Mermaids were introduced in Sims 4 as part of the Island Living expansion in 2019, and they are still among the most popular occult life states in the game. You look like a normal sim when on land, but you get to see your scaly tail when you head into the water. If you don’t know how to become a mermaid and back into a human, we got you covered.
If you own The Sims 4: Island Living, you can transform into a mermaid, use your powers and turn back into your human form whenever you want.
How to Turn Into a Mermaid
To turn into a mermaid, you need to own the Island Living DLC and creating a new character makes the process much easier. You can also edit an existing character if you want, and we’ll mention both methods below.
New Sim
- Create a new character within the Island Living DLC
- Click on the “add a sim” button and choose “Special Occult Lifestyle”
- You will now be able to select the Mermaid option
Existing Sim
Turning a pre-existing character into a mermaid is a time-consuming process, and you are better off using a new character. But if you want to turn an old character into a mermaid, you will need 500 Mermaid Kelp and 500 Satisfaction.
- Acquire the special treasures tool and dive underwater at deepwater buoys
- Finding lost treasure will randomly award you with Mermaid Kelp
- You can also explore the Island of Mua Pel’Am’s hidden cave for Mermaid Kelp
- Once you acquire sufficient mermaid Kelp, your Sim will experience a “strange sensation”
Within the next 24 hours, entering the water will turn your character into a mermaid. If you don’t enter the water in the 24-hour window, your Kelp will expire, and you will have to restart the process.
How to Play as A Mermaid
Once you transform into a mermaid, you will notice many things work differently for you. For starters, being on land does not change your appearance. To see your mermaid form, you will need to hop on to water.
You will swim faster whenever you are in your mermaid form, and freediving is a much easier experience. Mermaids don’t need scuba gear and snorkels.
Your Hygiene feature turns into “Hydration”, and you will need to drink water, swim, shower, or bathe to keep yourself healthy. The mermaid spells are not very powerful, but they’re worth acquiring specific moodlets.
How to Turn Back Into a Normal Sim
If you want to change back to your normal sim form, you can become a human. Here’s how to do it:
- Eat two pieces of Mermaid Kelp
- Enter a body of water
The process is reversible, and you can always return to your mermaid form by eating a piece of mermaid kelp and entering a water body. Doing so will also get you some buffs for a temporary boost to help you traverse in water.
Mermaid Abilities and Powers in Sims 4
In addition to the passive abilities that allow you to sleep on water or interact with sea creatures, there are some incredible powers that you will be able to wield.
Mermaids make use of a mechanic called Hydration which serves as an energy system for using your powers. Interacting with water will keep your Sim hydrated at all times. Bath, swim, shower or drink water to keep up your Hydration levels when playing as a mermaid. All of the abilities below cost 30 Hydration points.
Here are all of the abilities exclusive to mermaids in Sims 4.
Mermaid’s Kiss: Casting the ability grants offers a +1 Happy “Aquatic Breath” Moodlet.
Summon Ocean Threat: Casting the ability offers a +3 Uncomfortable “Deep Sea Entity”
Moodlet. This works only when you are in the ocean.
Aegean’s Question: Casting the ability offers a +2 Tense Moodlet.
Charmer’s Lullaby: Casting the ability grants your Sim a +2 Flirty Moodlet.
Inspiring Berceuse: Casting the ability grants your Sim a +2 Inspiring Moodlet.
Night’s Requiem: Casting the ability grants your Sim a +2 Sad Moodlet.
Should You Turn Into A Mermaid?
Mermaids are much more powerful than human sims. You can sleep on water, interact with other sea life and dive without scuba diving gear. If you want to interact with other mermaids, all you need to do is blow into a conch shell.
All of that sounds great, but you are also limited in some ways, and you should turn into a mermaid only if you know what you are doing. Once you turn into a mermaid, you will not be able to snorkel at buoys, and eating fish will make your Sim sad. But it is still a lot of fun and worth trying out.
