The Sims 4 Research & Debate Skill Guide
Doing school work is hard, but with the sims 4 research & debate skill your sims can do it faster!
The research and debate skill comes to The Sims 4 with Discover University and lets you sims learn how to learn, essentially.
This skill lets you research any topic and gain two skills at once, which is an insanely cool thing!
What is Research & Debate Good For?
If you want a sim to enroll in University, this skill is a necessity. It helps your sims through the academic aspiration and will get them to do their homework more quickly! You can also have sims join the debate team and do really well with a high R&D skill!
How to Gain The Research & Debate Skill
The first way you can gain the Research & Debate Skill is by having your sims read research and debate skill books. You can purchase these at a bookcase, and there are three to choose from:
- Research & Debate Vol 1: Look it Up
- Research & Debate Vol 2: Utilizing Information
- Research & Debate Vol 3: Knowledge is Power
You’ll want to read volume one of the research & debate books until level 4. Then swap to the second one from four to seven, then read the third to get to level 10.
The next way you can gain this skill is by purchasing one of the Research Archive Machines (or using one that’s available in the Laurel Library or in Darby’s Dends). These machines are found in the hobbies & skills part of build mode and you’ll need a desk and chair like with a computer.
You’ll click on this machine and choose research and then choose a topic. Pick the topic well, because you can gain skills that correspond with each topic while researching which is awesome.
At level three of the skill you’ll unlock the ability to prep for debate on that same machine. This is good if your sim is in the debate club but isn’t super valuable if you aren’t.
The next things you can do is practice debating, there are two places you can do this. The first is in any mirror, it’s just like practicing a speech!
You can also purchase The Daring Debater Podium Set for your sim’s house or use one that’s found at Darby’s Den.
You can debate other sims or just practice debating with this and gain the skill when doing both, but debating other sims can give you a positive moodlet if you win!
Your sims can even earn this skill just by going to classes, which is helpful and makes it so easy to gain this skill quickly. You can also gain the skill slowly when writing a term paper and studying for exams!
If you want to spend money to gain the skill, you have the option to sit in on skill classes for research & debate. You’ll find this at the building next to Darby’s Den in the University world.
If you want to gain this skill while also getting a class credit for your sim who is in University, you can take a research & debate elective!
Ideal Mood for Research & Debate
The emotions your sims are experiencing are actually important and you can gain skills quicker if your sim is in the right mood. The best mood for the research and debate skill is going to be focused.
To get your sims focused quickly you can ponder moves on a chess board and you’ll find your sims gaining this skill super quick. The best thing is that if you choose the likes research and debate preference, your sims can get focused from that!
Best Traits For R&D
The traits you give your sims are so important to make sure your sims are in the right mood to gain skills more quickly, here are some good traits for research & debate:
- Genius: Since focused is the ideal mood, genius is perfect. These sims get random focused moodlets that you can use to your advantage.
- Cheerful: Cheerful sims are just easier to work with, they get happy moodlets that can stack with focused to make it stronger.
- Practice Makes Perfect: This is an interesting one, sims start by gaining skills slower, but after a few levels the skill gains kick in and it increases the speed. If you’re lucky you’ll even get the +5 Focused “Dedication” moodlet!
You can also add lot traits to give your sim random moodlets that can help, a good one for research and debate is:
- Study Spot: This is a great trait for anyone in University. Your sims finish homework faster and get a boost to all skill building.
How to Cheat The Research & Debate Skill
With every skill comes a skill cheat and that works for research & debate too. The chat you need to know is stats.set_skill_level major_researchdebate 10 to max out the skill.
If you want a different level of the skill, just swap the 10 at the end out with a different number from 1-9.
Levels of The Skill
There are ten levels of this skill to gain and it’s a great one if you have a sim in University. You’ll unlock abilities like doing professional debates, contributing knowledge and more.
| Skill Level | Level Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Your sim’s new skill in Research & Debate allows them to build compelling opinions, backed by facts and figures. Use the Electromagnetic Research Archive Machine or a Mirror to build skill and unlock new interactions. |
| Level 2 | Your sim can now finish reading books in less time. They can also debate a topic with other sims at the Podium Pair. |
| Level 3 | Your sim now completes their homework at an accelerated rate. They can prepare for debate at the electromagnetic research archive machine and convince other sims to bathe or do a keg stand. |
| Level 4 | Your sim will now gain more study progress while studying. They can now research more skills on the electromagnetic research archive machine. |
| Level 5 | Your sim is now more persuasive. They can convince other sims to do their homework and cook meals. They can also mentor others in research & debate. |
| Level 6 | Your sim now completes University presentations and term papers in record time. They may also contribute knowledge on the Electromagnetic Research Archive Machine. |
| Level 7 | Your sim can now use their persuasive powers to convince other sims to clean. They can also convince roommates thinking of leaving to stay. |
| Level 8 | Your sim can now write and publish research papers at a computer. They will also gain skill faster while reading skill books. |
| Level 9 | Your sim can convince others to go streaking. They can also convince boss to give bonus on the phone. |
| Level 10 | Your sim can have professional debate with someone on the podium. They can also give professional commentary at a podium. These are great ways to earn some extra simoleons! |
Gaining Other Skills With Research & Debate
The best part about learning the research & debate skill is that when you research things you’ll gain other skills. There are so many that you get to unlock as you go and each corresponds to a different skill.
If you get your sim to research cooking for nutrition vs pleasure your sim will gain the cooking skill, researching gardening innovations will get your sim the gardening skill. It’s awesome!
Convincing Other Sims
As you gain this skill you’ll unlock the ability to convince sims to do different things.
Don’t want to make dinner? Convince a sim to cook!
Don’t want to do your own homework? Get someone else to do it!
Making Money With Research & Debate
This skill is actually really fun because there are tons of ways you can make money for just a few hundred simoleons at a time if your sim doesn’t want to have a full-time job.
Contributing Knowledge (Level 6)
The first way you can earn money with this skill is by clicking on the research archive machine and choosing to contribute knowledge. You can contribute to any topic that your sim has a skill level in but the amount of money you get depends on thatt level.
My sim contributed to a skill where they had one level and was paid 325. When they contributed to a skill that they had level 10 in they were paid 514!
Writing and Publishing Research Papers (Level 8)
A good way to make a small amount of money is by writing and publishing research papers. You’ll find this by clicking on the computer (not in the writing menu) and your sim will write it for awhile. When they’re done you’ll get a notification and get paid! My sim got 539!
Give Professional Commentary (Level 10)
When you sim maxes out the skill you’ll unlock the ability to give professional commentary on the podiums. This is essentially just your sim giving a speech but when they’re done they’ll get paid! My sim was paid 512 simoleons for one session, totally worth it!
Having Professional Debates (Level 10)
The last way you can make money with this skill is by having professional debates at the podium. When my sim finished doing this with another sim they were paid 451 simoleons!
Tutoring Research & Debate
A good way to make money when your sims have high skills is tutoring. You can do this at either University and click on the building and choose tutor, then choose the topic you’ll tutor sims in. You’ll be paid for each hour you spend tutoring.
My sim started at 3 o’clock and tutored until 8 o’clock and was paid 100. For the amount of time spent, this is the worst way to make an income with this skill.
Avoiding Death
One thing you need to be aware of is the contributing knowledge death! If you get your sim to contribute knowledge too many times in a row they’ll get the Mentally Drained moodlet that says “contributing mental energy is draining. Continuing to do so could have severe repercussions” and you should listen.
If your sim has this moodlet and you choose to contribute more knowledge a few more times, your sim will no longer stay alive.
