There are definitely some balancing and tool problems.

[Abstract]

T1 tools are shockingly unreliable. I played a considerable amount today with a few friends. We basically found the room in seconds with the thermometer, and then tried to poke at the ghost for 20 minutes, only to get killed or get no evidence and just reroll the map.

Consistency issue items;
1. Dots is basically useless. It seems to either bug and not work, or not work at all. I've caught a confirmed dots once, and it took upward of 30 minutes to get it.
2. Spirit box doesn't work. Even when you're following the ghost EMF around, you still end up getting no reading more often than not. It's absurdly bad and unreliable. I've personally never received a spirit box response.
3. Freezing temps annoyingly unreliable. This often hovers AT or barely above 1 degrees Celsius only to dip below later, which is incredibly obnoxious, especially with the breath interfering with dots. At least the thermometer works, but the temperature seems like the developer is trolling.
4. Ghost writing never procs. Getting it to write is neigh impossible at times. The books will sit there for 45 minutes, then you leave and find out it was writing so you guessed based on NOT writing.

Spending 45 minutes in a house for almost no reward is a blatantly annoying time inflation.

[Kai]

T1 Spirit box compared to T2 is like a 1 meter smaller radius, and much much lower chance of response time...
Think 10% chance of a response vocally while T2 could be 30%.

You gotta spam questions for a whole minute and even then unless sanity is low enough the ghost might not be bothered.

A lot of measurements for T1 equipment is hard to figure out until mid game when hunts starts cuz the temps finally drops or the rates to get a response is better.

With T1 DOTS it's apparently the same mechanism as T2, they use the ghost's real position and do a chance check for your tool if the ghost becomes visible or not. Higher tier means more chances in a period of time in a small area...

So with T1 DOTS you need to chase the ghost's position down for a few minutes until you see it or not...

I find ghost writing happens better overall if you find the best spot to put them, they seem to have a radius for the ghost to interact, so put em in high traffic areas.

Use sound sensors to listen in the truck when the activities starts spiking, you can still see dots in the truck if you place a dots flashlight in a smart way to angle it... i think a Vr player can position them at a higher angle to cover a wide space.

[Abstract]

Having a CHANCE to proc is a consistency issue, especially with a complex series of unknowns; including position, radius, chance, sanity, and relative player positioning with angle. You can do the same thing correctly 9 times and it fail, but you will have zero indication that you're doing it correctly, so you'll believe you're doing it incorrectly.

On top of having a lower chance possibility, you have a lower range possibility as well. This denotes a large time sink, when you have no sustain to stay in the house on any difficulty higher than (45 minute) mode.

We resorted to rapidly entering a house on insanity difficulty, dumping the tools as quickly as possible, and then gambling the exit based on the 1 evidence we found. We collect the sub-objectives which become 6x and the exp seems to be far more reliable than the earlier difficulties, but the annoying factor goes up because you get randomly hunted fairly quickly.

[Han Daimond]

Curious to see different experiences with the T1 items.

I've reached level 27, just started unlocking some T2 items and never died, not even once, while using the T1 items and was able to guess the ghost right, except for one instance which could be due to a bugged evidence or something else.

1. DOTS register the ghost differently this time around, it actually needs to point where the ghost is currently located, not just waiting for it to magically appear in its room like in previous versions.

2. Spirit box is supposed to be unreliable but got a response after a few minutes later when my sanity was lower, questions like "Where are you?", "Are you friendly?" and "How old are you?" tend to trigger a response more. Use it as soon as you see any activity in the room, like a door touched or an object thrown, and get as close as possible in that area.

3. Currently the thermometer is the best T1 item, it's that accurate, just leave it inside the ghost room, do anything else and check the temperature later.

4. Leave the notebook in a spot where you see the most activity, I recommend leaving one at the entrance of the room and another one in a corner or a very active spot.

[Abstract]

Originally posted by Han Daimond:

Curious to see different experiences with the T1 items.

I've reached level 27, just started unlocking some T2 items and never died, not even once, while using the T1 items and was able to guess the ghost right, except for one instance which could be due to a bugged evidence or something else.

I don't have the time to play on amateur nor intermediate mode again, nor do I have the attention span. I wouldn't die on either of those, but I'd also be here all day getting the same exp I receive in an hour gambling on insanity with almost no items.

Mostly because... DING DING DING, highly unreliable and inconsistent tools.

Insanity mode;
Run 1; 2 minutes - Oh look, I got no evidence. *gamble*.
Run 2; 3 minutes - Oh look, I got 2 evidences. EMF and ghost orb, *better gamble* Oh look $2500.
45 minutes later of bad gambles and deaths, Oh look, $2000 more.

Meanwhile in amateur mode;
Run 1; 20 minutes - $200 reward.
Run 2: 45 minutes - $350 reward.
ETC ETC ETC ETC.

Might want to try dying more.

[Han Daimond]

Originally posted by Abstract:

Originally posted by Han Daimond:

Curious to see different experiences with the T1 items.

I've reached level 27, just started unlocking some T2 items and never died, not even once, while using the T1 items and was able to guess the ghost right, except for one instance which could be due to a bugged evidence or something else.

I don't have the time to play on amateur nor intermediate mode again, nor do I have the attention span. I wouldn't die on either of those, but I'd also be here all day getting the same exp I receive in an hour gambling on insanity.

?
I was only playing on Professional and later on my custom difficulty (x5); never touched Amateur or Intermediate.

Spent like 3 hours playing every day since the update arrived and reached lvl 27, not sure if that's slow or fast, but I honestly see no issues with the progression system so far.

Maybe one important thing to note here is that I mostly play alone, I've only played with 3 other friends this past Thursday, maybe the multiplayer experience had a major impact on you in comparison.

Originally posted by Abstract:

Insanity mode;
Run 1; 2 minutes - Oh look, I got no evidence. *gamble*.
Run 2; 3 minutes - Oh look, I got 2 evidences. EMF and ghost orb, *better gamble* Oh look $2500.
45 minutes later of bad gambles and deaths, Oh look, $2000 more.

Meanwhile in amateur mode;
Run 1; 20 minutes - $200 reward.
Run 2: 45 minutes - $350 reward.
ETC ETC ETC ETC.

Might want to try dying more.

Oh! It is definitely a challenge to rely on T1 items in way higher difficulties, specially Insanity, but that's optional. Usually gain between 1200 / 1700 exp on Pro / x5 custom.

Which T1 item would you say had the most trouble with?

[Shurenai]

Originally posted by Abstract:

Having a CHANCE to proc is a consistency issue, especially with a complex series of unknowns; including position, radius, chance, sanity, and relative player positioning with angle. You can do the same thing correctly 9 times and it fail, but you will have zero indication that you're doing it correctly, so you'll believe you're doing it incorrectly.

On top of having a lower chance possibility, you have a lower range possibility as well. This denotes a large time sink, when you have no sustain to stay in the house on any difficulty higher than (45 minute) mode.

We resorted to rapidly entering a house on insanity difficulty, dumping the tools as quickly as possible, and then gambling the exit based on the 1 evidence we found. We collect the sub-objectives which become 6x and the exp seems to be far more reliable than the earlier difficulties, but the annoying factor goes up because you get randomly hunted fairly quickly.

The alternative to a "Chance" to proc is every round being about 30 seconds long; Because you place a book and it either instantly writes or doesn't; You emf scan a single interaction and it's either 5 or isnt, you ask one question on the spirit box, wave the dots pen around the room, shine UV on one salt pile or door/switch interaction, and then you leave.

New dots T1 (and beyond)is stupid simple, Find the room, place 4 motion sensors around the area in such a way as to ideally divide the area into 4 quadrants, or at least two halves and obstruct the door, tuck yourself in the corner and shine the dots pen in the general direction of whichever motion sensor went off last- Unless it's a goryo, you'll have dots in about a minute, Or at least thats been my luck so far. Being tucked in the corner, the way the ghost has to approach you when in dots visible mode makes it super easy to catch it with the dots pen.

Same thing with T1 spirit box- Motion sensor completely removes the range issue, move to whichever motion sensor flashed last and ask there, repeat till you either get it or are satisfied you wont; If you keep proper track of which portion of the room the ghost is in you can follow it's general path around the area and always be (roughly) on top of it.

T1 Thermometer is literally just drop one in the room, drop one in the adjacent hallway and wait- Do it at the start of the contract, it'll be freezing by the time you check everything else

And writing now literally shows you what area the ghost can interact with it from; Place appropriately, You want to place one in the highest activity area and one in the doorway that leads to the adjacent hallways (or whichever other room the ghost is going to the most from its home room).

And the T1 emf is just a case of getting used to the wobbly variance it has- Once you've seen a single actual EMF 5 and verified it, you now know exactly what to look for every time in the future- From that point its just like old EMF, make sure you're checking EMF for every single thing the ghost does.


Like, for real, Use the tools you have available to you and its not that bad. Been finishing most of my runs within about 10-15 minutes tops, aside from the odd ghost here or there that is stubborn or is a goryo in an awkward room like the bleasedale attic- And that's with two evidence, not three.

Lotta people totally forgo many of the incredibly useful tools in the game because they think its pointless or a waste of time, when they actually make it SO much easier to do your job that it saves you time over the course of the match for having done it early on. Motion sensors being a big one of them- Learn how to use them, and how to keep track of the ghosts approximate location, and it makes things so much easier, and so much safer for you.

[Abstract]

Originally posted by Han Daimond:

Originally posted by Abstract:

I don't have the time to play on amateur nor intermediate mode again, nor do I have the attention span. I wouldn't die on either of those, but I'd also be here all day getting the same exp I receive in an hour gambling on insanity.

?
I was only playing on Professional and later on my custom difficulty (x5); never touched Amateur or Intermediate.

Spent like 3 hours playing every day since the update arrived and reached lvl 27, not sure if that's slow or fast, but I honestly see no issues with the progression system so far.

Maybe one important thing to note here is that I mostly play alone, I've only played with 3 other friends this past Thursday, maybe the multiplayer experience had a major impact on you in comparison.

So you somehow magically investigate houses on professional mode, get all the evidences you need, get paid enough exp and money, and don't get murdered by ghosts spawning on top of you at inexplicable and incredibly inconvenient times.

ahahahahjhhAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH that was funny. 60 hour a week job huh.

[Shurenai]

Originally posted by Abstract:

Originally posted by Han Daimond:

?
I was only playing on Professional and later on my custom difficulty (x5); never touched Amateur or Intermediate.

Spent like 3 hours playing every day since the update arrived and reached lvl 27, not sure if that's slow or fast, but I honestly see no issues with the progression system so far.

Maybe one important thing to note here is that I mostly play alone, I've only played with 3 other friends this past Thursday, maybe the multiplayer experience had a major impact on you in comparison.

So you somehow magically investigate houses on professional mode, get all the evidences you need, get paid enough exp and money, and don't get murdered by ghosts spawning on top of you at inexplicable and incredibly inconvenient times.

ahahahahjhhAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH that was funny. 60 hour a week job huh.

As far as 'the ghost spawning on top of you at inexplicable and incredibly inconvenient times', On professional you have a solid 3 second headstart any time a hunt begins; If you aren't being dumb and straying so deep into a room that you can't safely vacate the room in the 2.5~ seconds you have left after realizing a hunt is beginning, that's your own mistake. If its in hunt threshold, dont go deep into the current room; That's how you die.

And use your crucifixes to protect your way to safety- Not to prevent a hunt in the ghost room itself. You want to use your defensive tools to ensure you can get to safety. That means blocking off the hallway or whatever so that when the ghost invariably hunts, it will either hunt in the room, from which you can hightail it; Or will attempt to in the hallway, and what would've been a death by being cornered is you surviving.

As for getting enough exp and money, One run on professional with all pics all objectives and the bone is a solid 1k+ in cash. So yeah, it adds up quick.

Practice makes perfect.

[Abstract]

Originally posted by Han Daimond:

Oh! It is definitely a challenge to rely on T1 items in way higher difficulties, specially Insanity, but that's optional.

Which T1 item would you say had the most trouble with?

Would have to be ghost writing taking long periods of time, or dots simply not showing up due to awkwardness. It's even worse if you're trying to point with a camera that's become a ghost's beach ball.

[Abstract]

Originally posted by Shurenai:

And use your crucifixes to protect your way to safety- Not to prevent a hunt in the ghost room itself. You want to use your defensive tools to ensure you can get to safety. That means blocking off the hallway or whatever so that when the ghost invariably hunts, it will either hunt in the room, from which you can hightail it; Or will attempt to in the hallway, and what would've been a death by being cornered is you surviving.

As for getting enough exp and money, One run on professional with all pics all objectives and the bone is a solid 1k+ in cash. So yeah, it adds up quick.

Practice makes perfect.

Except you don't start with crucifixes at level 1, you don't get salt right away, you can't restore your sanity out of the gate, and you can't survive a hunt if you have none of those defensive tools on the higher difficulties unless you're playing in a way that will take considerably longer.

[Sunshine]

Originally posted by Abstract:

T1 tools are shockingly unreliable. I played a considerable amount today with a few friends. We basically found the room in seconds with the thermometer, and then tried to poke at the ghost for 20 minutes, only to get killed or get no evidence and just reroll the map.

You are just bad. I play solo on a 3x modifer and rarely ever die or struggle to find all evidence. Unless you and your friends are playing in nightmare or something - which you clearly don't, the issue here is you and your group. I bet most of you just ♥♥♥♥ around and don't notice how they burn sanity standing in dark corners and stuff like that. Otherwise, how would you even die so easily?

Originally posted by Abstract:

1. Dots is basically useless.

Works fine for me. But yes it can take a couple minutes or just good timing to see it.

Originally posted by Abstract:

2. Spirit box doesn't work. [...] I've personally never received a spirit box response.

Works perfectly fine, T1 and T2. No issues since the patch whatsoever and I am level 28 now. Perhaps a hardware issue on your end, voice recognition can be weird but it ain't the spirit box itself.

Originally posted by Abstract:

3. Freezing temps annoyingly unreliable. This often hovers AT or barely above 1 degrees Celsius, which is incredibly obnoxious

Uhm...so you acknowledge it is above 0 degrees... and you are unhappy because.... why?
You have your answer: Not freezing. What's the problem exactly?

Originally posted by Abstract:

4. Ghost writing never procs. Getting it to write is neigh impossible at times. The books will sit there for 45 minutes, then you leave and find out it was writing so you guessed based on NOT writing.

Works fine for me, though the T1 book definitely needs longer. Place it as soon as you find the ghost room. It's a non-issue and I do not buy the 45 minute claim for a second.
Just now I got writing the moment I placed down the book.

Are you and your friends sure you know how exactly the equipment works?
What difficulty do you play on?

[Han Daimond]

Originally posted by Abstract:

Originally posted by Han Daimond:

?
I was only playing on Professional and later on my custom difficulty (x5); never touched Amateur or Intermediate.

Spent like 3 hours playing every day since the update arrived and reached lvl 27, not sure if that's slow or fast, but I honestly see no issues with the progression system so far.

Maybe one important thing to note here is that I mostly play alone, I've only played with 3 other friends this past Thursday, maybe the multiplayer experience had a major impact on you in comparison.

So you somehow magically investigate houses on professional mode, get all the evidences you need, get paid enough exp and money, and don't get murdered by ghosts spawning on top of you at inexplicable and incredibly inconvenient times.

ahahahahjhhAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH that was funny. 60 hour a week job huh.

There was this time when I almost got killed by a phantom who followed me to my "safe" room in which had the only closet available to hide in, but I've previously put a crucifix in that room juuuust in case anything weird happened, AND it happened. The phantom used its ability to teleport to that room and attacked me, but the crucifix stopped it. Was playing on my x5 custom difficulty which had no grace period for the ghost to be able to kill me, so it was risky.
I was trying to get the optional tasks by then.

[Abstract]

Originally posted by Sunshine:

Are you and your friends sure you know how exactly the equipment works?
What difficulty do you play on?

Slap yourself in the face.

[Han Daimond]

Originally posted by Abstract:

Originally posted by Han Daimond:

Oh! It is definitely a challenge to rely on T1 items in way higher difficulties, specially Insanity, but that's optional.

Which T1 item would you say had the most trouble with?

Would have to be ghost writing taking long periods of time, or dots simply not showing up due to awkwardness. It's even worse if you're trying to point with a camera that's become a ghost's beach ball.

Gonna try those items next time. I usually leave both DOTS pens pointing inside the room and making an arc, was able to see the ghost appear from the truck, but it is definitely tricky to get that evidence the way it's currently designed.

Never had issues with the notebook, but gonna test them again.

[Shurenai]

Originally posted by Abstract:

Originally posted by Shurenai:

And use your crucifixes to protect your way to safety- Not to prevent a hunt in the ghost room itself. You want to use your defensive tools to ensure you can get to safety. That means blocking off the hallway or whatever so that when the ghost invariably hunts, it will either hunt in the room, from which you can hightail it; Or will attempt to in the hallway, and what would've been a death by being cornered is you surviving.

As for getting enough exp and money, One run on professional with all pics all objectives and the bone is a solid 1k+ in cash. So yeah, it adds up quick.

Practice makes perfect.

Except you don't start with crucifixes at level 1, you don't get salt right away, you can't restore your sanity out of the gate, and you can't survive a hunt if you have none of those defensive tools on the higher difficulties unless you're playing in a way that will take considerably longer.

So you play safer; You dont need salt, or to restore your sanity- Just keep the lights on and stay out of the dark patches of the room to minimize sanity drain, and work fast.
Crucifixes are nice but also not necessary, same with incense. Only time the light goes off is if you're after spirit box. Make use of the fact you can view cams from the truck, be quick about it.

Figure out at least two different places you can hide, ideally on opposite sides of the house so if the ghost spawns between you and option A you can book it to B instead; And dont go deep into the room unless a hunt has just ended- Make use of the 20-25 seconds of grace period between hunts during which the ghost CANT hunt. And worst case scenario, Make your best guess and leave with what you've got- You'll still make hundreds more than you would've gotten if you died even if you get the ghost wrong.

Legit just did all this to level 20, now have crucifixes and sanity pills, and only died one time over the course of about 15 rounds because I forgot to turn my flashlight off like a dummy. Couple rounds on amateur to acclimate to the new items, 10~ or so on professional to get accustomed to the sanity drain changes (since candles arent 100% protection now), and then a couple on a custom difficulty w/ 4x reward preset, my own version of insanity.