Today is an absolutely incredible day to be a Ghosthead. The amazing asym game Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed dropped the 1.10.0 as a incredible surprise. The update includes two new ghost variants in the form of the Scolari Bros, new cosmetic gear, and most importantly, a balance update to Ghost and Buster gear! I, for one, am thrilled to be writing this. I never expected this game to get a balance patch, and I say this from the bottom of my heart: Thank you, Illfonic! I love this game, and I love when your team takes the time to update and care for it. I cannot thank you folks enough! I am beyond excited! That said, below are the changes (there are a ton) to the Ghosts and Ghostbuster gear. Enjoy!

Balance Changes

Hello all Ghosts and Ghostbusters! This is Community Manager Albert and Game Designer Jullian here to talk to you about the design intentions behind this patch. We’ve made quite a few changes to the overall balance of the game to make gameplay feel smoother, snappier, and more rewarding. Our intention behind this update is for both Ghosts and Busters to have a wider variety of tools and options to engage with each other.

Due to the amount of changes included in this patch, we will definitely be keeping a close eye on the overall balance of the game.

Please give us your feedback in our official Discord or on socials, we look forward to hearing from you!

Player Movement and Engagements

We’ve tweaked some numbers here with the intention to incentivize more direct engagements between Ghosts and Ghostbusters. These changes should give Busters a few more tools and a bit more time to catch up and lock down Ghosts, while still allowing for Ghosts to have a choice in the matter of engaging and disengaging.

Ghosts

General

Reduced speed burst duration after breaking a tether
Reduced the speed burst duration in order to incentivize Ghosts to use their speed burst for combat instead of only for escaping.
Reduced movement speed while possessing chairs

Chair possessables are plentiful in many of our maps and are generally located around many instances of themselves. This makes it very easy for Ghosts to quickly jump between chairs and clear large distances while charging energy. Rapid possession through chairs makes it difficult for Busters to directly engage with Ghosts. This strategy was too beneficial for Ghost players with no downsides.

We’ve reduced the movement speed of possessed chairs to give Busters more of a chance to engage with Ghosts in these scenarios, while still allowing Ghosts to have fun with this strategy.

Slightly decreased the difficulty of the Trap Escape QTE

There's already plenty of button mashing when playing as a Ghost. We’d like the trap escape QTEs to be a bit more accessible to newer players or players who may need a bit of help in mashing.

Buster Secondary Gadgets

Disruptor Pylon

Disruptor Pylons primarily became a tool for finding Rifts and did too good of a job at it. Due to the Disruptor Pylon’s ability to locate Rifts, this puts significant stress on the Ghost player. This went against our original design intentions of the Disruptor Pylon being a tool for locking down areas. To incentivize the original design intentions of the Disruptor Pylon, we've reduced its deployment time and removed the battery drain.

Disruptor Pylons no longer target possessables with Rifts hidden in them

We’ve made this change to give Ghosts a counterplay option against Disruptor Pylons. By moving Rifts into other non-artifact possessables, the Disruptor Pylon will no longer automatically target the possessable. The Disruptor Pylon will still target the possessable if the Ghost also possesses it. However, if that possessable is still within a Disruptor Pylon’s area of effect, the Ghost cannot extract the Rift until the Disruptor Pylon is haunted or destroyed.

Disruptor Pylons will continue to target artifacts even if the artifact does not contain a rift.
Reduced deployment time from 2.6 seconds to 2 seconds
Disruptor Pylon battery no longer passively depletes

Given the Ghost's ability to easily disable this gadget, we felt the depleting battery was unnecessary with the current changes. This change removes the gadget's demand to be monitored or forgotten by Busters and instead redirects focus toward more strategic Disruptor Pylon placement.

Ionizer Pods

Ghosts were easily able to avoid the Ionizer Pod between its travel time and activation, especially if the Ghost was already speed bursting away. This change will give the Ionizer Pods more of a chance to be deployed before the Ghost is out of range.

Reduced deployment time from .5 seconds to .2 seconds

Belt Gizmo

The Belt Gizmo was generally ignored by players due to players feeling like it lacked utility compared to other gadgets. This buff to the damage resistance from Scare Attacks will help incentivize the use of the Belt Gizmo for defensive players that want to keep themselves up and kicking longer against more aggressive Ghosts.

[NEW] Increased damage resistance from Scare Attacks

Ecto Goggles

We’d like to see some more use of the Ecto Goggles without overtuning it. This change should incentivize the use of Ecto Goggles and make them feel a bit more viable.

Removed movement speed debuff modifier

Ghosts

We noticed that Ghost players had a tendency to default back towards the Ectoplast Ghost Type due to their lower cooldowns, snappier feel, and smooth combos. The goal here was to enhance that sense of satisfying gameplay, uniqueness, and viability for all Ghost Types.

General

Swarm Minions

Swarm Minions are now more likely to attack multiple targets

Trap Minions

Increased health

Ghost Types

Ectoplast

Pokey

Ecto Torpedo

Reduced Cooldown from 12 seconds to 7 seconds
Reduced Slime damage
Reduced Environment damage

Ghouly

General

Ultimate: Fear Inferno
Reduced Fear Inferno’s cooldown from 200 seconds to 120 seconds
Reduced Fear Inferno Ecto cost
Reduced Fear Inferno startup time
Scare Attack
Reduced Scare Attack cooldown
Reduced Scare Attack Fear damage
Reduced Scare Attack distance
Slightly reduced Scare Attack cone angle

Drake

Possess Human

Now refunds a small amount of energy after successfully possessing a civilian
Slightly increased energy cost over time

Infernal

Darkness Orb

Slightly reduced detonation time
Slightly reduced health
Slightly reduced Slime damage

Wraith

Nightmare

Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 15 seconds
Slightly increased radius
Reduced maximum amount of objects haunted from 8 to 6
Slightly reduced startup time
Slightly reduced Fear damage
Slightly reduced Slime damage
Removed environmental damage

Bashers

General

Ultimate: Windmill

Reduced cooldown from 200 seconds to 120 seconds
Slightly increased attack and animation speed
Scare Attack
Slightly reduced cooldown
Reduced energy cost
increased/decreased attack speed

Lunk

Fist slam

Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 15 seconds
Significantly reduced environment damage

Gloom

Spectral Barrage

Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 20 seconds
Increased projectile speed

Squidler

Throw object

Increased projectile velocity
Reduced projectile size
Adjusted projectiles to better align with the center of the reticle

Howler

General

Ultimate: Sonic Pulse

Reduced cooldown from 230 seconds to 120 seconds
Reduced startup time from 3 seconds to 1.5 seconds

Scare Attack

Increased scare cone distance and range
Slightly reduced Slime damage

Shriek

Scream Wave

Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 15 seconds
Increased Fear damage
Increased Slime damage
Increased collider size
Slightly reduced startup time
Slightly increased width and range

Chomp

Mute Bubble

[NEW] Applies a small amount of Slime damage over time
Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 20 seconds
Slightly reduced Fear damage over time
Slightly reduced startup time
Reduced duration from 20 seconds to 12 seconds

Bramble

Floating Seeker

Slightly increased cooldown from 5 seconds to 7 seconds
Slightly increased energy cost
Slightly increased detection radius
Slightly reduced startup time
Reduced targeting delay

Poltergeist

General

Ultimate: Overcharge

Reduced cooldown from 190 seconds to 120 seconds
Slightly reduced startup time

Zappy

Zap Dash

Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 25 seconds

Toxie

Shock Pillar

[NEW] Shock Pillar pulses now reduce Buster Stamina with each hit
Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 20 seconds
Slightly increased Slime damage
Slightly reduced Fear damage
Slightly increased pulse speed
Slightly increased pulse height

Gnasher

Arc Cast

Increased Arc sweep size

Glutton

General

Consume

Slightly increased movement speed while consuming objects

Muncher

Splatter Shot

Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 20 seconds
Slightly reduced damage to objects
Slightly reduced Fear damage
Slightly reduced Slime damage

Hurl

Refuse Rockets

Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 20 seconds
Slightly reduced damage to objects
Slightly reduced Fear damage
Slightly reduced Slime damage
Slightly reduced AOE Slime damage

Spew

Hurlwind

Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 20 seconds
Slightly reduced startup time
Slightly increased barrage radius
Slightly reduced Fear damage
Slightly reduced Slime damage
Slightly reduced AOE Slime damage

Possessors

General

Ultimate: Possess Buster

[NEW] Now refunds energy when successfully possessing a civilian or buster
Slightly increased energy cost over time

Terror Sentinel

Arm Trap

Increased number of maximum traps from 3 to 5
Slightly increased Fear damage

Hellion

Hellion Charge

[NEW] Grants immunity to being tethered and Ionizer Pod fields after the initial warmup of the ability
Increased cooldown from 21 seconds to 25
Slightly reduced direct hit Slime damage

Scuttle

Malevolent Vortex

[NEW] Now spawns 3 smaller Vortexes
Reduced Vortex duration from 10 to 6 seconds
Slightly reduced direct hit Fear damage
Slightly reduced direct hit Slime damage
Reduced initial speed
Reduced max speed

Watchers

General

Ultimate: Bugout

[NEW] Possessing, spawning swarm minions, spawning trap minions, and using Ectovision no longer cancel invisibility granted after activating Bugout
Increased amount of Eye Torpedoes spawned from 12 to 15
Slightly reduced startup time
Slightly reduced initial targeting delay
Slightly reduced movement speed modifier
Reduced invisibility duration from 10 seconds to 8 seconds

Scare Attack

Reduced cooldown
Slightly reduced direct Slime damage
Slightly reduced direct Fear damage
Slightly reduced indirect Fear damage
Sneaky Eye Jab
Reduced cooldown from 3 seconds to 2 seconds

Bug-eye

Optical Flail

Adjusted energy consumption to cost a flat amount instead of a cost over time
Slightly increased Slime damage per hit

Peeky

Lookout

[NEW] Now applies a small amount of Fear damage over time while within the radius and line of sight of Lookouts

Overlord

General

Possessable Bomb

Reduced cooldown from 4 to 3

Samhain

Black Lightning

Reduced cooldown from 16 to 15

Darklock

PKE Shield

[NEW] Shield replenishes energy upon shield taking damage
Reduced cooldown from 35 seconds to 25 seconds
Reduced shield health

Gravebringer / Garraka

Dark Lance / Ice Lance

[NEW] Dark Lance and Ice Lance now splinter off into 3 separate projectiles after being thrown
Adjusted projectile to better align with the center of the reticle

Gear Changes

We wanted certain Buster Gear stats to have a more profound impact on gameplay. We also wanted to change up these stats to give players more options to play around with when designing their own loadouts.

Particle Thrower

Central Unit

Quantum Accelerator

Tether Creation Speed +15% → +10%
Stream Range modifier removed

Cryo Venter

Venting Efficiency +40% → +20%
Damage Output modifier removed

Heat Sink

Heat Resistance - +20% → +15%
Tether Creation Speed modifier removed

Stream Extender

[NEW] Firing Movement Speed -5%
Stream Range +30% → +20%
Tether Extend / Contract Speed +60% → +30%
Movement Speed modifier removed

Whip Pulsar

[NEW] Tether Health +10%
Movement Speed modifier removed

Nozzle

Sidewinder

[NEW] Firing Movement Speed +15%
Stream Control +20% → +10%
Tether Creation Speed -20% → -5%
Movement Speed modifier removed

Focused Tip

[NEW] Tether Extend/Contract Speed +10%
[NEW] Tether Creation Speed +5%
Stream Control +40% → +20%
Stream Range -10% → -5%

Breaker

Movement Speed modifier removed

Snub Nose

Movement Speed +15% → +10%
Recoil Control -45% → -25%
Stream Control -40% → -20%
Equip Speed modifier removed

Grip

Vertical Foregrip

Movement Speed modifier removed

Horizontal Grip

Mantle Speed modifier removed
Grip Taped Handles
Stream Control +25% → +15%

Dual Vertical Grips

[NEW] Sprint to Action Speed -25%
[NEW] Firing Movement Speed -5%
Landing Recovery modifier removed
Recoil Control modifier removed
Movement Speed modifier removed

Side Component

Containment Monitor

Equip Speed modifier removed
Stream control modifier removed

Stream Amplifier

[NEW] Stream Control -10%
Damage Output +40% → +20%
Tether Creation Speed -20% → +5%
Venting Efficiency modifier removed
Movement Speed modifier removed

Ionic Reverser

[NEW] Tether Health +10%

Particle Thruster

[NEW] Firing Movement Speed -15%
Tether Creation Speed modifier removed
Movement Speed modifier removed
(Active) PT Mode - Heat Resistance -65% → -30%
(Active) PT Mode - Tether Health removed

Top Attachment

Active Heat Isolator

[NEW] Tether Health +5%
Heat Resistance +25% → +20%
Stream Control -25% → -15%

Neural Frequency Emitter

Civilian Conversation Distance +30% → +50%

Proton Pack

Injection Booster

Energy Isolator

Damage Output +5% → +15%
Tether Health modifier removed

Efficiency Optimizer

[NEW] Firing Movement Speed -5%
Tether Creation Speed -10% → -5%
Movement Speed modifier removed

Centrifugal Thruster

Sprint Boost +80% → +60%
Venting Efficiency -15% → -25%

Generator

Cyclical Exhaust Port

Movement Speed modifier removed

Lightweight Module

Self Revive Speed modifier removed

Governor Release

[NEW] Tether Creation Speed +5%
Venting Efficiency modifier removed

Cyclotron

Enhanced Regulator

[NEW] Heat Resistance +10%
Overheat Cooldown Speed modifier removed
Self-Revive Speed modifier removed
Movement Speed modifier removed

PKE Meter

Arms

Pure Selenium

Ghost Stun Time +30% → +40%
Reboot Speed -10% → -5%
Movement speed modifier removed

Ecto Zapper

Reboot Speed -10% → -5%
Pulse Range modifier removed

Handle

Wielder Grip

Equip Speed -20% → -50%
Movement Speed modifier removed

Attachment

Pulse Booster Bypass

Ghost Stun Time modifier removed
Movement Speed modifier removed

Outboard Chipset

Equip Speed modifier removed

Ghost Trap

Inner Mechanism

Supercharger

Trap Pull Strength +60% → +20%

Pedal

Seismic Proximity Pedal

Battery Efficiency modifier removed

Changes and Improvements

General

Fixed an issue where Nintendo Switch users could become stuck inside Ray's Occult Shop after exiting the Ghost tutorial
Fixed an issue where a Rift's health regeneration VFX would appear after the Rift was hidden

Ghosts

Fixed an issue where Watchers would not appear in Ghost Bounties

Busters

Fixed an issue where the "Modern Age" Particle Thrower Shell could appear very dark under certain lighting conditions

Fixed an issue where the XP reward prompt would not appear when completing the "Cracked" Particle Thrower/Proton Pack Shell research contracts
Fixed an issue where the Gear Cart menu could persist during the match outro cinematic
Added VFX for the RGB PKE Meter while Buster is slimed