Grief - Waffle Explains It All (Patreon)

Grief is triggered when Sims experience some sort of emotional devastation.

Grief can last between 5 and 7 days and it's entirely random how long it lasts.

Grief types are sometimes random, sometimes trait based, and sometimes based on the event causing them. Grief can be caused by:

• Death

• Job Loss

  • More likely for Ambitious Sims, Workaholics, and Proper Sims

• Breakups

• Having a child taken away

Grief Types include Anger, Depression, Denial, and Holding it Together. Each gives Sims different types of buffs. Anger gives Angry buffs, Depression gives Sad buffs, Denial gives Fine and Bored buffs, and Holding it Together gives Confident buffs. While grieving, Sims will have different social interaction successes and do a few different idles and may react poorly to other sims, such as angrily shoving them unprompted.

Which Grief you get depends heavily on Traits. Childish, Evil, Hotheaded, and Mean Sims are pretty likely to get Anger, but Macabre sims can't get it at all. Goofballs, Good, Cheerful, and Loyal sims are likely to get Denial, but sims with Level 4 or 5 Thanatology can't get it at all. Genius, Gloomy, Lazy, Perfectionist, and Overachiever sims are likely to get Depression, but Macabre sims can't get it at all. And Ambitious, Good, Self Assured, and Overachievers are likely to Hold it Together. Otherwise, all Sims can get All grief types except Macabre.

The buffs you get from Grief depend on the source. For example, "Social Grief" from Breakups, where your Sim can be Angry, Depressed, or in Denial of the relationship issues, either blaming the other sim, feeling upset about not being together, or saying it wasn't their fault and the other sim can fix it. This behaves the same as normal Grief outside of the buffs being directed at the breakup, versus a death.

When a Sim is "Coping" with Grief, they can cope positively or negatively. Different interactions can affect different kinds of grief. Negative coping is simply not doing any relevant interactions, Positive Coping is achieved by doing them.

For ALL grief types, Positive Coping involves seeking help from others and from counseling, from interactions like:

• Asking Grim about the Afterlife and Death

• Affirmation Healing from Tarot

• Tarot in General

• Viewing Art

• Taking Baths with Soaks

• Shaping Bonsai

• Reading Books

• Crafting Candles, Fishing, Knitting, using Walking Trails, Yoga, Woodworking, Cooking, Flower Arranging, Cross Stich, sand sculptures, basically most crafting, playing instruments

Positive Coping for ANGER:

• Bowling, Swimming, Snorkeling, Skating

• Any Workout interactions including Punching Bag, Jogging, Treadmill, Rock Climbing, Football, Mountain Climbing, Basketball

Positive Coping for DEPRESSION:

• Writing

• Writing Comedy

• Making Serums (?)

• Painting

Positive Coping for DENIAL:

• Cooking

• Gardening

• Painting

When a Sim is coping, how well they are coping is tracked. If your Sim is not coping well, they may swap to another type of Grief. Denial and Holding It Together can both become Anger or Depression. 

However, if you do the above interactions, your Sim will successfully cope with Grief, and may recieve...a Personality Swap!

The following POSITIVE Personality Swaps are possible:

• Paranoid -> Self Assured

• Self Absobed -> Good

• Socially Awkward -> Outgoing

• Unflirty -> Romantic

• Gloomy -> Cheerful

• Glutton -> Foodie

• Hot Headed -> Cheerful

• Jealous -> Loyal

• Kleptomaniac -> Art Lover

• Lazy -> Ambitious

• Loner -> Outgoing

• Mean -> Cheerful

• Slob -> Neat

• Childish -> Creative

• Childish -> Wise

• Evil -> Good

• Evil -> Mean

• High Maintenance -> Materialistic

• High Maintenance -> Snob

• Materialistic -> Freegan

• Materialistic -> Adventurous

• Materialistic -> Generous

• Commitment Issues -> Romantic

• Commitment Issues -> Loyal

• Party Animal -> Ambitious

• Party Animal -> Outgoing

But watch out...if you aren't coping with Grief, NEGATIVE personality swaps are also possible. There are actually significantly more of these ones, so I won't list them all (Plus, removing the mystery makes it less fun...), but they include things like Goofball -> Snob, Dance Machine -> Gloomy, Family Oriented -> Hates Children, and even Vegetarian -> Glutton! Sims do not cope well, apparently.

When a Sim conquers grief, they get a positive Buff and a hidden one that blocks Grief from occuring again for a while.

Sims can help themselves Conquer Grief by attending Counseling via the Phone. Counseling can succeed or fail and has different outcomes depending on the type of grief and the Sim attending- With MANY traits affecting the likelihood of success. You'll be happy to hear that Skeptics are extremely likely to fail at counseling.

That's about it! There's probably some more hidden or obscure stuff but this is the basics of Grief and it's pretty complicated stuff, with both rewards and consequences for caring for it properly!

NOTE TO CONTENT CREATORS: I write these posts on my own time, using my own research into mechanics, using my own ability to understand tuning and navigate through it to find what it does, where, and how. If you use this information for any purposes, such as making videos about game mechanics, please, please, please, credit me and link to these posts as the source. I know for a fact content already exists where I am the source and not credited.

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