Fishing

Fishing in Fear Nightfall is handled by two mods that both replace or extend the vanilla fishing loop. Tide is the main fishing overhaul: it supplies its own hook entity, bite timer, catch selection and optional reel minigame, and it adds about 102 fish that can be caught in water, lava and the void. Aquaculture runs alongside it as a second fishing system with its own rods, hooks, lines, bobbers and bait, and adds 29 fish species, a Tackle Box, a Worm Farm and the Neptunium metal tier. The two systems do not share gear: Tide rods are fitted through the Angling Table, while Aquaculture rods hold their tackle in fixed slots.

Fishing matters to a player for three reasons. It is the only source of many fish, rod upgrades and some food. It gives access to Loot Crates and fishing-only treasure. And it is the route to the pack's underwater gear. Water in the pack is not always safe, since some monsters live in it at night, so the mechanics below are worth reading before a long session on a dark lake.

Systems at a glance

The two fishing systems divide the work as follows. Tide owns the deeper mechanics: lava fishing, void fishing, the journal, the informational gadgets and most of the rods. Aquaculture owns the extra containers, the fillet knives, the turtles and the Neptunium set. Some non-fish catches, such as boxes and messages in bottles, come from Aquaculture's loot and are available to every vanilla fishing rod.

Rods, hooks, lines and bait

A fishing rod is the tool that catches fish. Tide's rods take a hook, a line, a bobber and bait, which the Angling Table fits onto the rod. Aquaculture's rods hold the same four kinds of tackle in dedicated slots. The hooks decide what a cast can reach: Tide's lava and void hooks unlock fishing in lava and the void, and Aquaculture's Hooks change casting distance, luck and bite timing. Lines and bobbers are covered on Fishing Lines and Bobbers. Tide's bobbers have no gameplay stat, while some Aquaculture bobbers are also food.

Bait shortens the wait for a bite and changes the luck of a catch. Tide's bait items are the Bait, Lucky Bait, Magnetic Bait, Incandescent Bait and Abyss Bait, and Magnetic Bait also affects crates. Aquaculture's bait is the Worm, Leech and Minnow. Worms can be made in a Worm Farm from compostable items, which makes bait a renewable supply rather than a loot-only one.

Storage for this gear is covered by the Fish Satchel, which collects fish from pickups while it is open, and the Tackle Box, which holds one rod plus hooks, bait, lines and bobbers in a single block.

Where fish live

Fish are grouped by the water they need. Each group has its own page with spawn tables and stats.

• Freshwater. Freshwater Fish are river and lake species. Tide adds 22 and Aquaculture adds ten, and several names repeat across the two mods. Each version is a separate item with its own stats.
• Saltwater. Saltwater Fish are ocean species: 23 from Tide and nine from Aquaculture. Several Tide species have no natural spawn and can only be caught.
• Regional. Exotic Fish from Aquaculture are tied to desert, savanna, jungle, mushroom and ocean biomes. Koi Fish come from Critters and Companions and live in river biomes.
• Underground. Underground Fish are twenty Tide species kept below set Y levels in overworld water. Most of them also spawn in caves, oceans and rivers.
• Lava. Lava Fish are eleven Tide species that live in lava rather than water. They spawn in Nether biomes and need a Lavaproof Hook.
• Void. Void Fish are 26 Tide species that live below a configurable height in each dimension. Void fishing requires the Void Hook. Most void fish have no natural spawn.

Fish spawn in the Nether and the End as well as in the Overworld. The fishing mechanics, bite times and conditions for each catch are on Tide Fishing.

Catching and loot

Tide Fishing is the main route to Tide's fish, rod upgrades and cooked food. Some rods come only from fishing loot, villager trades or mob drops, and some fish can only be caught with a rod. The fishing journal records every catch and the conditions it was caught under; see Fishing Journal and Fishy Notes.

Aquaculture injects its loot into the global vanilla fishing table, so every vanilla fishing rod can pull up its boxes, bottles and other junk. See Fishing Junk and Treasure. Tide's Loot Crates are opened for loot and the obsidian crates need a diamond-tier pickaxe to break. Crafting materials that come from fishing include Tide Materials, such as Fish Bones and Obsidian Fragments.

Informational items help with planning. The Fishing Gadgets read weather, moon phase and depth, which gate which fish can be caught.

Food, tools and display

Caught fish can be eaten raw or cooked. Tide's five cooked fish and the Fish Slice are listed on Tide Fish Food. Aquaculture's fish are cut into fillets with a fillet knife on a cutting board, as described on Fillet Knives and Fish Fillets. The Neptunium fillet knife is part of the Neptunium set, which also includes tools, armour, a fishing rod and a storage block. Most Neptunium tools and armour gain a bonus while the player's eyes are underwater.

Aquaculture Delight adds dishes made from Aquaculture fish, most of them cooked in a Cooking Pot from Farmer's Delight. The three Aquaculture Turtles are passive creatures used as an ingredient for some of these dishes.

Caught fish can be kept as decoration. Fish Mounts and Displays show a single fish on a wall, and fish can also be kept as living mobs with their bucket.

Fear Nightfall changes

• Tide's loot is added to the mapped structure chests of the pack, including the replacement temples, fortresses and strongholds from YUNG's mods. The Blazing Fishing Rod is left out of those replacement chests and cannot be obtained from them.
• The Enchanted Pocket Watch cannot freeze bosses. The Lich, Dead King, Headless Horseman, Lord Pumpkinhead and every mob in the #c:bosses tag are immune. See Bosses and Fishing Gadgets.
• Aquaculture's fish spawn in natural water in many biomes, and its fishing loot is shared with every vanilla rod.

Horror hazards in the water

Fear Nightfall fills its water with horror monsters, so fishing at night is not always safe. Corpse Fish are hostile water creatures from Born in Chaos that attack players and drowned that come near them. They are weak alone but appear in groups and are a hazard in dim, dangerous waters at night. Glutton Fish attack players and drowned without restriction, and retaliate against anything that hurts them. Most Tide and Aquaculture fish are passive and never attack, so the threat comes from the Born in Chaos mobs rather than from the fishing mods themselves.

Tips

• A Lure enchantment on the rod is the most effective way to shorten bites. Lure 3 saves about 291 ticks off each wait.
• Lava and void fish have longer bite times, so bring a Lavaproof or Void Hook on long trips.
• Some fish depend on time, weather or temperature. The fishing journal lists the conditions under which each fish has been caught.
• Keep a Tackle Box or Fish Satchel nearby on long sessions so the inventory does not fill with bait and fish.
• For the best fishing gear, the Neptunium set is worth the detour to a deep-water area, since its underwater bonuses apply only while the player's eyes are underwater.