If you've been playing The Sims 4 for a while--and there's a decent chance you have, since it's been out for 11 years--playing as just a regular human sim might be a little bit boring at this point. Fortunately, there are plenty of non-human options, in the form of "occult" sims--you know, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and all that stuff. In The Sims 4, your sim can abandon the trappings of normal life and try out an entirely new state of being--so long as they know where to look to find one, that is.
But that's why we're here. We've gathered all the key details about each of the occult life states in The Sims 4--werewolves, vampires, mermaids, aliens, magic wielders, and ghosts--and assembled them below in a relatively short, sweet, and easy-to-digest way so you can get started investigating the stranger ways of life in Maxis' life sim.
Life as an occult sim in The Sims 4 is anything but normal.
Sims can also be born as any of the occult types--aside from ghosts, of course. The rules are the same for all occult varieties. With two parents of the same occult type, the offspring is guaranteed to also be one of them--two vampire parents equals a vampire baby. With one occult parent and one normal human sim as the other parent, there's a 50% chance of the baby also having that parent's occult life state.
If parents of two different occult types have a kid, like if a vampire hooked up with a werewolf, the child will have an even chance of being one of the two types. But it won't be both, as the Sims 4 doesn't natively support occult hybrids. But there are mods that can help with that.
Now, let's dive into the details for each specific occult type.
How to become a vampire
You can make your sim a vampire in Create-a-Sim, by having them become pals with a vampire and ask them to turn them.
What changes once your sim is a vampire
When your sim becomes a vampire, their energy and hunger needs are replaced by vampire energy and thirst, and they'll no longer have to use the toilet. Oh, and they'll never age. But it's not all positive, as vampires can die from sun exposure, they get sick if they eat food, and they constantly need to feed their thirst for blood, or they'll go feral and start attacking people randomly.
Vampires also have a unique skill chart that they can progress through by doing vampire things. Through the skill chart, they can become much more powerful and remove some of the downsides of vampirism, like vulnerability to sunlight, and they'll gain special powers as they improve themselves. But leveling up their vampire skills will require taking some negative perks as well.
Pros
The path of the vampire provides an alternate method to reach some of the lifetime aspiration rewards that would otherwise take much longer to earn, like removing the need to sleep or bathe. And vampirism has a major advantage over all other forms of immortality in The Sims 4, because there's a perk that deadens your sim's emotions so they don't get super depressed any time one of their distant relatives dies--which might be pretty often if your sim has lived a long time. And while the thirst is obnoxious, it's very easy to obtain plasma packs and fruit so you don't have to feed on other sims if you don't want to.
Cons
The downsides of being a vampire are well known: sunlight will kill them, garlic is poison, they can't sleep in a normal bed, and they have to drink blood all the time. Fortunately, you can mitigate most of the biggest negatives, but the fact that you must take several bad perks along with the good ones as you level up your vampire skills means being a vampire is never smooth sailing.
How to cure vampirism
Sims who have maxed out their Vampire Lore skill will be able to mix the Ultimate Vampire Cure using the mixology skill at any bar. They just have to drink it to return to normal.
How to become a werewolf
Make one in Create-a-Sim, or have a werewolf bite a sim and turn.
What changes once your sim is a werewolf
Your sim will become a werewolf, and will transform into its wolf form every full moon. They'll have a new gauge on the needs panel called Fury, which will increase regularly as a result of mood changes or doing werewolf activities--the more fury your werewolf sims have, the more animalistic their behavior will become. As part of this system, all werewolves in The Sims 4 have a temperament that dictates what sorts of things get them riled up.
Werewolves also have their own unique skill tree that will allow them to level up their abilities and dampen some of the downsides. In addition to the standard skill tree, werewolves can unlock six dormant abilities by doing specific activities. And, naturally, they can form wolf packs that run together--this social group is key to werewolf happiness, as they aren't loners like vampires.
Pros
Playing as a werewolf provides some pretty offbeat new options for how to play The Sims 4--one werewolf perk, for example, allows your sim to eat the furniture, and another allows you to quickly travel around by burrowing through the ground. And, like most occult types, once you've maxed out the skill tree, your sim can live forever. They'll still age, but they won't die from being old.
Cons
The Fury meter can be pretty obnoxious to keep under control in the early goings, as going into a rampage is really not great for your sim's social standing in the community. But werewolves don't have any mortal vulnerabilities like vampires do. Even so, this is the most esoteric of the occult states, making it the biggest departure from standard Sims 4 gameplay.
How to cure the werewolf condition
A sim can turn back into a regular person using the Lunar Epiphany dormant ability, which is unlocked by reading werewolf tomes.
How to become a spellcaster
Using Create-a-Sim, by asking for the Rite of Ascension from one of the sages in the Magic Realm, or by asking another spellcaster sim who is powerful enough.
What changes when your sim is a spellcaster
Spellcasters will unlock a unique skill tree that they can progress through by using any magical ability, but they'll also have to learn magic powers and alchemical recipes individually. Your sim can do this by practicing each of the three magic types to learn spells, or by experimenting with a cauldron to learn potion recipes. They'll also be able to use magic wands, which will enhance their powers.
However, using magic will also increase a new spellcaster charge meter--the higher that meter is, the more likely a spell will malfunction and might kill your sim.
Pros
Learning spells and potions will unlock all sorts of mundane abilities that will make your sim's life easier, like the ability to repair any broken object in an instant, or duplicate stuff. You could brew a Potion of Plentiful Needs, which fills all your sim's need meters, and then use the copypasto spell to dupe it until you have a lifetime supply of them for your entire extended family. Your sim can also brew a Potion of Immortality, which will prevent them from ever dying of old age, or use a spell to turn a ghost back into a living sim.
Cons
There are no downsides to becoming a spellcaster. Everything about this lifestate is an improvement.
How to get rid of your spellcaster status
You can take the Rite of Dissolution from any of the sages in the Magic Realm to remove your spellcaster status. If your sim then decides to become a spellcaster again later, their power will be at the same level as it was before, but you'll need to reassign the skill tree perks again.
How to become an alien
Sims cannot turn into aliens--they have to be made in Create-a-Sim, or born that way. But a sim can use a satellite to goad aliens into abducting them, which sometimes results in an alien pregnancy regardless of your sim's gender. Kids born as a result will always be aliens.
What's different when playing as an alien
Not much changes with the alien life state compared with the other occult types. Aliens can have blue or purple skin, and can disguise themselves as humans to avoid any awkwardness. There's no skill tree, per se, but aliens have unique abilities, like being able to transmute a metal or crystal into another kind of metal or crystal at random. They also have empathy skills that allow them to understand the feelings of any sim they speak to, and they can also copy their emotional state.
Pros
Essentially, playing as an alien sim is like playing as a normal sim but with a couple extra perks. So it's different, but not that different.
Cons
None
How to become a mermaid
Using Create-a-sim, being born that way, or by eating Mermadic Kelp that you can find in the world or purchase from the aspiration rewards for 500 points.
What changes when your sim is a mermaid
When a sim becomes a mermaid, they grow a tail. They can still turn back into their normal form with legs when on land, however. They'll also swap the hunger need for the unique hydration need--mermaids have to stay moist, or they will die.
Mermaids receive a number of inherent abilities, which deplete the hydration meter with each use--you'll need to be careful with them or else your sim will dry themselves out. They can sing various lullabies that inspire specific moods in the sims who hear them. They can talk to fish and dolphins, and they can do evil stuff too, like luring swimmers into the water and then pulling them under, potentially drowning them. They can also control the weather to a small degree.
Pros
If your sim lives in Sulani or another watery world, the mermaid's ability to swim much faster than a normal sim can be a huge boon, and the ability to talk to and become pals with fish is fun.
Cons
The hydration meter can be tougher to deal with if you don't live next to the ocean. While baths and showers do help, swimming in pools or using hot tubs (or anything else with chlorinated water) will actually dry your sim out more.
How to become a ghost
Die.
What changes when your sim becomes a ghost
Your sim will no longer be a corporeal being, and will instead become a glowing spirit. This unlocks the Ghost Mastery skill tree, which allows a sim not just to gain new ghostly abilities, but also to choose whether they become a good ghost or a dastardly one. Examples of the bad ghost abilities include haunting household objects, giving other sims nightmares, or cursing them with bad luck. On the friendly side of things, a ghost sim can replenish a living sim's needs, save the life of a sim who just died, or just bless them with good fortune.
Occult sims who died as a result of their weakness, like a vampire dying to sunlight, will retain their occult abilities in their ghost form.
Pros
Since they have no physical presence, ghosts can do a lot of random things normal sims can't, like walking through walls or even other sims--which makes them feel strange, but in a good way. Ghosts can also do jump scares for fun.
Cons
While a ghost can do most things a regular sim can, there are limits--a ghost can't have a kid, for one thing.
How to stop being a ghost
The ghost state is the only occult state that can be cured in multiple different ways. A ghost can be turned back into a living sim using a Book of Life written by an author sim, by cooking ambrosia, or by using the magic spell Dedeathify. A ghost can also pass on and be reincarnated as a new sim by swimming in the waters of Revenwood.
Source
But that's why we're here. We've gathered all the key details about each of the occult life states in The Sims 4--werewolves, vampires, mermaids, aliens, magic wielders, and ghosts--and assembled them below in a relatively short, sweet, and easy-to-digest way so you can get started investigating the stranger ways of life in Maxis' life sim.
Life as an occult sim in The Sims 4 is anything but normal.
How to create an occult sim by birth
Sims can also be born as any of the occult types--aside from ghosts, of course. The rules are the same for all occult varieties. With two parents of the same occult type, the offspring is guaranteed to also be one of them--two vampire parents equals a vampire baby. With one occult parent and one normal human sim as the other parent, there's a 50% chance of the baby also having that parent's occult life state.
If parents of two different occult types have a kid, like if a vampire hooked up with a werewolf, the child will have an even chance of being one of the two types. But it won't be both, as the Sims 4 doesn't natively support occult hybrids. But there are mods that can help with that.
Now, let's dive into the details for each specific occult type.
1. Vampire (Vampires DLC)
How to become a vampire
You can make your sim a vampire in Create-a-Sim, by having them become pals with a vampire and ask them to turn them.
What changes once your sim is a vampire
When your sim becomes a vampire, their energy and hunger needs are replaced by vampire energy and thirst, and they'll no longer have to use the toilet. Oh, and they'll never age. But it's not all positive, as vampires can die from sun exposure, they get sick if they eat food, and they constantly need to feed their thirst for blood, or they'll go feral and start attacking people randomly.
Vampires also have a unique skill chart that they can progress through by doing vampire things. Through the skill chart, they can become much more powerful and remove some of the downsides of vampirism, like vulnerability to sunlight, and they'll gain special powers as they improve themselves. But leveling up their vampire skills will require taking some negative perks as well.
Pros
The path of the vampire provides an alternate method to reach some of the lifetime aspiration rewards that would otherwise take much longer to earn, like removing the need to sleep or bathe. And vampirism has a major advantage over all other forms of immortality in The Sims 4, because there's a perk that deadens your sim's emotions so they don't get super depressed any time one of their distant relatives dies--which might be pretty often if your sim has lived a long time. And while the thirst is obnoxious, it's very easy to obtain plasma packs and fruit so you don't have to feed on other sims if you don't want to.
Cons
The downsides of being a vampire are well known: sunlight will kill them, garlic is poison, they can't sleep in a normal bed, and they have to drink blood all the time. Fortunately, you can mitigate most of the biggest negatives, but the fact that you must take several bad perks along with the good ones as you level up your vampire skills means being a vampire is never smooth sailing.
How to cure vampirism
Sims who have maxed out their Vampire Lore skill will be able to mix the Ultimate Vampire Cure using the mixology skill at any bar. They just have to drink it to return to normal.
2. Werewolf (Werewolves DLC)
How to become a werewolf
Make one in Create-a-Sim, or have a werewolf bite a sim and turn.
What changes once your sim is a werewolf
Your sim will become a werewolf, and will transform into its wolf form every full moon. They'll have a new gauge on the needs panel called Fury, which will increase regularly as a result of mood changes or doing werewolf activities--the more fury your werewolf sims have, the more animalistic their behavior will become. As part of this system, all werewolves in The Sims 4 have a temperament that dictates what sorts of things get them riled up.
Werewolves also have their own unique skill tree that will allow them to level up their abilities and dampen some of the downsides. In addition to the standard skill tree, werewolves can unlock six dormant abilities by doing specific activities. And, naturally, they can form wolf packs that run together--this social group is key to werewolf happiness, as they aren't loners like vampires.
Pros
Playing as a werewolf provides some pretty offbeat new options for how to play The Sims 4--one werewolf perk, for example, allows your sim to eat the furniture, and another allows you to quickly travel around by burrowing through the ground. And, like most occult types, once you've maxed out the skill tree, your sim can live forever. They'll still age, but they won't die from being old.
Cons
The Fury meter can be pretty obnoxious to keep under control in the early goings, as going into a rampage is really not great for your sim's social standing in the community. But werewolves don't have any mortal vulnerabilities like vampires do. Even so, this is the most esoteric of the occult states, making it the biggest departure from standard Sims 4 gameplay.
How to cure the werewolf condition
A sim can turn back into a regular person using the Lunar Epiphany dormant ability, which is unlocked by reading werewolf tomes.
3. Spellcaster (Realm of Magic DLC)
How to become a spellcaster
Using Create-a-Sim, by asking for the Rite of Ascension from one of the sages in the Magic Realm, or by asking another spellcaster sim who is powerful enough.
What changes when your sim is a spellcaster
Spellcasters will unlock a unique skill tree that they can progress through by using any magical ability, but they'll also have to learn magic powers and alchemical recipes individually. Your sim can do this by practicing each of the three magic types to learn spells, or by experimenting with a cauldron to learn potion recipes. They'll also be able to use magic wands, which will enhance their powers.
However, using magic will also increase a new spellcaster charge meter--the higher that meter is, the more likely a spell will malfunction and might kill your sim.
Pros
Learning spells and potions will unlock all sorts of mundane abilities that will make your sim's life easier, like the ability to repair any broken object in an instant, or duplicate stuff. You could brew a Potion of Plentiful Needs, which fills all your sim's need meters, and then use the copypasto spell to dupe it until you have a lifetime supply of them for your entire extended family. Your sim can also brew a Potion of Immortality, which will prevent them from ever dying of old age, or use a spell to turn a ghost back into a living sim.
Cons
There are no downsides to becoming a spellcaster. Everything about this lifestate is an improvement.
How to get rid of your spellcaster status
You can take the Rite of Dissolution from any of the sages in the Magic Realm to remove your spellcaster status. If your sim then decides to become a spellcaster again later, their power will be at the same level as it was before, but you'll need to reassign the skill tree perks again.
4. Alien (Get to Work DLC)
How to become an alien
Sims cannot turn into aliens--they have to be made in Create-a-Sim, or born that way. But a sim can use a satellite to goad aliens into abducting them, which sometimes results in an alien pregnancy regardless of your sim's gender. Kids born as a result will always be aliens.
What's different when playing as an alien
Not much changes with the alien life state compared with the other occult types. Aliens can have blue or purple skin, and can disguise themselves as humans to avoid any awkwardness. There's no skill tree, per se, but aliens have unique abilities, like being able to transmute a metal or crystal into another kind of metal or crystal at random. They also have empathy skills that allow them to understand the feelings of any sim they speak to, and they can also copy their emotional state.
Pros
Essentially, playing as an alien sim is like playing as a normal sim but with a couple extra perks. So it's different, but not that different.
Cons
None
5. Mermaid (Island Living DLC)
How to become a mermaid
Using Create-a-sim, being born that way, or by eating Mermadic Kelp that you can find in the world or purchase from the aspiration rewards for 500 points.
What changes when your sim is a mermaid
When a sim becomes a mermaid, they grow a tail. They can still turn back into their normal form with legs when on land, however. They'll also swap the hunger need for the unique hydration need--mermaids have to stay moist, or they will die.
Mermaids receive a number of inherent abilities, which deplete the hydration meter with each use--you'll need to be careful with them or else your sim will dry themselves out. They can sing various lullabies that inspire specific moods in the sims who hear them. They can talk to fish and dolphins, and they can do evil stuff too, like luring swimmers into the water and then pulling them under, potentially drowning them. They can also control the weather to a small degree.
Pros
If your sim lives in Sulani or another watery world, the mermaid's ability to swim much faster than a normal sim can be a huge boon, and the ability to talk to and become pals with fish is fun.
Cons
The hydration meter can be tougher to deal with if you don't live next to the ocean. While baths and showers do help, swimming in pools or using hot tubs (or anything else with chlorinated water) will actually dry your sim out more.
6. Ghost (Life & Death DLC)
How to become a ghost
Die.
What changes when your sim becomes a ghost
Your sim will no longer be a corporeal being, and will instead become a glowing spirit. This unlocks the Ghost Mastery skill tree, which allows a sim not just to gain new ghostly abilities, but also to choose whether they become a good ghost or a dastardly one. Examples of the bad ghost abilities include haunting household objects, giving other sims nightmares, or cursing them with bad luck. On the friendly side of things, a ghost sim can replenish a living sim's needs, save the life of a sim who just died, or just bless them with good fortune.
Occult sims who died as a result of their weakness, like a vampire dying to sunlight, will retain their occult abilities in their ghost form.
Pros
Since they have no physical presence, ghosts can do a lot of random things normal sims can't, like walking through walls or even other sims--which makes them feel strange, but in a good way. Ghosts can also do jump scares for fun.
Cons
While a ghost can do most things a regular sim can, there are limits--a ghost can't have a kid, for one thing.
How to stop being a ghost
The ghost state is the only occult state that can be cured in multiple different ways. A ghost can be turned back into a living sim using a Book of Life written by an author sim, by cooking ambrosia, or by using the magic spell Dedeathify. A ghost can also pass on and be reincarnated as a new sim by swimming in the waters of Revenwood.
Source