Difficulty

**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!"*
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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"*
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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"*
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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"*
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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..."*
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* 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.

## History

 2 August 2020
 Added a new Challenge Mode.

## Notes

1. ↑ There is currently a bug where some players may unlock some or all difficulties earlier than expected.
2. ↑ Hunt duration also depends on the map size and whether a player death will extend the hunt. See Hunt for more details.
3. ↑ For example, changing a setting that adds a multiplier of x0.1 will now only add x0.05