Phasmophobia Tarot Cards: All 10 Effects Explained

Introduction

Will your next draw revive a fallen teammate or trigger an instant, deadly hunt? The tarot card deck is one of Phasmophobia's most powerful—and dangerous—cursed possessions. Mastering what each card does is the critical difference between a successful investigation and a complete team wipe.

The unpredictable nature of the tarot cards makes them a high-risk, high-reward tool for any ghost hunter. This guide eliminates the guesswork by explaining the exact effect of all 10 cards in the deck, from the life-saving High Priestess to the terrifying Hanged Man. Understanding these outcomes allows you to move from blind luck to calculated risk.

Let's explore what happens each time you dare to challenge fate and draw a card.

What Are Phasmophobia Tarot Cards?

The Tarot Cards are one of the seven "Cursed Possessions" you can find during a ghost investigation. It's crucial to understand that these are purely in-game items with specific mechanical effects and have no connection to real-world spiritual tarot readings. When you find a deck of tarot cards, you receive a set of 10 cards with randomized, high-impact outcomes that can either provide a significant advantage or create immediate peril.

A deck of tarot cards will spawn in one of several fixed locations on each map, just like other Cursed Possessions. Once a player picks up the deck, it is bound to them, meaning only they can draw from it until they either use all the cards or drop the deck for another player to use.

How to Use the Tarot Cards in Phasmophobia

Using the tarot cards is straightforward. While holding the deck, simply right-click to draw a card from the top. The card will reveal itself and immediately trigger its effect. You can draw cards one after another until the deck is empty. However, each draw is a gamble, as some cards offer game-changing benefits while others can trigger an instant, dangerous cursed hunt.

Because of this volatility, understanding what each card does is key to using the deck strategically rather than recklessly.

Phasmophobia All Tarot Cards Explained: A Complete Guide

Knowing the potential outcomes is the first step toward using the deck effectively. This complete guide breaks down what each of the 10 cards does, answering the critical question: what do the tarot cards do in Phasmophobia? Many of these cards, like The Sun and The Devil, are inspired by the powerful archetypes found in the [/tarot/major-arcana]. Each effect can dramatically alter the course of your investigation, for better or for worse.

The Sun

• Effect: Instantly restores your Sanity to 100%.
• Strategic Use: This is one of the best cards to draw. It's a free, instant Sanity refill, allowing your team to continue the investigation safely without needing Sanity Pills. It is most valuable on larger maps or during high-difficulty investigations where sanity drains quickly, and its benefit is maximized when your sanity is critically low.

The Moon

• Effect: Immediately drains your Sanity to 0%.
• Risk: Drawing this card puts you in extreme danger. At 0% Sanity, you become a prime target for a ghost hunt, and the ghost's activity will spike. If you draw this card, be prepared to use a smudge stick and find a hiding spot immediately.

The Tower

• Effect: Forces a ghost interaction. This can manifest as the ghost throwing an object, touching a door, interacting with a sink, or appearing for a brief moment.
• Strategic Use: This card is excellent for gathering evidence or completing objectives on command. If you need the ghost to perform an action for a photograph, trigger a DOTS sensor, or provide a sound, The Tower card can force it to happen.

The Wheel of Fortune

• Effect: This card has a dual outcome. When it burns green, you gain 25% Sanity. When it burns red, you lose 25% Sanity.
• Risk: The outcome is a coin flip. While a 25% Sanity gain is helpful, the loss can push you closer to the ghost's hunt threshold. It's a moderate gamble best taken when your sanity is not at a critical level.

The Devil

• Effect: Triggers a ghost event. The ghost will manifest near a player (not necessarily the one who drew the card) and move towards them. This is not a hunt and cannot kill you, but it is startling.
• Strategic Use: This can be useful for forcing a ghost photo or completing a "witness a ghost event" objective. However, its unpredictable nature makes it risky, as it can cause a significant sanity drain for any player who witnesses it.

The High Priestess

• Effect: Revives a random dead teammate at the location where they died. If no teammates are dead, the card holds its power and will revive the next player who dies.
• Strategic Use: This card is a powerful lifeline, especially in multiplayer sessions on larger maps where recovering a body is difficult. It essentially gives your team a second chance and can bring back a crucial player with key equipment.

The Hanged Man

• Effect: This is the most dangerous card in the deck. Drawing The Hanged Man will instantly kill you, no questions asked.
• Risk: There is no counterplay. If you draw this card, your investigation is over. It is a pure risk with no reward, making every pull from the tarot deck a true gamble with your life.

Death

• Effect: The Death card triggers a cursed hunt. The ghost will immediately begin a hunt from its current location, regardless of player Sanity levels.
• Strategic Use: There is no strategic benefit to drawing this card. It is a purely negative outcome that forces your team into a life-or-death situation. A cursed hunt has a shorter grace period before the ghost starts moving, so always have an escape route planned before drawing from the deck.

The Hermit

• Effect: Traps the ghost in its favorite room for one minute, preventing it from roaming or initiating a hunt outside that room.
• Strategic Use: This is an incredibly useful card for containment. It gives your team a full minute of safety to set up equipment in adjacent rooms, search for the bone, or reposition. It is especially effective against ghosts known for roaming, such as The Twins or a Phantom. If a hunt is already active, this card will not stop it.

The Fool

• Effect: This card appears to be another card before revealing its true nature as The Fool and having no effect. If drawn during a hunt, it will still masquerade as another card before fizzling out.
• Strategic Use: The Fool is a dud card. It wastes one of your 10 draws but carries no inherent risk or reward. It can, however, create a moment of false hope or panic before revealing itself, acting as a buffer between potentially game-changing outcomes.

Knowing these effects is only half the battle. To truly master the deck, you must understand the odds that govern each draw.

Risks and Probabilities of Tarot Cards

Using the tarot cards is a game of chance, but knowing the probabilities can help you make more informed decisions about when—and where—to take the risk. The deck always contains 10 cards, but the specific combination is randomized each time.

Card Spawn Probabilities

Not every card has an equal chance of appearing in your 10-card deck. Here are the approximate chances for each card type to be included in a deck:

• The Fool: 17%
• The Tower: 10%
• The Wheel of Fortune: 10%
• The Devil: 10%
• The Hermit: 10%
• The Sun: 5%
• The Moon: 5%
• Death: 10%
• The High Priestess: 2%
• The Hanged Man: 1%

Note: In multiplayer, The High Priestess has a 0% chance of spawning if all players are alive.

Managing the Risk of a Cursed Hunt

Three cards can directly lead to a dangerous situation that requires immediate action:

1. The Death Card: Guarantees a cursed hunt, which is more aggressive than a standard hunt.
2. The Hanged Man Card: Instantly kills the player who draws it.
3. The Moon Card: Drops Sanity to 0%, making a normal hunt highly likely to occur moments later.

To use the deck as safely as possible, follow these essential tips:

• Have an escape plan: Before drawing a single card, make sure you are near a known hiding spot or have a clear path to one.
• Carry defensive items: Keep a Smudge Stick and Lighter in your inventory. If you draw the Death card, you can immediately smudge the ghost to buy yourself a few precious seconds to hide.
• Draw in a safe location: Stand near the exit or a known hiding spot. Avoid drawing in the ghost room or a dead-end hallway where you can be easily trapped.
• Communicate with your team: Let your teammates know you are about to draw from the tarot cards so they can prepare for a potential hunt and be ready to assist or hide.

Conclusion

The Phasmophobia Tarot Cards introduce an element of high-stakes chance capable of turning an investigation on its head with a single draw. By understanding the distinct effects of each card—from the restorative Sun to the instantly fatal Hanged Man—players can transform the deck from a reckless gamble into a calculated strategic tool. Knowledge of the odds, combined with preparation for worst-case scenarios like a cursed hunt from the Death card, is essential for any ghost hunter bold enough to use them.

Looking ahead, the true mastery of cursed possessions lies not just in knowing what they do, but in deciding when to use them, a skill similar to interpreting complex spreads in a [/tarot/professional-reading/best-tarot-reading-near-me-local-psychic]. Whether you are desperately seeking evidence with The Tower or hoping for a second chance with The High Priestess, the tarot cards force a constant evaluation of risk versus reward. The next era of successful ghost hunting will belong to those who can not just adapt to chaos, but leverage it. The real question isn’t if you’ll draw a card—but how effectively you’ll manage the consequences to gain a competitive edge.