How to start an Ocean Fishing voyage in Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy XIV fishers rejoice! Ocean fishing is a revolutionary new challenge that offers hefty challenges and sweet rewards to fishers of all levels. If you’ve got a fishing pole in your armory chest, you should seriously consider setting sail.

How to start ocean fishing

Ocean Fishing can be unlocked by anyone who has completed the level 1 quest “My First Fishing Rod.” Speak with Fhilsnoe in the Fishermen’s Guild in Limsa Lominsa to get started. Accept the quest “All the Fish in the Sea” and head over to the Ferry Docks near the Arcanists’ Guild. At the end of the dock, speak with Foerzagyl.

The unlock quest gives you some lures to start, but you can buy more bait or lures on board the ship. There are four kinds of bait available: Plump Worms, Krill, Ragworms, and Versatile Lures. Each bait has a certain percentage of a chance to catch specific fish, but the jury is still out on which bait is best for each fishing spot. Theorycrafters in the FFXIV community call the Versatile Lure a waste; it catches random fish attainable with all of the other baits.

Fishing voyages leave every two Earth hours. Boats are a cross-server queue, so you’ll be fishing among others from across your data center. A full boat holds 24 fishers. Every 7 minutes, the ship travels to a different location with different fish. After three stops, the trip ends and you return to the docks in Limsa.

Ocean fishing rewards

Each catch awards you points depending on the size and rarity of the fish. Bonuses are awarded at the end of each journey for catching unique fish, fish of a certain rarity, or specific total fish. Some of the bonuses are personal to you, while others are triggered by your party’s overall performance.

The best catches from the boat are Spectral Fish. Not only are they worth a ton of points, but every time someone catches one, there’s a chance for Spectral weather. Rainbows appear, the music changes, and for a little over a minute, every fish caught is of green rarity. Double-hooking during rainbow phases pads your point total, so save your GP and keep Hi-Cordials on hand.

Catching certain fish can also trigger the Fishers Intuition buff which allows you to catch special fish. Each fishing zone has two hard-to-catch fish that require this buff: one for normal weather, and one for Spectral weather.

Ocean Fishing rewards Fishers level 49 and below with experience points. Early word is that the experience gains are massive; low-level fishers report gaining between five and 10 levels during one 20-minute trip. Between levels 50 and 79, fishers receive both experience and Yellow Gatherer’s Scrip. At level 80, fishers receive Yellow Gatherer’s Scrip, but can also receive White Scrip depending on their haul.