Difficulty

The contract difficulty selection screen

Difficulties in Phasmophobia adjust the player experience according to their skill. There are five main difficulties in Phasmophobia: Amateur, Intermediate, Professional, Nightmare, and Insanity. Custom difficulties can also be created. Difficulties vary in terms of the player, ghost, and contract, giving out varying rewards.

Difficulties

Amateur

"Recommended for new Ghost Hunters!"

This is the simplest difficulty aimed at players who are new to the game and are slowly learning the mechanics.

• Normal rewards
• 5-minute setup time
• Frequent ghost activity
• Shortest hunting phase
• No doors will start open.
• Sanity Medication restores 40% of sanity.
• 50% value of lost items returned to dead players.

Intermediate

"The standard Ghost Huntin' experience"

This difficulty is for the average player who has a good knowledge of the game's mechanics.

• Unlocked at level 10
• 2x rewards
• 2-minute setup time
• 1.5x sanity consumption
• Common ghost activity
• Medium hunting phase
• Sanity Medication restores 35% of sanity.
• Few doors will start open.
• 25% value of lost items returned to dead players.
• The fuse box will be off at the start of the game.
• Some hiding locations will be blocked.

Professional

"For experienced Ghost Hunters"

This difficulty is for experienced players who have a relatively strong foundation in the core mechanics, ghosts, and strategies needed to complete the investigation.

• Unlocked at level 20
• 3x rewards
• No setup time
• 2x sanity consumption
• Uncommon ghost activity
• Long hunting phase
• Sanity Medication restores 30% of sanity.
• 0% value of lost items returned to dead players.
• The Fuse Box will be off at the start of the game.
• The objective board will not specify if the ghost responds to everyone or people who are alone.
• The ghost room will change rarely.
• Some doors will start open
• Most hiding locations will be blocked.

Nightmare

"A challenge for the best of the best"

This difficulty is a challenge aimed solely at players who know the game's mechanics inside-out, have strong practical experience in ghost hunting, and have a solid strategy or action plan, especially in teams.

• Unlocked at level 30
• 4x rewards
• No setup time
• 2x sanity consumption
• Uncommon ghost activity
• Longest hunting phase
• Sanity Medication restores 25% of sanity.
• 0% value of lost items returned to dead players.
• The fuse box will be off at the start of the game.
• The Objective Board will not specify if the ghost responds to everyone or people who are alone.
• The ghost room will change occasionally.
• The Sanity Monitor and Site Activity Monitor will be damaged and display random values.
• Almost all hiding locations will be blocked.
• Many doors will start open.
• The fuse box is not shown on the truck map.
• A successful kill will extend the hunting phase, allowing multiple kills in a single hunt.
• The ghost will only provide 2 pieces of evidence instead of 3.

Insanity

"Feeling brave? These ghosts don't mess around..."

• Unlocked at level 40
• 6x rewards
• No setup time
• No Cursed Possession
• Sanity starts at 75%
• 2x sanity consumption
• Uncommon ghost activity
• Longest hunting phase
• Sanity Medication restores 20% of sanity.
• 0% value of lost items returned to dead players.
• The fuse box will be off at the start of the game.
• The fuse box is not shown on the truck map.
• The Objective Board will not specify if the ghost responds to everyone or people who are alone.
• The ghost room will change frequently.
• The Sanity Monitor and Site Activity Monitor will be damaged and display random values.
• Almost all hiding locations will be blocked.
• Many doors will start open.
• A successful kill will extend the hunting phase.
• The ghost will only provide 1 piece of evidence.
• Fingerprints last for 60 seconds.

Custom

The player can set a custom difficulty for the contract, with up to 3 presets that can be set. Options pertaining to the player, ghost, and contract can be changed.

Player

• Sanity Medication restoration amount
• Starting sanity
• Sanity drain speed multiplier
• Sprinting use allowance
• Flashlights being broken
• Losing items on death toggle (no rewards)
• Player speed multiplier

Ghosts

• Number of evidences given
• Chance of changing favourite room
• Interaction amount
• Event frequency
• Hunt duration
• Grace period duration
• Fingerprint chance
• Fingerprint duration
• Disable hunts (no rewards)
• Kills extending hunts
• Roaming frequency
• Ghost speed multiplier

Contract

• Setup time
• Weather
• Number of doors starting open
• Amount of hiding places
• Sanity monitor state
• Activity monitor state
• Fuse box map visibility
• Fuse box starting state
• Cursed Possessions quantity
• Cursed Possession choice(s)

Rewards

Each difficulty setting will show a coloured icon beside it, depending on how the reward multiplier is affected, mostly in relation to Amateur difficulty:

• Green: Increased rewards
• Yellow: Limited by another difficulty setting
• Orange: Decreased rewards
• Red: Clamped or limited to a maximum reward multiplier

Challenge Mode

Main article: Challenge Mode

A unique difficulty with a customised equipment loadout and possibly other difficulty changes is available every week. There are currently 26 possible challenge mode difficulties. Free equipment is provided specifically for Challenge Mode. Completing a Challenge Mode difficulty on a specified map 3 times before the difficulty changes rewards the player with $5000 and 5000 XP.

Apocalypse I - III

There are three additional presets for the Apocalypse Challenge, corresponding to the Bronze (6x), Silver (10x) and Gold (15x) trophies. On Singleplayer mode, setting the difficulty multiplier to 6x or more will show a skull icon besides the multiplier, corresponding to the highest-valued trophy that can be obtained for completing the challenge. The presets are suggestions and do not have to be followed to obtain the trophy as long as the multiplier is equal to or higher than the minimum required.

Summary Table

Category	Variable	Description	Amateur	Intermediate	Professional	Nightmare	Insanity	Custom
Payout	Level needed	The level requirement to unlock this difficulty.	-	10	20	30	40	50
	Cash reward	The reward multiplier for cash.	x1	x2	x3	x4	x6	x0 - x15
	Experience gain	The reward multiplier for experience.
	Insurance	The amount of insurance given back upon death.	50%	25%	0%	0%	0%	Difficulty multiplier ≤ x1: 50% Difficulty multiplier ≤ x2: 25% Difficulty multiplier > x2: 0%
Player	Starting sanity	Each member's starting sanity	100	100	100	100	75	0/25/50/75/100 (reduction: Sanity pill restoration (%))
	Sanity Medication restoration (%)	The amount of sanity restored per 'Sanity Medication'	40	35	30	25	20	0/5/10/20/25/30/35/40/45/50/75/100 (reduction: Starting sanity)
	Sanity drain speed (%)	The rate your sanity decreases while stood in the dark	100	150	200	200	200	0 - 200 (5 options)
	Sprinting	The ability to sprint	On	On	On	On	On	Off/On/Infinite (clamp)
	Player speed (%)	How quickly players move	100	100	100	100	100	50 - 150 (5 options) (reduction: Player speed (%) > Ghost speed (%))
	Flashlights	Turning this off will prevent flashlights from functioning	On	On	On	On	On	On/Off (reduction: Fuse box at start of contract On, Flashlights Off)
	Lose items on death	Turning this setting off will result in zero rewards	On	On	On	On	On	On/Off (clamp)
Ghost	Ghost speed (%)	How quickly the ghost moves	100	100	100	100	100	50 - 150 (5 options) (reduction: Player speed (%) > Ghost speed (%))
	Roaming frequency	How often the ghost moves around the environment	Medium	Medium	High	High	High	Low/Medium/High
	Changing favourite room	The chance of the ghost changing its favourite room	None	None	Low	Medium	High	None/Low/Medium/High (reduction: Roaming frequency < Changing favourite room)
	Interaction amount	The chance for the ghost to interact with objects	High	Medium	Low	Low	Low	Low/Medium/High
	Event frequency	The chance for the ghost to trigger an event	Low	Medium	Medium	High	High	Low/Medium/High
	Friendly ghost	The ghost will never hunt. Turning this setting on will result in zero rewards	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	On/Off
	Grace period (s)	The duration before the ghost can kill you at the start of a hunt Only shows when Friendly ghost is off	5	4	3	2	2	0 - 5
	Hunt duration (s)	The duration the ghost will hunt for Only shows when Friendly ghost is off Add 20 seconds for cursed hunts	Low	Medium	High	High	High	Low (15s - 40s) Medium (20s - 50s) High (30s - 60s)
	Kills extend hunts (s)	The time added to the hunt duration when killing a player Only shows when Friendly ghost is off	Off	Off	Off	Low	Low	Off Low (15s) Medium (25s) High (35s)
	Evidence given	How many types of evidence you can gather	3	3	3	2	1	3 (reduction: Additional reward mulitpliers > x4 will give 50% of rewards) 2 (reduction: Additional reward mulitpliers > x5 will give 50% of rewards) 1 0
	Fingerprint chance (%)	The chance of a ghost leaving fingerprints when interacting Only shows when Evidence given is not 0	100	100	100	100	100	25 - 100 (4 options)
	Fingerprint duration (s)	The duration of fingerprints before they disappear Only shows when Evidence given is not 0	120	120	120	120	60	15/30/60/90/120/180/Infinite
Contract	Setup time (s)	How long before the ghost can start a hunt	300	120	0	0	0	0 30/60/120/180/240/300 (clamp)
	Weather	Set the weather in the location	Random	Random	Random	Random	Random	Random/Light Rain/Heavy Rain/Snow/Windy/Clear/Fog/Sunrise
	Doors starting open	How many doors are randomly moved at the start of the contract	None	Low	Medium	High	High	None/Low/Medium/High
	Number of hiding places	How many hiding places are available	Very High	High	Medium	Low	Low	None/Low/Medium/High/Very High (reduction: Player speed (%) > Ghost speed (%))
	Sanity monitor	Is the sanity monitor functional	On	On	On	Off	Off	On/Off
	Activity monitor	Is the activity monitor functional	On	On	On	Off	Off	On/Off
	Fuse Box at start of contract	The starting state of the fuse box	On	Off	Off	Off	Off	On/Off/Broken (reduction: Flashlights On, Fuse box at start of contract Off)
	Fuse box shown on map	Is the fuse box icon visible on the map Only shows when Fuse box at start of contract is not Broken	On	On	On	Off	Off	On/Off
	Cursed Possessions quantity	The number of Cursed Possessions available	1	1	1	1	0	0 - 7
	Cursed Possession #1 - #7	Number of options shown depends on the quantity setting	Random	Random	Random	Random	-	Random/Tarot Cards/Ouija Board/Haunted Mirror/Music Box/Summoning Circle/Voodoo Doll/Monkey Paw
	Ghost responsiveness	Displays whether the ghost responds to people who are alone or everyone	On	On	Off	Off	Off	Setup time = 0s: Off Setup time > 0s: On

History

Early Access Alpha
30 July 2020 (Part 2)	Added Intermediate and Professional difficulties.
2 August 2020	Reduced the interaction rate on Intermediate and Professional.
Early Access (Steam)
0.4.0	Added Nightmare difficulty.
	The existing difficulties have been reworked.
0.7.0	Added Custom difficulty.
0.8.0	Reduced the rewards from Custom by 80%.
0.8.0.2	Changed the reward reduction for Custom difficulties to 60%.
0.8.0.3	Removed reward reductions.
	Reward multipliers now have a maximum cap of x15.
	Incorrectly identifying the ghost type will round down your multiplier to the next default difficulty; e.g. x7 -> x4; x3.7 -> x3
0.8.1.0	Added Insanity difficulty.
	Reformulated the custom difficulties.
	Added a new Challenge Mode.