Was Fishing An Afterthought?

[Zanarken]

I've never quite understood what role fishing plays in FFXIV. Like, I am about to obtain my CUL Lucis & there are only a handful of recipes that require fish & among those only 1-2 that are highly desirable.

I've heard some players suggest they have had minor success desynth fish for swim suits & what have you, but profits to be made from that pale in comparison to that of blacksmith/goldsmith.

So where is the incentive? I've heard fishers claim certain end-game fish net large profits, but who is buying them & for what? Do alchemists use fish for certain remedies?

I'd very much like to pick up this class as I think it would be fun, but I'm just not seeing the payoff compared to the other gathering professions such as botany/mining. I'd love to hear from some fishermen/women as to what keeps their bobbers in the water.

Thanks for your time!

[Wulfyn]

You want to catch hq alamhigan fighting fish to mooch for assassin beta > assasin beta > ninja beta then desynth that for assassin fry minion. you can also fish up the turtle and tadpole minions. Send retainer out to fish exploration 14 for fat cats.
Sorry my kb is having issues lol.

[Zanarken]

You want to catch hq alamhigan fighting fish to mooch for assassin beta > assasin beta > ninja beta then desynth that for assassin fry minion. you can also fish up the turtle and tadpole minions. Send retainer out to fish exploration 14 for fat cats.
Sorry my kb is having issues lol.

Thanks for the reply. Minions are great & all, but they are a luxury. More of a want than need. I guess that is kind of what I am getting at, what is it fishing brings to the table that is needed in high volume to supply the economy? Botany is used heavily in culinarian recipes & alchemy. Mining is used in armorsmithing, blacksmithing, goldsmith. Fishing is useful for ???. I make a great deal of money cooking meals & listing them on the MB & none of my recipes that make large sums of money contain fish. Fishing looks like alot of fun, I'm just not convinced that it is on par with the other gathering professions & could use some love.

[Highwilds]

Fishing is luxury!!! You don't do it only for (occasional) profit. It's a hobby in the game and I love to do it casually~

[LineageRazor]

While I wasn't around for FFXIV 1.0, I've heard that fishing WAS sort of an afterthought. It wasn't in the game on launch, and was added later due to demand. That's pretty much all heresay on my part, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

As for things Fishing brings to the table, Sharks immediately come to mind. There's a big demand for Shark Oil in a lot of high level recipes, particularly carpentry recipes, and Fishing and Retainer Ventures are pretty much the only reliable ways to catch sharks. Razor Clams, Rothlyt Oysters, and Finger Shrimp are all used in Bouillabaisse, possibly the most coveted of all crafting foods.

But yeah, SE has pretty much explicitly stated that Fishing is meant to be more of a hobby than a profession. You can find money in it, but it's not really what it's there for.

[Malakai]

1.0 fishing was a lot better than what it is now for me anyway. I had the same idea from the launch of 1.0 get FSH and CUL to max but however fish had two purposes then: cooking & alchemy. Some fish were used in cooking recipe's and the fish that weren't you could use alchemy to turn them into shards/crystals, so they all had a purpose there were no "trash fish" really. Also spearfishing netted you a lot of other things that weren't fish like toads/spiders/scorpions etc, and it was quite fun to do. But now you get those through miner nodes. For me it was a lot more enjoyable and relaxing in 1.0 i'm not too fond of fishing how it is now.

[Flinx]

You can Desynth the Legendary Fishes (Nepto, Kuno, Heli, Shoni, Nami, Endo) for Tier IV Materias. Nepto specifically will yield Det IV Materia.

[Lorielle]

I find fishing fun for a different reason. It's another one of those things where you can complain about RNG Stories just like with crafting. It also makes some good money if you know how to play the market. Even better if you are a crafter. Fish up the fishes for Zodiac Items, craft the item. Sell and profit.

[Shadygrove]

While I wasn't around for FFXIV 1.0, I've heard that fishing WAS sort of an afterthought. It wasn't in the game on launch, and was added later due to demand.....

You heard wrong.

Fishing was in 1.0 from the beginning and better integrated financially into the game.

The financial impact of fishing in 2.0 was deliberately degraded, but somewhat restored with the later big fishing expansion.

[LlenCoram]

You heard wrong.

Fishing was in 1.0 from the beginning and better integrated financially into the game.

The financial impact of fishing in 2.0 was deliberately degraded, but somewhat restored with the later big fishing expansion.

This. Fishing was so much better in 1.0.