The Sims 4: Paranormal Stuff Pack offers a lot of new content compared to what was previously in the game. Apart from the usual selection of new clothes and furniture to decorate your homes, your sims can now become spiritual mediums or ghost hunters. With the new expansion, a freelancer career branch has been introduced — the paranormal investigator. In this guide, we'll tell you how to become one.
The freelancer career is a bit different from a traditional career in The Sims 4. There are no levels to grind — your sim simply joins an agency and receives contracts from them. A sim only gets paid after completing a contract. On the other hand, there are no working hours. Your character can take contracts whenever they want, the main thing is to complete them on time. Moreover, each freelancer career branch is associated with a specific skill. In the case of paranormal investigators — it's the new medium skill.
Joining the Federal Bureau of Spooky Investigations is a bit more complicated than just applying for a job. You'll need a Paranormal Investigator's license, which can be obtained in two ways.
First Method
Thanks to communicating with the new special NPC Guidry the Ghost, you'll learn that he was a paranormal investigator in life. He has maintained some of his old career connections even after death (which actually makes sense if you think about it).
Impress Guidry with your mastery of the medium skill, and he'll put in a good word for you — just tell him: I want to become a paranormal investigator, to immediately gain the opportunity to join the Federal Bureau of Spooky Investigations.
Second Method
If you don't want to get the license through Guidry, there's another way to become an investigator. Simply open the Rewards Store and scroll down until you reach the reward being sold for 3000 points. Here you will find the very license.
Either way, once you have the license, you can apply for the paranormal investigator career. You can do this by going to the Work tab on your sim's phone and selecting Find a Job. Remember, the paranormal investigator is a branch of the freelancer career. Therefore, you first need to join this category of workers. Then choose the Federal Bureau of Spooky Investigations when you are prompted to select an agency.
You will have to quit any other career, including as a freelancer. Technically, working freelance for more than one agency simultaneously is possible, just switch between agencies on the Work tab on your phone. However, this may lead to a reset of your job progress and, consequently, loss of the corresponding bonus payment.
Once your sim becomes a full member of the Federal Bureau of Spooky Investigations, you can receive contracts from them in two ways: either by checking the Work tab on the phone or by marking directly on the Career panel on the Simology bar. Unlike other freelance career directions, which include many available contracts changing daily and available depending on your sim's skill level, there are only three types of contracts for paranormal investigators. All of them are available from the start:
After deciding which contract you will undertake, click on it to add it to your sim's career panel. You can only have one active contract at a time. It can be canceled at any time, but this will affect your work. So, be careful when agreeing to something.
All contracts in the paranormal investigator career start at 9:30 PM. Unlike other freelance career branches, after the contract starts, you will be offered two options:
Freelancers in The Sims 4 typically work from home, but in this case, it is, for obvious reasons, impossible. If you decide to accompany your sim, you will instantly be transferred to a random residential lot elsewhere in your town. Then your sim has until 6:30 AM to fill the investigation meter and banish the ghosts. You can extend the timer once to give the investigator time until 8:30 AM, but no more.
There are a few things that contribute to filling the investigation meter:
The medium skill is fundamental and the most important for successful job completion for paranormal investigators, and it needs to be developed. Unlike most skills in The Sims 4, which reach level 10, the medium skill is capped at level 5. It can be developed by using the séance table introduced in the expansion. By the way, the crystal ball serves only as a decoration and does not affect the skill.
All interactions with the séance table help develop the skill. Different abilities become available at each level:
A separate ability is summoning Guidry, but it is not tied to skill level.
If you also have the game pack The Sims 4: Realm of Magic installed, spellcasters develop the medium skill slightly faster than other sims. Being in a focused emotional state also helps sims develop faster as paranormal investigators.
And that's everything you need to know about how to become a paranormal investigator in The Sims 4: Paranormal Stuff Pack.