Why do we want to level up quickly?
Currently, there are 12 unlockable items available to use in phasmophobia. Each item has 3 versions of itself that are separated into tiers 1, 2, and 3. Tier 1 items are the most basic version of the item and have the most limiting range and effectiveness. At tier 2, many of the items gain a useful perk or improve on an existing perk. Many also get increased range and effectiveness. These perks are further improved by tier 3 which makes them the most powerful ghost busting tools available.
Aside from the default items which are available at level 1, each item and its upgrades must be unlocked one at a time by leveling up your character. So, if you want to have access to all the tier 3 items, you have to first level up your character all the way to a whopping level 92 when the final tier 3 upgrade becomes available.
That may seem like a lot, but keep in mind there’s a total of 52 unlockable items and upgrades so you’ll gain access to something new every few levels. To help you out, here are 5 things you can do to increase your experience gains and speed up the process.
5. Complete the Daily and Weekly Tasks
An example of daily and weekly tasks found in the van
The game assigns you two lists of 4 tasks each. Daily tasks reset every day, and weekly tasks reset at the beginning of each week. Both lists can be viewed on the main menu board, within the van (during investigation), and in the lobby. The daily tasks will reward you with 50-150 XP, depending on the task it assigns, and weekly tasks reward you with 500 XP. It may not seem like much, but this extra XP can go a long way. Keep in mind that the 4th weekly task comes in the form of a challenge which is discussed in the next section, “complete the weekly challenge.”
Tips
- Take note of daily and weekly tasks and identify which can be completed during a contract and which can be completed while at HQ.
- Complete your list of tasks while waiting for ghost activity.
- If you have the daily task “Buy an item in the store” it requires 3 items to be bought.
4. Complete The Weekly Challenge
Each week, a unique challenge is rotated through the game simply known as the “Challenge Mode.” This challenge can be an excellent source of experience and money, but be warned, the difficulty from one challenge to the next can vary drastically.
Aside from the pre-selected item loadout, the only real stipulation for the challenge is to correctly identify the ghost. So, even if you die during the challenge, as long as you correctly identify the ghost it will still count as one success. This, in combination with a low reward multiplier, makes going for a perfect investigation a waste of time. It’s far more beneficial to complete the challenge by identifying the ghost as quickly as possible. After successfully identifying the ghost 3 times, you’ll be rewarded with 5000 XP, which is easily 2-3 early levels.
Another reason the weekly challenge is an excellent option is that each challenge has a pre-selected item set provided to you by the game. In other words, you can potentially have access to items that you might not have yet. You also don’t spend any of your hard earned investigation money replacing the gear if you die. This challenge is completely risk free, however, you can only earn the rewards from each weekly once. To gain the rewards again, you must wait for the new challenge.
To begin the weekly challenge, simply go to where you select your investigation difficulty and instead select “Challenge Mode.” Each weekly has a brief description and is associated with a specific map, so be sure to have the correct map selected before starting.
3. Play on Professional Difficulty or Higher
Perfect investigation rewards from a professional difficulty game: 12 minutes (solo)
There are now 5 core difficulties to pick from when setting up a game; amateur, intermediate, professional, nightmare, and insanity. As you likely already know, there’s a reward multiplier associated with each difficulty: x1.00, x2.00, x3.00, x4.00, and x6.00 respectively. This multiplier increases the experience you get from completing bonus objectives, obtaining any investigation bonuses, and correctly identifying the ghost and surviving. In other words, the difficulty you play on directly correlates to how quickly you can level up.
Professional difficulty is the sweet spot of the game for many players because the ghost will still give you all 3 pieces of evidence, unlike nightmare which only gives you two or insanity which has one, yet it still provides a substantial reward modifier. Professional games are quick and being able to obtain 3 pieces of evidence will guarantee that you successfully identify the ghost. So, if you play on professional difficulty, you’ll walk away with XP rewards nearly every single time.
If you’re up to the challenge, I would encourage you to test your skill on nightmare or insanity - the XP you get for perfect hunts on those difficulties will speak for itself.
Tips
- Keep your sanity high by turning on the breaker and utilizing the lights. This allows you to spend extended periods of time in the ghost room to collect evidence.
- Use the thermometer to quickly identify the ghost room, it will be the coldest room.
- Don’t be afraid to drop your flashlight with the rest of your equipment in the ghost room. This will open up extra inventory space to bring in more gear.
- Bring D.O.T.S and the book as soon as you’ve identified the ghost room. These two pieces of evidence often take the longest to acquire.
- Find your hiding spots early and turn off equipment you’re holding while you hide, the ghost can detect them.
Note: Do not hide from the Deogen! The Deogen always knows where you are. You have to run away instead, but don’t worry, as soon as it gets close to you it slows down to a snail's crawl.
2. Investigation Bonuses
Perfect investigation rewards from an insanity game: 25 minutes (solo)
During each game, in addition to the primary objective of identifying the ghost and escaping alive, you have the opportunity to complete a few bonus objectives and hidden objectives. Successfully doing so will reward you with the “investigation bonus,” or the “perfect investigation bonus.”
Investigation Bonus Requirements | Doubles rewards from identifying the ghost and objectives
- Correctly Identify the ghost
- Escape Alive
- Complete all 3 bonus objectives
- Perfect Investigation Requirements | Doubles rewards from identifying the ghost and objectives plus a flat 50
- Investigation bonus requirements
- Fill the journal’s photo tab with 3-star photos (10 total)
- Pick up the hidden bone
Both of these bonuses are affected by your difficulty multiplier and completing them can easily amount to an additional 1000 or more XP (professional difficulty or higher) at the end of the investigation. If you can, always strive for the perfect investigation bonus over the standard bonus. That 50 XP may not seem to be worth the extra work, but most of the time the extra requirements are inadvertently completed as you go about your investigation.
Tips and Tricks for Perfect Investigations
- Survival is key, so take note of any hiding spots you find and make a plan for when the ghost begins its hunt.
- Don’t be afraid to use sanity restoration or smudge sticks. They can buy you some valuable time.
- Keep your sanity as high as possible. Turn the breaker on and stay in the light. The lights stop your sanity from draining.
Note: If you suspect you’re dealing with a Jinn its better to keep the breaker off. This prevents the Jinn from using its ability which drains 25% of your sanity with each use. Instead, use firelights to dampen the effects of the passive sanity drain while the lights are off.
When taking photos, ensure the object you’re photographing is centered in the frame. For objects on the ground, crouch next to them before snapping a picture. This will help secure 3-star photos. Photographable objects include:
- The ghost (including in D.O.T.S.)
- Burned crucifix
- Dirty Water
- Bone
- Dead Body (multiplayer only)
- Cursed possession
- Fingerprints
- Footprints
- Ghost Writing
- Object interactions (including extinguished firelights. Tip: Use the EMF reader to confirm the interaction)
- Disturbed Salt (Note: The Wraith cannot walk through salt.)
- Bring a motion detector, firelight, smudge stick, igniter, parabolic microphone, and crucifix on each investigation. These are the non-default items that have objectives associated with them.
1. Custom Games
As previously mentioned, the difficulty you select will determine the total amount of XP you acquire per the reward multiplier. The same rule applies to custom games, but the difference is that you’re able to pick the parts of the game that are more or less difficult thereby directly altering your reward multiplier.
Camp Woodwind Strategy
Rewards from a 1 minute game using the Camp Woodwind Strategy: It took me 7 total attempts for a successful game (solo).
This is the quickest strategy with the highest success rate for leveling up fast. However, it has several different requirements of the player in order for it to have any reliability. Specifically, it requires you to know the unique individual traits of each ghost and that you have a lot of luck getting ghosts with traits that are easy to spot. Be sure to play on Camp Woodwind with the EMF reader, smudge stick, and igniter.
Difficulty Settings | Reward Multiplier: x12.97
Player
- Starting sanity: 0
- Sanity pill restoration (%): 0
- Sanity drain speed (%): 200
- Sprinting: Off
- Player speed (%): 100
- Flashlights: Off
- Lose items and consumables: On
Ghost
- Ghost speed (%): 100
- Roaming frequency: High
- Changing favorite room: High
- Interaction amount: Low
- Event frequency: Low
- Friendly ghost: Off
- Grace period (s): 0
- Hunt duration (s): Medium
- Evidence given: 0
Contract
- Setup time (s): 0
- Weather: Fog
- Doors starting open: High
- Number of hiding places: None
- Sanity monitor: Off
- Activity monitor: Off
- Fuse box at start of contract: Broken
- Fuse box visible on map: Off
- Cursed Possessions: 0
When you arrive, you’ll want to enter the map with the EMF reader, a smudge stick, and an igniter. Turn on the EMF reader (used to identify a Raiju) and drop it in front of the picnic benches near the main gate. Then hide behind the same benches and wait for a hunt to start. You’ll have to be quick since the ghost will hunt you a few moments after entering.
The picnic benches block a portion of line of sight--from the ghost to you--while still allowing you to see it. This buys a bit of time and enables you to gather information to hopefully identify the ghost. What makes this method fast is that you only stick around long enough for one hunt, so make your best guess if you weren’t able to identify it right away.
If you’re successful, you’ll be rewarded around 2.5K XP, or even upwards of 3K+ depending on how lucky you are with bonus objectives. Each attempt takes about 1 minute to complete.
While this seems like the go to strategy, keep in mind it does have many flaws. Most notably, of the 24 possible ghosts, 10 of them could be considered easily recognizable, which is less than half the ghosts, and most of them are likely to catch you. The rest of the ghosts are nearly impossible to identify without taking extra steps or having a lucky guess.
Modified Camp Woodwind Strategy
If you like the Camp Woodwind strategy, but find that you repeatedly get unlucky with it, I recommend trying this modification instead. These settings sacrifice a little bit of speed and rewards for a slightly higher identification rate. Keep in mind, this strategy is similar and also requires that you know the differences between each ghost.
Difficulty Settings | Reward Multiplier x11.52
Player
- Starting sanity: 0
- Sanity pill restoration (%): 20
- Sanity drain speed (%): 200
- Sprinting: Off
- Player speed (%): 100
- Flashlights: On
- Lose items and consumables: On
Ghost
- Ghost speed (%): 100
- Roaming frequency: High
- Changing favorite room: low
- Interaction amount: High
- Event frequency: Low
- Friendly ghost: Off
- Grace period (s): 0
- Hunt duration (s): High
- Evidence given: 0
Contract
- Setup time (s): 0
- Weather: Fog
- Doors starting open: High
- Number of hiding places: None
- Sanity monitor: On
- Activity monitor: On
- Fuse box at start of contract: On
- Fuse box visible on map: Off
- Cursed Possessions: None
Note: The sanity restoration items buy time and can allow you to set up items or test for hunt thresholds. The addition of the breaker also allows you to identify the Jinn and Mare, two previously unidentifiable ghosts.
Modified Nightmare
Perfect investigation rewards from a 3-evidence modified nightmare game: 10 minutes (solo).
While the other custom game settings are effective for their speed, they can be overly challenging, annoying, and simply unfun to play through on repeat. If you find yourself in this category, then here’s a custom game list that might remedy that feeling while still providing you with a substantial amount of rewards.
Difficulty Setting | Reward Multiplier x4.61
Player
- Starting sanity: 100
- Sanity pill restoration (%): 25
- Sanity drain speed (%): 200
- Sprinting: On
- Player speed (%): 100
- Flashlights: On
- Lose items and consumables: On
Ghost
- Ghost speed (%): 100
- Roaming frequency: High
- Changing favorite room: Medium
- Interaction amount: Low
- Event frequency: Low
- Friendly ghost: Off
- Grace period (s): 0
- Hunt duration (s): High
- Evidence given: 3
- Fingerprint chance (%): 100
- Fingerprint duration (s): 60
Contract
- Setup time (s): 0
- Weather: Fog
- Doors starting open: High
- Number of hiding places: Low
- Sanity monitor: On
- Activity monitor: On
- Fuse box at start of contract: Off
- Fuse box visible on map: Off
- Cursed Possessions: None
What’s nice about this list is that it doesn’t require you to know each of the ghost’s traits, and you can play through the game normally, searching for all 3 pieces of evidence and at a x4.46 reward multiplier. That's higher than nightmare difficulty. If you want even more rewards, you can modify this list to decrease the number of evidence the ghost gives tol alter the multiplier as shown below.
| Number of evidence | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Reward Multiplier | 4.46 | 5.21 | 6.92 | 8.87 |
