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The Sims 4: How to level up your skills quickly

The Sims 4: How to level up your skills quickly
Maria Baeta

Maria Baeta

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Skills have been a key feature since the first version of The Sims. They can help you climb the corporate ladder at work, or improve your grades in school. They can also help you to achieve your life aspirations. Up until The Sims 3, the only way to improve your skills was to use objects that were associated with them.

In The Sims 4, you’re still able to level up your skills using this method, but there are now more ways to do it with added variables that make it more fun.

Here, I’ll give you some tips that’ll make the task easier and more fun, giving you the smartest and most skilled Sim in your neighborhood.

The Sims’ skills

The Sims 4 features 19 skills that you can develop from adolescence until old age. Before I got into the tips, let’s have a look at the different skills your Sim can develop.

Skills from the The Sims 3 and its expansions

Charisma, Cooking, Fishing, Athletic, Gardening, Guitar, Handiness, Logic, Painting, Writing, Mixology, Piano, Violin

New skills in The Sims 4

Comedy, Gourmet Chef, Mischief, Programming, Rocket Science, Video Gaming

There are tons of different ways to start learning each of these skills, but what’s better is that there are now several different ways to improve them as well.

Take advantage of each character’s traits

Your character’s traits are closely linked to certain skills that can be improved. This makes it is easier to enhance your Sim by improving the skills related to its personality traits.

In the example shown below, you can see that this Sim is a music lover. That means she enjoys playing instruments more than other Sims, and doesn’t mind spending more time doing it, thereby raising her skill level. She’s also athletic, so make sure that she does a lot of exercise.

Help your Sim reach positive emotional states

One of the biggest new features in The Sims 4 is the new emotions your Sim can experience. Emotions affect many things in the game, including your ability to gain new skills. You should try to help your Sim reach a good emotional state to help him/her develop certain skills.

The emotional states “Inspired“, “Confident“, “Focused” or “Energized“, for example, gives your Sim a boost that will help them improve certain skills quicker.

In order for your Sim to achieve these emotional states, you need to pay attention to its whims, which are displayed in colored speech bubbles above their heads.

In the example below, I’ve been fulfilling the desires of this Sim up to the point where he wants to exercise, and has the “Energized” emotional state. This enables him to earn bonuses while performing physical activity and therefore raising his athletic skills quicker. This special feature is shown on the screen when the skill bar lights up.

Interact with other Sims

Interacting with other Sim will not only strengthen social relations, but it’s also an easy way to improve your skills.

Mischief, Comedy, Charisma or Gourmet Chef, among other skills, can all be improved by speaking or interacting with other Sims. When there’s a potential interaction that can improve a specific skill, it’ll show the icon that corresponds with that skill (eg. jester’s hat for “Mischief”). In the example below, my Sim is able to discuss fine cuisine, which improves the Gourmet Chef skill.

This new option means you can improve skills while doing other activities with other Sims, like eating or watching TV.

Get out the house

The community lots in The Sims 4 are also full of ways to level up your character’s skills.

If you go to a bar, for example, you’re more likely to be able to level up your Mixology skills. Also, if there happens to be a piano or a microphone around, you’ll be able to improve your Piano and Comedy skills, respectively.

Of course, all this can be done in the comfort of your home, although there are certain skills that level up faster if there are people around. This is the case for Mixology, which levels up much quicker when you practice in a bar full of thirsty Sims.

Invest in potions

Once you’ve accumulated a few satisfaction points, go to your Sim’s aspiration window and click on the “Rewards Store” (the gift icon). In this store, you can find several bonus items including potions that make your skills level up faster. These potions are a great investment, and I would definitely recommend buying them.

Sit back and enjoy your new skills

By leveling up your Sim’s skills, not only can you move up the work ladder, you’ll also be able to unlock many useful features in the game that can help you get money and bring success in your social relationships, among other things.

More about The Sims:

The Sims 4: Create A Sim demo

E3 2014: The Sims 4 are smarter, but with stranger personalities

The Sims 4, Watch Dogs, Titanfall and other big releases for 2014

Follow me on Twitter: @mariabaeta

Maria Baeta

Maria Baeta

My first computer was an Amstrad CPC 6128 and so began my love for gadgets. Besides tech and games I love music (I'm a singer in two bands of swing, jazz and blues), cinema (watching and writing about it), gastronomy (cooking... but above all eating!) and alternative fashion. Do you follow the cult of The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Great, I'm sure we can get along.

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