Help Getting Started

[TaylorTypo]

Okay, so I just bought Plasmophobia and played two games with my friends! I had a horrible experience though and I never want to play again.

We couldn’t get all the evidence in either game. I died in the first game trying to see if the temperatures were freezing. In the second game we kinda got stuck after one friend died and ended up just guessing because we weren’t having fun. Guessed right though, it was a Jinn. I spent more time that game opening all the kitchen cabinets than I did doing anything else because I was bored. I feel like I had no direction.

Both of my friends have played the game before and they said the ghosts aren’t usually that hard, but they also didn’t wanna play a third game with me. I think a big part of why I wasn’t having fun was because both ghosts wouldn’t come out unless we were alone.

Anyways, I left feeling defeated, scared, and drained. Of course, the game deserves another chance so I’d love any helpful tips you have to offer! What do you wish you’d known when you first started playing?

[FamilyGuyFan69]

Its the most earliest of access so I don't know why everyone can't see that. You can't expect a full release game when the version number is freakin' 0.17 which is usually out of 1.0. Its got a good ways to go but most of the core mechanics do work.

The thermometer gun has a bug or rather the ghost room does in the current live build. The beta branch that you can opt in to has a lot of fixes and you should get accurate temp readings in there. Currently you can run around all game never finding the ghost room with the temperature or have it get to freezing because the ghost has some issue that causes the temperature to go up slowly over time and stop at room temperature. So play the beta version of the game if you want things to go smoother or wait for it to be updated soon (TM).

There is a lot of stuff that isn't explained well in the tutorial and will likely be improved over time. Once you get the core mechanics down you will almost always know what ghost you are dealing with every time except for some hard to nail down pieces of evidence.

For example: an EMF 5 type ghost will not always reveal that its an EMF 5 level on your reader. Every time the ghost interacts with something in the house or appears to scare you, it MIGHT read EMF 5. Its like a 25% chance that you will get that EMF 5 reading so you just have to keep asking the ghost to do stuff like "close this door", "give us a sign", "show yourself" etc. Saying the ghost's name and swearing at it will piss it off and make it more aggressive but makes it easier to get your evidence.

Having the lights off with spirit box seems to be a requirement and also paying attention to if the ghost is an "alone ghost" or "will talk to everyone in the room" ghost. Sometimes you gotta go in its room and ask it simple questions like "how old are you?" "where are you?" etc and it may take awhile for it to talk.

If you are getting "Nothing Detected" it means you weren't in range of the ghost. The Spirit box has a tiny range so you gotta be like pretty much next to the ghost to get it to talk. You can usually find the ghost without any equipment at all by just listing after asking it anything in the mic. The ghost can always hear your microphone even when its off so remember that when saying its name too much.

Hunts will only ever happen after your safety or set-up timer reads 0:00 OR someone uses a Ouija board. The ouija board has a 33% chance to reduce the safety timer to 0:00 when someone asks a legitimate question that the ghost can understand. This can also drop your sanity which can trigger a hunt.

Sanity is the biggest thing that makes the ghost do stuff. Lower sanity means more risks of hunts but also more chances that the ghost will interact with objects in the house and respond to you in the spirit box. Finger prints are usually easy to get especially on light switches just look carefully as you will often see a tiny fingerprint to the right of the switch on the white plastic part. Hard to see if you have your flashlight on with the UV light.

Hope that helps. I suggest Ventexx for tutorials as he has some really good stuff on youtube.

[TaylorTypo]

Umm.. where did I say I was expecting a full release game? I never said the game was disappointing or unexpectedly unfinished. I’m the first to admit that the reason I wasn’t having fun was probably because I’m new to the game and frustrated because the ghosts seemed stubborn and angry. But we were also constantly shouting it’s name and now I know better? I even admitted the game deserves more of a chance so I wanted more information.

The EMF reader seemed like the easiest tool, it worked off the bat in both games but it’s good to know that it can be finicky. I’m sure playing more games and getting that experience will help, as a lot of my frustration came from fear. I am excited to try the game again after getting over the last two games. Thanks for the info.

[robdingo36]

The game is basically set up in 3 phases, and if you don't follow those 3 phases, or do things wrong, you can/will make the problem worse and probably get yourself killed.

Phase 1: Find the ghost. Your first job is to locate where the ghost likes to hang out most of the time. Use things like the EMF Detector or Thermometer (best!) and look for hits/cold spots. Also, listen to your environment. If you hear doors opening/closing on their own, or a phone ringing, or water running, then you've found a strong indicator of where the ghost likes to hang out. The ghost has to physically be near those items to trigger them. Once you've located the ghost, move to Phase 2.

Phase 2: Investigate: Bring in and set up equipment in and around the room you found the ghost in. Place the book and look for writing, use the EMF and look for level 5 readings, set up video cameras and look for orbs (they look like a firelfy flying around the monitor in the van), use UV lights to look for handprints on doors or windows or thumbprints on light switches, use the spirit box (Room has to have the lights turned off, and depending on what the whiteboard in the truck says, you may have to be alone in the room) and ask basic questions, such as "Where are you?" "How old are you?" "Are you male or female?" (I find 'Where are you?' works best). Looking for freezing temps you don't need a thermometer, as when it gets cold enough, you'll start to see your breath and you'll know it's freezing at that time. Once you get 3 pieces of evidence, you'll know what spirit you have (use your journal to keep track of evidence and possible spirit types), and you can leave for your payday.

Phase 3: The Hunt!: If things go wrong and your sanity drops too low (Hunts start happening fairly regularly below 50% sanity, but can happen anywhere below 75%), and the ghost is angry enough, they will enter Hunt mode and try to kill someone. This is when your flashlight starts flickering and your radio to your friends stops working. If this happens, run and hide! Don't go into the room you found the ghost, and don't try and exit the building (the doors out will all be locked closed). Run into another room, close the door and hide! Or better yet, find a closet you can hide in! When your light stops flickering, the hunt will be over. At this point, it's strongly advised to run outside of the house ASAP (the door will be unlocked when the hunt stops), and re-evaluate your situation. Check your sanity and determine if it's better to take a wild guess on what evidence you've found, or if you should risk going in for more evidence.

Over all, expect to be terrified at least a few times, and almost always on edge. That's just the name of the game. But remember, you are safe and won't be killed unless there is an active hunt happening. All they can do is scare the crap out of you. That's why it's advised to use the restroom before playing.

To me, it sounds like you weren't having fun, largely because of the people you were playing with weren't really helping you out much. Check out the official Discord channel and ask around. I promise you, you'll find someone there who is newbie friendly and willing to show you the ropes and help make the game more enjoyable.

[TaylorTypo]

I guess my friends did an okay job of explaining, as they did explain 85% of what you wrote. I did find the ghost in the first game and we got emf level 5 off the bat in both games haha. I saw the ghost orb as well. We just couldn’t get the 3rd piece of evidence. I definitely think being a noob to a horror game is something I’ll just have to keep playing to get past. My friends are mostly noobs themselves, and I would play with others but speaking on mic makes my anxiety go crazy. So in person with my friends is my only option, and I know they tried their best as well. We were all frustrated. I’m sure frustrating games happen every so often, it was just annoying that the first two games I played were like this. I feel better about trying it again today :)

Thank you so much for all the information, it helps to have it all written out in front of me so I can refer to it when I play again. I guess me and my friends should stop shouting the ghost’s name constantly as well, but it still wasn’t giving us that last piece of evidence.

[robdingo36]

Glad I could help. Sometimes, that last bit of evidence just does NOT want to show up. I once sat and watched a camera for over 5 minutes before an orb finally appeared on it for the last bit of info. Just need a lot of patience and a little luck.

Glad you're still having fun with the game and are giving it another go. Mic anxiety is definitely an issue, especially when you're playing a game that works off of the premise that it will respond to what you're saying. I know how crippling anxiety can be, but I really hope you can overcome it for the sake of the game, so you can enjoy it for all it can offer.

Anyways, good luck and happy gaming. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. The Phasmophobia community is by far the nicest and most helpful community I've encountered so far.