The Sims 4 Crystal Creations: How to charge crystals, and all crystal effects
Are your Sims pretty sure they're connected to the moon? Well, now they can prove it by donning some stylish jewellery infused with moonlight powers.
The Sims 4 Crystal Creations Stuff Pack looks at first glance like a fairly straightforward jewellery crafting add-on to EA's seemingly endlessly expandable life simulator. However, keen-eyed players have likely already spotted the connection between crystals and the more supernatural themes present in The Sims series, which were not-very-subtly hinted at in the pack's marketing.
Sure enough, you can harvest the power of the moon in order to charge your titular crystal creations, granting effects so powerful that they can potentially change the whole course of your game. Read on to learn how to charge crystals in The Sims 4, and for a list of all the benefits you can gain from charged crystals.
How to charge crystals in The Sims 4
Crystals are charged using the Mystical Moonlight Crystal Grid, a new item added to the Build/Buy menu with the installation of the Crystal Creations Stuff Pack. At just §50 it'll only set your Sims back around the cost of a takeaway pizza, which is quite the bargain considering the powerful range of effects that owning one gives you access to.
The Mystical Moonlight Crystal Grid has a few important requirements to get it working. First, it has to be placed outdoors in order to be in direct moonlight, which makes sense enough.
What makes a bit less sense is that the game doesn't recognise balconies in apartment buildings as being "outdoors", so apartment dwellers are sadly unable to charge their crystals at home. (Balconies in regular houses seem to be unaffected, however.)
Next, the moon needs to be visible in the sky, which the game considers to be from 7pm-7am every night, seemingly regardless of season, weather conditions, or the apparent sunrise/sunset times of your current world.
With the Werewolves game pack installed, moon phase affects the charge speed of the crystal grid, with the full moon granting the fastest charge and the new moon granting the slowest charge; but don't worry, there's no circumstance under which you can't charge your crystals at all for a night.
Having placed a Mystical Moonlight Crystal Grid on your lot, you can place up to seven crystal items on it to charge them. These can either be in the form of cut gemstones or crafted jewellery pieces, both of which are made from raw crystals using the new Gemology skill (although it's worth noting that only crystals grant charged effects, even though you need both a crystal and a metal to craft a piece of jewellery).
Charge isn't permanent, and so you will need to recharge your crystals eventually if you want to keep making use of their effects. The duration of the charged effect is around two in-game days.
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All charged crystal effects in The Sims 4
Charged crystals are some of the most powerful items in The Sims 4, granting a specific set of benefits to the Sim who wears or carries them. Some of these effects are hard to replicate even with cheats, and they're often a fair bit more powerful than the reward traits you can unlock in the game. Of course, you need to recharge them intermittently, but that's a small price to pay for a great deal of benefit.
Here's the full list of charged crystal effects in The Sims 4:
| Crystal Name | Effects | Pack |
|---|---|---|
| Alabaster | Angry, Embarrassed, Sad, and Scared moodlets fade much faster. (+1 Fine moodlet) | Base Game |
| Alexandrite | Sim's Wants will refresh more often. (+1 Inspired moodlet) | Jungle Adventures Game Pack |
| Amazonite | Sim will find rarer and more valuable artifacts when excavating in Selvadorada. (+1 Confident moodlet) | Jungle Adventures Game Pack |
| Amber | Sim won't fail at most social interactions and won't start fires when cooking, and the weather will become sunny. (+1 Happy moodlet) | Crystal Creations Stuff Pack |
| Amethyst | Sim gains Energy faster when sleeping, and has a chance of waking up with the unique moodlet Lucid Dream, which boosts the Inspired emotion. (+1 Inspired moodlet) | Base Game |
| Citrine | Sim will randomly find Simoleons around the house. (+1 Energized moodlet) | Base Game |
| Crandestine | Sim is easier to convince and more likely to lend money. (+1 Dazed moodlet) | Get To Work Expansion Pack |
| Diamond | Sim is less likely to develop Fears around relationships, romantic relationships decay slower, and the "Apologize... In Bed" interaction on an upset romantic partner will always succeed. (+1 Flirty moodlet) | Base Game |
| Emerald | Career and school chance cards are more likely to succeed. (+1 Focused moodlet) | Base Game |
| Fire Opal | Sim is more successful with romantic interactions, and can complete date events more successfully. (+1 Flirty moodlet) | Base Game |
| Hematite | Sim cannot die, except from Old Age. (+1 Confident moodlet) | Base Game |
| Jade | Sim will randomly find crystals around the house. (+1 Energized moodlet) | Crystal Creations Stuff Pack |
| Jet | Sim can summon the Grim Reaper at will, and will always succeed when pleading for another Sim's life. (+1 Focused moodlet) | Base Game |
| Jonquilyst | Sim's Fun motive won't decay, and Tense moodlets go away much faster. (+1 Fine moodlet) | Base Game |
| Moonstone | Bored moodlets fade faster, plus a Vampire's Thirst need decays slower, a Spellcaster is more successful at casting spells, or a Werewolf's Fury builds slower and Rampages end faster. (+1 Focused moodlet) | Crystal Creations Stuff Pack |
| Nitelite | Energy need decays slightly slower, plus an Alien's powers recharge after being depleted. (+1 Focused moodlet) | Get To Work Expansion Pack |
| Orange Topaz | Sim will gain all creative skills faster, is more likely to create masterpieces, will not get writer's block, and will not burn out on creative activities as fast. (+1 Inspired moodlet) | Base Game |
| Peach | Relationships with family members will increase faster, and Angry moodlets will fade faster. (+1 Happy moodlet) | Base Game |
| Plumbite | Sim's needs will increase slowly over time, and they will make other Sims around them Happy. (+1 Happy moodlet) | Base Game |
| Quartz | Sim gains double Satisfaction Points when completing Wants and Aspirations. (+1 Focused moodlet) | Base Game |
| Rainborz | Sim is less likely to develop Fears, and gains all benefits from the Brave reward trait even if they do not have it. (+1 Confident moodlet) | Base Game |
| Rose | Sim will get over break-ups faster, and their Social need won't decay. (+1 Confident moodlet) | Base Game |
| Ruby | Embarrassed moodlets will fade faster, Sim won't fail at romantic interactions, and won't have awkward WooHoo encounters (resulting in a negative moodlet). (+1 Flirty moodlet) | Base Game |
| Sapphire | Sim gains all mental skills faster, and takes longer to burn out on mental activities. (+1 Focused moodlet) | Base Game |
| Shinolite | A pregnant Sim is more likely to give birth to twins or triplets. (+1 Happy moodlet) | Base Game |
| Simanite | Sim gains work or school performance faster, and can complete homework faster. (+1 Energized moodlet) | Base Game |
| Turquoise | Sim gains Charisma skill faster, and is more successful at Friendly social interactions. (+1 Confident moodlet) | Base Game |
Crystal charging and cross-pack compatibility
Crystal Creations features cross-pack compatibility with a number of The Sims 4's previous DLC add-ons, namely those that add new crystals and/or supernatural life states (with the sad exception of Island Living's mermaids, sidelined once again):
- Get to Work expansion pack
- Jungle Adventures game pack
- Vampires game pack
- Realm of Magic game pack
- Werewolves game pack
Note that you'll need to have the relevant pack(s) installed to see everything listed above, although most crystal charge powers only require the base game and Crystal Creations.
It's also worth noting that if you have the Get Famous expansion pack installed, you can't get the Celestial Crystal Crown effects and the charged effects from the same item at the same time. This is because the Celestial Crystal Crown can only be fitted with raw crystals, while charging requires cut gemstones or crafted jewellery that have been created using the Gemology skill.
That's everything you need to know about charging crystals in The Sims 4! Looking for more ways to make your Sims' lives weird and wonderful? Be sure to check out our guides to becoming a Paranormal Investigator and summoning Guidry the Spirit Guide, two key features of The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff Pack.