Phasmophobia has come a long way since it was released in early access, and Kinetic Games have included an array of different difficulties you can try out to challenge yourself. The game is already not particularly easy, either, so it can be a lot of fun to identify the ghost correctly in one of the more challenging modes.
Phasmophobia: Every Tarot Card (& What They Do)
There are 10 Tarot Cards in Phasmophobia that could have positive or negative effects on the player or the ghost, depending on what card is pulled.
Ranging all the way from Amateur to Apocalypse, each difficulty changes how much evidence you have to find, how fast the ghost is, and more settings that makes Phasmophobia more challenging as you rise up in levels. You also have quite a few custom difficulty choices to make, too, so you can build your game exactly how you want. Plus, the higher you go in difficulty, the more XP you get, so it tends to be worth the challenge each one presents.
How Difficulty Works In Phasmophobia
Difficulties in Phasmophobia change depending on how the settings are changed in a given contract. You have preset difficulties that are listed below, but you can customize each setting to your liking as well. The more challenging a given setting, the more the modifier increases, and the greater rewards you'll receive. There are a ton of settings to choose from under Player, Ghost, and the general Contract, and here's what each means:
Player Difficulty Setting Options
- Starting Sanity: Percentage of sanity you start on.
- Sanity Pill Restoration: How much sanity pills restore.
- Sanity Drain Speed: How quickly sanity drains in the dark/near ghost events.
- Sprinting: Whether or not your character can sprint.
- Player Speed: How quickly your character walks.
- Flashlights: Toggles flashlights being usable or not.
- Lose Items and Consumables: Whether or not you lose items when you die, and how many.
Ghost Difficulty Setting Options
- Ghost Speed: How fast the ghost walks while hunting.
- Roaming Frequency: How often the ghost roams to other rooms.
- Changing Favorite Room: How likely the ghost is to change favorite room.
- Activity Level: How often the ghost interacts with objects.
- Even Frequency: How often the ghost does ghost events.
- Friendly Ghost: Toggles whether or not the ghost hunts.
- Grace Period: How long you have before the ghost can kill you in a hunt.
- Hunt Duration: How long the hunt will last.
- Kills Extend Hunts: Whether or not kills in the hunt make it go longer.
- Evidence Given: How much evidence the ghost gives.
Contract Difficulty Setting Options
- Setup Time: How long you have to setup before the ghost can start hunts.
- Weather: Can be set to specific weather or random.
- Doors Starting Open: Whether or not doors start open.
- Number of Hiding Places: How many spots you can use to hide from the ghost.
- Sanity Monitor: Toggles if you can see your sanity in the van.
- Activity Monitor: Toggles if you can see ghost activity from the van.
- Fuse Box: Whether it starts on or off.
- Cursed Possessions Quantity: How many and/or which Cursed Possession you have in the contract.
All Preset Difficulty Settings In Phasmophobia
There are six preset difficulties in Phasmophobia to choose from, and each gets significantly more challenging the higher up you go. You'll only be able to unlock certain difficulties when you reach certain levels, too, and you'll always start out on Amateur at first.
Amateur (Gives You Space To Learn The Game)
- XP Gain: x1
- Breaker: On
- Evidence: 3
- Sanity Drain: 100%
- Number of Hiding Places: Very High
Amateur is the easiest difficulty level you can play in Phasmophobia, and all things considered, it gives you all the tools you need to learn how the game works. Aside from the stats mentioned above, you also get a 5-minute setup time (the ghost cannot hunt you during this window), you get a 5-second Grace Period when the ghost does start hunting you, and the ghost will never change its favorite room, (making it a lot easier to find evidence).
You also have a ton of hiding places, so you can escape the ghost while it's hunting. The main reason why you may want to switch off of Amateur once you get some better equipment and more experience, though, is because it has the worst rewards in the game with only a x1 modifier for all the money you earn in a contract.
Intermediate (Shorter Setup Time, Slightly Reduced Hiding Places)
- XP Gain: x2
- Breaker: Off
- Evidence: 3
- Sanity Drain: 150%
- Number of Hiding Places: High
You unlock Intermediate when you reach Level 10, and it's a nice step up from Amateur. You still get 2 minutes of setup time, so you're not thrown into the deep end immediately, and you also get a 4-second Grace Period when the ghost starts a hunt. The ghost will also still never change its favorite room, making it fairly simple to gather evidence, and you gain a nice x2 multiplier for all rewards you receive when you complete the contract.
The main differences between Intermediate and Amateur are that your sanity will drain faster, and you don't have as many hiding places on the map. Once you feel that you've got a decent understanding of the game's various mechanics, it's useful to give this difficulty a shot.
Professional (No Setup Time, Ghost Can Change Its Favorite Room)
- XP Gain: x3
- Breaker: Off
- Evidence: 3
- Sanity Drain: 200%
- Number of Hiding Places: Medium
Professional is where it starts getting dicey in Phasmophobia, as you don't have as many hiding places and your sanity drains much quicker. You also no longer have setup time in this difficulty, so the ghost can hunt you from the moment you step in the door (if you have a Demon). Thankfully, you still have a 3-second Grace Period, which is still a nice amount of time to run to a hiding spot before the ghost can kill you as it starts a hunt.
You unlock Professional at level 20, and it's also the first difficulty you encounter where the ghost is able to change its favorite room. It's still a low chance, but be aware of this when you try it out and you lose track of the ghost. It's definitely a mode you'll only want to try when you're a bit more familiar with the game.
Nightmare (Broken Monitors, Limited Hiding Places)
- XP Gain: x4
- Breaker: Off
- Evidence: 2
- Sanity Drain: 200%
- Number of Hiding Places: Low
Nightmare is one of the two most challenging difficulties in Phasmophobia (aside from Apocalypse), and you unlock it at level 30. The ghost will hide one piece of evidence, you don't have that many hiding places, and you have a 2-second Grace Period when it starts hunting. It's quite hard to do the first few times you try it out, but it's worth it for the 4x multiplier on the rewards you get after the contract. Additionally, this is also the first difficulty setting where the monitors in the van are broken, so you won't be able to see ghost activity or your team's sanity.
Sanity Pills also don't restore all that much of your sanity, so it's going to be important to manage it while you're playing on this difficulty. It's best to also get a good idea of what specific abilities ghosts have so that you can identify the right one after getting your two pieces of evidence.
Insanity (Expert Knowledge Required)
- XP Gain: x6
- Breaker: Off
- Evidence: 1
- Sanity Drain: 200%
- Number of Hiding Places: Low
Aside from Apocalypse, Insanity is the most challenging difficulty in Phasmophobia, and you unlock it at level 40. Aside from only being able to get one piece of evidence, you also start on only 75% sanity. It's very easy to lose sanity in this mode, and it also gives way for high-sanity hunters to start hunting from the start of the contract. Thankfully, you still have a 2-second Grace Period to try and escape.
This mode is worth trying out once you have a strong grip on the game and deeply understand the different mechanics of ghosts, because it has a 6x multiplier for any rewards you get. The quicker you level up, the quicker you can get better equipment, and the better you can deal with these higher tier difficulties.
Apocalypse (Challenge Modes)
The Apocalypse mode is a special setting to get the Apocalypse trophies in Phasmophobia. Technically speaking, these are not difficulties, but rather challenge modes you must play alone and on Sunny Meadows in order to get the achievement. You don't even have to play on a specific setting; you just need to make sure that your rewards multiplier meets the conditions to get one of the three trophies. For example, you can get the Apocalypse 1 achievement while playing on Insanity. Here are the required modifiers needed for each level of Apocalypse:
- Apocalypse 1 (Bronze): x6
- Apocalypse 2 (Silver): x10
- Apocalypse 3 (Gold): x15
In custom settings, there are pre-set difficulties under 'Presets' where you can choose between Apocalypse 1, 2, and 3. The game will then apply the necessary modifier you need, changing the settings to what they have to be to get there, and you can hop in and try the challenge.
How To Create A Custom Difficulty Setting
To create a custom difficulty in Phasmophobia, you need to enter either a multiplayer or singleplayer game and click the edit button underneath the 'Choose a contract' text. From here, you can use the arrows on either side of the screen to scroll past the preset difficulties until you reach 'Custom Difficulty.'
Once you're at the 'Custom Difficulty' setting, click on the edit button at the bottom of the page. From here, you can choose which settings you want to change (from all the ones mentioned above). You can even decide to have a Friendly Ghost with all the Cursed Possessions, or you can create your own kind of hell. It's all up to you!
When you've selected the settings you want to change, click 'Apply' at the bottom right of the screen, and the settings will automatically apply to the next contract you play.
If you like the custom difficulty you've created, go back to the edit screen and click the 'Save' icon next to the 'Presets' option so you can play it again without having to re-input the settings.
Phasmophobia
- Released
- October 29, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Kinetic Games
- Publisher(s)
- Kinetic Games
- Engine
- Unity
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Number of Players
- 4
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror, Puzzle
- How Long To Beat
- 36.5 hours (solo) / 28 hours (co-op) / 33 hours (vs.)
- How Long To Beat (Completionist Runs)
- T For Teen // Blood, Use of Drugs, Violence
