If you’re a more experienced ghost hunter looking for a challenge, the perfect investigation bonus is a great way to test your skills and earn some solid profits in Phasmophobia.
You’ll occasionally see an objective asking you to complete a perfect investigation pop-up, but this challenge can be done at any point if you meet all of the requirements for it. The perfect investigation challenge is no easy task, so here’s what you need to know to successfully complete it.
What is a Perfect Investigation Bonus in Phasmophobia?
A perfect investigation is a type of money bonus you can receive in Phasmophobia for completing a series of specific challenging tasks. You’ll gain a $50.00 bonus for getting a perfect investigation, but you’ll also get at least $2,500 cash total or even more depending on which difficulty you’re playing on for completing all of the required tasks.
How to get a perfect investigation bonus in Phasmophobia
To obtain a perfect investigation bonus, there are four specific tasks you’ll need to complete within one Phasmophobia investigation.
- Identify the correct ghost type
- Complete all three objectives
- Collect the bone
- Fill the journal with 10 three-star photos of any kind
How to identify the correct ghost type in Phasmophobia
To figure out what kind of ghost you’re dealing with, you’ll need to correctly identify all three pieces of evidence and mark them in your journal. This is essentially the overarching goal of Phasmophobia itself, so how you go about this process is entirely up to you.
I’d recommend starting your investigation by tracking down the ghost room and setting up all the stationary equipment, like the Ghost Writing book, cameras, and the DOTS Projector there. From here, you’ll basically want to work your way through every piece of equipment until you obtain three pieces of evidence from the ghost.
I usually start with the thermometer, some motion sensors, and a few sound sensors to figure out where the ghost is located. Once I’ve found the room, I bring a couple of cameras, a DOTS Projector, a Ghost Writing book, and both Crucifixes there.
After the stationary equipment is in place, I move on to testing the Spirit Box, EMF Reader, and Ultraviolet. These are pretty finicky and usually take a few tries, so you’ll want to ensure you’ve thoroughly tested all of them before you decide to mark them off.
Throughout the investigation, I check the temperature regularly to see if it dips below freezing since it oftentimes takes the temperature a while to adjust. I make trips back to the truck as needed for Sanity Medication and to watch the cameras for Ghost Orbs and DOTS.
It’s also helpful to review your evidence once you’ve gotten two pieces as you can usually then rule at least one other evidence type out.
In a regular investigation, determining the ghost type should be fairly doable as long as you methodically and strategically use the equipment and watch your surroundings. But if you’re tackling a weekly challenge like The Apocalypse Draws Near or No Evidence while also trying to get a perfect investigation, it’s going to become a lot more difficult.
How to complete all objectives in Phasmophobia
Every contract you tackle in Phasmophobia will give you three objectives to complete and you’ll have to complete all three to achieve the perfect investigation bonus.
Here are all the possible objectives you might obtain in Phasmophobia, what you need to do to complete them, and some tips to make the process easier.
| Objective | Task | Tips |
| Discover the ghost type. | Successfully finish an investigation and correctly identify what kind of ghost you were dealing with. | This is always your primary goal and should be the main focus of your investigation, so prioritize this one above the rest. |
| Capture a photo of the ghost. | Use a Photo Camera to take a photo with the ghost in it. | Use a Summoning Circle to temporarily capture the ghost or try and catch it on the DOTS Projector. |
| Cleanse the area near the ghost using Smudge Sticks. | Use any Igniter to light a Smudge Stick when you’re close to the ghost. | Usually, you can just smudge the ghost room and this will check off as complete. |
| Detect a ghost’s presence with a Motion Sensor. | Place a Motion Sensor and have it be triggered by the ghost. | Place the Motion Sensor in the ghost’s favorite room. |
| Get an average sanity below 25 percent. | Have the average sanity level of the entire lobby average 25 percent. | Interact with Cursed Possessions or stand in the dark for a long time to rapidly lower your sanity. |
| Get the ghost to blow out a Candle. | Place a lit Candle in the investigation area and have a ghost blow it out. | Place a Candle in the ghost’s favorite room. |
| Detect a paranormal sound with a Parabolic Microphone. | Use any level of Parabolic Microphone to pick up a paranormal sound. | If you’re struggling to get any paranormal sounds, try wandering around the map or using it specifically in the ghost room. |
| Prevent the ghost from hunting with a Crucifix. | Have a Crucifix be burned by the ghost as it tries to initiate a hunt. | Place both Crucifixes down in the area where the ghost is spawning. It is much easier to repel a hunt this way than trying to do so by holding one. |
| Find evidence of paranormal activity with an EMF Reader. | Use any level of EMF Reader to detect an EMF reading of level two or higher. | EMF is one of the trickiest types of evidence to gather, so try to use the reader when you notice the ghost interacting with the environment. You can also just leave the EMF Reader on in a room and it will pick up evidence even when you’re not around. |
| Repel the ghost with a Smudge Stick while it’s chasing someone. | Use a Smudge Stick to deter a ghost who is actively chasing another player. | Purposefully try to trigger a hunt and have one player ready with a Smudge Stick to temporarily deter it. |
| Have a member of the team escape the ghost during a ghost hunt. | Have a player within the sights of a ghost who then successfully evades being killed during a hunt. | Have another player ready to quickly Smudge the ghost after luring it into chasing a teammate. |
| Have a member of your team witness a ghost event. | Experience a ghost event like singing, a light shattering, or an airball moving toward you. | Ghost events become more likely as your sanity lowers, so try to lower it if you can. Cursed Possessions can be used to lower sanity and some of them can help trigger ghost events. |
How to collect the bone in Phasmophobia
Every map you load into will have a bone placed somewhere around it regardless of the size and difficulty of your session. This bone spawns randomly anywhere around the map, so all you can do to complete this objective is do your best to scour the entire map for it.
When I’m on the hunt for the bone, I tend to keep staring at the ground as I work my way through each room. I have never found the bone anywhere other than the floor of each map, although it can also rarely spawn on top of some furniture.
How to take three-star photos in Phasmophobia
Taking three-star photos requires you to be within very close proximity to either the ghost or certain special objects. The rating of a photo is determined based on how close you are to one of the subjects counting for it.
| Star Rating | Ghost distance | Everything else distance |
| Three-star | Less than four meters. | Less than 1.5 meters. |
| Two-star | Four to eight meters. | 1.5 to 4.5 meters. |
| One-star | Eight meters or more. | 4.5 to eight meters. |
To obtain a three-star photo, you can take a picture of:
- The ghost
- A bone
- A burned Crucifix
- Dirty water
- A Cursed Possession
- A dead body
- Salt that has been stepped in by the ghost
- Fingerprints
- Footprints
- Ghost Writing
- An interaction caused by the ghost (such as a rocking chair moving, a car alarm going off, a television turning on or off, and a mannequin moving)
Regardless of which subject you choose, only one rewardable photo will be counted on it, which means you’ll need to find 10 unique subjects to gain the perfect investigation bonus. This means you can’t take a picture of the same dirty water multiple times for a star rating, but if you do find another body of dirty water, an additional photo can then be taken to count toward the objective.
Once you’ve successfully completed all of the requirements to achieve a perfect investigation, you can safely retreat to the truck and take off to rake in a massive amount of money and the satisfaction of completing one of the tougher challenges in Phasmophobia.
