The Tool Desk
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What you need to build Thanatology
Thanatology is part of The Sims 4 Life & Death Expansion Pack, which requires the base game. Teen, Young Adult, Adult, and Elder Sims can learn the skill. EA Help identifies it as a requirement for the Ghost Historian aspiration and the Reaper and Undertaker careers.
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The skill is one part of Life & Death’s broader life-and-afterlife systems. The expansion also features Bucket Lists, ghost Unfinished Business, wills, funerals, grief systems, and rebirth; those systems are not all Thanatology unlocks.
How to level up Thanatology
There is no single required route. Choose a method that fits what your Sim is already doing; EA does not publish comparative XP rates, so the documented options cannot be ranked by speed.
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- Wonder at treasures that have endured time’s passing, witnessing the comeand go of generations with ghastly grace.
- Build your Bucket List by collecting goals throughout your Sim’s life, startingas a Young Adult. Items will appear on your list based on your Sim’s traits andfamily relations, and you can also choose your own.
- Make death your life’s work with a career of reaping souls, helping Ghosts,dispersing hauntings, and more as a member of Grim’s team. Or, you couldbecome a Mortician and deal with death more from the perspective of theliving.
- The veil between life and death is thin in Ravenwood. Visit the countryside and perhaps take a swim by the mysterious face in the cliffs. Or, head into the village where you’ll find some odd goods forpurchase near the old Specter cemetery.
Build it through a career
Progress in either the Reaper or Undertaker career builds Thanatology. In the Undertaker career’s Mortician branch, having the skill also increases the frequency of career chance cards.
Use social interactions
- Inquire about Local Hauntings builds the skill.
- Inquire about Ghostly Self is available with ghost Sims and builds the skill.
- At level 3, Speak a Dead Language becomes available and also contributes to skill building.
Research on a computer
Choose Read Theories on, then select one of these subjects: The Boomsbluff Mystery House, The House of the Fallen Trees, The Mysterious Death of Robert Crumplebottom, or The Unknown Horse.
Rank #2
- An Endless Journey — Build your Bucket List by collecting goals throughout your Sim’s life, starting as a Young Adult.
- A Ghastly, Gorgeous Life — Make death your life’s work with a career as a member of Grim’s team.
- Goodbye (For Now) — Different Sims will grieve in different ways. There are 4 types that will tie in with both Sims’ personalities and their relationships with the deceased.
- Friendly or Fiendish? — Linger on as a Ghost and spend your afterlife helping or terrorizing the living.
- A Town Worth Haunting — The veil between life and death is thin in Ravenwood, a three-neighborhood town.
Read Thanatology books or look up deaths
Read the skill books from a bookcase or bookshelf. EA says reading is slower than the other methods. The bookshelf also offers Look up Historical Deaths.
- Thanatology Vol 1: Mortal Mortality
- Thanatology Vol 2: Handbook for the Recently Expired
- Thanatology Vol 3: Piercing the Veil
Attend a skill class with Discover University
If you own Discover University, use the phone’s Business app and select Sit in on Skill Class. The class costs §250, runs between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., and takes place as a rabbit hole. This route requires Discover University; it is not part of the Life & Death skill methods available to every player.
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- Make a Difference: Be the change you want to see in Evergreen Harbor
- Sustainable Living: Three words: reduce, reuse, recycle
- Collaborative Community: Your greatest resource is your community
- Change the World: Small steps lead to big change
- Upcycled Décor: One person’s trash is another’s lightly used furniture.Requires The Sims 4 & all game updates; See minimum system requirements for the pack, This product is a box with a code inside, The product doesn’t contain a disk (Code in a box)
Thanatology levels and unlocks
EA Help documents these rewards. The ladder below covers Thanatology skill rewards, not every feature in Life & Death.
| Level | Documented unlocks |
|---|---|
| 1 | Research Thanatology on a computer; buy Thanatology Vol 2: Handbook for the Recently Expired. |
| 2 | Unlock the next Thanatology book and purchase a voodoo doll by computer. EA notes that the doll would usually require Mischief level 3. |
| 3 | Use Speak a Dead Language and unlock more voodoo-doll abilities. |
| 4 | Discuss Deadly Enigmas with Grim; Undertaker Sims gain the ability to handle grief better. |
| 5 | Make Soul Soup and use Toy with Death on the voodoo doll. |
EA’s skill guide does not provide numeric XP thresholds or time-to-level estimates.
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- SIMLISH, THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE SIMS: Speak it, shout it, match it in a fast-paced, fun game that feels like a Simlish conversation gone delightfully off the rails
- MATCH AND COLLECT: Draw your Ya-Go-Bu-Gi cards, build words of 2, 3, or 4 syllables, and say them out loud. Match your phrase with another player to earn Simoleons.
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- KIDS AND ADULTS PLAY TOGETHER: Gather 3–6 players, ages 8 and up. Kids, parents, neighbors, nobody is safe from the nonsense. Who will master the language of The Sims?
How Thanatology helps with career and aspiration goals
Ghost Historian aspiration
Thanatology is required for Ghost Historian. Build it using any of the available methods as you work through the aspiration; the skill’s level rewards provide additional interactions and objects along the way.
Reaper and Undertaker careers
Both careers require Thanatology for completion, and career progression itself builds the skill. In the Undertaker career, the level 4 grief-handling benefit applies to Undertaker Sims; the Mortician branch also gets more chance cards when the Sim has Thanatology.
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- Pre-Built Venues and Lots-Give your Sims' town a new look with spectacular ready-to-go venues and community lots-or construct your own cool setting.
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- New Casual Outfits and Hairstyles-Clothes for running errands, hanging out, or working out-there are lots of styles for all your Sims' fashion needs.
How Thanatology fits into Life & Death
Life & Death’s theme extends beyond the skill. EA describes the expansion as a transition between life, afterlife, and rebirth, with Ravenwood as its world and three neighborhoods. The following features provide context, but they are not Thanatology level unlocks.
- Bucket Lists and Soul’s Journey: Young Adult and older Sims can build Bucket Lists from selectable and suggested goals. Completing goals can unlock interactions, the Burning Soul trait, and the ability to be reborn.
- Ghost afterlife: Sims who die with unfinished Bucket List goals can pursue Unfinished Business as ghosts. The pack presents rebirth, remaining a ghost, and moving on as possible transitions.
- Wills and funerals: Wills can allocate heirlooms, leave notes, set reactions, specify remains handling, make funeral requests, and designate care for children or pets. Funeral events let players choose attendees, dress code, activities, venue, and time.
- Grief: The pack describes four grief types: Denial, Holding It Together, Anger, and Blues. Grief can follow losses and other difficult events; Sims can seek support or attend counseling in the game.
For the official skill methods and unlocks, see EA Help’s Thanatology skill guide. EA’s pack overview is available on the Life & Death product page; the Sims Team also published a Life & Death feature announcement.
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