Below are all of the attributes and abilities of the different ghost types for identification in Nightmare mode or any custom mode with less than 3 evidence. Let me know if I missed anything:
Required evidence (Certain ghosts will NEVER hide certain evidences in Nightmare mode. Cross out these ghosts if they do not present this evidence. DOES NOT APPLY TO NO EVIDENCE RUNS -except Mimic-)
- D.O.T.S – Goryo (However, no players may be near the projector and they can only be seen on camera.)
- Ghost Orbs – Mimic (The Mimic will always display orbs on top of the number of evidences your game is set to.)
- Freezing Temps – Hantu
- Fingerprints – Obake (However, an Obake will sometimes hide some of its fingerprints as part of its ability)
- Spirit Box – Moroi and Deogen
Forbidden (rule-out) behavior (Certain ghosts cannot perform certain actions. CROSS OUT THESE GHOSTS IF THEY DO ANY OF THE FOLLOWING.)
- Turning off the breaker – Jinn
- Turning on a light switch – Mare
- Performing an airball ghost event – Oni (This includes the rogue one that flies around Willow)
- Turning on the breaker – Hantu
- Showing UV footprints – Wraith
- Hunting from the same room as players – Shade (a bit buggy though)
- Showing D.O.T.S to the naked eye – Goryo
- Hunting within 4m of a still lit candle – Onryo
- Hunting within 5m of a crucifix – Demon
- Leaving a room within 90 seconds of being smudged – Yurei
- Performing an action that gives EMF 3 (throwing an item) while in the same room as a player – Shade (possibly unverified, but also see tips below)
Exclusive behavior (Certain actions can only be performed by certain ghosts -and The Mimic-)
- Showing EMF at the breaker without turning it off – Jinn
- Breathing heavily as a spirit box response – Deogen
- Interacting with 2 things in separate rooms within a split second – The Twins
- Hunting upon blowing out a candle – Onryo (But it must have blown out 3 flames in the case already)
- Teleporting (not roaming) to a player – Wraith (Presents EMF 2 at the player)
- Showing its own breath cloud while hunting in a freezing room – Hantu
- Disappearing when a valid ghost photo is taken – Phantom
- Showing a 6 fingered fingerprint or hiding SOME fingerprints – Obake
- Throwing objects very far – Poltergeist
- Throwing multiple objects from the same area at the same time – Poltergeist
- Has exclusive scream in the para mic – Banshee
- Closing a door completely from open pretty quickly and causing a sanity drain – Yurei (includes the front door, see tips below)
- Showing up as a shadow in the summoning circle or music box – Shade
- Showing an older age on the Ouija Board if you ask it “how old are you?” than it did earlier in the case – Thaye
- Hitting players with a ghost event causes a 20% sanity loss instead of 10% – Oni
Characteristic behavior (Behaviors that certain ghosts usually show, but cannot be seen as 100% proof)
- Extremely frequent physically manifested ghost events – Oni
- Extreme activity that progressively calms down the longer players have been near the ghost – Thaye
- Performs almost no actions while players are near it – Shade
- Rarely changes the ghost room – Goryo
- Wanders frequently, and usually to a player – Phantom or Banshee
- Strongly favors singing ghost events – Banshee
- Strongly favors shadow or clear ghost events and airball ghost events – Shade
- Turns off the breaker frequently – Hantu
- Turns off light switches frequently, more frequently does the light shattering ghost event, frequently moves away from lit rooms, and lowers activity in lit rooms – Mare
- Sometimes turns off light switches immediately after a player turns them on – Mare
- Frequently makes vocalizations or whispers in the para mic – Myling
Smudge stick and crucifix behavior (Certain ghosts react to smudge sticks differently. Normal smudge timer is 90 seconds)
- Ghost is staggered for 12 seconds instead of 6 – Moroi
- Ghost is able to hunt 60 seconds after smudging – Demon
- Ghost cannot hunt for 3 minutes after smudging – Spirit
- Ghost fails hunt within 5m of a crucifix – Demon
- Ghost fails hunt within 4m of a lit candle and will never burn a crucifix under a lit candle – Onryo
Hunt starting behavior (Certain ghosts hunt under different conditions and behave differently during hunts.)
- Starts normal hunting below 75% sanity – Thaye (if it has not been aged at all, sanity threshold lowers as ghost ages)
- Starts normal hunting below 70% sanity – Demon
- Starts normal hunting below 65% sanity – Raiju if electronics are near
- Starts normal hunting below 60% sanity – Mare if the lights are off
- Starts normal hunting below 50% sanity – Normal behavior
- Starts normal hunting below 40% sanity – Deogen (and Mare if the lights are on)
- Starts normal hunting below 35% sanity – Shade if no one is in the room with it
- Starts normal hunting below 15% sanity – Oldest Thaye phase
- Triggers a hunt at any sanity – Demon common ability
- Triggers a hunt below 80% sanity if someone is talking near it – Yokai
- Triggers a hunt at any sanity after blowing out a candle – Onryo (After the first 3 blow-outs and if there are no other lit candles within 3m)
- Triggers a hunt as soon as 25 seconds after the last ended – Normal behavior
- Triggers a hunt as soon as 20 seconds after the last ended – Demon
- Have hidden abilities that can make a hunt feel like it started early, but was actually caused by unnoticed sanity drains – Poltergeist, Jinn, Yurei, Oni and Moroi
- Starts normal hunting when one specific player is below 50% sanity, ignores average sanity across other players – Banshee
Hunting speed behavior
- Steps at ~115 BPM and speeds up when chasing a player – Normal behavior
- Steps at ~100 BPM or ~135 BPM and speeds up when chasing a player – The Twins (Slower on the main ghost, faster on the twin)
- Moves very fast when chasing a player from a distance as long as the breaker is on. Chases the player at normal speed (including gradual increase) when near player. Hunts at normal speed when not chasing a player. – Jinn
- Moves very fast in freezing areas and about walking speeds in warm areas. Speed does not increase when chasing players. – Hantu
- Moves very fast within range of electronic equipment and normal speed out of range – Raiju
- Moves very slow when not chasing a player and extremely fast when chasing a player – Revenant
- Speed starts extremely fast and becomes very slow depending on how long players have been near the ghost during the case. Speed does not increase when chasing players – Thaye
- Speed increases the lower the player(s) sanity is, speed DOES increase when chasing players – Moroi
- Speed starts extremely fast and becomes extremely slow when near players. Ghost always knows where players are hiding. Speed does not increase when chasing players. – Deogen
Exclusive hunting personality
- Ghost is unable to hear players or detect active electronics on players in a range greater than 2m – Yokai
- Ghost is quieter than other ghosts when hunting, often sounding like it is farther away than it actually is – Myling
- Can change hunting behavior between hunts (but not during) – The Mimic
- Targets a single player only and will not notice, chase, or kill any of the other players as long as the target is not outside the door or gate. Hunts like a normal ghost if the target is outside. – Banshee
- Visibly blinks slower during a hunt making it much harder to see than other ghosts – Phantom
- Visibly blinks faster during a hunt making it much easier to see than other ghosts – Oni and Deogen
- Throws items rapidly at a consistent rate as long as there are items in range while hunting – Poltergeist
Other tips
- Rule out two evidences – Ghosts in nightmare mode cannot hide more than one evidence so if you can rule out two evidences, you can mark off every ghost that requires both of those evidences together. Do this by checking (not crossing out) both evidences you know you don’t have, then crossing out all available ghosts.
- Rule out Ghost Writing – If a ghost has writing as evidence and is not hiding it, it will not throw a book that has not been written in first. If you can confirm that a book has been moved without writing, the ghost will not display writing during this mission.
- Consider averages – If you are dealing with a Mimic and stuck in a bad situation at the beginning of a hunt, you should still hide because the chances of it mimicking a Deogen are low. If a valid Banshee hunt test did not go as expected or resulted in a death, consider the average chances that a Banshee would have picked the players it did.
- Can’t find the bone? – Check the shelves and bins in the basements. Sometimes they spawn in those. Other times they spawn in unreachable places, so don’t feel bad if you still can’t find it.
- Think you saw a Yurei ability? – Other ghosts can on rare occasions close a door in a way that looks like a Yurei ability. Keep in mind that a Yurei door close should appear fully shut for at least a second before you hear the shutting sound. Also players that collide with a normal door touch may push it shut with their bodies and fool themselves into thinking the ghost shut it completely on its own. Finally, some ghosts, like the Twins, who can interact with things rapidly may double touch the door and cause a full close.
- Not sure if you have a shade? – I have heard mixed things about shades. They should not be able to perform any item throws while they occupy the same room as a player, but should still be able to touch doors, phones, and write in the ghost writing book. However, some people, including one of the developers, say that it should not be able to perform any interactions at all in the same room as a player. Your safest bet is to assume that the wiki is correct and that it cannot perform any EMF 3 interactions but to take it with a little grain of salt too. It can still bug. Also the ghost can roam out of the room but still throw things in a player occupied room by reaching through the wall.