Skills Guide
The Sims 4
The Sims 4 Guide
Skills Guide
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Whenever we interact with things, and make certain actions, we can learn skills in real life as we keep on practicing them. Does this apply to the Sims as well? Welcome to our Sims 4 Skills Guide! Here, we’ll be discussing about the different Skills that are available for your Sims including the different names that are available, as well as how they can level it up.
You might be wondering if there are benefits for improving skills. Not only does your Sim become proficient at what they do, they get bonus rewards once you maximize their skill level! In real life, we keep on practicing our skills in order to get better, and it’s similar to the Sims. So, let’s go ahead and learn more about this feature in the game.
Interacting with objects and doing actions are the basis of learning and leveling up skills. Doing these tasks repeatedly will bring up a meter that shows your progress on the lower right side of the screen. Of course, this takes time once your Sims begins doing this action. Since there are a lot of skills in the game, trying to learn them all will require you to keep on doing certain actions repeatedly.
Once you have done these a couple of times, you can eventually maximize their level. In doing so, you’ll actually be rewarded with bonuses as you have progressed through a certain skill. The effects can range from learning more social interactions, or gaining new options when doing a skill. This provides you with a better range of actions to choose from since it gives you more variety.
There are also books in the game that you can purchase which help leveling up skills. These are guides that provide you with knowledge as long as your Sims read them. Make sure that your Sims has unlocked a skill first before reading a book relating to it.
Another important thing is your Sim's current emotions. There are different moods that your Sims can experience which is why knowing how each mood works will be beneficial with your skill progression. If you aren’t familiar yet with a Sim’s emotions, you can check more about this through our following guide:
Sim Emotions Guide
We have compiled this list in alphabetical order, you can even view the ideal moods needed, as well as how to unlock and level them up. All skills listed will also show their rewards as you maximize their level.
Just like how a real toddler is, you need to guide them in order to develop their skills. Toddlers have 5 skills that you need to guide them with. Communication, Imagination, Movement, Potty, and Thinking. You can help them level up these skills by checking our list below.
Children: Toddlers will eventually grow up therefore you’ll need to help Children with developing further skills before they reach their way to adulthood. Here, you’ll be focusing on four skills which have been narrowed down to Creativity, Mental, Motor, and Social. These skills will then improve specific skills as your Sim reaches adulthood.
Having skills maxed out as children will be beneficial as they grow up since they will get rewards. You can help your child Sims with their skills by referring to the requirements below.
How to Cheat
Skills Cheats
With so many skills that are available in the game, you might want to get all of them in order to have a very talented Sim! You can focus on specific skill combinations, or you can even try to collect them all. This game provides you with a lot of options and you can complete them however you wish.
We hope that our Sims 4 Skills Guide has provided you with the basic information that you need. Since there are a lot of other skills available through expansions, we’ll have them updated as well in the future. Skills are a good way for you to develop your Sim’s capabilities as well as improve their aspirations. Don’t forget to check our other guides as well to help you out with your game. We have provided you with some links below that you can check out:
Careers Overview
How to make Money
You might be wondering if there are benefits for improving skills. Not only does your Sim become proficient at what they do, they get bonus rewards once you maximize their skill level! In real life, we keep on practicing our skills in order to get better, and it’s similar to the Sims. So, let’s go ahead and learn more about this feature in the game.
How are skills acquired?
Usually in real life, we learn skills by expressing interests on specific skill sets and we try them out. We then, repeat these tasks in order to improve them. Not all skills can be perfected at the same time though hence we need to keep on practicing. In the Sims 4 however, you learn skills by interacting with objects or doing certain actions first. Repeating these will then level up those corresponding skills! If only it was that easy in real life, right?
Sims 4 Learning Skills
Interacting with objects and doing actions are the basis of learning and leveling up skills. Doing these tasks repeatedly will bring up a meter that shows your progress on the lower right side of the screen. Of course, this takes time once your Sims begins doing this action. Since there are a lot of skills in the game, trying to learn them all will require you to keep on doing certain actions repeatedly.
Once you have done these a couple of times, you can eventually maximize their level. In doing so, you’ll actually be rewarded with bonuses as you have progressed through a certain skill. The effects can range from learning more social interactions, or gaining new options when doing a skill. This provides you with a better range of actions to choose from since it gives you more variety.
How do you learn skills faster?
Since skills require time for you to learn, and since they need to be done repeatedly, you might be thinking if there’s an efficient way of learning skills? If you have checked our Emotions guide, you may have learned that Sims have different moods that can help them progress with learning skills. For example, Inspired Sims can make Inspired paintings which helps in leveling up their skill level.There are also books in the game that you can purchase which help leveling up skills. These are guides that provide you with knowledge as long as your Sims read them. Make sure that your Sims has unlocked a skill first before reading a book relating to it.
Read Skill Books
Another important thing is your Sim's current emotions. There are different moods that your Sims can experience which is why knowing how each mood works will be beneficial with your skill progression. If you aren’t familiar yet with a Sim’s emotions, you can check more about this through our following guide:
Sim Emotions Guide
What skills are available in the game?
Now that you know how skills work in the game, you might be wondering which ones are available so far. In fact, there are a lot of skills that you can unlock in the game so it an be confusing to track them all. There are also different skills sets for your Sims depending on their stage of life, and there are also skills that you can only learn if you have certain expansions.Base Game Adult Skills
Since not all skills for adults are available, you can get access to specific skills with the base game. There are different ways of unlocking skills depending on the action or interaction that your Sim does. Here, we’ll be showing the Base skills that are available first since there already is a lot to choose from.We have compiled this list in alphabetical order, you can even view the ideal moods needed, as well as how to unlock and level them up. All skills listed will also show their rewards as you maximize their level.
| Skill Name | Ideal Mood | How to unlock and level up | Unlockables |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charisma | Happy, Confident | Use the Mirror, Interacting with Sims | Social Media interactions in the computer. |
| Comedy | Playful | Interact with other Sims using the Microphone Stand | Comedy Routines, Improvisation, Joke Socials |
| Cooking | Inspired | Cook with Fridge, Counter, Stove | New Recipes, Cooking Tricks, Moodlets |
| Fishing | Focused | Fishing, Reading about Fishing | Fishing with Bait, Catch better fish |
| Fitness | Energized | Working out with weight bench, punching bag, treadmill | New Workout Interactions, Workout Socials |
| Gardening | Focused | Interact with Plants, Planters, Seeds | Gardening Efficiency, Gardening Interactions, Socials |
| Gourmet Cooking | Inspired | Gourmet Cook with Fridge, Counter, Stove | New Recipes, Cooking Tricks, Moodlets |
| Guitar | Inspired | Play the Guitar | New Songs, New Interactions with Guitar, Write Songs, Serenade Sims |
| Handiness | Focused | Use Chessboard, Microscope, Telescope | New Interactions with science equipent, Observatory, Collectibles |
| Mischief | Angry, Confident, Happy | Interacting with Sims, Use Voodoo Doll | New Socials, New Interactions with Voodoo, Phone, and Computer |
| Mixology | Inspired | Use the Bar | New Drinks, Bar Drinks, Mixology Socials |
| Painting | Inspired | Use the Easel and start Painting | New Painting Options |
| Photography | Inspired | Take photos, upgrade euipment, use studio | Increase Picture Value, and Quality |
| Piano | Inspired | Play the Piano | New Songs, New Socials, Earn Money |
| Programming | Focused | Use programming in the computer | Create Programs and Apps, Hacking |
| Rocket Science | Focused | Use the rocket ship | New Rocket Ship Upgrades, Increase Build Speed |
| Video Gaming | Focused | Play video games in the computer | New Computer Interactions, New Video Gaming Socials |
| Violin | Inspired | Play the Violin | Play the Violin |
| Writing | Inspired | Use the computer and write | New Writing Interactions, Publish Books, Self-Publish Books |
Toddlers and Children Skills
Toddlers: You might wonder about toddlers in the Sims 4. Unlike adults, they need to learn some specific skills first before they grow up as children, and then adults. You need to help toddlers learn basic skills in their life in order for them to grow properly. When a toddler starts out, they can talk gibberish, have a hard time walking, and more.
Toddlers and Children (Credit: EA.com)
Just like how a real toddler is, you need to guide them in order to develop their skills. Toddlers have 5 skills that you need to guide them with. Communication, Imagination, Movement, Potty, and Thinking. You can help them level up these skills by checking our list below.
| Skill Name | Ideal Mood | How to unlock and level up | Unlockables |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communication | Happy | Talk to stuffed animals, Watch toddler videos on the tbalet | Learns to talk |
| Imagination | Playful | Play with toys and dolls, Read to your toddler, Draw Llama on the Tablet | Unlock more interactions |
| Movement | Energized | Walk or Wander around, Play BlickBlock Baby on the Tablet | Learns to walk |
| Potty | None | Use the potty | Learn to use the toilet |
| Thinking | Happy | Learn shapes with an adult, Play SimShape game on the tablet | Develops learning |
Children: Toddlers will eventually grow up therefore you’ll need to help Children with developing further skills before they reach their way to adulthood. Here, you’ll be focusing on four skills which have been narrowed down to Creativity, Mental, Motor, and Social. These skills will then improve specific skills as your Sim reaches adulthood.
Having skills maxed out as children will be beneficial as they grow up since they will get rewards. You can help your child Sims with their skills by referring to the requirements below.
| Skill Name | Ideal Mood | How to unlock and level up | Unlockables |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creativity | Focused | Use Activity Table, Play with the Dollhouse | Unlocks Piano, and Violin skills, Improves Painting once Adults |
| Mental | Focused | Play Chess, Use the Science Table | Unlock Fishing, Logic, Video Gaming skills, Improves Logic once Adults |
| Motor | Focused | Use Monkey Bars, Use Jungle Gym, Dance to Radio | Extra Moodlets, Improves Fitness once Adults |
| Social | Focused | Converse with others, Play with the Dollhouse, Talk to stuffed animals | Improves Charisma once Adults, Improves Mischief once Adults |
Learning Skills through Cheats
Since we can get busy with our lives, you may want to progress as fast as possible. So, are there cheats available for Skills? Thankfully, there are indeed ones that are available in the game through the Cheats console. We have created a guide on How to Cheat as well as the different Skills Cheats available if you want things faster. Please check our links below for more information:How to Cheat
Skills Cheats
With so many skills that are available in the game, you might want to get all of them in order to have a very talented Sim! You can focus on specific skill combinations, or you can even try to collect them all. This game provides you with a lot of options and you can complete them however you wish.
We hope that our Sims 4 Skills Guide has provided you with the basic information that you need. Since there are a lot of other skills available through expansions, we’ll have them updated as well in the future. Skills are a good way for you to develop your Sim’s capabilities as well as improve their aspirations. Don’t forget to check our other guides as well to help you out with your game. We have provided you with some links below that you can check out:
Careers Overview
How to make Money
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