Fishing
What can I catch?
| DROP | CHANCE |
|---|---|
| PowerGreenPotion | (4, 4) + 20 |
| SuperGreenPotion | (4, 4) + 40 |
| LongSword+2 | (4, 4) + 10 |
| Scimitar+2 | (4, 4) + 15 |
| Flameberge+2 | (4, 4) + 40 |
| Rapier+2 | (4, 4) + 35 |
| WarAxe+2 | (4, 4) + 30 |
| Dagger+2 | (4, 4) + 5 |
| Ruby | (4, 4) + 30 |
| Diamond | (4, 4) + 30 |
| Emerald | (4, 4) + 30 |
| Sapphire | (4, 4) + 30 |
| RejuGem7 | (4, 4) + 30 |
| BloodGem7 | (4, 4) + 30 |
| MindGem7 | (4, 4) + 30 |
| ArmorGem7 | (4, 4) + 30 |
| EnchantedGem2 | (4, 4) + 30 |
| TacticalGem2 | (4, 4) + 30 |
| RedCarp | (1, 10) + 5 |
| GreenCarp | (1, 5) + 15 |
| GoldCarp | (1, 10) + 20 |
| CrucianCarp | (1, 15) + 1 |
| BlueSeaBream | (1, 10) + 1 |
| RedSeaBream | (1, 18) + 1 |
| Salmon | (1, 12) + 1 |
| GrayMullet | (1, 10) + 1 |
Why Fishing?
Fishing is a skill that allows you to sell your catches for gold. At lower levels, you will mostly catch "normal fish". These normal fish are worth 15 GP and you can also use any of these as food so that you don't starve.
Starting out
The fishing skill is very similar to most other skills. Your maximum skill level is based on your dexterity (dex), however catching fish is not based on your dexterity. Your catching skill is based on your fishing skill percentage, so the higher the percentage the better chances you have at catching fish. If you only have 20 points allocated to dexterity, then your maximum fishing skill can only be 40%. This means that you will never reach 41%, unless you increase your dexterity.
The very first thing you should do when you are starting out is to purchase the "Fishing Manual" from the shopkeeper. This manual will cost around 100 gp (this cost, as all purchasing costs, varies based on your charisma point value). You will also need a "Fishing Rod" which will cost 1000 gp. After you purchase the manual, you should read the manual by double-clicking on the manual within your bag screen (F6 or Chest Icon). By reading this manual, you gain an automatic 20% skill level in fishing. However, if your dexterity is not above 10 points then you will never advance this skill level (as stated in previous section).
Where do I fish?
You can fish in any body of water besides the pool of water located near the city hall building. There are bodies of water located through out your town and also in other maps. The chance of catching fish does not depend on location. However you may find your own special fishing spot that provides you with good luck, but technically all bodies of water are the same.
The three types of water to fish are clear water, water with fish, and water with bubbles but no fish. The clear water (no fish present) offers a good place to fish for "normal fish" and this is where new fishermen should start. The water that contains the fish icons is the place to fish for the "big fish". The "big fish" are fish that range in value between 100 GP and 1500 GP and require more skill to catch. The water with bubbles (and without any fish) contains special items, such as swords, that are worth more than the "big fish". The areas of water that contain special item are very rare, but the areas offer the extremely skilled fishermen great opportunities (like 5% chance to get) at making a large profit.
How do I fish?
By reading the manual you are ready to begin fishing. Unfortunately, the manual does not provide you with any instructions on exactly how to fish.
First you should a fishing spot, preferably a safe location away from enemies and distractions, and you have purchased your fishing rod before you begin your fishing trip. Once you arrive at your fishing destination, you must remove any items from your hands such as swords, shields, bow, axes, etc However, certain staves, which allow mages to cast spells and hold in their hands at the same time, can be held in one hand while you fish with your other hand.
Once you free your hands, you will need to open your equipment chest and find your fishing rod. Next, you will double click on the fishing rod and then the game will present a message telling you to select your fishing location. At this point your cursor will change into a "cross hair" icon and you will click on the body of water that you want to attempt your skill in. You will then see a message that says, "You are using a skill", which means that you are fishing.
If you are successful, a fish will appear at your feet and you must bend over and pick it up. You will also hear a sound and see the words "You are successful." If you fail your skill, you will see a message that says "You failed your skill". You can then repeat the same steps and continue to fish until you are ready to leave. As you fish your fishing rod will loose endurance points, same as with other items, so you will need to repair it at the shopkeeper at the appropriate time. If your fishing rod endurance decreases to 0 points, you will see a message that says, "Your item has been exhausted." If you attempt to use an exhausted fishing rod, you will see a message saying, "You cannot use this item."
When you are successful at fishing for "big fish" and special items, you will see a window that provides a picture and information about the item along with your "Fishing Probability". This probability will increase and decrease over time, when this number reaches a number that you feel comfortable with then you will click the "Try Now" link to attempt to catch the fish.
How can I gain skill points?
Every time you are successful, you will see the words "You are successful". If you are successful at your skill attempt of a "normal fish", then you will also catch a fish. However, you can be successful at your skill attempt of a "big fish" or a special item, by just getting a window that shows your fishing probability.
In the skill levels between 20 and 50, you will need to be successful the number of times equal to your skill level to advance to the next level. For example, you need to be successful 26 times to go from 24% to 25%. For levels 50-100, you need to catch ((your next skill level +1) * (your next skill level +1)) / 10. This is explained more clearly in the skills section.
Each fishing rod is for 200 uses which equals half an hour of nonstop fishing small fish.
| Fishing skill % | Time required
(1 rod = 200 uses * 9 seconds = half an hour) |
|---|---|
| 20 | 0 fishing rods, just use manual |
| 22 | 1.5 fishing rods |
| 32 | 8 fishing rods |
| 44 | 15 fishing rods |
| 51 | 21 fishing rods |
| 53 | 28 fishing rods |
| 59 | 47 fishing rods |
| 62 | 56 fishing rods |
| 67 | 81 fishing rods |
| 73 | 100 fishing rods |
| 77 | 115 fishing rods |
| 79 | 120 fishing rods |
| 82 | 132 fishing rods |
| 90 | 164 fishing rods |
| 95 | 188 fishing rods |
| 100 | 215 fishing rods |
Use your hotkeys.
You can set your weapons and spells to the F2 and F3 keys; this helps to protect you if something attacks you while your fishing. Because clicking one of those two buttons may be faster than searching through your equipment and finding your weapon or opening the spell menu and selecting a spell. You cannot set your fishing rod as a hotkey option without a macro (check this hotkey FAQ).
Don't go for the big fish until your ready.
At lower skill levels, your fishing probability will not be that high. So instead of being successful and then having a 0-5% chance of catching a big fish, you can catch the "normal fish" and then sell the fish. Depending on your character's level and income, a large catch of 20-30 fish at 15 GP a piece may be extremely profitable especially after a few of these fishing trips in the same day. Your fishing probability will increase with your skill level, but it will increase much slower than your skill level. You can try getting big fish from 60% skill, but only at 75% it becomes a bit easy.
| Fishing skill % | Max Chance to catch |
|---|---|
| 20 | 2% |
| 50 | 19% |
| 63 | 35% |
| 75 | 99% |
However chance of catching depends on fish and changes in time. it's something like
NextFishingChance = PreviousFishingChance+Fishing%/10*(A-rand()) where A varries with fish and skill % (A is in range from 0.2 to 0.8). Fishing % also affects how soon next % change will occure (by the first view 63% and 67% differs about 1.5-2 times)
Unconfirmed: fishing depends on rep 20rep+ = 1 % prob and also depends on rain ?
Find a good fishing spot early on.
As a low level warrior and a low skilled fisherman, I found that "The Farm" (in Elvine) offered me a safety location from criminals and raiders from Aresden. Also, since there is a shopkeeper located in the farm, this offered me a quick run to sell my fish and a quick return trip to my fishing spot. There is also a "Farm" in Aresden that will offer safety from raiders from Elvine. Unless in future versions of the game the "safe zone" is remove from the farms. Also, Bleeding Island offers lots of water and no monsters, however there are other people there that might attempt to kill you, but you won't lose anything if you die. As a traveller - fish in beginners zone, with 50 dex even 8 slimes will not kill you there.
Evaluate your items wisely.
Bag can contain about 40 items. Most of the time, I do not know when my equipment chest is full until I attempt to place another item in it. At this time, you can be wise about what to leave behind. At the shop, you can sell small strength, stamina, and mana potions for 5 gp, while you can sell your fish for 15 GP. At this time I would drop an item that is worth less than my fish, because when I sell my fish I will make a profit (fish at 15 GP - dropped potion at 5 GP = 10 GP).
