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Hello peoples,

I've been playing around with fishing since the patch and just wanted to give some observations based on the favored baits.

It was mentioned in the patch notes that they were going to make it to where fish responded better to certain baits. It seems like if you're using a bait:

* that is favored
* if you're at the correct sweet spot for a fish
* if you're in a school

you will get the "Fish is biting on..." message almost 100% of the time. If you have a bait equipped and you don't get the message and catch a fish, I believe that bait is not favored towards that fish. (that last clause applies to fishing in schools only. biterates in non-school waters seem to be lower)

I'll be running around testing the waters, so to speak, with all the different baits and documenting the changes as I'm working on my achievements.

I've started a spreadsheet on Google docs with the information I have so far. Right now it encompasses the Black Shroud and most of Thanalan, which is almost done save for a couple fish, then I'll move onto La Noscea and start on that area. I think I'll start on the saltwater fish first for reasons below in the next paragraph.

There's probably going to be some freshwater fish I skip for a while until I get into achievement grinding mode. Southern Pike is one since there's no schools in Humblehearth. Blindfish, Nether Newt and Lamp Marimo appear in inside areas and don't appear in any schools. I'm not sure if there are schools at Iron Lake or not. If not, I may put off crimson crayfish and lava toads for a while as well.

The spreadsheet for the data I have so far is located at the link below:

https://docs.google.com/...5SDFXR3I1WVBta0RFOEJncVE


Extra Notes:

* You do not have to be in a true fishing school to get the achievement.

* When doing the achievements, like the one that requires 20 fish to be gathered from a Grade 1 fishing area, you won't get the achievement until you put your rod away after you've gathered enough. So if you fish in a non-school fishing spot and catch 30 fish when you only need 20 for the achievement, you won't actually get credit until you stop fishing.

I think the best ways of tracking how many you've gotten (especially the ones that require a LOT of fish) is to empty out your inventory of fish and go by that count, or use a stackable live bait that'll deplete with each fish caught and keep track of how much you use.

Edited by user Monday, December 19, 2011 2:25:12 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Sweet spots are still there, in fact that's what's making it easy to retest all the baits. The favored baits make it pretty much a 100% instant bite rate for a fish if you use the bait it likes at the sweet spot, in a school.

Non-school fishing points seem to not proc this as often as I found out this morning doing some more testing. I fished in a school and got about 9/10 "The fish is biting on..." messages fishing at particular sweet spots for fish in that area. After the school went away it was closer to maybe 2-3 messages per 10 bites.

The only thing that'll be hard for me to determine is whether the travel time in between schools is worth the faster bite rates or if it'll just average out over time sitting in the same spot fishing. I know if you're focusing on a certain fish it'll probably be faster to hop in between schools. Profit wise, schools will probably work out better because spearfishing nodes are typically close to the schools, and dyes are usually a good money maker.

Some of the data Fallensbane gathered for his favored baits chart has changed so I figured as I was going through the areas I'd re-document the baits. The only thing I can't find on my server and I can't craft them myself are crab balls and bass balls so I won't be able to get that data for some time. When I get home I'll post my spreadsheet on Google docs.

Edit:

Just wanted to mention that Gulleye reports no Grade 4 schools in Humblehearth. I don't know if there are any other Grade 4 waters in Black Shroud, but doing this achievement is going to be quite slow compared to getting insta-bites in schools.

Edited by user Friday, December 16, 2011 2:48:39 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Hey Oro you positive about not having to be at a school of fish to finish achievements? Just want to be sure. I know you have to stop fishing if you do that to get the achievement but just making sure before I start. Thanks.

So it counts towards the achievement having nothing bite? That's kind of strange...I figured you'd at least have to get a bite. I'll try this the next area I go to with the opposite bait type equipped and see what happens.

I couldn't replicate your results with the no bites Vicious. :/

I don't know if it was because I was using a bait type not suitable where I was fishing or what, but I got 20 casts in a row with no bites and did a few more for good measure but I didn't get the achievement.

Most of Black Shroud and Thanalan are now input with the exception of a couple of fish, and I also got most of Grade 1 and 2 of La Noscea done last night. Should be able to get close to finishing La Noscea tonight.

Also, I made a post on the official forums concerning expanding upon fishing in the sense of adding more fishing schools for areas that have none at all or only two, and regarding the placement of some of them. I would appreciate if you guys could give any feedback or like the post to hopefully garner some attention from the devs. :)

http://forum.square-enix...ools?p=488669#post488669