Fisher

[Acturus]

I may have been doing a fishing leve. I R0'd on Sunday in the middle of a leve, and didn't bother to log back in or anything afterward. I just forced the quit.

When I logged back in, however, the leve I was doing two days earlier didn't appear in the top left corner.

[Callisto]

Updated with OB info.

[miokomioko]

I mentioned this stuff in the random shit thread, but this would be more appropriate.

These are some changes to fishing between Phase 3 and Open Beta that I've noticed.


-The cast gauge is a little less effected by lag.
(It helps to aim your camera straight down and zoomed in for reducing graphic lag)

-There's one less menu when picking depth and proceeding.

-You can't Jig unless your Wait results in a nibble or a bite.

-You start with 3 stacks of bloodworms instead of 1.

-Baits have descriptions and types of water they are for.
(freshwater, ocean, coastline, river, and all-purpose so far)

-Waiting for a bite almost guarantees hooking the fish and remainder will be visible if you get a bite.

-Waiting can also randomly yield "you feel no bites" and force to re-cast, even if you just had a nibble.

-You can randomly lose your catch while jigging.

-You will probably fail the tutorial leve if you don't get your Rank up a few levels first.

-Failure to get a bite on your hook will not expend an attempt on a school of fish.

-Schools of fish respawn significantly faster.

-Fishing Fieldleves that require investigating "Promishing Fishing Spots" are drastically easier as waiting for a bite almost guarantees something will be on your line.

-Skill gain from Spearfishing was significantly reduced.
(25~30 for a success)

-Gulleye range has doubled to 400-yalms.

-Depth appears to allow you to focus your gathering on more difficult/rare or easy/common catches.
(Shallow = easy, Deep = difficult, Middle = chance of both)

-Failing to reel in your catch while extremely close to the sweet spot will always tell you what you lost.

[Sign]

@Mio: Is there anywhere to go and get started fishing? (ie. do they provide a starter rod and some bait?) or are you supposed to just buy a rod and some bait and figure it out on your own?

[miokomioko]

If you start your character as a fisher, you'll come with a rod, 3 stacks of basic bait, and some basic gear focused on gathering. If you start on any other class, you'll have to buy a rod and some bait from the Fishing Guild in Limsa Lominsa or one of the basic shops in either of the other towns. Spearfishing will always require you to purchase a gig from those same shops (or craft one if someone figures out a recipe).

As for "getting started" you are expected to generally figure it out when you do the fishing Tutorial Leve as you are spammed with tutorial messages about what to do as you fish during that leve. It's kinda' bullshit since I knew what I was doing and I still didn't catch a damn thing for that whole 30 minutes of "tutorial." I recommend just getting a Weathered Fishing Rod, 99 Bloodworms, and fishing inside a town where the catches are the easiest. You'll get the feel of it a lot faster than attempting a leve. Not to mention, you'll get some Fishing Ranks so you don't fail miserably when you do attempt a Fieldleve.

[TacoTaru]

Is there any reason to do deeper fishing at the moment? I did a bit of it in Limsa but didn't notice a difference in anything with the exception of it being harder. I didn't see any better exp or skill so I'm not sure what the point is unless there's fish that can only be caught at deeper levels? I couldn't seem to catch anything different in the time I was trying it.

[MakinBaconNeked]

Observations while fishing:

There are 5 messages you can receive while fishing once you have a bite and attempt to Jig.

1) The fish takes some line
2) You've hooked something but cannot reel it in
3) You take in some line
4) You take in a great deal of line
5) The fish has tired, but you still cannot reel it in

(All but one mentioned earlier in thread)

5 we know is the sweet spot so if you get that one then repeat that spot. 2 is the one not mentioned earlier. This appears to me to be the neutral spot, you aren't reeling in but the fish is not taking line either.

Assuming that depth determine the difficulty of the fish (which so far I agree with) then based on your first jig you will want to step you second attempt accordingly. In other words, if you are fishing shallow you can take bigger steps in one direction or the other without having to worry as much about loosing the fish.

What I have had the best success with is starting my first jig on the outside center of the gauge. I usually start at about the "C" of "Cast". If I get text 2 or 3 then I go to the "t" of "Cast". Dead center does not make sense to me because then you have exactly 50/50 chance of guessing your second direction. Once I go to "t" then either I move up in those rankings (wrong direction if the fish is taking line) or move up in the rankings. By taking smaller steps then I have a better chance of either a) catching the fish on second jig or b) not draining the remainder of the fish attempt so I can get another chance to adjust.

I have seen a few places where people are breaking that gauge up in 5 sections but I think its more than this ... maybe like 9.

| | | | |x| | | | |

x marks dead center
a = x-1 (our starting point)

| | | |a| | | | | |

if you receive msg 5, target same exact spot.
if you receive msgs 3 or 4, target one step left or right (your choice, doesn't matter)
if you receive msg 2, target two steps right
I have not received msg 1 ever on first attempt so don't think you can (someone confirm if you can get it first jig?)

example assumes msg 2 on first jig

b = a+2 or x+1
| | | | | |b| | | |

if you receive msg 5, target same exact spot
if you receive msg 3 or 4 you are moving the right direction
I have never received msg 2 twice in steps this far apart
if you receive msg 1 you went the wrong way, target 4 steps left (2 steps left of a)

Note that their are currently 11 depths available. I am using this pretty successfully at depth 9 (down 3 from center) so this example is based on that depth.

Please give this a try and if you get completely different results then I would like to know. Never really "tested" anything like this before so I could be very wrong on this stuff.

[miokomioko]

It's still a theory that's a little difficult to prove, but... I have convinced myself of these trends. From my experience, the depth gauge allows you to slightly focus on what commonality/difficulty of fish you have odds of hooking.


At shallow depths, you will get a lot more nibbles and bites, but the fish will be easy catches (like crayfish, kelp, and other garbage).

At deeper depths, you will get very few nibbles and even less bites, but when you do hook something, it will have much higher odds of being something rare and more difficult to hook and reel in (like dark bass, dart frogs, and helmet crabs, etc.)


The more difficult catches will sometimes take 2-3 hits on the correct spot to reel in. I think they default you in the center because it would be generally equally spread chances of difficulty.

This appears to me to be the neutral spot, you aren't reeling in but the fish is not taking line either.

I never went into any explaination of the message "You've hooked something but cannot reel it in." because it doesn't really tell you anything other than you hooked the fish that was nibbling/biting on your hook and did not get lucky enough to land right next to the sweet spot or on it exactly.


If the fish got away on your jig, you simply didn't hook anything. Bummer.

If you hooked something but couldn't reel it in, that just means you hooked something and have to start playing hot/cold because you are not necessarily very close to the sweet spot.

If you tired the fish on your first jig, great, you have real good odds of finding that spot in 1-2 more attempts (one shifted over barely in each direction). And, the fish is more likely to be a rare/big one.

If you caught the fish first jig, awesome.



The way I fish, I generally always wait for a bite unless I'm in super easy waters (Grade1~2) or if I'm trying to be fast and avoid the aggressive mob that's wandering around the vicinity. It's so annoying getting a nibble and being too impatient to wait for a bite and then managing to lose the fish when you go to hook it. If you're on a leve, you should always wait for a bite to save a lot of time in the long run. It'll take more time to lose a fish and recast and wait than it will to just wait 1~2 more times for a bite instead of a nibble.

When I hook something, I always jig dead-center. Statistically, you will be more likely to hit a moving fan-shaped area in that gauge if you aim for the middle.

If I get a tired fish, I aim for the same exact spot. Rinse and repeat.

If I get a great deal of line, I jig at barely off from the last mark. If I was incorrect, I go the other way, aiming for just barely the other direction from where the first jig was.

If I simply get no hint via the "cannot reel it in" message, I just jig a big chunk (~2 widths of the jig ball marker) to one side of dead center to see if that direction is hot or cold. If I'm lucky, I'll hit on or close to the sweet spot in the process. If it's the wrong direction, I do about the same ~2 ball's width from center on the other side of the gauge.

Been working extremely well for me~

[miokomioko]

Just a side note:

The Fishing Fieldleve for Rank~10 Emerald Moss "Fishing Emerald Moss" is capable of yielding the reward of a brand new spankin' Rank-10 Willow Fishing Rod. The leve does involve a lot of avoiding/kiting Anglers around Tallgourd Lake which WILL hit you with Brine Blast and dumping a ton of points into water affinity appears to be the only way to survive that leve for now.

Also, the Fishing Fieldleve for Rank~1 Bearded Rock "Vim and Vigor" is capable of yielding an Ash Fishing Rod. However, it is Rank-1 and has identical stats to the Weathered Fishing Rod so it's a complete waste of time. So don't pay money or bother with getting that fishing rod.

[MakinBaconNeked]

I think we are almost saying the same thing. Smaller steps increases your chances of getting another attempt at the hot and cold game. It's personal preference, I suppose, but it just makes more sense to me to start off center. When you start center then you have 2 equal areas for hit and miss. If you miss on the first direction then you have the same area on the other side to guess on. If you start off center then you have a narrowed area if the second one is cold.

Granted though, I am not as high level fishing as you (rank 9 right now) I am just sharing the strategy that I have been using which once I figured out my preferred pattern have landed 90+% of my bites.

However, in the last hour or so, I have had 3 different occasions where I got 2 nibbles in a row before a bite and after initial hooking, failed to catch the fish. I'm not sure if I am supposed to get 2 nibbles before bite has anyone else had this happen?

EDIT:
I said 90+% ... that was one stack of 99 bait that I was testing out my thoughts. I caught:
12 x Brass Loach
7 x Tree Toad +2
5 x Rainbow Trout +2
35 x Rainbow Trout
10 x Tree Toad
4 x Crayfish +1
44 x Crayfish
3 x Crayfish +2
20 x Pipira
4 x Rainbow Trout +1
1 x Tree Toad +2
3 x Pipira +3

92 were catches with 148 fish total

[TacoTaru]

If I want to retool my stat configuration what kind of things should I aim for? I thought I saw in another thread someone said PIE was important, but is there anything else?

[MakinBaconNeked]

I was wondering the same thing. I have stats loaded up in INT, MND, and PIE since I have also leveled Con and Thau. I currently have been in search of wind shards as well and dumped a bunch in wind based on other's thoughts. I think it is working because before all my fishing had got me only 6 total shards (had most stats in Fire and Ice) but ever since I put a bunch in Wind that is all I am getting (when I get them)

[miokomioko]

I am still not totally convinced that attributes necessarily do anything for Fishing... yet? Either way, the Guild Mark abilities/traits only hint towards Dexterity and Piety. Which both makes plenty of sense given the Japanese culture's take on fishing. I had originally dumped all my points into those two in phase-3. I don't know if that helped anything back then, but fishing has changed for the better by a significant amount since then with the nibbles/bites. Perhaps stats might eventually affect Perception, Gathering, and Output.

[Leelya]

I don't know if you guys want a listing of fishing waters level yet, but I've found the following roaming yesterday:

Fishing Waters:

Camp Bluefrog - Northern Thanalan - Level 6
Coerthas - Southen End towards Thanalan - Level 9
Mor Dhona - Whole zone - Level 10

Hope this helps.

[MakinBaconNeked]

I don't know if you guys want a listing of fishing waters level yet, but I've found the following roaming yesterday:

Fishing Waters:

Camp Bluefrog - Northern Thanalan - Level 6
Coerthas - Southen End towards Thanalan - Level 9
Mor Dhona - Whole zone - Level 10

Hope this helps.

By level are you talking the Grade of the fish in the water or what rank as a fisher you should be?

[Leelya]

By level are you talking the Grade of the fish in the water or what rank as a fisher you should be?

I'm sorry, I was referring to the grade level of the fish. If my Hot/Cold theory is correct you should be able to fish in those areas as soon as a grade before.

[miokomioko]

It's very possible to reel fish in from waters way past your grade, though getting them to bite the hook in the first place is what you'll end up waiting a long time for.

I had decent success in Grade-4 waters at Rank-7 and managed to make 2 catches in Grade-10 at Rank-10. It just took quite a while.

p.s. The Drybones Fishing Fieldleve "Curing the Flux" is also capable of awarding you a Willow Fishing Rod. Booya.

[miokomioko]

Rank-15 gave Nature's Bounty again, not Way of Plenty.

(increases chance of getting rare items)

[TacoTaru]

So as release is getting closer, do we have a more complete list of where we should be fishing to rank up the fastest? I know Mioko seemed to be the most proactive at fishing in OB, so maybe he could shed some light. I was able to hit rank 7 or 8 in city before I decided to call move to Mor Dhona, but I wasn't getting very much luck there at that level. I plan to spend the first 8 days of my CE edition fishing and crafting, so I'm trying to get a head start on knowing where to go to stay with the pack.

Fishing Waters:

Grade 6- Camp Bluefrog - Northern Thanalan
Grade 9 - Coerthas - Southen End towards Thanalan
Grade 10 - Mor Dhona - Whole zone
Grade 10+ - ?

[miokomioko]

I've experienced about maybe a 5~8-rank span for each Grade of water before moving on to the next Grade. I mean, you're not going to have any luck in Grade-10 waters until you're more like Rank-50 fisher. I've caught a few things here and there, but the terrible odds of getting a bite at all are so low that it's a waste of time for the ~130 skill per catch when you can spam the crap out of Grade-1 for ultra-easy 75~80 skill per catch.

Some of the ones I know of~

Grade-1: Gridania/Bentbranch/Limsa Lominsa/Bearded Rock/Black Brush/Ferry
Grade-2: Tallgourd Lake/Skull Valley/Drybone/Ferry Docks/Aleport/Golden Bazaar
Grade-3: Rootslake/Bloodshore
Grade-4: Cassiopeia Hollow/Briar Lake
Grade-5: Clearwater Lake/Riversmeet/Twinpools/Halatali/Bronze Lake
Grade-6: Bluefog/The Footfalls/Iron Lake
Grade-7: Murmur Rills
Grade-8: Burnt Lizard Creek
Grade-9: Mistbeard Cove/Moraby Bay
Grade-10: Five Hangs/Mor Dhona/Isles of Umbra
Grade-11: ? (I've seen one somewhere...)