (except the Yokai, which only hears nearby voices), and will come nearer to your location if you do. With the change of the hunts being localized to the ghost’s location, it can be beneficial to let your teammates know when a hunt is occurring on larger maps, since it won’t hear you from long distances. If you’re playing single player, just know your microphone is going to always be open, meaning you don’t need the push to talk keys in order to make noise.

This is arguably the most important one. When a ghost starts hunting, don’t take the first room/closet available to you, as the ghost likely sees where you went and will follow you there. Cutting corners will drop line of sight of the ghost, and make it resort to wandering instead of following your route. A hiding spot isn’t very good if someone sees you enter it.

These are best for general advice, but what about very open maps, such as the hallways of Asylum or the campsite?

The ghost is going to see you from far distances and go to the point it last saw you. In this case;
• Again, cut as many corners as possible.
• Once out of its line of sight, do not sprint.
• Worry more about covering distance than finding a hiding spot if it’s nearby. It will likely check close spots such as tents if you hide too quickly.

In short, follow these steps each hunt to ensure your safety;

• Cut corners
• Sprint wisely
• Turn off your stuff and stay quiet
• Always be prepared for a hunt.

Following these simple steps will greatly increase your survivability each game and help you acquire some more of that cold hard cash.