The Life & Death expansion pack for The Sims 4 delves deep into the themes of life’s journey and the afterlife, offering new careers that align with these concepts: Reaper and Undertaker. While the Reaper career provides an active, hands-on experience where players guide their Sims through tasks and accompany them to work, the Undertaker career offers a more traditional approach. Despite lacking the excitement of direct player control, the Undertaker career still introduces some intriguing aspects and provides a unique experience in managing the aftermath of death as there are some pop-up screens that players will need to navigate.
Related
The Sims 4: Reaper Career Guide
Sims can now act as grim reapers as a part of their active careers in the Sims 4.
The Undertaker may not be an active career, however, it does branch out to two different branches (Mortician and Funeral Director) as Sim gets promoted to level 6. With that, there is a bit of choice as to which skills Sim may want to improve, as the branching allows players to focus on different skills, while also allowing them to obtain different rewards.
How to Join Undertaker Career
Starting the Undertaker career in The Sims 4: Life & Death expansion is as simple as any other job selection, though there are a few additional ways players can access it. Beyond using the traditional Find a Job menu, players can also have their Sims join the Undertaker career by clicking on any Crypt in the world and selecting “Join Undertaker Career.” Additionally, there is a chance that a known Sim may randomly call and offer the job.
While there are no strict prerequisites for beginning the career, focusing on Fitness primarily, and some levels of Gardening and Charisma skills early on will help get promoted quicker, especially before choosing a branch. For those aiming climb in the Funeral Director branch, Charisma, Thanatalogy and Gardening will be required, and any trait that may help with those is going to be useful. The Mortician path, however, shifts its focus to Logic and Painting alongside Thanatalogy as well.
Unlike some careers, there is no single ideal moodlet or specific trait that guarantees success in the Undertaker path. However, having Sims with versatile traits like Outgoing or Active may help with skill-building, especially in the earlier levels.
Throughout the career, players will come across different pop-ups, like some other careers do, that will result in performance/skill gain or loss. For example, it’s recommended that if players get a pop-up regarding a broken grave, they choose the
“Investigate the Grave”
option, as this will allow players to unlock additional choices. Each time a choice like this is made, they will get an option marked with “A previous choice provides insight” for future pop-ups. It’s recommended to choose this option over the others, as it should provide a better outcome.
While there are a total of 10 levels, after level 5, the career will branch out to two seperate paths, being Funeral Director and Mortician. The levels, promotion requirements, their pay and work hours is as follows:
|
Level |
Hours |
Rates |
Promotion Requirements |
Daily Tasks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1: Grave Digger |
8:00am – 2:00pm M W T F S |
$22/hour |
None |
Work Out |
|
2: Body Guard |
9:00am – 5:00pm M T W T F |
$36/hour |
Reach Level 3 Fitness Skill * Unlocks New CAS Outfits |
Plant Something |
|
3: Grave Keeper |
9:00am – 5:00pm M T W T F |
$54/hour |
Reach Level 4 Fitness Skill Reach Level 2 Gardening Skill * Unlocks Gossip About the Dead (Interaction) |
Have Deep Conversation |
|
4: Removal Service Staff |
10:00am – 6:00pm T W T F Sat |
$65/hour |
Reach Level 5 Fitness Skill Reach Level 2 Charisma Skill *Unlocks Plague Mask (CAS Accessory) |
Work Out |
Funeral Director Branch
|
Level |
Hours |
Rates |
Promotion Requirements |
Daily Tasks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5: Administrative Assistant |
10:00am – 5:00pm M W T F S |
$76/hour |
Reach Level 6 Fitness Skill Reach Level 3 Charisma Skill |
Write Obituaries |
|
6: Grief Counselor |
9:00am – 5:00pm W T F S S |
$126/hour |
Reach Level 4 Charisma Skill Reach Level 2 Thanatology Skill |
Have Deep Conversation |
|
7: Burial Consultant |
9:00am – 5:00pm T W T F Sat |
$165/hour |
Reach Level 5 Charisma Skill Reach Level 3 Gardening Skill * Unlocks Discuss End of Life Services (Interaction) |
Plant Something |
|
8: Services Manager |
9:00am – 5:00pm M T F S S |
$203/hour |
Reach Level 6 Charisma Skill Reach Level 4 Gardening Skill |
Write Obituaries |
|
9: Assistant Director |
10:00am – 5:00pm T W T F Sat |
$290/hour |
Reach Level 8 Charisma Skill Reach Level 4 Thanatology Skill |
Plant Something |
|
10: Funeral Director |
11:00am – 5:00pm M F S S |
$440/hour |
* Unlocks Corpus Commendations (Wall Decor) * Unlocks Contemplate Existence (Interaction) * Unlocks New CAS Outfits |
Discuss End of Life Services |
Mortician Branch
|
Level |
Hours |
Rates |
Promotion Requirements |
Daily Tasks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5: Death Scene Cleaner |
10:00am – 6:00pm M T W T F |
$84/hour |
Reach Level 6 Fitness Skill Reach Level 2 Painting Skill |
Read |
|
6: Microbial Researcher |
9:00am – 5:00pm M T W T F |
$108/hour |
Reach Level 2 Logic Skill Reach Level 2 Thanatology Skill |
Earn Certification on the Computer |
|
7: Cremation Specialist |
9:00am – 5:00pm T W T F Sun |
$156/hour |
Reach Level 7 Fitness Skill Reach Level 3 Painting Skill * Unlocks Discuss End of Life Services (Interaction) |
Read |
|
8: Embalmer |
8:00am – 4:00pm T W T F Sat |
$210/hour |
Reach Level 3 Logic Skill Reach Level 4 Painting Skill |
Read Thanatology Theories |
|
9: Mortuary Assistant |
9:00am – 4:00pm M T W S S |
$288/hour |
Reach Level 4 Thanatology Skill Reach Level 5 Painting Skill Unlocks Contemplate Existence (Interaction) |
Earn Certification on the Computer |
|
10: Mortician |
9:00am – 3:00pm T F S S |
$435/hour |
* Unlocks Murphy Membrane (Statue Decor) * Unlocks New CAS Outfits |
Read Thanatology Theories |
Both branches pay relatively the same in the last level, with the Funeral Director Branch paying slightly more (30 Simoleons more per day and 120 per week). This makes the difference quite negligible in terms of monetary payoff. Additionally, since the Funeral Director branch’s required skills follow those from levels 1-5, it may be easier to achieve quicker for newly created Sims. Overall, players should focus on whichever rewards and end title they enjoy more. It can be said that Funeral Director Sims will require more social interactions, while Mortician Sims will enjoy more indoor activities that require a computer
or otherwise painting
.
- Released
- October 31, 2024
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
- Genre
- Life Simulation , Adventure , Simulation
- Engine
- SmartSim
- ESRB
- Teen // Crude Humor, Game Experience May Change During Online Play, Sexual Themes, Violence