An anti-guide to ghosts (what they don't do)

There are already lots of guides telling you what the ghosts do. Here's one on what they don't do.

Intro

This is kind of a compilation of "myths" that either I've seen some people say, or I ripped off the unofficial Phasmophobia Chinese Discord.

There are definitely a lot more things that people have said, so if you have any queries or such just write them below.

If you're here looking for what the ghost actually does, you may be better off looking for another guide. Or the wiki. Or #ghost-huntin-resources. Or SeverelyZero's Cheat Sheet.

This guide is updated for 0.11.0.3

Spirit

• Basic ghost I can't think of anything people say they do... maybe touch doors more often? No they don't have a higher chance of touching doors compared to other ghosts

Wraith

• Wraiths don't float during ghost events or hunts. You can't identify it just by looking at its ghost model.
  
• They can't see through walls and doors, only the Deogen* can!
  
• They don't avoid salt. They just don't leave an imprint in it, and by extension no UV footprint or UV footprint sounds.
  
• They aren't quieter during hunts.
  
• Yes they can phase through doors... but it's nothing special. All ghosts can do that!
  
• The teleport ability itself does not trigger a chance for the Wraith to hunt. To be specific, every few seconds all ghosts will roll a chance to do something, like interact, do a ghost event, use its ability if any, hunt, and so on. So it is merely RNG on what the Wraith does after teleporting. It can hunt, but that's normal RNG! (and also dependent on average sanity)

*See also: Mimic-Deogen

Phantom

• The Phantom walk-to-player ability isn't connected to the Ouija Board in any way. So if you don't get an Ouija Board, it doesn't make the Phantom any less likely.

Poltergeist

• Being more active doesn't mean they touch doors more often if there aren't objects to throw. I mean, it does say it's powerless if there's nothing to throw...
  
• ...but it can still hunt as per standard rules. Not affected by number of items near it at all.

Banshee

• The Banshee isn't more likely, code-wise, to target the hunt target for a ghost event. Ghosts need to be near a player (~10 metres) to do ghost events, and ghost events themselves have a target, of which the selection is random (or could be based on distance but don't quote me on that), so if the hunt target is the only person nearby, then it could event them more often, but not because it's in the code. If multiple players are nearby then it's free game for event target.
  
• Similarly, the Banshee isn't going to be more active only when the target is nearby. It's RNG. A lot of things in this game are RNG!
  
• The Banshee isn't more likely to sing for longer periods. How long the ghost sings is purely based on whether the event target touches the ghost which makes it disappear prematurely. (But it does have a higher chance - not guaranteed - to perform the singing event)
  
• The hunt sound is selected randomly per game, so a ghost singing during a hunt doesn't mean anything about ghost type (or any vocalisation for that matter).
  
• Everyone can hear the Banshee scream through the paramic.

Jinn

• The Jinn is equally likely as any other ghost to interact with electronics. Or statistically, P(interaction with electronics | Jinn) = P(interaction with electronics)

Mare

• Not more likely to do ghost events. They just do light-shattering events as a higher proportion of their ghost events. Even then, it's still highly variable on whether your Mare will do them.
  
• Mares don't flip the breaker more often. They are as equally likely to flip it (both off and on!) as most other ghosts.
  
• Equipment light doesn't matter to the Mare, either.

Revenant

• I can't think of anything... it's just a Spirit without the longer anti-hunt duration and with a very dangerous speed mechanic.

Shade

• When you're in the same room as a Shade, it can't hunt, interact, or initiate ghost events.
  
• In specific conditions, the Shade CAN throw things that are in the same room as the player - it's where the ghost is that matters. If the ghost steps out into a room with no players, it can interact through the wall and throw things that are in your room.
  
• Ok technically I'm talking about mechanics here, but unless you hold a lit candle going into the house and keep it lit 100% of the time, the Shade has a chance of performing a ghost event as long as your sanity dips below 100%, no matter how small. Low crime doesn't mean no crime.
  
• The shadow model using a Music Box/Summoning Circle isn't guaranteed (actually, all ghosts have a low chance of doing so too?). Similarly, it won't always do an airball ghost event, and it won't always show as a shadow during a manifestation ghost event if it does one. (Apparently most of the ghost event chances work on thirds, so for Shade a 67% chance for a shadow model for manifestations, 67% chance for an airball etc...)

Demon

• No, it won't "replace" hunts with more interactions. In fact, they aren't more interactive than other ghosts - since it's hunting so much it might as well be less interactive and more stubborn with, say, ghost writing.
  
• Does it roam to a player to start a hunt? In current versions, no. But here's an analysis where I show you evidence that it used to - it got fully patched in Apocalypse.

Yurei

• Can it open doors? ...Yes, but it's not tied to its ability. The ability only involves closing doors, and all ghosts can open doors fully or partially. The ghost opening a door tells you nothing about which type it is.
  
• The Yurei doesn't have increased sanity drain during ghost events when you're "looking" at it (LoS). This is mainly a misunderstanding on what "added the sanity drain ability" meant in the patch notes (it actually just meant "the random sanity drain ability now exists")
  
• This is more of semantics, but the ability is not "close door to drain sanity". The ability involves two things at the same time: 1) drain sanity, and 2) close a door.

Oni

• It doesn't have a higher chance of hunting at the same average sanity compared to other ghosts. However, you can dip below the hunt threshold faster since its ghost events drain more sanity (when you touch it).
  
  • Also, the sanity drain is simply 20% instead of the standard 10% when you touch it. There isn't any LoS sanity drain.
• The Oni isn't guaranteed to show up as a full model. I think it's 67% chance too?

Yokai

• The ghost is not blind... it has perfect eyesight like all other ghosts!
  
• Playing a TikTok song near it at 80% average sanity won't make it hunt immediately. It only raises the threshold to 80%, so the chances of hunting would be as if the average sanity was 50%.
  
• It's not necessarily a Yokai if you can't attract it from a different floor... all ghosts can't hear through floors unless you trigger the relevant Monkey Paw wish. The hearing distance for all other ghosts is just 9 metres and on the same floor; for the Yokai the number is reduced to 2.5 metres.

Hantu

• Their speed is not affected by candles at all, since candles do not affect room temperature. The campfire in Camp Woodwind does, though!
  
• Hantu do not make the room colder than other ghosts. They also do not cool the room faster. If you see -10°C, it's because the ghost has spent a long time in that room (will vary based on a lot of factors!), not because it's a Hantu. If it took just 1 minute from opening the front door to freezing appearing, chances are the weather is cold and the breaker/fuse box is off.

Goryo

• The Goryo can still wander outside of its favourite room. It just has a lower chance to do so, and won't change that favourite room. Ghost events completely ignore the wandering thing as long as you're near the ghost.
  
• You can still see the ghost during ghost events and hunts. The "only visible when no one is nearby" thing only applies to D.O.T.S Projector silhouettes, like the journal summary says.

Myling

• The Myling is not 100% silent during hunts. The distance you can hear it is just shorter; once you get within hearing distance, it will have the same volume as any other ghost... or so it's said

Onryo

• Flames don't make the Onryo more likely to wander away. Maybe ghosts in general wander more than you think?
  
• I haven't heard of anything like this, but to pre-empt this: fires don't change the Onryo's speed.
  
• There are 2 main reasons why your 3-flame test isn't working:
  
  • Flames CAN block the ability hunt. This means that when using the 3-flame method, just counting the number of flames it blows out won't work, you need to ensure that there is no flame lit nearby when it blows out its third flame.
    
  • Your flames from a lighter/matchstick can block the ability hunt too, with the same priority as candles. This is why it's stated here as flames and not just candles. (Campfire counts too! Burner that you can click on and off does not.)

The Twins

• The Twins is not actually two functional ghosts. They don't do two ghost events at the same time, they don't hunt at the same time, they dont even pass through two motion sensors in different places at the same time, because the second Twin doesn't really exist. (ghost-ception?????)

Raiju

• There are a fair number of electronic things the Raiju's speed boost and hunt threshold aren't actually affected by. These include turned-off electronics, thrown or held motion sensors/sound sensors/D.O.T.S, thrown video cameras or photo cameras, fuse box, and any other equipment not brought in from the van (like mobile phones, building lights, etc.). Also all non-electronics, obviously. (Q: Is the lighter considered electronic? A: Does the lighter require batteries?)
  
• "Constantly disrupting electronic equipment" doesn't mean the entire map's electronics will flicker. It just means a moderately larger range than usual.
  
• The electronic detection range is not the flickering range (applies for all ghosts, actually). Neither is the speed boost range; it depends on map size.
  
• Currently, the weather doesn't affect the Raiju either. Maybe on April Fools it will.

Obake

• The Obake does not change ghost model between hunts, only during (and it is temporary for just one flicker).
  
• If you see Patient 07/tooth-face change posture (e.g. standing to crawling) between hunts, that does not count as changing ghost model and isn't an Obake indicator. Within the same hunt does count, though.
  
• Ghost events also do not count for the Obake ability. If you see a posture change between ghost events, all ghosts can do that, and if you see it change from old granny to butcher fatty, it might be a bug.
  
• By design, the Obake's flickering ability is technically not a % chance, but is ordered based on the first flicker-in of the hunt (12th, 27th, 39th and so on).

The Mimic

• The Mimic doesn't change its ghost type during hunts.
  
• The Mimic is NOT guaranteed to change it's ghost type between hunts. It works off a timer, 30-120 seconds.
  
• The Mimic cannot mimic evidences (e.g. D.O.T.S Projector). Ghost Orbs aren't really "mimicked", they are simply just there all the time. They can mimic features of evidences that they already have, though! Like Obake fingerprints.
  
• The ghost orbs aren't any different from other ghosts. They stay in the favourite room, move around the favourite room occasionally, and change rooms when the favourite room changes. It is not linked to the ghost's current location at all.

Moroi

• The cursing response doesn't sound any different. There is no indicator to whether you have been cursed, other than your sanity going down faster than usual.
  
• You can't be cursed simply by using an Ouija Board.

Deogen

• The Deogen's speed isn't based on line-of-sight (LoS) at all. There was a bug (that has been fixed) within the first few weeks where it sped up when there was a physical object between the player and its target.

Thaye

• It will not age simply by players staying in the house/investigation area. You need to be in the same room as the ghost when it performs its age tick. (Not necessarily the favourite room!)

See also

My other guide: A few Phasmophobia tips (and a lot of science)

1m ≈ 3ft

[AiMomoPi]

Yes the Yurei is bugged af. I have seen doors swiftly close, but I have had yureis where the door doesn't move at all. like its hitting the door from both sides. Not sure exactly how the bug is working.