The Nightmare update is available now for Phasmophobia, adding in a brand new map, new ghost types, a rework of the game’s difficulty levels, weather and much more.
The new map is called ‘Maple Lodge Campsite’ and is described as a “medium sized map featuring picnic areas, games, multiple tents, a log cabin and a haunted lake.” According to the patch notes, this map has a higher object density than previous maps and more visual detail as well.
Other existing locations will receive an update in the future to add more objects and visual detail, alongside an updated truck minimap that is consistent with the one available in the new Maple Lodge Campsite map. Users whose PCs meet minimum requirements should be able to run the new map with increased detail and quality without any problems, but the patch notes say that outdated hardware might encounter FPS drops.
Every single location will also now have different weather each time you start a contract, which can affect the gameplay. The weather variations include clear skies, fog, light rain, heavy rain, strong wind and light snow, some of which will impact hearing or visibility.
There are four new ghost types in this update — Onryo, The Twins, Obake, Raiju — which have an increased chance of spawning during the Halloween period.
Less than an hour to go! Here are the patch notes https://t.co/UETX3TUi4w #Phasmophobia
— Phasmophobia (@KineticGame) October 25, 2021
There’s also been a complete rework of all the difficulties, with the aim of making each one “feel more unique, and provide more options for players at every skill level.”
Amateur difficulty, recommended for new players, has a longer setup time and hunt grace period, matched with a short hunt duration. Sanity pills restore a lot of sanity, and you can regain half the value of lost equipment if you die.
The next level, Intermediate, has average setup time, hunt grace period and duration. The fuse box also starts as off, there are fewer places to hide and you only regain some of your lost equipment’s value.
Professional takes it up another notch — no setup time, short grace period, long hunt duration and sanity pills only restore a little of your sanity. There are far fewer hiding places and on rare occasions, the ghost will change its preferred room.
Then if you want something even more challenging, there’s now a new fourth difficulty, Nightmare, which is “designed to be a challenge mode for those seeking the most intense gameplay Phasmophobia has to offer.”
This mode adopts most of the conditions from Professional but with some changes and extra complications. Ghosts will not reveal one type of evidence and they will sometimes change their preferred room. It has the shortest grace period and longest hunt duration, with the latter being extended by kills. There are almost no hiding places, sanity pills restore much less sanity than any other more and “paranormal interference has damaged some of your monitoring equipment.”
There’s also several bug fixes and quite a number of smaller changes to gameplay and mechanics, all of which can be found in the Steam patch notes.
The Phasmophobia Nightmare update is available now on Steam for PC, with optional PC VR support.