How to complete the Vulnerable challenge in Phasmophobia

One of the many weekly challenge modes you might face in Phasmophobia is Vulnerable. This trial is all about taking away the usual protection you can use to fend off ghosts, which makes it a pretty difficult one to complete.

If you want to successfully finish this trial to claim some useful rewards, you have to work hard to do so. It’s a lot easier to tackle when you know what you’re in for, so here’s how to complete the Vulnerable challenge in Phasmophobia.

What is the Vulnerable challenge in Phasmophobia?

The Vulnerable challenge is one of Phasmophobia’s special trial modes. Whenever this challenge is active, you have a week to try and complete it so you can earn 5,000 experience and $5,000 cash. You also earn some additional experience and cash along the way depending on how many trials it takes to complete, so attempting this challenge is a great way to level up fast.

Vulnerable Phasmophobia challenge rules

The Vulnerable challenge has some special rules and modifiers that alter how the contract works in Phasmophobia while this trial is active. Here are all of the changes you need to know before attempting this trial yourself.

• The Vulnerable challenge has to be completed on 13 Willow Street.
• There is no grace period for setup.
• Your sanity starts at 100 percent.
• The Voodoo Doll spawns in the same spot every time and is the only Cursed Possession you can use in this challenge.
• There are no hiding spots around the map.
• All screens in the truck are on and working.
• The fuse box starts off and its location is displayed on the map.
• You’re missing Crucifixes, Sanity Medication, and Incense.
• The items you have to work with are all Tier I equipment.
  • Tier I: Head Gear, Igniter, Salt, Sound Sensor, Parabolic Microphone, Motion Sensor, EMF Reader, Spirit Box, Photo Camera, Thermometer, Firelight, Ghost Writing Book, UV Light, Flashlight, Video Camera, DOTS Projector, and Tripod.
• You only have two out of four Firelights. You have four of every other item that’s included in this challenge.

How to complete the Phasmophobia Vulnerable weekly challenge

To complete the Vulnerable challenge in Phasmophobia, you need to correctly figure out what ghost is present at 13 Willow Street in three different contracts. This is tough to do since this challenge takes away all the protective measures you can take against the ghost, but you can attempt it as many times as you need to during the week it’s active.

Phasmophobia Vulnerable challenge tips

Whether you’re a seasoned ghost hunter or just starting out, the Vulnerable challenge is a pretty daunting one to complete, so here are some tips to help you successfully finish it.

Play it safe

Since you don’t have any means of protecting yourself, you need to play it safe in this challenge. This means doing your best to keep the lights on, avoiding ghost events when you can, and generally not using the Voodoo Doll even though it might be tempting. All of this is essential because keeping your sanity high is crucial to surviving long enough to identify the ghost.

You also want to avoid hunts at all costs. Hunts can be helpful for figuring out what kind of ghost is present, but you can’t deter the ghost during a hunt without Incense and there also isn’t anywhere to run since this is the smallest map which means it’s best to avoid them entirely if you can.

Watch out for early hunters

Early hunters are going to ruin your day in this challenge if they catch you off guard, so be wary of being hunted sooner than you might expect. If you do get hunted early and you manage to survive, the good news is you can use this information to narrow down what kind of ghost is present since there are only a few ghosts that can hunt you before your sanity dips below the usual threshold.

Locate the ghost room as quickly as possible

There’s no way to increase your sanity after it goes down, which means it’s crucial you track down the ghost room as soon as you can. You ideally need to get in, identify the ghost, and get back to the truck with the correct ghost type marked before you get hunted.

You can search for the ghost room in a few different ways, but I always find that using a Thermometer to check the temperature is the most efficient way. I recommend bringing in both Thermometers right away and setting one down around the living room or kitchen before heading to turn on the fuse box.

The Tier I Thermometer takes a very long time to acclimate, and if you leave your extra one in the truck, you have to wait a while for it to adjust later on if you need it. It’s helpful to have a Thermometer in your hand and another one on the map to compare the temperatures of different rooms, check for a freezing temps reading, and track down where the ghost is.

Turn on the fuse box as soon as possible

To get an accurate temperature reading, you need to turn on the fuse box as fast as you can. The house will likely be freezing when you arrive, and the only way to determine if the temperature is one of the ghost’s evidence types is by warming the house up so you can accurately check for it.

The fuse box only has two different possible spawn locations since this is a very small map. It will always be in the garage or down in the basement. If it’s in the garage, it’s on the east wall. If it appears in the basement, it’s at the very end of the long hallway down there past both rooms you can enter.

Since it can always spawn in either spot, the first thing you should do is check both. Start at the garage since it’s closer to the front door then proceed down to the basement if it’s not there. Once the fuse box is on, you can begin investigating. It might take a bit for the house to warm up though, so consider checking the temperature of every room a few times to ensure you get a true reading.

Rally a ghost-hunting squad

Any challenge you want to tackle can be made easier if you assemble some friends to play with you, so this is one of the general best tips for Phasmophobia even beyond the Vulnerable challenge. There’s a matchmaking feature that lets you join other players’ lobbies or create your own, so even if you don’t know anyone else willing to get scared by ghosts, you can always team up with other players this way.

Having another player or a couple of players working with you means you won’t automatically lose if you end up dying and that you can help out from beyond the grave. This is especially useful in this trial since you have no way to stop a hunt from happening, which means there’s a decent chance you might get hunted even if you’re pretty careful. Because of this, try to complete this challenge with at least one other player helping you do so to drastically increase your odds of success.

Use the Voodoo Doll

If all else fails, you may want to try using the Voodoo Doll as a last resort. This should always be the last action you take rather than something you try early on since it’s highly dangerous and oftentimes leads to immediate death. I also only recommend trying this if you’re playing with friends so you still have a shot at guessing the ghost type even if you do get killed during a hunt.

You can find the Voodoo Doll in a white cabinet located in the northeast bedroom. From the front door, head directly towards the very back of the house. Once you reach the back wall, turn right into the bedroom and locate the big white cabinet up against the wall. Interact with one of the doors to swing it open and find the Voodoo Doll sitting on the ground inside.

Once you have the doll, you can use it to force the ghost into performing an action. Each time you do, your sanity decays by five percent, so be wary of how much you use it and be sure to check your sanity level in the truck between uses so you can try to avoid starting a hunt.

Try again

One of the best tips for passing this weekly trial mode is just to just keep trying until you get it done. Luck is a big factor in how easy or hard this challenge is, which means you might easily identify the ghost right away in one round but struggle and end up getting killed in another.

Always make sure you guess before you move on to try again since you might end up getting lucky and choosing the right ghost. I’ve accidentally gotten it right a few times in a few challenge modes by making an educated guess based on general ghost behaviors and the little information I did have. Because of this, it’s always a good idea to analyze what you do know so you can at least make a guess before you complete a contract.