Onryo

Onryo
Strength	Extinguishing a flame can cause an Onyro to attack.
Weakness(es)	When threatened, this ghost will be less likely to hunt.
Evidence

„The Onryo is often referred to as "The Wrathful Spirit." It steals souls from dying victims' bodies to seek revenge. This ghost has been known to fear any form of fire, and will do anything to be far from it.”

—The Journal^[src]

The Onryo is one of 21 types of ghosts in Phasmophobia. The Onryo is noted to be wary of fire; however, when the fires go out, beware its vengeance, for an Onryo may decide to hunt once there are no flames keeping it at bay.

Behaviour

When a flame is extinguished near^[verify] an Onryo, whether by itself or blown out by the ghost, there is a chance^[verify] for the Onryo to begin a hunt, regardless of average sanity. In multiplayer, this chance to hunt increases each time it successfully kills a player during a hunt, with it having a near-guaranteed chance after killing two players.

In addition to this, if there are no flames near an Onryo, its hunt sanity threshold is increased to 60%, similar to a Mare when the room lights are turned off. When a lit candle, lighter, or campfire is present, it acts as a crucifix to the Onryo, preventing it from hunting with a range of 4m (versus a crucifix's 3m range). If it attempts to start a hunt in the lit candle's area, the hunt will fail and it will blow out the candle instead. Lit flames have priority to stop hunts over normal crucifixes. However, having a lit flame for this purpose also risks triggering an early hunt if the last flame goes out. Multiple lit flames in close proximity can potentially cause a chain reaction.

The Onryo also has a higher chance to blow out a flame than other ghosts, further complicating the task of countering one.

Contrary to the Journal quote, the Onryo does not attempt to escape from lit candles.

Evidence

• Spirit Box
• Ghost Orb
• Freezing Temperatures

Journal quote

Strength: Extinguishing a flame can cause an Onryo to attack.

Weakness: When threatened, this ghost will be less likely to hunt.

Strategies

The Onryo's aversion to fire is a double-edged sword. It can hunt early if you don't have a lit candle or lighter, but having a fire lit risks triggering a early hunt should the fire go out. The latter is even riskier if one or more players have died, as a hunt is much more likely with one dead teammate and almost ensured with two.

Keep in mind that fire is only effective against an Onryo above 40% average sanity; below 40%, a lit flame is no more beneficial than with any other ghost, and is in fact riskier to have in comparison.

If an Onryo is suspected, players will want to be vigilant while holding or being near any kind of fire, as the Onryo could start a hunt close to them if it blows the fire out itself.

History

Early Access (Steam)
0.4.0	Added Onryo as a ghost type.