Sims 4: guide to Occult Sims (vampire, spellcaster, mermaid...)

The Sims 4 may have started its career in 2014 as a fairly ordinary life simulation, but twelve years and a pile of packs later, EA and Maxis have installed an entire supernatural menagerie in it. Thirsty vampires, robed spellcasters, Sulani mermaids, green aliens, growling werewolves, translucent ghosts: the occults are one of the richest springboards in the game. This guide reviews the six available states, how to access them, what powers characterize them, and what pitfalls to avoid.

An occult Sim doesn't replace a regular Sim: it keeps its traits, aspirations, and career, but gains a second progression bar, specific needs, and new interactions with the neighborhood.

Vampires: the pack that launched modern occults (2017)

Released in January 2017, The Sims 4 Vampires inaugurated the "occult game pack" format. It adds the gothic neighborhood of Forgotten Hollow and its master of the manor, Count Vladislaus Straud IV, aka Vlad, lord of the supernatural for 200 years.

How to become a vampire

Three ways: get bitten by a vampire friend via the "Offer the Dark Gift" interaction, drink a sip of alchemical Plasma Fruit Punch, or create a vampire directly in CAS. The "canon" method remains to seduce Vlad and let him convert you: free, thematic, but lengthy.

Powers, ranks, and weaknesses

Vampires progress through five ranks: Neophyte, Minor Vampire, Major Vampire, Master Vampire, Grand Master. Each rank-up grants points to spend on powers (vampiric strength, mind control, mist form, sun resistance, sire ability, hypnotic gaze…) and mandatory weaknesses (plasma thirst, sun burn, weakness to garlic, sleeping in a coffin…). The overriding constraint remains thirst: a poorly fed vampire will frenzy and attack its neighbors.

Instant transformation cheat

With testingcheats true, a Shift + click on the Sim opens the occult menu: "Become a Vampire" transforms them, "Become Human" cancels it. The full list (instant XP, power reset) can be found in our Sims 4 cheats guide.

The best power

After the first weekend, everyone agrees that Mind Control paired with Vampiric Charm is the best: convincing any neighbor to let you drink their plasma without angering them instantly solves the thirst problem and turns your villa into a consenting pantry.

Spellcasters and sorcerers: Glimmerbrook and the Magic Realm (2019)

The Realm of Magic pack, released in September 2019, introduces the small forest village of Glimmerbrook and its portal to a hidden realm where the Duo Hideaway, the informal school for spellcasters, stands.

How to become a spellcaster

Cross the shimmering blue portal at the edge of the Glimmerbrook woods, land in the Magic Realm, then befriend one of the three sages: Prudence Skye for Practical Magic, Simeon Silversweater for Mischief Magic, or Morgyn Ember for Untamed Magic. Once you're friends, ask them "Can I become a spellcaster?" — one ritual later, the Sim receives their wand. You can also select the occult type directly in CAS.

Charms, spells, and curses

Magic is divided into three schools:

• Practical Magic — useful for everyday life: cleaning, repairing, conjuring meals.
• Mischief Magic — offensive and social: influencing, putting a target to sleep, summoning a storm.
• Untamed Magic — spectacular but unstable: teleportation, transformation, weather control.

Each spell consumes magical charge. Overusing it makes the bar explode: the Sim enters overcharge and becomes subject to curses — sixteen exist, from simple bad breath to the much-feared "Return to Dust" which simply kills them.

Cheat and best spell

The cheat traits.equip_trait trait_Occult_WitchOccult instantly turns your Sim into a spellcaster without having to negotiate with the Sages. As for spells, standouts include Copy Paste-o (Practical Magic), which duplicates any object — the best Simoleon-making machine in the game — and the Ambrosia Foundation potion, which resurrects a ghost without going through the hardcore level 10 cooking route.

Tip: feeding your familiar well (bat, dragonling, raven…) and equipping a wand matching its school greatly reduces the failure rate and therefore the risk of curses.

Mermaids: aquatic life in Sulani (2019)

Island Living, released in June 2019, adds the Polynesian archipelago of Sulani and its aquatic occult, the mermaid (male: merman). It's the sunniest pack in the selection — and the only one where transformation feels almost natural.

How to become a mermaid

Head to the island of Mua Pel'Am then the Admiral's Wreckage cave. Explore the mural: after a few visits, a Mermaid's Kelp appears in your inventory. Eating it triggers the "Strange Feelings" state: the Sim has 24 hours to go swimming. Splash, the tail appears. Another route: the "Merman/Mermaid" option in CAS.

Powers and constraints

Mermaids talk to dolphins, summon storms on swimmers they dislike, seduce other Sims through a hypnotic song, rehydrate a plant with a kiss, and breathe underwater without limit. Two major safeguards: on dry land, the hydration meter (which replaces hygiene) drops faster than a bladder meter; and the "Kiss of the Deep" power can outright drown an unwanted target.

Cheat and best tip

Shift + click → "Become mermaid/merman" works without kelp. Our favorite tip: keep a giant aquarium or a small pool near the living room. A quick dip restores hydration in three seconds and avoids the classic exhausted mermaid falling asleep at a neighbor's house.

Aliens: planet Sixam and human abduction (2015)

The Get to Work pack, one of the very first in the franchise (April 2015), introduces a scientist career… and a hidden world: Sixam, the Aliens' home planet.

How to become an alien

Two options. Create an alien in CAS — black eyes and cyan skin are officially available choices — or, more roleplay-focused, climb the scientist career, build a rocket with a wormhole generator and land on Sixam to bond with one there. A well-timed romantic date can even result in an alien pregnancy à la Grey.

Powers and disguise

Aliens live surface life under human disguise — the aura of their emotion, however, betrays their true nature when they're especially happy or angry. Their signature interactions: probing ("Scare with Probe," very poorly regarded socially), memory wipe to reset a compromised relationship, telepathic transmission and communication with plants. They face no major constraint: it's the most "easygoing" occult to play day to day.

Cheat and best trait

Shift + click → "Become Alien" and there you are, cyan. The real strength remains Wipe Memory: after a failed dinner or a wrecked career, resetting a relationship removes the grudge and wipes away almost all the drama. A social Swiss Army knife.

Werewolves: Moonwood Mill, the pack and the fury (2022)

Released in June 2022, Werewolves is considered by the community to be one of the best-crafted occult packs. It adds the misty logging village of Moonwood Mill and its standoff between two rival packs.

How to become a werewolf

The canonical method: bond with a "Curse Bearer" werewolf and ask them for a "Cursed Bite," or provoke Greg, the pack's irritable lycanthrope hermit, until he bites you in a full-on fight. You can also ask him directly for "Greg's gift." A "Painful Bite" moodlet follows, which turns into "Wolf's Hunger" and then, a few hours later, full lycanthropy.

Packs, ranks and fury

Two clans structure local life: the Moonwood Collective, traditional and disciplined, and the Wildfangs, punk and rebellious. Each pack has its ranks — Moonwood Son, Packbrother, Prowler, Prime, up to Alpha — climbed by completing initiation rites. The central resource is fury: it rises with every stressful interaction and, once maxed out, forces an involuntary transformation. Full moon or not, a wolf at maximum fury becomes uncontrollable for several hours.

Cheat and best power

Shift + click → "Become Werewolf" installs lycanthropy and its ability tree. Our pick: Moon Calling, which drains another wolf's fury — essential in a lycanthrope family to keep the mother-in-law from wrecking the Christmas tree. The cherry on top, the "Tempered" abilities let you stay in hybrid form, with a wolf's strength and human hands.

Ghosts: death and ambrosia from the base game

It's often forgotten, but the first "occult" in The Sims 4 has been present since 2014 in the base game: the ghost. Any Sim who dies — drowning, fire, old age, hysterical laughter, mortification, fury… — becomes a ghost if you keep their urn or headstone on the lot.

Becoming a ghost and types of death

You have to die. This is the one case where the CAS route doesn't really exist. Each death gives a different hue: red for fire, blue for drowning, green for laughter, white for old age, purple for death by embarrassment…

Powers and constraints

Ghosts pass through walls, scare the living, haunt objects and retain their pre-mortem skills. They sleep poorly and eat little, but their energy recharges as soon as they escape their grave. The trade-off: they can only live in a household as long as their urn or grave is kept there.

Resurrecting with the Ambrosia Foundation

The top method remains the Ambrosia Foundation, a gourmet dish that requires:

• Level 10 Cooking, Fishing and Gardening;
• A Fruit of Life from a grafted Life Fruit Cutting;
• A Deathfish, caught in the graveyard pond between 12am and 4am during foggy weather;
• A Youth Potion and a Deathflower.

Served to the ghost, the dish instantly brings them back to life. Less RPG-like alternatives: the Book of Life, the wishing well from the Romantic Garden kit, or the Shift + click → "Resurrect" cheat.

Good to know: the Ambrosia dish also works as a youth potion. Served to a living Sim, it resets their age bar to the beginning of the current life stage — the game's true ultimate wealth is hiding in the freezer.

Which occult should you choose for your next playthrough?

Vampires remain the benchmark, with the deepest power tree and the most memorable antagonist (Vlad). Werewolves are the most mechanically accomplished occult thanks to the pack/fury duo. Spellcasters offer the best trolling potential thanks to curses and Copy-Paste-inator. Mermaids suit zen players who love the beach atmosphere. Aliens go unnoticed and have aged well for a 2015 pack. And ghosts, being free, are the ideal entry point. Nothing stops you from mixing them, of course: combos allow for an overloaded vampire-spellcaster or a werewolf mermaid who dives into their fur under the moonlight.

Going further in The Sims 4

Want to master your occult village even further? Check out our other Sims 4 guides: cheat codes, money, personality traits, aspirations, CAS, building and skills.