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How does a pet familiar work?

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Hi guys, I need some help please. My sim is not doing to good in duels so I got her a nice magical kitty cat to help out. I have bound it to her and she went to the magic realm.

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Once there, she summoned the kitty cat to come and join her and then she challenged the nearest sim to a duel. The kitty sat infront of her like in the pic and did not do anything, just sat there with glowing eyes. She lost, pretty bad too LOL. Did I need to do any other steps or is that just what happens.

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Comments

  • MaggieMarleyMaggieMarley Posts: 5,299 Member
    edited September 2019
    Familiars don’t actually do much in terms of animations or anything else for that matter and pet familiars don’t get any unique animations so it’s not surprising that they just sit there when your sim duels, given that the other familiars will just hover there. The only things familiars do are:

    1. boost XP gain
    2. save your sim from death
    3. occasionally talk via notifications.
    4. Pet familiars can also be sent to forage (for potion ingredients I think).
    5. Oh and pet familiars glitter
  • mcruddmcrudd Posts: 11,696 Member
    Thank you @MaggieMarley :) I might have to just keep on trying. Hopefully she will get better the more goodies I unlock ;)
  • kalaksedkalaksed Posts: 2,643 Member
    as maggie said, they don't actually do much in duels (none of the familiars do), but they do have the unique 'send foraging' option that the regular flying familiars never get

    with that foraging option, they can come back with potion ingredients or anything from the magical artifacts collection (my apprentice witch's cat loves bringing brooms back)
  • HermitgirlHermitgirl Posts: 8,825 Member
    My cat did the same thing. I'm just keeping one around if I die on my caster. I don't think your pets/familiars help you win..
    egTcBMc.png
  • mcruddmcrudd Posts: 11,696 Member
    Ooooh that is good news @kalaksed , that is why I am dueling, trying to get the collectibles, will sent my kitty out now LOL. I might do the same @Hermitgirl , although I have a lot of deadflowers in my inventory, that grimmy might appreciate in return for a little bit more time ;)
  • GrumpyGlowfishGrumpyGlowfish Posts: 2,207 Member
    Possibly a dumb question, but how exactly do you make a cat or a dog your sim's familiar in the first place? I've tried several times by clicking on them and choosing Magic => Make familiar (or something like that), but it always failed, producing nothing but black smoke and at one point a curse, and as usual with TS4, I don't know if that's a bug or intended. My witches are still of fairly low ranks, however. Do you need to be of a certain rank or have a certain perk to be able to do that?
  • RealTeacherPlaysRealTeacherPlays Posts: 40 Member
    Possibly a dumb question, but how exactly do you make a cat or a dog your sim's familiar in the first place? I've tried several times by clicking on them and choosing Magic => Make familiar (or something like that), but it always failed, producing nothing but black smoke and at one point a curse, and as usual with TS4, I don't know if that's a bug or intended. My witches are still of fairly low ranks, however. Do you need to be of a certain rank or have a certain perk to be able to do that?

    I'm really not sure if you need to be of a certain rank. My sim was a Neophyte and he managed to bind his pet racoon in a single try. There will be a notification telling you that your pet has become your familiar.
  • ryttu3kryttu3k Posts: 1,148 Member
    Possibly a dumb question, but how exactly do you make a cat or a dog your sim's familiar in the first place? I've tried several times by clicking on them and choosing Magic => Make familiar (or something like that), but it always failed, producing nothing but black smoke and at one point a curse, and as usual with TS4, I don't know if that's a bug or intended. My witches are still of fairly low ranks, however. Do you need to be of a certain rank or have a certain perk to be able to do that?

    Huh. My Sim was also at neophyte when he bound his cat as familiar, worked first try as well. Can confirm it works at low ranks, honestly no idea if there's a way for it to fail or if it is a weird bug.
  • GrumpyGlowfishGrumpyGlowfish Posts: 2,207 Member
    It's okay, I managed to turn that dog into a familiar after all, even though it took a few tries. I guess it's just a normal spell with a chance of failure, like many of the others, and I've just been mostly unlucky.

    Those familiars are really helpful, though, even if they don't do much! My witch is nearly a virtuoso now, and she would have been dead by magic overload three times already if not for her familiar.
  • kalaksedkalaksed Posts: 2,643 Member
    my first sim that made her cat her familiar took about 4 tries before the binding worked. my second sim, a spellcaster created in cas, managed it on his first try

    being able to have their unique familiar (seriously, some of my pets are crazy looking, like the apprentice witch's 'vampire cat') and the ability to send them foraging are both nice bonuses
  • MaggieMarleyMaggieMarley Posts: 5,299 Member
    I was able to bind the cat as a familiar first time when my sim had only just become a spellcaster. I didn’t know it could fail. Maybe the better your relationship with the pet, the less likely it is to fail? My sim and her cat are companions.
  • HermitgirlHermitgirl Posts: 8,825 Member
    I've only tried with pets with good relations to their owners so far.. no failures yet. Neither were companions yet but the friendship was well up there... at least half way.
    egTcBMc.png
  • SimmyFroggySimmyFroggy Posts: 1,762 Member
    I've only tried to make a familiar out of one kitten & it worked immediately - my Sim and the kitten weren't even at the Good Friends level. Good to know that it might fail.
    avatar art: Loves2draw1812
  • FreygeaFreygea Posts: 867 Member
    Do the pet familiars act like normal pets as well> (do they need food etc?)
  • smurfy77smurfy77 Posts: 1,250 Member
    Freygea wrote: »
    Do the pet familiars act like normal pets as well> (do they need food etc?)

    I am also wondering this, I want to use a cat I had made, but my sims move around too often and I do not want to neglect one
  • GrumpyGlowfishGrumpyGlowfish Posts: 2,207 Member
    edited September 2019
    Freygea wrote: »
    Do the pet familiars act like normal pets as well> (do they need food etc?)

    Yes. In my experience, as long as you're at home, they keep doing what they're doing normally, and they still have needs, but you can summon them close to you anytime. They will also sparkle, however, and you can send them away to look for magical objects. (So far mine only came back with brooms, but surely there's other things they can collect too.)
  • SimmyFroggySimmyFroggy Posts: 1,762 Member
    Freygea wrote: »
    Do the pet familiars act like normal pets as well> (do they need food etc?)

    Yes. In my experience, as long as you're at home, they keep doing what they're doing normally, and they still have needs, but you can summon them close to you anytime. They will also sparkle, however, and you can send them away to look for magical objects. (So far mine only came back with brooms, but surely there's other things they can collect too.)

    Mine too, so I'm really hoping brooms aren't the only things. I thought they were supposed to bring back potion ingredients, which would make way more sense than brooms.
    avatar art: Loves2draw1812
  • ryttu3kryttu3k Posts: 1,148 Member
    Freygea wrote: »
    Do the pet familiars act like normal pets as well> (do they need food etc?)

    They absolutely do. I had to send my main and his cat home from the Realm because the cat was getting hungry. I may have to add some food bowls and stuff in.
  • kalaksedkalaksed Posts: 2,643 Member
    i actually made sure to add pet-specific stuff to the magical realm area when editing it. few food bowls, litter box, cat gym things and scratching posts, some toys for the dogs... so far i haven't seen unplayed sims bring their pets, even familiars, but i have mine summon their familiars when i'm playing them, so it's nice they have something to do

    side note, when i was playing coyote before i turned him into a sage, i had him bind... well, himself (an animal form of coyote) as familiar and it was hilarious making him encourage the dog form to misbehave. i'd love if he summoned the familiar version of himself to wander the realm while he's a sage. but, alas
  • telemwilltelemwill Posts: 1,752 Member
    Has anyone successfully bound a familiar to a child? When I try, It says only spellcasters can bind familiars. The child I am trying with has the strong bloodline trait.
  • DaWaterRatDaWaterRat Posts: 3,351 Member
    telemwill wrote: »
    Has anyone successfully bound a familiar to a child? When I try, It says only spellcasters can bind familiars. The child I am trying with has the strong bloodline trait.

    I haven't tried with a pet familiar, but I was able to bind a regular one in my test game.
  • telemwilltelemwill Posts: 1,752 Member
    edited September 2019
    DaWaterRat wrote: »
    telemwill wrote: »
    Has anyone successfully bound a familiar to a child? When I try, It says only spellcasters can bind familiars. The child I am trying with has the strong bloodline trait.

    I haven't tried with a pet familiar, but I was able to bind a regular one in my test game.

    That's what I'm trying to do. I don't have Cats and Dogs. Were you able to do it in the magical realm? Was it bought from Caster's Alley? Did the parent have to gift it?

    I tried with one already in the realm on a fireplace with a child I cheated to have strong bloodline.

    Edit: I figured it out. In case this helps someone else, it is not enough to cheat the bloodline trait. Instead the cheat is traits.equip_trait trait_Occult_WitchOccult_Manifested while the child is played and testing cheats are on. This give the child the spellcaster trait and he or she can then summon the familiar.
    Post edited by telemwill on
  • floridameerkatfloridameerkat Posts: 1,190 Member
    edited September 2019
    Familiars don’t actually do much in terms of animations or anything else for that matter and pet familiars don’t get any unique animations so it’s not surprising that they just sit there when your sim duels, given that the other familiars will just hover there. The only things familiars do are:

    1. boost XP gain
    2. save your sim from death
    3. occasionally talk via notifications.
    4. Pet familiars can also be sent to forage (for potion ingredients I think).
    5. Oh and pet familiars glitter

    The only thing my sim's cat ever brings back is a broom, and it's the same one every time.
    Post edited by floridameerkat on
    Gallery ID: floridameerkat
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    Niner
  • beesley12beesley12 Posts: 4 New Member
    Has anyone had the pet familiar not come back after sending to forage?

    Honestly, I don't remember sending the cat, but he's been gone for two days now. Neither played sim in the household has not been able to use the "call over" feature successfully for the cat. I can't see where he is, the camera just takes me to the front of the lot when I click his icon. My spellcaster can't summon or unbind the cat. I've saved and restarted, but the cat still won't come home.
  • kalaksedkalaksed Posts: 2,643 Member
    @beesley12 did you maybe get a message about the cat running away? that happens with many pets, esp with certain traits. if so, your spellcaster should be able to put up some posters either with their phone or the computer and, either way, the pet should return within a few days
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