FISHING GUIDE
Fishing in Black Desert is fun and addictive, you will find yourself spending many hours doing it. It’s also very simple to do so you can easily find yourself watching a movie or doing other things while fishing. Fish can be used in cooking recipes, sold to traders for a profit or exchanged for Fish Tokens at a fishing NPC. There are also many other benefits to fishing such as earning treasure chest keys and Ancient Relic Crystal Shards.
FISHING TIPS
1. With the exception of Artisan rods, fishing rods will lose their quality as you fish and cannot be repaired. Once their durability is lost, you will automatically stop fishing. It's important to replace them as often as possible.
2. Fishing locations have resources and these can be depleted. Their stages are: Abundant, Average, Not Enough and Exhausted. Regardless of where you go, all fishing locations will begin life as Abundant and will reduce in population over time. You should always aim to be Abundant or Average and once below this point, move locations.
3. Fishing is time consuming unless you go AFK. Even then, it'll still take some time to fill your inventory. It's not a quick process.
4. Going AFK fishing will bypass your need to press the space bar when the catch icon appears but it does reduce the speed at which you can obtain fish - it doesn't stop you catching them.
5. Fish has "freshness" and it deteriorates over time. The quicker your sell your fish, the more value they will have.
6. To use better fishing rodes you will need to level up your fishing. The better the fishing rod, the quicker your fishing becomes. Artisan rods are the quickest and can be enchanted and repaired. It's important that you manage your resource nodes to ensure you can obtain the right materials for them (Iron and Copper)
7. Ensure that where you're selling your fish your adjoining nodes are all connected. Although there's often a tradesman near fishing locations you can sell directly to, they're worth more afar.
8. As noted above, selling as far away as possible from the source of your fish is the best way of earning money. Trade Managers provide a distance bonus based on how far away you are from the original node. I've been told each node improves the price of a fish by 2%.
9. Always use efficient routes when transporting your fish for sale. Wasted time can result in them reducing in value, giving you much smaller profit.
10. Building a fishing boat allows you to not only sail out when you wish, but it also has a lot of inventory space allowing you to fish for longer. We'll be writing a seperate guide on how to produce this.
2. Fishing locations have resources and these can be depleted. Their stages are: Abundant, Average, Not Enough and Exhausted. Regardless of where you go, all fishing locations will begin life as Abundant and will reduce in population over time. You should always aim to be Abundant or Average and once below this point, move locations.
3. Fishing is time consuming unless you go AFK. Even then, it'll still take some time to fill your inventory. It's not a quick process.
4. Going AFK fishing will bypass your need to press the space bar when the catch icon appears but it does reduce the speed at which you can obtain fish - it doesn't stop you catching them.
5. Fish has "freshness" and it deteriorates over time. The quicker your sell your fish, the more value they will have.
6. To use better fishing rodes you will need to level up your fishing. The better the fishing rod, the quicker your fishing becomes. Artisan rods are the quickest and can be enchanted and repaired. It's important that you manage your resource nodes to ensure you can obtain the right materials for them (Iron and Copper)
7. Ensure that where you're selling your fish your adjoining nodes are all connected. Although there's often a tradesman near fishing locations you can sell directly to, they're worth more afar.
8. As noted above, selling as far away as possible from the source of your fish is the best way of earning money. Trade Managers provide a distance bonus based on how far away you are from the original node. I've been told each node improves the price of a fish by 2%.
9. Always use efficient routes when transporting your fish for sale. Wasted time can result in them reducing in value, giving you much smaller profit.
10. Building a fishing boat allows you to not only sail out when you wish, but it also has a lot of inventory space allowing you to fish for longer. We'll be writing a seperate guide on how to produce this.
TYPES OF FISHING RODS
- Old Fishing Rod
- Durability: 10
- Crafting Materials: Log x1
- Fishing Rod
- Durability: 30
- Crafting Materials: Ash Timber x1
- Thick Fishing Rod
- Durability: 40
- Crafting Materials: Ash Timber x1, Copper Ingot x1, Black Stone Powder x3
- Level Required: Beginner Lv.10
- Item Effect: Fishing Speed +1
- Steel Fishing Rod
- Durability: 65
- Crafting Materials: Ash Timber x1, Steel x2, Black Stone Powder x4
- Level Required: Skilled Lv.5
- Item Effect: Fishing Speed +2
- Balenos Fishing Rod
- Durability: 50
- Can be repaired
- Crafting Materials: Ash Timber x1, Steel x2, Pure Copper Crystal x5, Monk’s Branch x9, Black Stone Powder x15
- Can be enhanced with Black Stone (Weapon)
- Enhancement Effect: Auto-Fishing Speed +10%
- Epheria Fishing Rod
- Durability: 50
- Can be repaired
- Crafting Materials: Birch Timber x1, Steel x2, Pure Iron Crystal x5, Monk’s Branch x9, Black Stone Powder x15
- Can be enhanced with Black Stone (Weapon)
- Enhancement Effect: Increase maximum durability
- Calpheon Fishing Rod
- Durability: 50
- Can be repaired
- Crafting Materials: Fir Timber x1, Steel x2, Pure Lead Crystal x5, Monk’s Branch x9, Black Stone Powder x1
- Level Required: Professional Lv.1
- Can be enhanced with Black Stone (Weapon)
- Enhancement Effect: Increase chances of catching larger fish
- Golden Fishing Rod
- Durability: 100
- Crafting Materials: Ash Timber x1, Steel x2, Gold Ingot x2, Black Stone Powder x5
- Level Required: Artisan Lv.1
- Item Effect: Fishing Speed +3
FLOATS
There are currently 2 types of floats which can be used on your fishing rod to give you extra bonuses such as increased chances of catching rare fish. Floats are also crafted at a tool workshop and are extremely important if you want to be the best fisherman.
- Ash Tree Float
- Durability: 50
- Crafting Materials: Ash Timber x1, Oil of Tranquility x3, Translucent Crystal x2, Pure Lead Crystal x2
- Level Required: Professional Lv.1
- Can be enhanced with Black Stone (Weapon)
- Enhancement Effect: Increase chances of catching larger fish
- Maple Float
- Durability: 50
- Crafting Materials: Maple Timber x1, Oil of Tranquility x3, Red Crystal x2, Pure Lead Crystal x2
- Level Required: Artisan Lv.1
- Can be enhanced with Black Stone (Weapon)
- Enhancement Effect: Increase chances of catching rare fish
PASTE BAIT
You can buy paste bait, which will give you a Fishing Speed +2 buff for 5 minutes when used. This decreases the amount of time it takes to catch a bite. Bait can be exchanged using Fisherman’s Tokens or may be offered as a quest reward. You can get Fisherman’s Tokens by exchanging white grade fish to Crio.
CLOTHING
Clothing can be used in place of your armor to give you bonuses whilst fishing. I would recommend doing the tutorial quests for fishing to get the clothing for free, but you can also craft them at a costume workshop.
Silver Embroidered Fisher’s Clothes
Silver Embroidered Fisher’s Clothes
- Durability: 50
- Crafting Materials: Maple Timber x1, Oil of Tranquility x3, Red Crystal x2, Pure Lead Crystal x2
- Level Required: Beginner Lv.10
- Monsters won’t attack whilst crouching or fishing
- Item Effects: Fishing Level +1
FOOD
Food can be used to increase your fishing speed.
- Exotic Herbal Wine
- Cooking Ingredients: Essence of Liquor x1, Dough x3, Mineral Water x5, Leavening Agent x2
- Item Effects: Fishing Speed +1 for 30 minutes
- Aloe Yogurt
- Cooking Ingredients: Aloe x5, Milk x2, Sugar x3, Leavening Agent x3
- Item Effects: Fishing Speed +1 for 30 minutes
- Fruit Wine
- Cooking Ingredients: Exotic Herbal Wine x1, (Apple/Grape/Strawberry) x5, Essence of Liquor x3, Mineral Water x2
- Item Effects: Fishing Speed +1 for 60 minutes
HOW TO FISH
All you need to start fishing is a fishing rod. You do not need any of the other equipment listed in this guide, these are only used to increase your fishing speed and catches.
To begin, equip your rod by right-clicking it, and go to any water spot.
At the top, you will see the fishing resources. These are (highest to lowest):
When you have found your fishing spot simply press space bar and cast your float out. You can also hold space bar down to increase the rarity of the fish you will catch, the longer you hold it the more energy it will cost.
Now wait until you are prompted with another “press space bar” button this will start the mini game.
Once you’ve pressed space bar you will have 3 chances to land the moving bar on the blue side of the bar. If you fill the bar fully you will get a perfect catch and this will skip the next section of the mini game. If you fail you will have to start all over again.
If you do not hit perfect, you will be moved to the next part of the mini-game.
Now you will quickly have to hit the keys prompted on your screen before the time runs out, if done correctly you will have caught your first fish. Congratulations! Remember to loot the fish by pressing “R”.
To begin, equip your rod by right-clicking it, and go to any water spot.
At the top, you will see the fishing resources. These are (highest to lowest):
- Abundant
- Average
- Not Enough
- Exhausted
When you have found your fishing spot simply press space bar and cast your float out. You can also hold space bar down to increase the rarity of the fish you will catch, the longer you hold it the more energy it will cost.
Now wait until you are prompted with another “press space bar” button this will start the mini game.
Once you’ve pressed space bar you will have 3 chances to land the moving bar on the blue side of the bar. If you fill the bar fully you will get a perfect catch and this will skip the next section of the mini game. If you fail you will have to start all over again.
If you do not hit perfect, you will be moved to the next part of the mini-game.
Now you will quickly have to hit the keys prompted on your screen before the time runs out, if done correctly you will have caught your first fish. Congratulations! Remember to loot the fish by pressing “R”.
WHERE TO FISH
You can fish in rivers, lakes, ponds or the ocean. Fishing along the coast or in the ocean usually tends to earn you higher profit due to the price differences of saltwater and freshwater fish.
If you are just starting out fishing and don’t own a fishing boat, one of the best places is just outside Velia on the beach. This spot is connected to Velia and doesn’t require you to connect any nodes to gain all of it’s value, but it is quite a popular fishing spot due to it’s convenience and will often have reduced resources. You can also fish at Coastal Cliff but you will need to connect the node to gain it’s full value.
If you are based around Calpheon, I would recommend running up to Epheria Port and fishing there, then connecting to and selling at Calpheon. This will cost you 8 contribution points but will increase the fish value, whilst not being too far out of your way. This spot is usually quieter with plenty of resources.
If you are just starting out fishing and don’t own a fishing boat, one of the best places is just outside Velia on the beach. This spot is connected to Velia and doesn’t require you to connect any nodes to gain all of it’s value, but it is quite a popular fishing spot due to it’s convenience and will often have reduced resources. You can also fish at Coastal Cliff but you will need to connect the node to gain it’s full value.
If you are based around Calpheon, I would recommend running up to Epheria Port and fishing there, then connecting to and selling at Calpheon. This will cost you 8 contribution points but will increase the fish value, whilst not being too far out of your way. This spot is usually quieter with plenty of resources.
AFK FISHING
To begin AFK Fishing, all you need is a fishing rod and inventory space. Go to your fishing spot and press SPACE to start. You can then leave and every 3 minutes (after your first bite) you will automatically catch a fish. This is much slower than manually fishing but is a great way of earning profit whilst you are AFK.
Please note that you will stop auto-fishing if you run out of inventory space or your fishing rod runs out of durability.
There is also an option to throw away “trash items” whilst fishing, such as fish bones, torn nets or broken fish hooks. You can turn this on or off using the tick box at the top.
Using the “throw away trash items” option will throw also throw away white grade fish.
The best fishing rods for AFK fishing is either the Golden Fishing Rod or the Epheria Fishing Rod.
If you are going AFK for a shorter amount of time (4 hours), the Golden Fishing Rod is better to use because it naturally has a faster AFK Fishing Speed. However, it does have a durability of 100.
The Epheria Fishing Rod can be enhanced to +15 to have a maximum durability of 200, making it great if you are AFK for a long time (8 hours+), it can also be repaired but has a slower AFK Fishing Speed than the Golden Fishing Rod.
Please note that you will stop auto-fishing if you run out of inventory space or your fishing rod runs out of durability.
There is also an option to throw away “trash items” whilst fishing, such as fish bones, torn nets or broken fish hooks. You can turn this on or off using the tick box at the top.
Using the “throw away trash items” option will throw also throw away white grade fish.
The best fishing rods for AFK fishing is either the Golden Fishing Rod or the Epheria Fishing Rod.
If you are going AFK for a shorter amount of time (4 hours), the Golden Fishing Rod is better to use because it naturally has a faster AFK Fishing Speed. However, it does have a durability of 100.
The Epheria Fishing Rod can be enhanced to +15 to have a maximum durability of 200, making it great if you are AFK for a long time (8 hours+), it can also be repaired but has a slower AFK Fishing Speed than the Golden Fishing Rod.
WHERE TO SELL FISH
When you catch a fish, it has a “freshness” timer which lasts 24 hours. The value of the fish will decrease over time, and you must sell your fish within the timer, or the fish will not be worth anything and will need to be deleted.
You can sell the fish you catch at the “Trade Administrator” for silver. To do this go to the NPC and click “Trading”.
To earn the most profit, you will need to make sure the nodes are connected between where you caught the fish, and where you are selling it. It’s actually very important to do this if you want to make a profit from fishing, because otherwise you will only receive 30% of the actual value. You also gain bonus value for the distance between where you caught the fish and where you sell it. Each node you have connected will give you a 2% extra value. Personally, I don’t like to bother with the distance bonus, because it takes up a lot of contribution points and time, but if you are looking to get the most out of fishing it may be wise to do this.
You can sell the fish you catch at the “Trade Administrator” for silver. To do this go to the NPC and click “Trading”.
To earn the most profit, you will need to make sure the nodes are connected between where you caught the fish, and where you are selling it. It’s actually very important to do this if you want to make a profit from fishing, because otherwise you will only receive 30% of the actual value. You also gain bonus value for the distance between where you caught the fish and where you sell it. Each node you have connected will give you a 2% extra value. Personally, I don’t like to bother with the distance bonus, because it takes up a lot of contribution points and time, but if you are looking to get the most out of fishing it may be wise to do this.