Throughout its lifespan, The Sims 2 added a diverse range of systems for building skills, enthusiasm, and talent. Each system offered its own gameplay advantages, like new money-making methods, and added intrigue to in-game storytelling. Moreover, talent badges are especially important if you’re hoping to start your own business.
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Whether your Sim plans on becoming a spectacular seamster or fantastic florist, talent badges are a fun and rewarding avenue of gameplay to explore thanks to the new interactions and items they unlock. Among these hidden items include fan favourites like Servo, as well as opportunities to make clothes from scratch and grow a gorgeous garden.
What Are Talent Badges?
Talent badges are medals that Sims can earn by regularly engaging in an activity. Earning badges allows your Sims to do or make a wider range of things in that area by unlocking new interactions with relevant items. It can also make Sims faster at some tasks.
Which Talent Badges Are There?
All talent badges can be bronze, silver, or gold. If you have The Sims 2: Legacy Edition, then all the following activities are associated with badges:
How To Check Talent Badges
You can find out what talent badges your Sim has under the career panel. In Live Mode, open up your Sim’s career panel, shown by a Sim sitting at a desk. Then, click the badges on the right-hand side.
Hover over the badges for more information about them.
Custom-made Sims and Sims from most neighbourhoods start off without any talent badges, but pre-made Sims in Bluewater Village have them. This is because this map was added with The Sims 2: Open For Business, which also introduced the talent badge system.
How To Unlock Talent Badges
You’ll unlock badges by taking part in an activity related to that talent. For example, you’ll start earning Flower Arranging badges when creating bouquets with the flower arranging station.
You can interact with these items without having any talent badges at all, so you can get started right away without any experience. However, you’ll most likely find that you don’t have many options to start with. New interactions can only be unlocked by earning badges.
It can take a long time to unlock talent badges because they mostly just measure how much of an activity a Sim has done. Be ready to use 2x and 3x speed a lot while earning them to speed things along.
Which Items Unlock Talent Badges?
Each badge is unlocked with a different item, except for Sales badges, which can only be earned by interacting with customers:
|
Badge |
Item |
|---|---|
|
Cosmetology |
Ug-No-More Makeover Station |
|
Fishing |
Any pond, including those built at home. |
|
Flower Arranging |
That Smells Great! Floral Workstation From Craftin’ It! Industries |
|
Gardening |
|
|
Pottery |
Upright Pottery Wheel By QuicKraft |
|
Restocking |
|
|
Register |
|
|
Robotics |
The Non-Deadly Robot Crafting Station From Craftin’ It! Industries |
|
Sales |
No item; interact with customers. |
|
Sewing |
Mechanical Stitching Machine by Antique Artifacts |
|
Toy Making |
Crazyfun Toybench From Craftin’ It! Industries |
How To Get Sales, Restocking, And Register Talent Badges
Sales, Restocking, and Register badges are special because you can only earn them if you work at or own a business that sells things. You’ll have to be ready to speak to customers, stock shelves, and use a cash register to earn these badges.
Earning the Sales badges requires you to interact with browsing customers using interactions under the Sales menu. Similarly, you need to restock shelves and fridges in a store to earn restocking badges. This means you can only level them when customers buy products.
Using the cash register builds progress towards the Register talent badges, but your Sim will only get the chance to finesse their skills with the register when a customer makes a purchase. Consequently, it can take quite some time to get this talent badge.
These badges are hard to grind because of how they rely on customer engagement. Allow a lot of time to get these.
What Are Talent Badges For?
For every badge your Sim unlocks, they’ll get better at doing that activity or unlock new interactions related to it. There are technically four levels to every talent badge if you include the fact they don’t have one at the beginning, so that’s a lot of things to unlock.
Cosmetology Talent Badges
Unless you enjoy making townies walk around with terrible hair and makeup, you’ll want to spend some time collecting cosmetology badges before you try and open your Sim salon:
|
Level |
Summary |
|---|---|
|
Without a Badge |
Your Sim will almost definitely mess up makeovers when manning a makeover station without a badge. Their clients will be left with bad hair and makeup most of the time. |
|
Bronze |
Bad makeovers are less likely once a Sim has a bronze talent badge, but they certainly aren’t a thing of the past yet. |
|
Silver |
The odds of shaving half a Sim’s head by accident are slim with this badge, but never zero. |
|
Gold |
Sims with gold badges are styling Gods and will hardly ever ruin another Sim’s day with a dubious haircut. |
Fishing Talent Badges
If you plan on finding rare fish, you’re going to want to rise up the ranks for this talent badge, as some only appear for the keenest fishersims:
|
Level |
Summary |
|---|---|
|
Without a Badge |
Landlubbers will have to stick to Worm Bait, Boots, and Bass until they get their sea legs. |
|
Bronze |
Sims with a bronze badge can upgrade to Riverblossom Minnow bait and catch Blue Catfish now too. |
|
Silver |
The unappealingly named Stink Ball Bait is available to silver-badged fishers, and so is the rare Rainbow Trout. |
|
Gold |
All that glitters maybe is gold, as Sims unlock the Sparkle Spinner bait and illustrious Golden Trout. |
Every previous level of badge is included in the next level. So, gold badged Sims can still expect to be inundated with Bass.
Flower Arranging Talent Badges
Flower Arranging is a fun way of making money, indulging in the Arts & Crafts hobby, and making some Simoleons. As you unlock more badges, you’ll also unlock more valuable arrangements:
|
Level |
Summary |
|---|---|
|
Without a Badge |
Sims can start off by making Daisy Bouquets. |
|
Bronze |
As well as daisies, the slightly more experienced florist can add Tulip Bouquets and Wildflower Bouquets to their arsenal. |
|
Silver |
Finally brave enough to combine flowers in an arrangement, your Sim can now make Mixed Flower Bouquets. A classic Rose Bouquet is also on the table. |
|
Gold |
The most skilled flower arrangers have the ability to make special Snapdragon Bouquets. |
Gardening Talent Badges
This set of talent badges kind of functions like a gardening skill. Levelling them unlocks different crops to grow, and makes your Sim a little more green-thumbed:
|
Level |
Summary |
|---|---|
|
Without a Badge |
Beginners can grow a range of fruits, including apples, oranges, lemons, and tomatoes. You can buy tomato seeds at plots and fruit trees in Build Mode. |
|
Bronze |
Sims can now also grow cucumbers and strawberries from seeds. |
|
Silver |
Sims who are starting to get used to getting their hands dirty can tend to plants a little better, as well as growing bell peppers and pole beans. |
|
Gold |
Golden gardeners can grow eggplants and help their plants to grow a little healthier by talking to them. |
Pottery Talent Badges
Arts & Crafts fanatics can multitask by gaining hobby enthusiasm and talent badges at the same time by making ceramics:
|
Level |
Summary |
|---|---|
|
Without a Badge |
Sims can make plates, but they won’t always be successful. Expect to throw a lot of Simoleons down the drain here. |
|
Bronze |
In addition to plates, Sims can now potter vases and tea sets to use as decor. |
|
Silver |
Sims with a silver badge are well on their way to becoming muddy-fingered artisans. They’re less likely to fail and can craft pots and pitchers. |
|
Gold |
Sims who’ve earnt their golden badge rarely ever fail on the wheel and can make large clay jugs known as amphora. |
Don’t have the space for pottery-making equipment in your Sim’s home? Once you reach level five of the pottery hobby you can join the hobby club to get access to My Muse II – Arts and Crafts Studio’s equipment.
Restocking Talent Badges
This badge series is super similar to the two other retail-oriented badges, Sales and Register, insofar as they can only be earnt while working at a business:
|
Level |
Summary |
|---|---|
|
Without a Badge |
Sims are very slow at stocking shelves when they start out. You probably wouldn’t want to hire them. |
|
Bronze |
Sims get slightly quicker, but they’re still noticeably newbies. |
|
Silver |
They can restock at a reasonable rate now, making them more efficient. |
|
Gold |
Sims with gold badges take no time to restock at all. They would get employee of the month every month. |
Register Talent Badges
This is one of the most straightforward sets of talent badges as it basically just speeds up a Sim’s cash register use:
|
Level |
Summary |
|---|---|
|
Without a Badge |
Sims are very poor at using the machine and take a long time to ring customers up. You don’t really want these guys in charge during a rush. |
|
Bronze |
Sims get marginally faster using cash registers, but still have a way to go. |
|
Silver |
Sims approach normal speed while cashing up. |
|
Gold |
Sims use the register almost instantly without any issues. |
Robotics Talent Badge
Sims who enjoy spending time at the crafting bench can make some useful gadgets for around the house, particularly at higher levels:
|
Level |
Summary |
|---|---|
|
Without a Badge |
When Sims first approach the bench, the only thing they can make is toy robots. At least they’re cute. |
|
Bronze |
This is where the good stuff really starts: Sims can now make HydroBots, which waters plants and puts out fires, and CleanBots, which are kind of like roombas. |
|
Silver |
Once they reach this level, Sims can build MunchieBots and SentryBots. MunchieBots go collect takeout from off-the-lot, while SentryBots are a home security system perfect for stopping burglars. |
|
Gold |
Perfect robot engineers can now build Servo: Sim’s best friend and all-powerful helperbot. Sims who’ve earnt this badge also make robots way faster than their peers. |
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Sales Talent Badges
If customer service is your Sim’s passion, or if they pretend it is, then they can expect to get badges throughout their career. They’ll unlock new sales techniques along the way:
|
Level |
Summary |
|---|---|
|
Without a badge |
Service Sims can approach customers and ask if they need help, and also use the Basic Sell interaction. |
|
Bronze |
With the bronze badge, Sims will be able to bargain with their customers to offer an item at a discounted price. |
|
Silver |
The silver badge unlocks the Hard Sell interaction, which has both a higher risk and a higher reward than Basic Sell. |
|
Gold |
Sims can Dazzle their customers with their impressive sales prowess, meaning they’ll almost certainly successfully seal the deal. |
Sewing Talent Badges
Another Arts & Crafts hobby-talent badge combo, the sewing machine unlocks all kinds of new opportunities for creative Sims including home-made clothes:
|
Level |
Summary |
|---|---|
|
Without a badge |
Sims can sew potholders to use as decor. They’ll fail pretty often, meaning they won’t sell for as much. |
|
Bronze |
Even the bronze badge unlocks a lot of new items to sew, including:
|
|
Silver |
Silver sewers can craft their own clothes, saving them a trip to H&M. They can also sew quilts, which take a long time but can sell for a pretty Simoleon. |
|
Gold |
Top-tier sewists can craft Custom Outfits, which can be sold for 750 Simoleons. |
Toy Making Talent Badges
Surprisingly, toy making isn’t all fun and games. If your Sims messes up making toys, they can turn evil. Here’s what your Sim can expect to make as they get their badges:
|
Level |
Summary |
|---|---|
|
Without a badge |
Inexperienced toymakers can only make Sir-Bricks-a-Lot: a brick with a face. Well, we all start somewhere. |
|
Bronze |
After unlocking the bronze badge, Sims can make the creepy Clown-in-a-Box and the more wholesome Little Heroes Fire Truck. |
|
Silver |
Two more new toys come with unlocking the silver badge, this time the Twirl, Spin, and Wobble and Brinks’ Kite. |
|
Gold |
The last talent badge unlocks the Wet n’ Wild Water Wiggler, which is a big sprinkler your Sims can enjoy splashing around in. |
