Private Investigator Career (Ambitions)

Private Investigator Career (Ambitions)

If you have ever spent hours in front of the TV watching reruns of Magnum PI, Rockford Files, Simon & Simon and the like, well then, hey!  This is your career!  Being a Private Eye is sort of like being a cop but without the power and safety of a badge and gun... 

Among the different skills you will want to level are Athletics, Logic, Martial Arts, and Photography -- all of which are both useful and valuable to a Private Eye...  To start out your long career as a paid investigator you will need to pop-in to the Police Station where you register, get finger printed and have a background check run and, if everything is in order, get issued your PI License.  With that in hand and the basic PI uniform in a bag you walk out a new professional!

The PI is one of the careers that has a massive amount of Level-based Unlockable Items -- specifically you will unlock the following:

Level 01: Caper Crusader Outfit
Level 02: Magnifying Glass
Level 03: Professional's Frosted Door
Level 04: Fingerprint Kit
Level 05: Flatfooted Investigation Specialist Outfit
Level 06: Investigator's Case Board (Office Decoration)
Level 07: Sneak Ability (To use simply click the ground)
Level 08: Yomoshoto Evasion (A car worth $9500!)
Level 10: Private Eye Outfit

I have to admit while some of the unlockable rewards are cool, the bloody car is particularly awesome as a reward!  Whew!

In addition to the Rewards above, you also unlock Awards as well, including:

Investigator's Trophy of Honor: Solve 3 Cases
Investigator's Trophy of Heroism: Solve 3 Missing Sim Cases
Eagle-Eyed Eavesdropper Medallion: Solve the Great Jewel Heist Case
Medal of the Mindful: Solve the Rogue Cop Case
Investigator's Ribbon of Bravery: Solve the Fish Kid Case
Investigator's Key to the Town: Reach Level 10
Investigator's Keepsake: Solve 5 Cases as a Private Eye (Level 10)

Advancement in the world of the PI is basically caused by simply solving cases and performing the mundane tasks that are part of that process -- from low-level investigation techniques like searching through the trash and the mail (do not get caught doing either as you do not have a warrant mates) -- and speaking of illegal, while you are licensed by the cops you are not, in fact, a cop, so you can usually get away with doing things like warrant-less searches and even breaking into a household to search for evidence -- as long as you do not get caught!   The process of questioning witnesses and the act of conducting stakeouts and (of course) writing reports are all part of the job, and really it is all a lot like being a police detective sergeant except without the glory and donuts.

Dressing for Success in your career as a PI!

One thing you should be aware of is that the Logic Skill plays a very significant role in the speed at which you succeed from the mid-levels onward, so leveling that should be one of your priorities.  The actual career is a long-term one, so when you enter it be prepared to spend intense amounts of time and effort getting through the levels and even more time and effort if you are actually going for the Pervasive Private Eye Lifetime Wish since it requires you to Solve 35 Cases as a Private Investigator!

-- Using Your Skills as a PI --

As mentioned above the primary supporting skills that you use will help you level, and those include basic investigative techniques like searching for clues and evidence, interviewing witnesses or suspects, and staking out locations. 

Stakeouts are a lot easier than they sound simply because there is a mechanism in the game that pretty much automatically causes ANY stakeout you deploy to be at least partially successful, providing you with a minimum of enough information to justify writing and e-filing a report.  Considering that both stakeouts AND filing reports are two of the key activities for gaining XP as PI to level (in addition to actually solving cases of course) you will want to do them often.

You should make a serious effort to level your Charisma Skill early on as you will really need that to question and interview witnesses, victims, and perpetrators -- how else will you learn if the person you are talking to is the doer?  Bear in mind that your best chance for success is to quickly establish a relationship with the Sim you are questioning and learn their Traits and some personal background info in order to find leverage to pry away at their story and reveal their secrets!

To make your life a lot easier one of the tools that you buy right away should be a laptop/notebook computer, which you can carry with you and pull out in any public lot to write and file your reports with the police -- remember you actually work for clients but you must report to the police or they will take away your license!  In theory since your stakeouts are on public lots you could just as easily bang out the report straight away, but you do not have to -- you can actually bank several stakeout results and then write them all up one after the other later if you prefer or you cannot afford a portable PC...

Another tool that you will unlock as you level up is the Fingerprint Kit, with which you will quickly master the art of dusting for prints and, as you can imagine, this will become a regular piece of your PI gear and a great aid for gathering irrefutable evidence at a crime scene.

Ultimately what this should be all about is solving your cases -- and for the PI those are more like little mini-adventures than they are teeth-pulling sessions...  So try to be sure you are working on a paying case whenever you have one, and be sure to take a new case as soon as you solve your last one, right?

-- Low-Level Police Work --

In addition to the low-level investigative work you do for your clients while you are on a case, you can also go to the Police Station and pick up similar work for them -- remember your license and permits all come from the cops, and technically you are a deputized member of the Law Enforcement community -- what that translates to sadly is that this will allow you to do a lot of scut work and paperwork for very low pay, not the fun stuff that the cops get to do -- but in the early stages of your career this can be a good source for XP and a little money (a very little money but still)...

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Athletic, Brave, Charismatic, Disciplined, Friendly, Genius, Perceptive

Associated Lifetime Wishes:  Pervasive Private Eye

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

??? So far I have not found any specifically that apply but when I do they will be added to this section...

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01:  Eavesdropper
Base Pay Rate: $275 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 01: None / Trench coat

Level 02: Small Claims Investigator
Base Pay Rate: $340 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 02: None / Trench coat

Level 03: Wrongdoing Analyzer
Base Pay Rate: $400 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 03: None / Trench coat

Level 04: Community Crime Solver
Base Pay Rate: $525 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 04: None / Trench coat

Level 05: Obscure Clue Summoner
Base Pay Rate: $650 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 05: None / Trench coat

Level 06: Gumshoe
Base Pay Rate: $850 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 06: None / Trench coat

Level 07: Licensed Snoop
Base Pay Rate: $1125 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 07: None / Trench coat

Level 08: Community Sleuth
Base Pay Rate: $1475 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 08: None / Trench coat

Level 09: Flatfooted Investigation Specialist
Base Pay Rate: $1850 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 09: None / Trench coat

Level 10: Private Eye
Base Pay Rate: $2475 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 10: None / Trench coat

Being a PI is not really the road to riches but it is a lot of fun...  If it is one of the careers you are thinking about trying but there are others you like or are interested in just as much, consider doing those first, and saving your career as a PI for your golden years when you are looking for an excuse to get away from the grandchildren for a few hours, right?