A Detailed Guide to Farming Tiberium

A detailed guide on how to farm, clone, and massively profiteer off of Tiberium gems, added by the World Adventures DLC.

Introduction to Tiberium

Tiberium is a gem added with the introduction of the World Adventures DLC pack. The gem's name is a reference to the Command & Conquer series, and has a variety of strange properties, but one of it's most notable ones is it's ability to grow into larger crystals (Large Spire Cut Gems), which are worth an absurd amount of simoleons (upwards of $46,000 per gem).

This, combined with how easy it is to clone more of them with the Science skill, and cut them into Spire Cuts and gem dust with the Gem-U-Cut Machine, makes this possibly one of the most powerful, broken ways of making lots of money in Sims 3.

This guide will be assuming you have most of the major DLCs, specifically the following:

• Sims 3: World Adventures (needed for Tiberium gem itself, and other things)
  
• Sims 3: Supernatural (for the Gem Cutter, Witch spellcasting, and other useful things like Alchemy Elixirs)
  
• Sims 3: University Life (for the Science skill and ZRX-9000 Science Research Station, needed for cloning)
  
• Sims 3: Ambitions (for misc things like the "Suave Seller" lifetime reward, and consignment)

Here's a selection of the different types of Tiberium gems (minus some oddities like special gem cuts with Transmogrifying).

When Tiberium, or any of it's related gems are held in a Sim's inventory for too long (a few hours usually), it will give the following negative moodlet:





This moodlet lasts indefinitely until all Tiberium items/gems are removed from the Sim's inventory, but otherwise causes no lasting or permanent harm. After all Tiberium is removed from their inventory, the moodlet wears off in 2 hours and once it expires, the sim in question vomits (just like the other "Nausea" moodlets)





Tiberium itself in raw gem form is 'stable' per say, as in, it doesn't grow into the final Large Spire Cut until it is cut by the player (barring some glitches), and placed on the ground outside of a Sim's inventory.

Any other non-large cut (The main ones being: Heart-Shaped Cut (unlocked by collecting 10 different types of gems), Spire Cut (the smaller spires) and Pile of Tiberium Dust) gems will, given enough time and proper space, will grow into the Large Spire gem over the course of 1-3 In-game Days.

Useful traits for Sims undertaking Tiberium farming:

• Gatherer (increases the value of metals and gems cut by the Sim, as well as increasing the chances of items spawning on lots)
  
• Born Salesman/woman (increases the value of items sold at the consignment store and how quickly they gain rep there, useful later for maximum profit)

How to Find Tiberium

The most difficult thing about Tiberium farming is honestly sourcing the Tiberium itself: It's a pretty rare gem that's only found in a handful of places:

(via The Sims Fandom Wiki[sims.fandom.com]:)

• Exploring the catacombs in mausoleum.
  
• Rummaging the trash can in a wealthy residential lot.
  
• Buying one from relic store. [Sims 3: World Adventures]
  
• Breaking space rocks with board breaker. [Sims 3: World Adventures]
  
• Digging up a dog dig spot as a dog. [Sims 3: Pets]
  
• Entering the dimensional gate with PlasmaPunch Gyroscopic Conductor. [Sims 3: Showtime]
  
• Searching for gem as a dog [Sims 3: Pets] or werewolf. [Sims 3: Supernatural]
  
• Casting Conversion Ritual spell as a witch. [Sims 3: Supernatural]
  
• There is a slim chance to win a cut Tiberium from The Claw. [Sims 3: Supernatural]
  
• Clone from a sample taken by analyzing an existing Tiberium gem using the science skill. [Sims 3: University Life]
  
• Dumpster diving.
  
• Picking it up from the ground in Egypt. [Sims 3: World Adventures]
  
• Mining from miner made by inventing skill. [Sims 3: Ambitions]
  
• Going for an underground adventure. [Sims 3: Ambitions]

Personally I've found one of the easiest ways to source your initial Tiberium is via the Conversion Ritual spell, learned by Witches (unlocked with Level 1 spell casting), and just converting ingredients (such as your own summoned apples) over and over until you get a sample, I've personally obtained 3+ Tiberium gems using this method.

Spellcasting can be a bit tricky without higher spellcasting skill or wands, so you may end up having to train up your spellcasting hidden skill a bit to be able to reliably cast the Conversion Ritual spell.


An easy way to level spellcasting is to craft lots of Essence of Magic Elixirs, (made with honey from the Mrs. Stingley's Beekeeping Box, and any mushroom) and use them to recharge your magic when it runs out.


Once you unlock the ability to upgrade appliances (Level 3 spellcasting), the quickest way to level up (other than doing spellcasting duels, which can be hard to find another sim to consistently do those with) is by repetitively magically upgrading an appliance, swapping between upgrades back and forth, restoring your magic with Elixirs when needed.

If you're not willing to turn one of your sims into a Witch to find Tiberium, or have some difficulties in using the Conversion Ritual method, some of the other good options are:

• Searching around Al Simhara (Egypt) to try to find the raw gem loose on the ground (typically in open spaces, near some of the larger landmarks or tombs)
  
• Mining various spots around town with the Miner big invention (unlocked with Inventing Level 7)
  
• Breaking space rocks with the Martial Arts skill (requires Martial Arts Level 9) and the Board Breaker item (found in Shang Simla (China), you can learn the skill here, as well as buy the item from the general store in the market)

(You'll have to complete the "Timber Terminator" challenge first for Martial Arts (Break 150 oak boards or higher) to be able to obtain gems from breaking space rocks via the Board Breaker)


For finding Tiberium on the ground in the wild, it can be a bit difficult to differentiate it from raw Emeralds, as the only differences between the two is a very slight, green tinge on the Tiberium gem, as well as the value difference.

The Gatherer trait can be very helpful for sourcing wild Tiberium, as it boosts the chances of items spawning on lots (allegedly 20%, according to the Sims Wiki[sims.fandom.com]), as well as increasing the value of Spire Cut gems cut by the Sim with the trait (greatly increasing profits later on).

How to Clone and Farm Tiberium

Once you've located a piece of Tiberium, the main bulk of the job now is to process and Clone the gem, as well as getting up the necessary Science skill needed to be able to sample and clone it in the first place.

You'll need to have your Sim purchase the ZRX-9000 Science Research Station ($1,050), and use the machine to Research Science until you pick up the Science skill. The aim is to get your Sim's Science skill up to Level 9, which is the requirement to be able to clone samples with the Research Station.

You can accomplish this by researching samples (consumes the sample), continuing to use the Research Science action, running experiments, and analyzing and sampling materials.


Once you hit Science Level 3, you'll be able to analyze metals and gems to collect samples of them. This is the main way you'll be able to duplicate the Tiberium, by bulk collecting samples of the Tiberium gem you found, and then later once you hit Science Level 9, you'll use them in the Research Station to "Clone from Sample..."



It's very helpful to have a shower nearby to the Research Station, as when the cloning process fails (which happens every so often, even with maxed Science skill), it will give your Sim the Singed moodlet, which it's a good idea to get rid of to reduce the chance of your Sim dying to anything else (I'm not sure if failing another cloning attempt while singed will kill the Sim instantly, but it's worth being careful).



After cloning Tiberium, you'll want to place it on the ground and have your Sim re-collect it. The cloning process can often bug out some objects, requiring you to pick them back up again before certain options will appear on them (such as the item card with the value, and sometimes the ability to even cut the gem itself). Not necessarily required, but a good practice.

You CAN take samples from the other stages/types of Tiberium gems, but cloning those will give you the exact same thing (or in the case of Large Spires, gives you a Small Spire instead).

The most efficient item to clone is the raw gem itself, as with the Gem-U-Cut Machine ($975), you can cut it into Spire Cut gem(s) for free using the machine, as well as yielding approximately 1-6 Piles of Tiberium Gem Dust. The dust is particularly valuable: They can also grow into Large Spire Cut Gems as well as the Small Spires, so you get a much greater return out of cutting the raw gem yourself instead of simply cloning any other type of Tiberium.




Once you have a bunch of Spire Cut Tiberium and Dust Piles, you'll need a place in the world to put all of them down, as Tiberium only transforms into full sized Spires when it is outside of the Sim's inventory.

Generally, the best place to put them is in a large, open area. Basements are very useful for this, as you can make them as large as you need, to hold all of the growing Tiberium Spires.


The optimal spacing for them is shown above, with the Spires spaced apart from each other by ~2 quarter tiles, this just happens to come out nicely to having them placed in the center of each tile in a grid, as shown above.

Tiberium seems to grow in a wide variety of different places, the main restrictions in space seem to be that smaller Spires/Gem Dust don't grow if they're within a quarter tile or two from a fully grown Large Spire Cut Gem



They can even grow on tables, in some cases (albeit only in some places, like the very center).
Placed correctly, Tiberium (and other non-large cuts as well) grows into full Large Spires in roughly about 1-3 In-game Days, and the value increases immensely:


With a large field of gems, you can potentially make millions of simoleons in a single harvest, making this likely one of the most broken methods of making money in the game.

Selling off your Tiberium Haul

Once you've produced a sizable haul of Large Spire Cut Tiberium(s), now you'll want to sell it off for that juicy profit. You can sell the gems straight up relatively easy from your Sim's inventory, but by far the best method of selling off your Tiberium is via Consignment.


You can gain upwards of double the value by consigning the Tiberium gems at any local Consignment shops in your town (Elixir Shops, as well as the normal Consignment Shops).



It's highly recommended to also grab the "Suave Seller" lifetime reward (15,000 points) before consigning them at the shop, as it can significantly increase the return you get out of your harvests (25% boost to value of sold consignment items).





This is just the returns for only 6 spires, for very large batches you can earn potentially MILLIONS in a single sale with a few dozen gems:


(return from selling 62 Large Spire Cut Gems w/ Suave Seller LTR and Gatherer trait)

The $1 consignment fee is due to this Sim having high enough reputation at the consignment shop, for more information, see the following:
https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Consignment_store

You can take the "Born Salesman/woman" trait for your Sim (items sell for more at consignment shops, and you build reputation faster as well) to further boost profit, as well as the "Gatherer" trait, which is even more helpful for maximizing Spire value, as it increases the value of gems (as well as metals) cut by the Sim.

The potential for profit is truly insane if you can put in the effort with a Sim to obtain all the required skills and resources.

Closing Notes

I hope some of you found this guide helpful, as I put in a lot of work researching how the Tiberium Spire Crystals grow, and the best layouts for growing them.

Special Thanks:

• The Sims 3 Fandom Wiki[sims.fandom.com] (For researching info on Tiberium, and other helpful information and resources)
  
• Carl's The Sims 3 Guide[www.carls-sims-3-guide.com] (A very helpful site with a plethora of information about Sims 3, and it's various mechanics. Their information helped a lot with this guide)
  
• You (For reading this guide)

If this guide helped you out, Rating & Favoriting would be greatly appreciated.

[つきちゃん]

Fields of green...
The Tiberium will set us free!
The beautiful glow...
Tiberium is the answer...
This land grows rich!

[Nod]

like this a mod or in the game as a c&c easter egg?

[DitieBun]

thanks, I will make a Walter White sim as soon as I get this DLC

[Norard]

I recommend to keep that stuff locked in a basement vault, lined with steel and concrete.
Oh, and there's a bloke called Kane on the 'phone who wants a word.

[U DON'T NEED TO KNOW MY NAME]

Am more into rainbow and Lumanorise and pink Diamond than this