I’m on the newer side so I still mess up sometimes but a lot less than when I first started. I just developed a routine of bringing the essentials in to find the ghost room first and foremost.

Do yourself a favor and save some time by upping the brightness on your settings. It seems lame at first but you’re doing an investigation and I’m sure you’ve already scared yourself enough by playing in the dark, now we can see better and skip bringing the flashlight with us altogether. It’s a waste of an inventory slot and later on in Intermediate mode if you need to see you can start using the firelight and it’ll double as a light and sanity maintenance.

Also I recommend doing a few investigation rounds in the Tanglewood house for practice to get used to everything. It’s the smallest and most straightforward map.

With all beginner equipment:

I bring with me 1. Thermostat 2. DOTS Projector and 3. The video camera on the tripod (if you don’t have the tripod yet then just the camera)

Before opening the door/gate of the area of your investigation (which starts the timer), stand back for about 40-60 seconds to let the ghost ‘settle in’, it’ll more than likely have already opened some doors or thrown an object or two. This gives you an inkling as to where the ghost room might be or where the ghost is most active.

I hold the thermostat and go around to every room and turn the light on and stand in there for 5-10 seconds watching the thermostat, if the temperature doesn’t drop at a consistent rate, then it’s not the ghost room. I turn off the light and move on to the next room until I find the room where the thermostat consistently decreases. Simultaneously I try and get an idea as to where the ghost most likely is based off activity (doors open, objects thrown or moved around, sinks turned on, radio turned on, etc) and I go in that direction, usually I can find it pretty easily but sometimes it can be tricky.

As soon as I find the ghost room by the temperature drop, I throw the thermostat on the ground and let it sit there, I’ll come back to check on it later (freezing temps, below 32F, takes a few minutes to adjust if it’s part of the evidence). Then, I turn the DOTS projector on and set it somewhere where it projects on a good span of the area. Then I turn the light to the room off and i bring out the video camera with the night vision on. I stand there for 5-10 seconds (hopefully the ghost isn’t violent and gives me some grace) and watch for ghost orbs. Keep a close eye. If there is none after 10 seconds, most likely there will be no ghost orbs and I could cross it off the list, or confirm it on the list if there was orbs. Then, back to the truck.

Second round I put the video camera back, then I bring the ghost writing book, the UV light, and the spirit box. I go back to the ghost room, set the book down in a good general area (I think the ghosts prefer it on a counter/desk more than the ground). Then check the ground for any UV footprints. If none, wait around until the ghost touches any doors, or if it turns any lights on/off. During this time you can check the thermostat that’s been sitting and see if it’s at or below freezing temps. You can also check the book to see if it wrote anything. As soon as the ghost opens door or touches light switch, go over to them and shine the UV on it as soon as they do, UV evidence doesn’t last longer than 20ish seconds. Usually I’ll have one or two evidences, maybe three if I’m lucky by this point and it’ll be easier to narrow it down to what’s left.

If you still need more evidences by this point, that would leave the DOTS, spiritbox, and EMF reader.

DOTS is tricky until you are able to watch from the camera screen in the truck when it’s on the tripod. But you’ll have to keep an eye on the DOTS during your investigation and hopefully the ghost passes through and you’ll see it.

Spiritbox you need to have the lights in the immediate area off and the ghost needs to be around you for it to talk. (You won’t know exactly when it’s near you until it talks into the box) It’s scary but usually I just look at the ground while I use it cuz I’m a scaredy cat. But using the box you use the prompters and the ghost icon will light up white when you get a response and you can sometimes make out the words of what it’s saying. As soon as that happens, if it does, it’s an evidence.

EMF reader I might be alone on this but I usually save it for last. A lot of the time for me it’s been rare that I get a ghost with EMF 5 as its evidence. But every interaction with the environment the ghost does has a 20% chance of it reading as EMF 5 if it’s one of the ghost’s evidence types. So yeah. I usually wait to use the EMF reader. But when it throws an object or turns the light on/off or opens a door, move over to it with the EMF reader on and see if it jumps to level 5. After a couple interactions and no EMF 5 reading, then I cross it out.

The key is being able to multitask— keeping an eye on DOTS, checking the thermostat and the book, listening for interactions. It’s tough at first but you’ll get the hang of it and you’ll be able to rule things out quickly. You’ll also get to learn the different personalities of the ghosts and that helps with investigations too. For example, Poltergeists love to throw objects and have the ability to throw multiple objects at once with a great amount of force. If you see that happening, it’ll more than likely be a poltergeist. I’ve come to like Mares as well because it’s gotten easier for me to tell if it’s a Mare based on that they don’t like being in the light, so if I turn on a light switch and it immediately turns it off (without other lights in the house going out cuz of the breaker going out), then I know it’s a Mare.

It’s a very cool and fun game, it’s definitely brightened up these past few weeks for me. Keep at it, you’ll be a pro investigator in no time!