The Sims 3 Into the Future: Trait Chips
List and Features of Trait Chips for Plumbots
| Time Traveler | Utopia & Dystopia | Legacy Statues | Descendants | Advanced Tech | Bot Building |
| Laser Rhythm-a-con | Plumbots | Trait Chips | Astronomy Career | Bot Arena Career | Nanites |
The Sims 3 Into the Future introduced Plumbots, which can be fitted with Trait Chips to customize their behavior and capabilities. This list of Trait Chips will describe the benefit of each chip and list the components you'll need to assemble them (Nanites, Small-Large Blank Processors and Crystal Flowers).
Designing the Ultimate Plumbot
Given there are a total of 21 Trait Chips, there are a lot of possibilities to designing your Plumbot's abilities and this is my own opinion. My personal favorite setup would be the Sentience Trait Chip, Solar Powered, Efficient, Limitless Learning, Simulated Emotions, Competent Cleaner, and Office Drone. That would make the Plumbot like a regular Sim only much better at everything they do and capable of doing it longer. You could learn any Skills that are needed around the home very quickly and even pursue a Career. Plumbots with this setup would get big raises at the top level of a Career Track or perform any other Skill that earns money.
My example Plumbot would still lack in the Social Abilities department, but be very competent at earning money and supporting the home. The good news is, that Trait Chips can be swapped out at any time. Any Skills or Skill Challenges completed are kept and the Plumbot can adjust its own Trait Chips if you put them in its Inventory.
Learning More About Plumbots
You should definitely read the Bot Making and Plumbots Guides as well, because learning how to make them and the other features of Plumbots are discussed there. This article focuses on Trait Chips themselves.
Trait Chips List: Components and Chip Descriptions
Lvl = Level of Bot Making to make it yourself. You can purchase Trait Chips at the Bot Shop in the Future World, Oasis Landing. Nanites are caught outside the City Center, while Processors can also be bought but are largely gained by Reverse Engineering Nanites with Bot Making. You'll get Large processors from Rare Nanites, Medium for Uncommon, and Small for Common Nanites. You will get a random spread so may get 1 Large, 2 Medium and a Small (max 4) from one Rare Nanite. Once Reverse Engineered, you can create Nanites at the Bot Workstation. Plumbots, when fully upgraded, may have up to 7 Trait Chip Slots.
| Lvl | Icon | Trait Chip Name | Components | Install Value | Trait Chip Effects |
| 1 |  | Competent Cleaner | Any Nanite | $130 | Allows cleaning interactions, makes Plumbot prioritize household chores |
| 2 |  | HandiBot | Any Nanite, Small Processor | $165 | Max Handiness Skill and makes the Plumbot autonomously do repairs on home appliances and electronics. You may use their experience in Handiness to upgrade your household. |
| 2 |  | A.I. Angler | Any Nanite, 2 Small Processor | $205 | Max Fishing skill and enables all Fishing interactions |
| 3 |  | Steel Chef | Lite Nanite, 3 Small Processor | $230 | Max Cooking, all recipes including Ambrosia, autonomously cooks for hungry Sims |
| 3 |  | Fear of Humans | Any Nanite, Small Processor | $160 | Plumbots with this unfortunate Trait Chip will faint around regular Sims (not other Life States) and get a nasty negative moodlet. This is a really bad chip to give your own Plumbots, but you may be rude and insert one into a Plumbot you don't like for some reason to give it a cruel existence. |
| 4 |  | RoboNanny | Scalar Nanite, 3 Small Processor | $315 | RoboNannies are able to take care of children in the household and raise young Sims while the Parents pursue their Skills, Career etc. They are able to teach toddlers to walk, talk and potty just as Parents can and will autonomously care for them. They should function as babysitters as well. |
| 4 |  | Friendly Functions | 3 Small Processor, Kindness Crystal | $295 | Gives the Plumbot a large range of Social Interactions and the Social Need, meaning they require interaction or they'll get lonely.. but without Simulated Emotions or Sentience, they will not have a mood and get LTHP. |
| 5 |  | Sinister Circuits | 3 Small Processor, Rage Crystal | $300 | Plumbots that are programmed to be Sinister will perform mean interactions against Sims, yet have a Social Need - so they get lonely unless they're able to interact with others and get their enjoyment out of being mean. |
| 5 |  | Sense of Humor | 3 Small Processor, Laughter Crystal | $320 | Gives the Plumbot a wide range of joke interactions, along with a Social Meter. Control the Plumbot and click it to Perform Comedy Show, which will attract nearby Sims who will all get a 'You Got Served' +10 Moodlet for 3 hours after watching the show. |
| 6 |  | Office Drone | Lepton Nanite, Quantum Nanite, 2 Small Processor | $400 | Allows the Plumbot to take up a Career and earn money for the Household. Unfortunately, they are unable to take on Ambitions Professions. In the Office, Plumbots don't get stressed out and will excel at their chosen Career, especially given how well they can do with certain Skill Chips installed. |
| 6 |  | Musical Machine | Caustic Nanite, Heisenberg Nanite, 2 Small Processor | $395 | Allows the Plumbot to autonomously play music (like a Radio) and sing. They also get max skill in all Musical Instruments. |
| 6 |  | Mood Adjuster | Neutron Nanite, Any Crystal, 4 Small Processor | $415 | The Mood Adjuster gives the Plumbot a Social Meter and gives them the ability to give a Sim a massage for a +10 3h Moodlet or use their Happiness Beam to give them a +40 3h moodlet, but this may backfire.. |
| 7 |  | Solar Powered | Condensor Nanite, Medium Processor | $460 | Gives the Bot +10 Energy per hour while outside in the day time. This is very helpful for Plumbots that will spend a lot of time outdoors, as they could go on forever and only require Maintenance. |
| 7 |  | Capacity to Love | 2 Medium Processor, 5 Love Crystal | $555 | Plumbots with Capacity to Love will have a Social Meter and may perform a lot of different Romantic Interactions with Sims and other Plumbots. You may even marry a Plumbot if you choose. The 'Get Frisky' interaction is effectively their Woohoo but will not produce a baby, ever, as Plumbots cannot reproduce that way. |
| 7 |  | RoBotany Gardener | 3 of Any Nanite, Any Crystal, Medium Processor | $475 | Maximizes the Gardening Skill for the Plumbot and gives it the ability to fertilize your Plants. |
| 8 |  | Limitless Learning | Tunneling Nanite, 3 Medium Processor | $650 | Allows a Plumbot to take up any Skill you choose. Since they learn them so fast, you may not want to bother with Skill-specific Trait Chips to allow more room for others. |
| 8 |  | Simulated Emotions | 3 Each of Kindness, Laughter, and Rage Crystals | $575 | Gives a Plumbot emotional states it can simulate along with the Social and Mood Meters - Happy Mode will give it a constant positive moodlet of +20, Sad/Angry Mode -10. Along with Sentience, it's the only way to get your Plumbot gaining Lifetime Happiness points for Lifetime Rewards. |
| 8 |  | Algorithmic Artist | Torque Nanite, Polar Nanite, 2 Medium Processor | $680 | Maxes the Painting Skill and lets Plumbots autonomously Paint pictures that can be sold for profit. You could make a Plumbot that makes a load of money, right from home if you build them a studio. |
| 9 |  | Holo Projector | Induction Nanite, 2 Medium Processor, Large Processor | $970 | Allows the Plumbot to project the requesting Sim's Friends and Acquaintances that are not present in the World, so while in the Future, you could talk to and gain relationships with Sims from the past that are not really there. The hologram will visit with your Sim and allows normal Social Interactions. |
| 9 |  | Efficient | Thermo Nanite, 2 Medium Processor, Large Processor | $1010 | Gives +50% Skill Gains to the Plumbot (with Limitless Learning also installed), while also making the Plumbot 3x more likely to get a raise at work with Office Drone. Their Maintenance stat falls at 75% of the normal level, and they'll gain energy 50% faster when recharging. This even makes Shutdowns gain power rather quickly, meaning the Plumbot can recharge anywhere (or Syphon Power). Lastly, Efficient Plumbots will perform better in competitions at the Bot Arena. |
| 10 |  | Sentience | Uber Nanite, 5 of Any Crystal, 2 Large Processor | $1615 | Enables Social and Mood Motives. This is also the only Trait Chip that allows a Plumbot to have Fun, allowing it to boost its mood further to get more LTHP. Sentient Plumbots are much more like Sims although I have yet to discover how they can get a Lifetime Wish or get Opportunities. It seems bugged. Still, this is required for the Pioneer of Plumbotics Legacy Statue. |
In Closing
This should explain Trait Chips pretty well and give you an idea on the many possibilities for customizing your Plumbots. You may make a Super Nanny, servant for the household with awesome meals, or a money-making machine. Share your experiences with these Trait Chips in the Comments section below.
Share Tips and FAQs (47)
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Leo says...
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I Guess I'll throw this in here,With the 'Research Station,' and Science! From University you can analyze Nanites, and clone them! As well as Crystals. I found it usefull to clone my Rare Nanites and break down the clones for parts. Keeping a few original Rares around to clone them later.
ReplyFlag19327th October 2013 2:51am
Leo says...
More experiments.
RoBotany Plumbots can embue Crystal plants without needing other emotion chipsets.
If you Clone a crystal, it comes up blank.
Plumbots with the capacity to love chip, can Woohoo with each other in the, Dream pod, or Bot Workshop. Have not tested with Simbots. Most life states can not woohoo with Plumbots.The Stasis pod Cryosleep, will not keep your sim's wife from waking up and getting angry when he cheats on her with the Plumbot to see if the Pumbot can woohoo.
If you are going to experiment, save your game first.
RoBotany Plumbots can embue Crystal plants without needing other emotion chipsets.
If you Clone a crystal, it comes up blank.
Plumbots with the capacity to love chip, can Woohoo with each other in the, Dream pod, or Bot Workshop. Have not tested with Simbots. Most life states can not woohoo with Plumbots.The Stasis pod Cryosleep, will not keep your sim's wife from waking up and getting angry when he cheats on her with the Plumbot to see if the Pumbot can woohoo.
If you are going to experiment, save your game first.
27th October 2013 6:14am
Gracefulclutz says...
This made me about fall off my bed laughing. Just letting you know this was the first I'd laughed at all today.Is it possible for a male sim and a male bot to woohoo? Not that I'd LET them, but... Just a curiosity question.Not willing to experiment with that quite yet...
20th June 2014 10:25pm
Mr. Anonee mouse says...
My butler plumbot is useless. He is a cleaner, nanny, cook, and efficient, but all he does without me instructing every move is sit down and watch holo-tv. :( Why doesn't he, you know, work?
2nd March 2014 2:26pm
Skyte says...
Actually you dont need any chips at all to get LTHP. Even though they have no moods they still have wants that give points like scanning sims and getting chips. They just wont get them for being happy.
25th January 2014 4:54am
Legion says...
So how come my bots can't Get Married to each other. They both have romantic interest in each other but I see no choice to Get Married. Also how do plumbot children work?
4th March 2014 12:22pm
Frabbit says...
Plumb bots count towards the surrounded by family LTW.
16th February 2014 2:46pm
lea says...
My Sim lives in the future and makes Plumbots for a living. There are a lot of meteor showers which provide gigantic meteors. If you put one in the Plumbot's inventory and sell it, the Plumbot will get a life time want to have either 50,000 simoleons or a household worth of 100,000 simoleons more than they have already.Bear in mind how easy it is to make money in the future by gathering space rocks etc and you can soon achieve the Plumbot's lifetime want. At that point you can use its 30,000 reward point to buy 3 trait chip bundles with which to make more Plumbots.Then sell the Plumbot :) This method is really efficient If you have two or three Plumbots in the household at the same time.
15th April 2014 10:04am
lea says...
Sorry, I wanted to edit my post but seem not to be able to.I should have said that you need to equip the Plumbot with the Sentience chip before putting anything in its inventory to sell. That is the way to ensure it gets a Lifetime Wish.I imagine you could get the Swimming in Cash or Living in the Lap of Luxury wishes by selling a laptop computer from its inventory if you don't have access to gigantic meteors, but you'd have to lay out money for that and make a loss due to depreciation of the item.
15th April 2014 4:02pm
Chay says...
Okay.. I didn't take notice that they had this interaction until after they were married, so it might have been there before then. But you CAN Woohoo with a plumbot as a human using the "get frisky" selection from the romance menu (i had the bot initiate it, dunno if that mattered). Also, I had a dream bed, which they used.. but I'm guessing a regular bed would be possible? Anyway.. just passing that on.
28th October 2013 12:06am
Chay says...
Okay.. something worth noting here. As soon as I equipped the "sentience" chip, the 'be frisky' option disappeared and even after I removed the chip, it did not come back. Fortunately, I hadn't saved my game after I installed it. Just fyi, these are the chips that are in my bot, which is male: Simulated emotions, capacity to love, efficient, holo projector, limitless learning and friendly functions. The "get frisky" option is there. I'm going to try filling that seventh slot with something other than sentience and see if it stays.
28th October 2013 12:06pm
Chay says...
Okay, even more strange. I went back into my unsaved game, figuring I'd make the sentient chip again, but put it in another bot to sell. It would be worth noting here that this was the first sentient chip she has created. And, strangely, as soon as she made the chip, again her husband plumbot lost the ability to 'be frisky'. I'm wondering if it's a glitch that this bot even has the ability. It seems to be the creation of the sentient chip that triggers it to disappear.
Unfortunately, I don't know how to take an ingame screen shot or I'd be happy to send it along, just to verify the option. Maybe someone else can see if it's a fluke or if it's intentional that the making of the chip disappears? I'm going to post a bug. Hopefully, the bug isn't that my bot can be frisky!
Admin:
Maybe with Sentient they need more romantic build-up before the Get Frisky option will appear? Just a theory. Thanks for your contributions anyway :)
28th October 2013 12:21pm
Chay says...
Actually, I am now thinking the disappearance of the "be frisky" option has to do with their newlywed moodlet wearing off. The "my love" moodlet disappeared at that time as well. I had then break up, become just friends, then get remarried again.. and now the moodlets are back, as well as the "be frisky" option. I updated my bug report. It might be worth someone else testing this as well?
28th October 2013 6:51pm
Kamilla says...
So,i've got this I have this opportunity. I am Norwegian, so I do not know what this trait chip is called in English. Directly it translates to something like Any trait-chip? I'll deliver it to Emit, and it says to invite him over (I have alot of other traitchips in my inventory), but everytime i try nothing happens. Ive brough him from the future to my time, but it still wont work. Ive tried usin my phone to deliver aswell, but it says that ive havent got all the thing i need to deliver. What do i do? Has anyone else had this opportunity?
23rd March 2014 11:15am
Mariel says...
I have the same problem. I don't know what to do! At one point I think it said that I had to have 3 trait chips, and I only had two (I had just given one of my trait chips to Emit as a gift in my attempt to complete the opportunity). So I made another trait chip and I'm back to the same problem again.
7th August 2014 11:24pm
Leo aka zolhart says...
^ That was me, I recall investigating "Frisky" a few years ago, and deemed it to risky to use unless planning for a baby.
Re: posting something else I posted to on the forums.
Any mod that hard resets the Plumbot when loading/reloading the world by sending it out of play may cause a bug to occur. Where the plumbot loses it's trait Chips.
Other vanilla affects might reproduce this affect. Splitting off a plumbot from a family, Sending it away in an event, Homless/service Plumbots going home. And so on. Anything that sends a Plumbot into hibernation may cause it to lose it's trait chips.
Admin:
Thanks for sharing this information. You may save some folks some trouble, although the current bug on losing trait chips simply from traveling from the Future is annoying a lot of people.
29th October 2013 12:43am
Tori says...
I don't have the Uber Nanite, and it says that all of he nanites have been discovered! Help!!
27th October 2013 5:26pm
Leo says...
The Uber Nanite is a rare, you have to find it, or buy it if your lucky enough to spot it in the consignment. And then reverse engineer it to add it to the list of Nanites you can make. Once found you can also Clone it using the university Research station. You can find them around rare spawners in the waist land. Or if you debug Spawners into your town. I debuged spawners into Barnacle Bay instead of having to travel back and forth, You can also place a few of the shops like the Bot consignment shop in your town.
27th October 2013 7:28pm
Tori says...
Thank you so much, I'll keep an eye on the bot shop, I've been camping there for two sim weeks :P . Also, is it under a particular spawner or is there a general spawner for it?Also, are all discovered nanites useful, or are only some of them used in trait chips?
28th October 2013 5:31am
Minakie says...
I still don't get Sentience. It says "Enables Social and Mood Motives" but what exactly does that mean? Does it unlock all the socials from Friendly Functions, Sense of Humor, Sinister Circuits, Mood Adjuster, Capacity to Love and Simulated Emotions or is it just a better and more complete version of Simulated Emotions? I guess basically what I want to know is exactly which social skills does this enable (which chips those skills correspond to).
15th November 2013 4:39am
Briar says...
Well as much as I don't like cheating in the sims3 my daughter did the cheat that let her add lifetime happiness points to her plumbot after making it sentient. She then used the points to purchase the 10k Change lifetime wish and got to pick it right away. For those that are ok with that its an option.
6th January 2014 8:30pm
Legion says...
So how come my bots can't Get Married to each other. They both have romantic interest in each other but I see no choice to Get Married. Also how do plumbot children work?
19th February 2014 12:09pm
Ashley says...
The bots can get married. Just like regular sims get them extremely irresistible towards eachother, get them to date, then propose, then marriage. The bots cant have babies themselves but they can adopt over the phone. In there relationship bar with the children it will say family member. But I just had my bots adopt and jt showed up that there creator was the grandparent of the adopted children. So cool!
11th June 2014 11:50pm
Sim Fan 099 says...
I have discovered that if you switch in the limitless learning and let the bot use the skills on the chips before taking the chips out, the skills DO transfer to the limitless learning chip.
23rd February 2021 1:35pm
Hechicera says...
I have found that plumbots with Limitless Learning that learn Gardening high enough to get fertilize option get the same fertilize ability as the RoBatany chip gives. So this is also nice, you can have a sim be the main gardener (for LTW, skill goals etc) and just tell the plumbot to go fertilize.
19th February 2014 5:18pm
Sim Fan 099 says...
Does ANY 3 nanites (playing 3 again after 15 years, so forgive me) effectively mean 3 of any one type or any 3 of any 3 types of nanite?
26th November 2020 2:36am
Corylea says...
I see that crystals are required to build some trait chips. I've found crystal plants in the wild and have charged them so that their kindness or laughter or whatever are at 100%, but it doesn't seem to be possible for me to actually TAKE the crystals. What the heck do you have to do to take crystals from a plant?
10th January 2014 1:34am
Chay says...
Someone posted this in response to my bug report. Apparently, the ability to be frisky is very temporary:"As far as I recall the Option to 'Be frisky' goes away a couple sim days after sims get married. It's a newly married action that has a chance of resulting in a baby. The fact that PlumBots can use it with other life-states I think may be an oversight.:
28th October 2013 10:51pm
Sera says...
You can take trait chips from any plumbot, even if it's not yours. Just ask them to set their trait chips and press the minus sign above each chip. Most will be fine, but some will occasionaly get detroyed. The plumbot you take the chips from will also dislike you. But it is good for bots you don't plan to interact with.
Admin:
It is a 50/50 chance and I mentioned it in one of these two Guides to Plumbots. I agree that it's mostly not harmful, so long as you don't plan to interact with that bot. I see them as servants without sentience, anyway :)
11th November 2013 7:39pm
Jeremy says...
Okay, so if you install a skill chip in, for example, the RoBotany Gardener chip. Then, if you were to take it out. Would the maximum skill, "still" be all learned, or would it be gone?
29th December 2013 12:25pm
Rose says...
I had a bot with the ability to do sculpting but something happened. It was a bough from the future one. When we came back to the present it was gone... :( Anyone know what the chip was called?
6th January 2014 8:04pm
Mark says...
I love the fertilizing that plumbots can do with with the robotony chip. I haven't full on tested it, but it seems to be as strong and last as long as basic life fruit. Nothing for them to collect in order to use it either.I have had one plumbot get no lifetime wishes pop up. My second one in the household has had three of them pop up like they do with child and teen sims. But so far not one I wanted to accept.
26th October 2013 3:08am
Jonathan says...
"Yep, you can fall in love and even Get Married, but may not Woohoo"
Trol :)
Trol :)
4th December 2013 4:08pm
Psycho says...
I've had Trait Chips disappear from my Plumbots multiple times now. I have two that are in love with each other but their chips allowing them to love have vanished along with their ability to express their love. Likewise a chip allowing another to work has vanished but the bot is still employed and cannot change professions or quite.
11th November 2013 9:32pm
Tigerskin says...
Does it matter what trait slot you use for the chips?Because I was wondering if say you put the competent cleaner in a better slot (the last one to unlock) would that be the main priority as opposed to say handiness, that was in a lower chip slot?Therefore they would clean puddles caused by a broken sink before fixing it...
30th October 2013 10:10am
Non sequitorian says...
Ftr, my level8 bot (high tech quality) with sentient chip just received an opp for a lifetime wish. She traveled to China to finish a painting opp, and as soon as she handed over the painting, the lifetime wish chance appeared. If I had known, I'd have brought a wish enhancement potion, bc she fulfilled the wish as soon as it was accepted (swimming in cash).
13th August 2014 10:12pm
jillz says...
RE: Solar Power & SentienceI had these chips installed and my Battery Power was going down even though my Plumbot was outside. I even went off my home lot. It was also summer in Utopiaa so there was plenty of sunshine. I clicked on beds & couches and she had the options to sleep & nap. I need to do more testing but I think that if a Plumbot has the Sentience chip, then that takes precedence over Solar Power. They need sleep just like any other Sim.
27th October 2013 12:48pm
Carl says...
I'll do some testing on this. It seemed to me that a Solar Powered Plumbot that is high quality (reducing energy/maintenance drain) and having Efficient (further reducing energy/maintenance drain) would be able to be outside without need of external power sources, but I very well could be wrong or the game could be buggy. I'll update the page if my findings are conclusive.
Edit: Solar Powered, High Quality Plumbots (level 10: Future Tech) can fish in the Sunshine and gain Battery Power when things are working right. Efficient just makes this even better as it fights against the drain of Maintenance and Energy. Bug possibilities aside, if your Plumbot is losing energy, its quality is likely too low and the Solar Powered Chip is not giving enough energy per hour to overcome its power Drain. In a low quality bot, the Efficient Chip would help make up for this.
Edit: Solar Powered, High Quality Plumbots (level 10: Future Tech) can fish in the Sunshine and gain Battery Power when things are working right. Efficient just makes this even better as it fights against the drain of Maintenance and Energy. Bug possibilities aside, if your Plumbot is losing energy, its quality is likely too low and the Solar Powered Chip is not giving enough energy per hour to overcome its power Drain. In a low quality bot, the Efficient Chip would help make up for this.
28th October 2013 7:20pm
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