Legendary fish and the upcoming update

[Nilheim]

Dear FFXIV devs,

I'm a big fan of fishing in the game and I was excited when a fellow FC member told me you were planning to bring some changes to fishing soon.

Are you planning to update the mechanics of the legendary fish? I hope you are. Even though it's quite a thrill, the frustration of the RNG is incredible.

I have completely finished the ARR fishing log and am currently working on the HW fishing log. Some of the remaining fish are giving me a lot of trouble, namely Problematicus, Charibenet and Raimdellopterus. Honestly I don't know how you came up with the requirements to catch them but it's nothing short of soul-crushing

Even if we put aside the absurb weather/time requirements for the rarest fish (and it is pretty hard to ignore when you work and can't even try your luck when their window is up), the RNG involved is crazy, especially when you realize that when ALL the insane conditions are met and the legendary fish finally bites, there is a high chance it will go away even if your gear is flawless.

I understand the appeal is to catch all the fish and I was pretty happy when I finished the ARR fishing log. That being said, I wish you would make RNG less of a factor and if that is not possible, at least make the Intuition buffs last longer than 3 minutes... (Kuno the killer comes to mind, it took me a long time to get Intuition, but at least when I got it it lasted about 20 minutes and I think that's fairer).

There is a fine line between a feeling of accomplishment that is fun and one that is overly frustrating and I believe it is being crossed much too frequently when it comes to fishing.

I understand some players who have slogged through it might find it hard to swallow that the fish they struggled to catch might become easier to reel in. That being said, I believe this is a necessary change to keep the fun factor as the centerpiece of the job.

Thank you for reading and enjoy the festivities

[Espritduo]

As a person who slogged through every big fish in the game, I have no problem with making it easier for others. Some of them are absolutely brutal, and the most brutal thing about big fishing is unlike other content, it doesn't become any easier as you level up, get better gear or better abilities. Some of the new abilities do help, yes, but not *that* much.

The other thing is, it is actually harder for new players to catch all the big fish because they are staring at a 212-fish high wall whereas most of us who have done it as the fish were released only have to worry about the dozen or so newest fish in the newest areas. If I was just walking into end-game fishing now I wouldn't know where to even begin. Older big fish should really have their bite rates or catch rates adjusted so it doesn't take as long to get an ARR big fish as it does to get a ShB big fish.

[Zohar_Lahar]

Or cases like the Priest of Yx'Lokwa, who constantly get away.

[Nilheim]

I am starting to lose my sanity with Charibenet: I've done over 20 windows and got a grand total of 2 bites, no catch though of course... I guess I should be grateful I know it exists at least

[Canadane]

If it's made any easier, the satisfaction levels go down.
Big Fishing seems to be the last thing that has gone un-nerfed in this game. I'm looking for more challenging content that has a continuous challenge to it. (LFG Ultimate)

For the record, I'm only missing 3 fish in the game myself. I love actually getting the hook. It being difficult and low chance RNG doesn't bother me in the slightest, that's just how this works.

[Erudito]

Only thing I would like them to do is do something about the pure RNG Chance of failure when you hook a big fish.

I find it absurd that a level 80 fisher with more than adequate gear would still just up and fail to hook a level 50 big fish just because RNG wasn’t having it.

[Elizar_Naki]

I find it absurd that a level 80 fisher with more than adequate gear would still just up and fail to hook a level 50 big fish just because RNG wasn’t having it.

A world of this. Just started trying to catch up on my fishing log after years of ignoring it, alternating between just general catches and big/legendaries when their windows are up. I'm lv.80 in full 460 gear (430 in the other slots, all fully melded but not overmelded), and I still can't catch the lv.40 Matriarch legendary among others. There was one that got away from me in Central Thanalan that CBH classifies as lv.5! That's a 75-level advantage, and the game still lets it get away! That, if nothing else about fishing, is terrible design. If I take MIN out to gather, say, darksteel ore (something I consider an equivalent since it's in a formerly endgame node), I don't have a miss chance anymore; the only question is HOW MUCH I get, not IF I get it. And no, I don't find it "fun" or "challenging" when I can do everything perfectly at double or more the content's level and still fail because RNG.

[Gemina]

On one hand, I wouldn't mind if at least some layers of RNG were taken away, or if there was someway to put more skill into it so it is less reliant on RNG. I think I probably get the most frustrated when I don't even get an attempt, or I just can't seem to be available at the same time a rare window window opens up.

On the other hand, I like it how it is as real life fishing can be pretty frustrating as well, and for some fish out there, opportunities to catch them come around only so often. Putting it in this perspective helps, and I like to tell myself I am simply not meant to catch every fish in the game. If I did, there would be kind of a void there. Like if Joker killed Batman by accident, or vise versa.

[Nilheim]

Only thing I would like them to do is do something about the pure RNG Chance of failure when you hook a big fish.

I find it absurd that a level 80 fisher with more than adequate gear would still just up and fail to hook a level 50 big fish just because RNG wasn’t having it.

Yes, I completely agree with this. Even if it is frustrating to never get a bite once in a blue moon and even if some requirements require a lot of work, I think it's part of what makes fishing interesting. The part that sucks is that no matter how perfectly you execute everything and how overgeared you may be, the fish can still get away once it does finally bite. That and Fish Eyes randomly choosing a fish when multiple windows are active (and because it's so GP-intensive) are what make it frustrating. I'm ok with the rest and with keeping it "hard" but the random aspect is what frustrates the most.

[ShadowNyx3]

Personally, I would hate it if big fish were given guaranteed hook rates but had their bite rates lowered.

Of all the fish in the game, the ones that hurt the most are the ones that never bite. You go through the process of setting up your Fisher's Intuition or Mooching that perfect fish during Fish Eyes in the tiny window, and you don't even get a bite to verify that you're doing it right. That's brutal to me. If I go through all that and at least get a bite, but it escapes, I at least know I'm on the right track and it's only a matter of time.


While I disagree with many of the points made here, I'm not without sympathy and I do think there are areas where the overall experience can be made less frustrating while retaining the difficulty and niche that it's gained. A perfect example is a fish mentioned above: The Priest of Yx'Lokwa. This requires a double mooch, starting with a Clown Tetra which is one of four fish in the associated fishing spot that all have light tugs and are all within a bite timing of about 6-12 seconds. Since this is a double mooch, we can't Mooch II the Clown Tetra and are forced to Patience it and potentially use a lot of GP gambling on wether we have a Yellow Pipira or the desired Clown Tetra on the line. Surface Slap helps a lot with issues like this where fish can't be differentiated by their bite time or tug strength, but it has massive limitations, so going an extra step to make more clear indicators for what fish is on your line would offer a bit more depth while also relieving some frustration in having to gamble on reeling something in. It sounds like 5.2 will be making some changes to tug animations so we'll see if this gets addressed.

I can mostly agree with Fish Eyes randomly choosing a fish being a nuisance. Getting two Barrel-eye windows instead of a Proto-Hropken window for Opabinia was a very sad time, though that was somewhat mitigated by having the window for Opabinia be so large. This seems to have been addressed because I don't think a single fishing hole since HW has had two Fish Eye targets in the same spot, though I could be wrong.

Finally, the one thing that I never want to see happen again is have a weather window like we have for the Ruby Dragon. Perhaps this was just an anomaly for the time, but shortly after this fish was released, the required weather pattern in Ruby Sea was unseen for over 20 real world days. I made a thread about this when it happened and while the window eventually stabilized to a more normal one that was spaced out in 1-3 day spans, I think it shows the absolute worst of what rare window fish can be.

All that being said...don't give up Nilheim! Charibenet still remains my ultimate nemesis for the fish that took me the longest time to catch. Despite how difficult some fish may prove to be, the only windows you can't catch a rare fish in are the ones you don't show up for. You can do it!