How to identify a Banshee in Phasmophobia

Listen for some screaming and singing.

A ghost trapped in a Summoning Circle while the player holds a Crucifix.
Screenshot by Dot Esports

One of the most unique ghosts you’ll face in Phasmophobia is the Banshee, a highly vocal ghost you can oftentimes identify without any official evidence.

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If you suspect the ghost you’re dealing with could be a Banshee, you want to be cautious since this ghost has some very dangerous behaviors. Because of this, you need to know how to identify a Banshee in Phasmophobia.

Banshee Phasmophobia evidence

The Banshee has three different types of evidence for you to find: Ultraviolet, Ghost Orbs, and DOTS Projector. If the ghost is a Banshee, you will only find these kinds of evidence in Phasmophobia, which means any other ones you spot can be used to rule out this ghost entirely.

EvidenceHow to obtain evidence
UltravioletUltraviolet evidence is caught using any type of UV Light. To uncover this evidence, the ghost needs to touch a surface and leave behind fingerprints or walk in Salt to leave footprints. The best way to get this evidence is to check doors for fingerprints as soon as you see them move, look at light switches if the ghost turns one on or off, or look near Salt piles immediately after a ghost steps in them. Using Salt to find Ultraviolet is one of the best tricks in Phasmophobia for spotting this evidence.
Ghost OrbsTo detect Ghost Orbs, you need to look through some kind of live feed since they are never visible otherwise. This feed can be a Video Camera you placed down or are holding, the video feed in the truck, or a live feed from another player using Tier I Head Gear.
DOTS ProjectorDOTS evidence can be caught in person or through a video feed for all ghosts except the Goryo, which can only be seen on DOTS with a Video Camera. To catch this evidence, an active DOTS Projector needs to be placed. At any time afterward, the ghost might manifest as a full shape that moves through the projector.

If Ghost Orbs end up being the first piece of evidence you find, remember to keep The Mimic in mind even if you think you’re dealing with a Banshee. This trickster ghost can trip you up if you forget to check for it, so it’s always a good idea to prioritize trying to eliminate The Mimic as a possibility early on.

A Ghost Orb moving toward some DOTS.
Ghost Orbs can be easy to miss, so watch the feed carefully. Screenshot by Dot Esports. Remix by Kacee Fay

Banshee behavior, patterns, and clues in Phasmophobia

In addition to Banshee’s official evidence, this ghost also has an array of behaviors, patterns, and clues you can watch out for to help you identify one.

  • The Banshee is a stalker ghost who will choose one target and focus solely on them until that player is killed or leaves the game.
  • The Banshee’s target is randomly chosen at the start of each game.
  • Banshees perform singing ghost events more frequently than all other ghost types. These events will drop 15 percent sanity instead of the usual 10 percent when the ghost event is focused on the Banshee’s target, and the hunt target causes the Banshee to disappear early by going near it.
  • When the Banshee manifests on the DOTS Projector, it will always move toward its selected victim instead of the closest player.
  • The Banshee has a hunt sanity threshold of 50 percent.
  • This ghost only checks the sanity of the target victim when deciding to initiate a hunt, which means the rest of the team could be at 100 percent sanity, but as long as the target is low enough, a hunt may still occur.
  • During a hunt, the Banshee will be entirely focused on its chosen victim and will ignore all other players completely until the victim has been caught. This means it cannot kill any other player until the target victim is dead as long as the victim is inside the map.
  • If the Banshee roams, it has a 67 percent chance of roaming toward its selected victim.
Using a Parabolic Microphone in Phasmophobia.
Listening for sounds is a great way to catch a Banshee. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Banshee scream in Phasmophobia

The Banshee scream is a somewhat rare occurence you can use to definitely identify this ghost. There is a 33 percent chance of picking up the Banshee’s wail when you use a Parabolic Microphone.

You usually hear mostly whispers and footsteps using this tool, so the Banshee’s scream is extremely easy to identify when you do hear it. It’s a fairly long, drawn-out wail you just can’t miss since it sounds like nothing else you can detect on the Parabolic Microphone.

Author
Image of Kacee Fay
Kacee Fay
Staff Writer at Dot Esports covering new releases and a wide array of topics including Minecraft, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Phasmophobia, general gaming, streaming, and more. She has been avidly writing and gaming her whole life and now spends her time combining the two. Kacee graduated from San Diego State University in 2021 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and a Certificate in Creative Editing and Publishing. She then joined Dot Esports as a Freelance Writer in 2022 before transitioning to a Staff Writer in 2023. In her spare time, she enjoys buying more books than she can read, gaming alone or with friends, drinking too much tea, attending concerts, fangirling over movies and television, listening to music, and spending time with her family, friends, and pets, who are the most important parts of her world.