What's up with fishing retainers?

Fishing in general is already seen as an afterthought in FF14 compared to mining and botany, and it doesn't help that fishing is designed so that you can't see the probabilities of catching anything without looking it up on external websites. It's by far the least popular DoL job, and arguably the least profitable even though it requires the most effort of all.

So I decided I would go buy another retainer and make that one a Fisher, and after spending a month leveling that retainer up, I ended up finding that the amount of fish they can actually catch from 61-70 is completely abysmal.

https://i.imgur.com/TVrSUyJ.png
https://i.imgur.com/j9iqzNs.png

Seriously, what's the deal with this? 10 fish from Level 61-70? Miner and Botanist retainers get to collect everything under the sun except for items from ephemeral nodes and the legendary unspoiled nodes. I was expecting the fishing retainer to go catch things actually used in recipes like Yanxian Tiger Prawn, Swordtip and Ivory Sole. I'm fairly certain there's only 3-4 fish in that entire list that's even used for anything.

There's 4 fish in that list worth anything but yeah, that is pretty pathetic honestly.

Your first sentence is contradicting. How can something be an afterthought yet require the work of players to trial and error which baits and fish are needed to obtain other fish along with time and weather?

Fishing is the most complex of the 3 gatherers and while it might not have a huge impact on crafting as a whole it's far from an afterthought.

Generally, fishing retainers can only catch fish that are used in crafting. If I recall, there may actually be an exception or two in Stormblood, but that's been the pattern previously.

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Originally Posted by Airget

Your first sentence is contradicting. How can something be an afterthought yet require the work of players to trial and error which baits and fish are needed to obtain other fish along with time and weather?

Fishing is the most complex of the 3 gatherers and while it might not have a huge impact on crafting as a whole it's far from an afterthought.

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It's much more complicated for less reward than the other two retainers. As an aside, there is a reason why people have been asking for a proper tackle box for all of their bait.

The actual fishing system is quite well-thought out, but it's in serious need of a lot of QQL changes. The situation with fishing retainers is just another part of that.

The real profit from fishing retainers is in the 18 hour mission. They bring back minions and items no other job can. You don't really level a fishing retainer for the fish for the most part.

And I agree with Saito, the real problem with fishing is the, likely hundreds, of kinds of bait with no tacklebox. They got rid of arrows for bards because they didn't feel one job should have to continually invest in something like ammo but then they go and not only add bait, but immense amounts of it. They really need to simplify it as well as add a better fishing log. I can look up any ore or log and find its location and requirements at a glance but the fishing log is overly convoluted at best.

the problem is the fisher retainer can crash the market for the real fishers pretty easily, as seen with the Blue Cloud Chorals at the beginning of 3.0. they were 10k each before the retainers could bring them, after the patch 100 - 1000 gil. the demand for fish is low, only a few crafts need fish, and the retainer without the RNG-timesink is a real competitor for players who actually play and enjoy the fisher (like me for example).

and i can make millions a day with my fisher, so no, miner and botanist are not really better in making money. i can sell one fish for 20k... and they sell fast... so i don't see any problem. but if a retainer can bring that fish and the price drops to 2k... no thanks...

Ivory Sole paid for the complete redecoration of my house. Fishing is hideously lucrative at upper levels (at least on my server). Two minions that sell decently and a couple of pricey crafting mats...honestly what fishing needs are more valuable materials to make up for the frustration inherent in the system. My fishing retainer really exists to hunt minions and do quick ventures. I am in no hurry for it to devalue the market for things I can get myself.

The most annoying thing is that they don't bring back those fish that are most frequently required for crafting, like swordtip. In fact, they are only useful for Quick & 18hr Ventures.