Hi, for most Sim gameplay, I prefer Sims 2/3, but one thing that I love about the Sims 4 is the more expanded occult gameplay. But I was thinking, I see a lot of love for Vampires and Werewolves, but not so much for Spellcasters. And I was curious why that is, what did Realm of Magic do that wasn't as interesting as Vampires or Werewolves? Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

I don't like it because theres just not same attention to detail like how Spoiler (Highlight to read)1. morphiate turns sim to random object you can't choose what object and they also seem able to escape this all on their own without you know having to be turned back human which is frustrating2. same about chillio its just less dependable freeze ray3. you can only inferniate 1-3 times then game blocks you and also sim who set the fire puts it out themselves autonomously as if it was not their intention4. no witch hat, no cloak no pointy shoesighsisn't that just the basics of looking witching5. no interesting magical objectssure theres like cauldrons but what else are you supposed to fill that magic hq with6. can't live in magic realmjust always sad when u can't live in magical place in magic pack7. no integration like say having spells to cure other occults or changing weather or whatever like sure you can be techy witch n do those things in other packs but also you know magic?8. kids are not involved in any way even though have you ever seen movie where theres magic and kids don't magic just asking sure its issue with vampires and werewolves n such too but i feel kids are less common theme with those so its tiny bit more understandable9. lack of unique animations / show magic style flair to the spellsits bit of a issue with all packs in ts4 that theres not much new animations but with magic mainly being redo of the scientist career and zap zap it takes away from the magical feeling of the pack10. curses are fun but why our spellcaster sims cannot curse other sims you know directly while we at it? 1. morphiate turns sim to random object you can't choose what object and they also seem able to escape this all on their own without you know having to be turned back human which is frustrating2. same about chillio its just less dependable freeze ray3. you can only inferniate 1-3 times then game blocks you and also sim who set the fire puts it out themselves autonomously as if it was not their intention4. no witch hat, no cloak no pointy shoesighsisn't that just the basics of looking witching5. no interesting magical objectssure theres like cauldrons but what else are you supposed to fill that magic hq with6. can't live in magic realmjust always sad when u can't live in magical place in magic pack7. no integration like say having spells to cure other occults or changing weather or whatever like sure you can be techy witch n do those things in other packs but also you know magic?8. kids are not involved in any way even though have you ever seen movie where theres magic and kids don't magic just asking sure its issue with vampires and werewolves n such too but i feel kids are less common theme with those so its tiny bit more understandable9. lack of unique animations / show magic style flair to the spellsits bit of a issue with all packs in ts4 that theres not much new animations but with magic mainly being redo of the scientist career and zap zap it takes away from the magical feeling of the pack10. curses are fun but why our spellcaster sims cannot curse other sims you know directly while we at it? but also its just that since its lifestate instead of skill you have to abandon all other occult characteristics to do magic which just tbh does not feel worth it when theres barely anything unique to lifestate itself

For me, they have so much potential. So much cross-pack compatibility could be there. They could be really powerful. But...I'll take a look at the previous games. The Sims Makin' Magic and The Sims 2 Apartment Life had a lot of unique spells. Some spells even gained some functions when you had DLC (You can cause rain or make the sun shine and butterflies appear with Seasons). I'll share some interesting spells from the previous games.Turning sims into toads (which could end badly in The Sims 1 if you had a dragon)Make an object to temporarily come alive (well, The Sims 4 has too much gnome statues to make a gnome NPC)Banishing someone (either make them disappear or create a hole under them to fall into)Turning a pet into a simUsing a spell to temporarily look like a monsterMaking a clone that goes to work/school for you!Imaginary friendsEasier magician tricksSpells that make socializing easier or harderSummoning a sim (I'd like to see a relationship drop when summoned at the wrong time)A spells that removes other spellsMakes a sim act weird to other sims (act like a chicken for example)Summon bees to attack simsResurrecting dead sims as a zombieFreezing time (it even has its own section in game tips!)Haunting curse (which kills the caster if it backfires)Pestilence CurseAbility to turn an object into something elseRain that makes non-witches dance uncontrollablyThe Sims 2 evil spells really were evil. Erasing memories, breaking up marriages...But the first two games had one requirement: spells require ingredients. In The Sims 2, you could just make it in cauldrons, but in The Sims 1, you really had to go out of your way to find them.The Sims 3 just had magical energy that went down. When it was in half, spells began to backfire. Witches can't cast spells without any of that energy.Yet, none of the games also doesn't force your sim to cast spells. Witches were the most noticeable in The Sims 2 (special idle animations, using brooms). In fact, in The Sims 1, if your sim casts a spell in front of non-magical sims, they'll get fined. I get a feeling that The Sims 4 is trying to re-create that secret magic theme, just without strict consequences.But my ideas for spellcaster improvements are like so:I agree, more magical outfits. Like that classical witch outfit. The one in Spooky Stuff is more of a Halloween costume after all!More consequences when sims witness your spellcaster casting spells. A relationship decrease when casting harmful spells, a relationship increase when casting beneficial spells. Reputation changes. Special spellcaster traits for those who cast a lot in public. For example (in spoilers):Spoiler (Highlight to read)Magician - Cast a lot of performative spells in front of sims. Sims expect your spellcaster to entertain them.Evil Spellcaster - Cast a lot of harmful spells and your sim finds less company around them. In addition, some sims may even run away from them or stronger and braver sims may even challenge them to a fight.Good Spellcaster - Cast a lot of beneficial spells and your sim has easier time building relationships. Some sims will go out of their way to find them to get help.Medium-like Spellcaster - Summon a lot of ghosts and your sim will get more mourners talking to them.Wise Spellcaster - Help sims and give a lot of advice and sims will ask a lot of advice from them, thus learning skills faster.Magician - Cast a lot of performative spells in front of sims. Sims expect your spellcaster to entertain them.Evil Spellcaster - Cast a lot of harmful spells and your sim finds less company around them. In addition, some sims may even run away from them or stronger and braver sims may even challenge them to a fight.Good Spellcaster - Cast a lot of beneficial spells and your sim has easier time building relationships. Some sims will go out of their way to find them to get help.Medium-like Spellcaster - Summon a lot of ghosts and your sim will get more mourners talking to them.Wise Spellcaster - Help sims and give a lot of advice and sims will ask a lot of advice from them, thus learning skills faster.More interactions with other occults and to help them or stop them.More spells and potions, list under the spoilers:Spoiler (Highlight to read)Spells to change the weather.Potions to turn and cure (vampires, werewolves etc).Potion that temporarily gives any sim Lunar Epiphany so they can learn werewolf secrets from booksSpells to control werewolf fury.Spell to disable vampire powers.Spells to disable mermaids' abilities (separate for good and bad abilities)Spell to make sims terrifiedSpells to affect the eco footprintSpells related to Cottage Living animals (send a bunny to fight sims)Spells to cause and cure illnessesetc.Spells to change the weather.Potions to turn and cure (vampires, werewolves etc).Potion that temporarily gives any sim Lunar Epiphany so they can learn werewolf secrets from booksSpells to control werewolf fury.Spell to disable vampire powers.Spells to disable mermaids' abilities (separate for good and bad abilities)Spell to make sims terrifiedSpells to affect the eco footprintSpells related to Cottage Living animals (send a bunny to fight sims)Spells to cause and cure illnessesetc.Anyway, that's what I have to share on this matter.

"Garfieldwxg55;d-1003397" wrote:Hi, for most Sim gameplay, I prefer Sims 2/3, but one thing that I love about the Sims 4 is the more expanded occult gameplay. But I was thinking, I see a lot of love for Vampires and Werewolves, but not so much for Spellcasters. And I was curious why that is, what did Realm of Magic do that wasn't as interesting as Vampires or Werewolves? Any feedback is greatly appreciated!I greatly enjoy spellcasters and they are my favourite occult. But this is mainly a thematical preference. When it comes to gameplay spellcasters have one huge disadvantage : they are overpowered. - It is way easier to become a spellcaster and it happens instantly without a waiting period like the other two in depth occults. - Vampires have weaknesses which are there constantly confronted with. Werewolves have temperaments that increase rage several times a day. Both vampires and werewolves get more weaknesses/temperaments as they level up. Spellcasters only have curses which only happen occasionally and can be easily removed with multiple methods. If you level them up you can even avoid curses altogether with the right perks. - On top of that the extremely powerful potion of plentiful needs is very cheap to make. - And then there is the copy pasto spell which allows you to duplicate things at will, including the potion you are handed out for free when you learn a recipe. The spell can also be used as a money cheat if you duplicate expensive items. - you can play a spellcaster and ignore their magical nature. Apart from the UI they behave like normal sims. For werewolves and vampires it is impossible to ignore their occult nature in the everyday gameplay. In short spellcasters are imbalanced and lack any form of challenge.They are my favourites none the less, closely followed by werewolves. But I impose rules on myself to make spellcasters more challenging. Spoiler (Highlight to read)1. Copypasto is only allowed for potion ingredients which can't be grown. Definitely not as a money maker 2. my spellcasters are not allowed to unlock all the perks. I let them specialise in one branch of magic and only for that branch they can get the perk for spells to be always successful. They can only unlock one of the linear perk lines above level 2 so they don't become overpowered. 3. I use a mod to lessen the effect of the potion of plentiful needs and make it require more ingredients. 1. Copypasto is only allowed for potion ingredients which can't be grown. Definitely not as a money maker 2. my spellcasters are not allowed to unlock all the perks. I let them specialise in one branch of magic and only for that branch they can get the perk for spells to be always successful. They can only unlock one of the linear perk lines above level 2 so they don't become overpowered. 3. I use a mod to lessen the effect of the potion of plentiful needs and make it require more ingredients.

Not sure how Spellcasters fare against Werewolves but in this poll from a few years ago Spellcasters beat out Vampires 54% to 45%.https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/966261/vampires-or-casters/p1Time for a Spellcaster, Vampire, Werewolf battle.

I absolutely love vampires and werewolves, but I don't feel that spellcasters are properly balanced. Things are too easy for them. I also find their spells a bit boring, they could be a lot more fun.

Why are Spellcasters not as well liked as Vampires/Werewolves?

43 Replies

DaWaterRat
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
I prefer spellcasters, myself. I like having the option to decide just how much the occult part impacts my Sim's life, unlike Vampires and Werewolves where you can't avoid it. But other people prefer that challenge, and I applaud them for it. I will agree that Spellcasters are overpowered and don't really have any meaningful weaknesses, and for some people that's boring.

(I've also never been a fan of playing Vampires in any system. Never saw the appeal of it. 90% is either play a monster, or play angsty that you have to do monstrous things, neither of which are stories I want to explore.)

I do think Spellcasters are more popular than the Forums might indicate. Forums always tend to amplify the voices of the vocal, making certain aspects of the game seem more preferred/desired than actual play would indicate (twitter likewise.)
Kimmer_one
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
I like both vampires and spellcasters, but vampires have always been my favorite occult characters. I've liked vampires in movies and TV series since childhood and they just fascinate me for some reason. Vampires game pack is well made in Sims 4, so it's naturally one of my favorite packs in general.
Spellcasters I like, but I wish they weren't called spellcasters. I always call them either witches or warlocks instead.
Werewolves don't interest me at all, but I like them in Sims 4. Werewolves pack surprised me positively, I didn't expect to like it as much as I do.
cyncie
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
I don’t think they’re that disliked. As others have said, the pack sold well and seems to be popular in polls. They’re definitely my favorite. I love the aesthetic of RoM and the Magic Realm. Vampires and Werewolves tend to be a darker occult by nature, being cursed predators, and all. I think the devs went with a lighter approach with RoM, which may or may not have been intentional. That might affect some folks view of the pack. Plus, the skill tree was not as complex as the other two packs.
Gamer_Cat24
Rising Scout
3 years ago
I think partly it is due to that we don't have as much as an in-depth tier for them.
Another thing I think it is because they tend to blend in with other Sims.
That said, a majority of my Sims are actually spell casters, and I purposely have them use wands, brooms, and familiars. I do that to bring them more into my game.
I also love werewolves and vampires, but there aren't as much yet in my game.
ptanderson98
3 years ago
Spellcasters are all very much the same. They didn't make any individual school of magic aspirations. You don't get to pick and choose abilities because it always forces you to have the previous before choosing the next. Curses are way too easy to get rid of. Spellcasters have beautiful CAS and BB and they're fun in a sandbox way so I can kind of design my own mages but I think there was a lot more they could do to flesh out the lore behind the gameplay to give us a guided journey.
PERAL01
3 years ago
Love the Wolvies, Spellcaster is very good in very limited numbers since they are a bit to strong, Vampires are far to nerfed
atreya33
Legend
3 years ago
"simgirl1010;c-18180614" wrote:
Not sure how Spellcasters fare against Werewolves but in this poll from a few years ago Spellcasters beat out Vampires 54% to 45%.

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/966261/vampires-or-casters/p1

Time for a Spellcaster, Vampire, Werewolf battle.

This discussion has got me wondering if spellcasters are really as little liked as the title suggest. I think a supernatural battle between the three main occuls is in order. So I created a poll to compare spellcasters, werewolves and vampires.
GrumpyGlowfish
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
Witches are my favourite supernatural creature, in The Sims and in general, BUT... there's still a lot of wasted potential here. Most of the spells and potions have effects that can already be achieved in the game by other means, without being a spellcaster. I mean, it's cool that I can magically clean up puddles and force annoying mosquito townies to leave, but if I had magic in real life, that would only be the beginning of what I'd do with it! This pack was an opportunity to go wild with magic, but it ended up being too tame.

I've come across the term "overpowered" in this thread, which I agree with in some regards (because they can use their powers all the time and don't have any meaningful weaknesses), but also disagree with in others. If anything, witches should be overpowered, but when I look at the things TS4 spellcasters are doing and compare it to what they could be doing, they actually feel underpowered to me. Of course, casting very powerful spells could come with powerful consequences to stop players from doing it all the time, and the pack tried this with the magic meter or whatever it's called, but it doesn't fill up fast enough, and I've never had a spellcaster get into trouble because of it during regular gameplay.

There's also an annoying lack of compatibility with other packs. You can't use magic to become famous, change the weather, clean up hair left by pets, or fight the mother plant. And why can't we stop time like in TS2? Granted, that would probably make spellcasters extremely overpowered, but so what? This is not a competition with other occults, it's about exploiting the full potential of every individual occult, and while vampires and werewolves have gotten that treatment for the most part, witches haven't.
mightyspritesims
Legend
3 years ago
I enjoy them, but compared to werewolves, spellcasters are too easy, too cheaty, no drawbacks to being a spellcaster, not dangerous enough either to themselves or to others.
OldeSimsFan
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
In the latest occult preference poll, as of a couple of minutes ago spellcasters had 31 votes, vampires 27, and werewolves only 19

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Why are Spellcasters not as well liked as Vampires/Werewolves?

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