All Phasmophobia Difficulty Levels And Differences Explained

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Phasmophobia offers five preset difficulty options, plus a custom and challenge mode, for you to choose from. But these difficulty levels don’t simply dictate how aggressive the ghost will be; they also influence critical aspects such as how much official evidence you can gather, how quickly your Sanity drains, the number of cursed possessions, how long (if any) set-up time you get, and, most importantly, your rewards.

That doesn’t mean you should jump to Insanity, the hardest preset difficulty level in Phasmophobia, as soon as you have a few successful contracts. Beginners should start on Amateur mode, where you’re offered a bit more leniency. Then, once you begin leveling up, unlocking higher-tier equipment, and becoming more comfortable gathering evidence, escaping the ghost, and identifying unique ghost abilities, you should gradually increase your difficulty level.

Higher difficulty levels, like Nightmare and Insanity, are when a lot of Phasmophobia’s tips and tricks are particularly important to know, as investigations are much more challenging and the ghosts more lethal–with some difficulty levels offering only one or two pieces of official evidence. But once you graduate to these higher levels and can complete these contracts successfully with ease, the rewards are huge, with Insanity offering a x6 multiplier on your normal cash and experience payout. If you’re feeling particularly brave, you can adjust Custom settings to take on the game’s Apocalypse Challenges.

Below, we break down all the available difficulty options in Phasmophobia, including the player level required to unlock them, their settings, and reward multipliers.

Amateur

Amateur is unlocked for all players immediately. This difficulty level is best for beginners as it offers a long set-up time (how long you get before the ghost can hunt), long grace period (cooldown between hunts), and short hunt duration. Sanity pills also restore a lot of sanity and you can regain half of your lost equipment if you die.  

Amateur player settings

Amateur ghost settings

Amateur contract settings

Intermediate

Intermediate difficulty is unlocked at player level 10 and is best for those who have outgrown Amateur, but are still learning the ropes. This standard-level mode offers an average set-up time, hunt grace period, and hunt duration. In addition, sanity pills restore some sanity, but the fuse box starts off, there are fewer places to hide, and you’ll only regain some of your lost equipment if you die.

Intermediate player settings

Intermediate ghost settings

Intermediate contract settings

Professional

Unlock at player level 20, Professional is for those who feel pretty comfortable in their ghost hunting abilities, but still have some trouble identifying a ghost without evidence. On this difficulty level, the ghost’s room can change (albeit rarely), there’s no set-up time, hunts are longer, and the grace period between hunts is shorter. In addition, there are much fewer hiding places, you’ll lose all your equipped items when you die, and the fuse box will always be off when you start a contract.

Professional player settings

Professional ghost settings

Professional contract settings

Nightmare

Unlocked at player level 30, Nightmare difficulty is for ghost hunters who want to seriously increase the challenge. If you’re comfortable engaging with long ghost hunts with limited hiding places, smudging, and identifying ghosts without three pieces of evidence, then this may be the difficulty level for you. 

Nightmare player settings

Nightmare ghost settings

Nightmare contract settings

Insanity

Unlocked at player level 40, Insanity is for those who are feeling brave. This is the most challenging of the preset difficulty modes in Phasmophobia, offering little to no hiding spaces, only one piece of evidence, no cursed objects, and longer hunts that increase in duration every time the ghost kills a member of your team.

Insanity player settings

Insanity ghost settings

Insanity contract settings

Challenge Mode

Challenge Mode is a limited time difficulty level that changes every week. There are 26 challenge mode possibilities, each with its own difficult settings, forced equipment loadout, and task to complete a set number of times. Completing the challenge grants you $5,000 and 5,000 XP, so it’s worth trying them. 

Custom

Custom does what it says on the tin. You can adjust all the player, ghost, and contract settings to your liking, with the reward multiplier automatically calculated based on how challenging the settings you’ve chosen are. However, activating certain settings that make the contract far too easy, such as ‘Friendly Ghost’ (where the ghost doesn’t hunt), will result in no rewards.

Apocalypse Challenges

In Phasmophobia, Apocalypse Challenges are extremely tough single-player challenges you can find on the event board, with each offering a special trophy, ID card, and badge to those who complete them. Unlockable at player level 50, there are three Apocalypse Challenges, each requiring you to identify the ghost, complete all optional objectives, and take a photo of the ghost during one contract. 

The hardest part? You need to be playing Sunny Meadows Mental Institution by yourself, on the highest difficulty level–which can be set through Custom difficulty–with Apocalypse I requiring x6 or higher rewards multiplier, Apocalypse II requiring x10 or higher, and Apocalypse III requiring x15 (the highest custom difficulty in the game). If you want to take it on, here are the settings you can use.

Apocalypse player settings

Apocalypse ghost settings

Apocalypse contract settings

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 [[{“value”:”Phasmophobia offers five preset difficulty options, plus a custom and challenge mode, for you to choose from. But these difficulty levels don’t simply dictate how aggressive the ghost will be; they also influence critical aspects such as how much official evidence you can gather, how quickly your Sanity drains, the number of cursed possessions, how long (if any) set-up time you get, and, most importantly, your rewards.

That doesn’t mean you should jump to Insanity, the hardest preset difficulty level in Phasmophobia, as soon as you have a few successful contracts. Beginners should start on Amateur mode, where you’re offered a bit more leniency. Then, once you begin leveling up, unlocking higher-tier equipment, and becoming more comfortable gathering evidence, escaping the ghost, and identifying unique ghost abilities, you should gradually increase your difficulty level.

Higher difficulty levels, like Nightmare and Insanity, are when a lot of Phasmophobia’s tips and tricks are particularly important to know, as investigations are much more challenging and the ghosts more lethal–with some difficulty levels offering only one or two pieces of official evidence. But once you graduate to these higher levels and can complete these contracts successfully with ease, the rewards are huge, with Insanity offering a x6 multiplier on your normal cash and experience payout. If you’re feeling particularly brave, you can adjust Custom settings to take on the game’s Apocalypse Challenges.

Below, we break down all the available difficulty options in Phasmophobia, including the player level required to unlock them, their settings, and reward multipliers.

In This Article

AmateurAmateur player settingsAmateur ghost settingsAmateur contract settingsIntermediateIntermediate player settingsIntermediate ghost settingsIntermediate contract settingsProfessionalProfessional player settingsProfessional ghost settingsProfessional contract settingsNightmareNightmare player settingsNightmare ghost settingsNightmare contract settingsInsanityInsanity player settingsInsanity ghost settingsInsanity contract settingsChallenge ModeCustomApocalypse ChallengesApocalypse player settingsApocalypse ghost settingsApocalypse contract settings

Amateur

Beginners, start here.

Amateur is unlocked for all players immediately. This difficulty level is best for beginners as it offers a long set-up time (how long you get before the ghost can hunt), long grace period (cooldown between hunts), and short hunt duration. Sanity pills also restore a lot of sanity and you can regain half of your lost equipment if you die.  

Amateur player settings

Reward multiplier (cash and experience)x1Insurance50%Starting sanity100Sanity Pill restoration 40%Sanity drain speed100%SprintingOnPlayer speed100%FlashlightsOnLose items and consumablesOn

Amateur ghost settings

Ghost speed100%Roaming frequencyMediumChanging favorite roomNo chanceActivity levelHighEvent frequencyLowFriendly ghostOffGrace period5 secondsHunt durationLowKills extend huntsOffEvidence given3Fingerprint chance100%Fingerprint duration120 seconds

Amateur contract settings

Set-up time300 secondsWeatherRandomDoors starting open NoneNumber of hiding placesVery highSanity monitorOnActivity monitorOnFuse box at start of contractOnFuse box visible on mapOnCursed Possessions quantity1Cursed Possession #1Random

Intermediate

Once you feel a bit more comfortable, move up a level.

Intermediate difficulty is unlocked at player level 10 and is best for those who have outgrown Amateur, but are still learning the ropes. This standard-level mode offers an average set-up time, hunt grace period, and hunt duration. In addition, sanity pills restore some sanity, but the fuse box starts off, there are fewer places to hide, and you’ll only regain some of your lost equipment if you die.

Intermediate player settings

Reward multiplier (cash and experience)x2Insurance25%Starting sanity100Sanity Pill restoration 35%Sanity drain speed150%SprintingOnPlayer speed100%FlashlightsOnLose items and consumablesOn

Intermediate ghost settings

Ghost speed100%Roaming frequencyMediumChanging favorite roomNo chanceActivity levelMediumEvent frequencyMediumFriendly ghostOffGrace period4 secondsHunt durationMediumKills extend huntsOffEvidence given3Fingerprint chance100%Fingerprint duration120 seconds

Intermediate contract settings

Set-up time120 secondsWeatherRandomDoors starting open LowNumber of hiding placesHighSanity monitorOnActivity monitorOnFuse box at start of contractOffFuse box visible on mapOnCursed Possessions quantity1Cursed Possession #1Random

Professional

Unlock at player level 20, Professional is for those who feel pretty comfortable in their ghost hunting abilities, but still have some trouble identifying a ghost without evidence. On this difficulty level, the ghost’s room can change (albeit rarely), there’s no set-up time, hunts are longer, and the grace period between hunts is shorter. In addition, there are much fewer hiding places, you’ll lose all your equipped items when you die, and the fuse box will always be off when you start a contract.

Professional player settings

Reward multiplier (cash and experience)x3InsuranceNoneStarting sanity100Sanity Pill restoration 30%Sanity drain speed200%SprintingOnPlayer speed100%FlashlightsOnLose items and consumablesOn

Professional ghost settings

Ghost speed100%Roaming frequencyHighChanging favorite roomLowActivity levelLowEvent frequencyMediumFriendly ghostOffGrace period3 secondsHunt durationHighKills extend huntsOffEvidence given3Fingerprint chance100%Fingerprint duration120 seconds

Professional contract settings

Set-up timeNoneWeatherRandomDoors starting open MediumNumber of hiding placesMediumSanity monitorOnActivity monitorOnFuse box at start of contractOffFuse box visible on mapOnCursed Possessions quantity1Cursed Possession #1Random

Nightmare

Step up the challenge with Nightmare.

Unlocked at player level 30, Nightmare difficulty is for ghost hunters who want to seriously increase the challenge. If you’re comfortable engaging with long ghost hunts with limited hiding places, smudging, and identifying ghosts without three pieces of evidence, then this may be the difficulty level for you. 

Nightmare player settings

Reward multiplier (cash and experience)x4InsuranceNoneStarting sanity100Sanity Pill restoration 25%Sanity drain speed200%SprintingOnPlayer speed100%FlashlightsOnLose items and consumablesOn

Nightmare ghost settings

Ghost speed100%Roaming frequencyHighChanging favorite roomMediumActivity levelLowEvent frequencyHighFriendly ghostOffGrace period2 secondsHunt durationHighKills extend huntsLowEvidence given2Fingerprint chance100%Fingerprint duration120 seconds

Nightmare contract settings

Set-up timeNoneWeatherRandomDoors starting open HighNumber of hiding placesLowSanity monitorOffActivity monitorOffFuse box at start of contractOffFuse box visible on mapOffCursed Possessions quantity1Cursed Possession #1Random

Insanity

Are you feeling brave?

Unlocked at player level 40, Insanity is for those who are feeling brave. This is the most challenging of the preset difficulty modes in Phasmophobia, offering little to no hiding spaces, only one piece of evidence, no cursed objects, and longer hunts that increase in duration every time the ghost kills a member of your team.

Insanity player settings

Reward multiplier (cash and experience)x6InsuranceNoneStarting sanity75Sanity Pill restoration 20%Sanity drain speed200%SprintingOnPlayer speed100%FlashlightsOnLose items and consumablesOn

Insanity ghost settings

Ghost speed100%Roaming frequencyHighChanging favorite roomHighActivity levelLowEvent frequencyHighFriendly ghostOffGrace period2 secondsHunt durationHighKills extend huntsLowEvidence given1Fingerprint chance100%Fingerprint duration60 seconds

Insanity contract settings

Set-up timeNoneWeatherRandomDoors starting open HighNumber of hiding placesLowSanity monitorOffActivity monitorOffFuse box at start of contractOffFuse box visible on mapOffCursed Possessions quantity0

Challenge Mode

The challenge changes every week, so you better act fast.

Challenge Mode is a limited time difficulty level that changes every week. There are 26 challenge mode possibilities, each with its own difficult settings, forced equipment loadout, and task to complete a set number of times. Completing the challenge grants you $5,000 and 5,000 XP, so it’s worth trying them. 

Custom

Making the difficulty too easy will stop you earning rewards.

Custom does what it says on the tin. You can adjust all the player, ghost, and contract settings to your liking, with the reward multiplier automatically calculated based on how challenging the settings you’ve chosen are. However, activating certain settings that make the contract far too easy, such as ‘Friendly Ghost’ (where the ghost doesn’t hunt), will result in no rewards.

Apocalypse Challenges

Apocalypse Challenges are not for the faint-hearted.

In Phasmophobia, Apocalypse Challenges are extremely tough single-player challenges you can find on the event board, with each offering a special trophy, ID card, and badge to those who complete them. Unlockable at player level 50, there are three Apocalypse Challenges, each requiring you to identify the ghost, complete all optional objectives, and take a photo of the ghost during one contract. 

The hardest part? You need to be playing Sunny Meadows Mental Institution by yourself, on the highest difficulty level–which can be set through Custom difficulty–with Apocalypse I requiring x6 or higher rewards multiplier, Apocalypse II requiring x10 or higher, and Apocalypse III requiring x15 (the highest custom difficulty in the game). If you want to take it on, here are the settings you can use.

Apocalypse player settings

Apocalypse IApocalypse IIApocalypse IIIReward multiplier (cash and experience)x6x10x15InsuranceNoneNoneNoneStarting sanity75500Sanity Pill restoration 20%5%0%Sanity drain speed200%200%200%SprintingOffOffOffPlayer speed100%75%50%FlashlightsOnOnOffLose items and consumablesOnOnOn

Apocalypse ghost settings

Apocalypse IApocalypse IIApocalypse IIIGhost speed150%150%150%Roaming frequencyHighHighHighChanging favorite roomHighHighHighActivity levelLowLowLowEvent frequencyLowLowLowFriendly ghostOffOffOffGrace period2 seconds2 secondsNoneHunt durationHighHighHighKills extend huntsHighHighHighEvidence given210Fingerprint chance100%100%N/AFingerprint duration60 seconds60 secondsN/A

Apocalypse contract settings

Apocalypse IApocalypse IIApocalypse IIISet-up timeNoneNoneNoneWeatherRandomHeavy RainHeavy RainDoors starting open HighHighHighNumber of hiding placesNoneNoneNoneSanity monitorOnOffOffActivity monitorOnOffOffFuse box at start of contractOnBrokenBrokenFuse box visible on mapOffN/AN/ACursed Possessions quantity100Cursed Possession #1RandomN/AN/A”}]] Read More GameSpot – All Content 

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