Carl's Sims 3 Guide - Skills, Traits, Careers, Rewards, and Lifetime Wishes for Ambitions and World Adventures

The Sims 3 Ambitions
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The Sims 3 Private Investigator in Ambitions

Traits, Types of Cases, and Helpful Information

By Branr and Carl Ratcliff

The Sims 3 Ambitions Private Investigator Career Guide - Introductory shot - a mid-level Investigator uniform and the frosted door

In this Career Guide, we'll Learn aboutThe Sims 3's Investigator Profession brought with theAmbitions expansion pack. Private Investigator is a mixed bag, offering a few different ways tomake money. There are a lot of different things to do in this job, and there's a lot of humor thrown in for good measure. If you're a power gamer and want a lot of money out of your Sim's employment, Investigator isn't for you. Note that there are no career opportunities for investigatorsper se, because cases take up that slot. However, cases do pop up from time to time.

Special thanks to Branr from ourSims 3 Forum for helping create this.

Skills and Traits for Private Investigators
Perceptive is the main trait for Investigator and enables the Pervasive Private EyeLTW to solve 35 cases, providing 30,000LTR Points. The wish is bugged as solving 35 cases will likely take longer than a Sim lifetime in a standard game. I suggest you pursue another wish. Enjoy Private Eye for what it is, and don't worry about the excessive requirements of the LTW.

Other traits to consider areGenius, because theLogic skill will rise faster,Computer Whiz to have more fun on the computer, and be better at hacking. They can also play chess to raise Logic. Relationship-type traits, such asCharismatic andFriendly can also come in handy, although cases don't require nearly as muchsocial skill as the adventures inWorld Adventures. Lastly, The Athletic (sheerstrength) or Disciplined (Martial Arts) traits can be helpful if you want to beat up Sims for information, rather than having to talk it out or bribe them.

Getting a Job as a P.I.
Starting the Investigator career is as simple as heading to thepolice station and clicking Join Investigator Profession. The starting weekly stipend is $275, paid Sundays at noon. You'll get a uniform and the ability to seek out cases.

The Sims 3 Investigator Job Levels
Job Title	Stipend	Unlock
Eavesdropper	$275	Caper Crusader Outfit
Small Claims Investigator	$340	Magnifying Glass (Snoop for Clues)
Wrongdoing Analyzer	$400	Professional's Frosted Door (just a special door)
Community Crime Solver	$525	Fingerprint Kit (Dust for Fingerprints)
Obscure Clue Summoner	$650	Flatfooted Investigation Specialist Outfit
Gumshoe	$850	Investigator's Case Board (office decoration)
Licensed Snoop	$1125	Sneak Ability (click ground)
Community Sleuth	$1475	Yomoshoto Evasion ($9500 car!)
Flatfooted Investigation Specialist	$1850	none
Private Eye	$2475	Private Eye Outfit

As you can see, there are a lot of unlocks for the Investigator career, more than any other in Ambitions. A couple are only cosmetic however, and the sneaking is just for fun. However, the Yomoshoto Evasion is an awesome reward!

You get the following honor awards for completing various objectives as an Investigator:

Investigator's Trophy of Honor: Solve 3 Cases
Investigator's Trophy of Heroism: Solve 3 Missing Sim Cases
Eagle-Eyed Eavesdropper Medallion: Solve the Great Jewel Heist Case
Medal of the Mindful: Solve the Rogue Cop Case
Investigator's Ribbon of Bravery: Solve the Fish Kid Case
Investigator's Key to the Town: Reach Level 10
Investigator's Keepsake: Solve 5 Cases as a Private Eye (Level 10)

Investigator Performance Metrics
Getting promoted as an Investigator is as simple as doing cases, conducting stakeouts and writing reports, doing low level police work, and raising the logic skill. Most of this will happen naturally. There's a minor disappointment in store for you as far as gaining new job levels: the reward for solving cases is stuck at $650,even with the Profession Simoleon Booster Reward. However, theOpportunistic LTR will double that amount, helping out quite a lot. Logic will raise the bar really quickly when you're around level 3 or 4 in the career, which can be useful for unlocking the variousrewards and uniforms.

Conducting Stakeouts and Writing Reports
Stakeouts are a big part of the Investigator Career. While they are used in solving cases, they can also be done independent of them. Head to a community lot, select the ground, and pick conduct stakeout. Stakeouts take about an hour and a half. I discovered that Sims will show up for your Sim to spy on them even at late hours. This will almost always result in being able towrite a police report. These can be written on a computer under the Investigator menu, and will give you $250. Writing them is quick, and both the stakeout and report being written will raise your job experience. It's possible to build up reports by conducting multiple stakeouts, then go home and write them all at once.

The Sims 3 Ambitions Private Investigator Career Guide - Get your Private Eye a Laptop. You can also see the Case Board in the background.

Buy a Laptop!
A laptop can be helpful for an investigator Sim. They can stop at places like the cafe and park to find a case, complete steps in cases, or even hack. Getting it upgraded to unbreakable is highly recommended.

Low Level Police Work
If you click the police station, your Investigator can do low level police work. Early on, this can be a good way to get job experience. However, it's not very profitable. Most settings will only earn you about $30 per hour. The best setting is Crank out Paperwork but it is a highly stressful thing and should only be done with maximum fun. Earnings from Crank out Paperwork only go to about $200 per hour and can only be done for four or five hours, even with theworkaholic trait.

Hack Information Database
An action that can be taken on a computer, this works just like regular hacking except can be done at any hour of day. It doesn't provide career experience, but it's a nice way to grab some quick money. Its profits are tied to your logic skill. Hacking isn't something your Sim will get much better at, and the most you can earn with max logic is about $4-500 per hour.

Solving Cases
Solving Cases is the primary way to gain experience and earn money as an Investigator. You'll earn $650 per case, or $1300 with the Opportunistic Lifetime Reward, which should be grabbed early on as it also doubles experience. You'll occasionally get objects andmoodlets for solving a case. Cases are much like adventures inWorld Adventures, and often don't require much interaction on your part. You can sometimes solve an entire case by using the map and clicking the investigator action buttons alone. Other cases are more complex, and involve a variety of activities. As you unlock items like the fingerprint dusting kit, and magnifying glass, new case types will be available.

Get Information from a Sim
Sometimes you'll need to question a Sim. You have multiple options for getting the info. You can buddy up to the Sim, which is helpful if you want to take a charismatic route, beat them up for information, good if your Investigator has spent time inAthletic and/orMartial Arts, or you can bribe them. Small bribes are helpful if the Sim is barely known, and may tip them toward paying you. Big bribes can handle it in one swoop, at $100 Simoleons. That means you lose out on some of the profit from the case, but with Opportunistic you'd still pocket a cool $1200.

Interview Sims
Sometimes you'll need to speak to three or so Sims about an issue. This doesn't require much friendship but it may be helpful to build a core base of friends to always succeed and make these types of cases go faster.

Dust for Fingerprints and Look for Clues
With the fingerprint kit and magnifying glass, sometimes you'll need to go to a lot and dust or look for clues. Both of these are pretty simple. Fingerprints may need to come off of multiple objects, while clues will have your Sim snooping about until they stumble upon something. These are generally the middle steps in a case.

The Sims 3 Ambitions Private Investigator Career Guide

Inspect Mail and Search Through Garbage
Your Sim will rummage through a target Sim's mail or garbage while on a case. Searching through garbage can turn up items much like the rummage command. Sometimes you will get something that will let you blackmail a Sim at that residence, and get money out of them. Know that they don't like that, of course, and will get angry with your Sim. If you have trouble completing the objective, it may be necessary tocheat to enable you to build on the lot to move the trash can or mailbox.

Breaking In
When you need access to a house for a case, sometimes you can break in. This will enable you to get access to the item you need to, say, dust for fingerprints. While there, you canCollect Items for "Evidence" by clicking an area of floor in the house. The Investigator will swipe something nearby, much like Sims with the kleptomaniac trait. This has a similar limitation of three items, so you can't completely clean someone out. That is, unless you keep a case open and keep returning every day. Be careful when doing this: don't steal an object you need to dust for fingerprints!

The Best Lifetime Reward for Investigators
P.I.'s need theOpportunistic reward most. It doubles experience and profit from solving cases, which count as career opportunities. Eye candy, never dull, attractive, and observant are all helpful for befriending Sims, helpful when you need to do interviews. The Profession Simoleon Booster reward doesn't do anything for a Private Eye but boost the stipend by 20%. Otherwise, opportunistic is all you need.

Closing Thoughts on Profit and Entertainment
Investigator is fun, but it would have been nice were the case rewards not fixed. It gives little incentive to push the Sim for excellence once they reach level 10. However, with hacking, stealing, police work, and stakeouts, there's a lot to do in this career. It's also worth a laugh the first time through as you read the hilarious and ridiculously paranoid descriptions for the cases.

As a money-maker, Investigator isn't that great. As you rise in the ranks, cases get more complex and you'll need to do more and more work for that $1300 check (youwill take opportunistic!). To a point, hacking might be the best option with the ability to regularly earn $400 per hour on average. This pales in comparison to other mediums for profit, but we're not always in this for the cash. Take investigator for what it is, a fun career that offers a new style of gameplay in town.

The Sims 3 Careers
Career Paths A-L	M-Z	Career Tips	Career Traits	Money Making	Part Time Jobs List
Real Estate	Acrobat	Acting/Director	Architect	Art Appraiser	Astronomer
Bot Arena	Business	Criminal	Culinary	Daycare	Firefighter
Fortune Teller	Ghost Hunter	Horseman	Inventor	Journalism	Law Enforcement
Lifeguard	Magician	Medical	Military	Music	Political
Private Investigator	Professional Sports	Science	Sculptor	Singer	Sports Agent
Stylist	Teacher	Video Game Developer

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Igor140 says...

i've put a lot of time into a lot of PI characters, and i've got some notes.

first off, in my simming experience, this is the second buggiest career/ job in the game... next to lifeguard (i have never gotten a single assignment across 4 lifeguard playthroughs).

so, a few things: stakeouts are EXTREMELY buggy... except in sunset valley. i have done a couple dozen stakeouts there, and only had one fail.

other neighborhoods are MUCH less successful. isla paradiso, for example, has a 0% chance of a successful stakeout. that's not a type: ZERO PERCENT. i have attempted close to 100 (37 that i have counted, and an estimated 50 before that), and exactly none of them ever worked. so any opportunity with a stakeout will most likely have to be forfeited. fortunately, there are enough opportunities that you can master the career without them.

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The Sims 3 Private Investigator in Ambitions

Traits, Types of Cases, and Helpful Information

By Branr and Carl Ratcliff

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