Big Sammich
Duke Fishron
Fishing has only gotten better and better as time has gone on. Most major updates have introduced big additions to fishing. 1.4 in particular was enormous, adding fishing content for every biome that deserved it, as well as making lava fishing both accessible and worthwhile. However, through all of this, there is one area of fishing that has remained mostly untouched, and that's Dungeon fishing.
Dungeon fishing has a lot of potential to be something interesting, and in this post I will give some suggestions to help it reach that potential. The problem with Dungeon fishing has always been its accessibility, and this used to be understandable; after all, the Dungeon doesn't have predetermined water features, and it's not a biome in the same sense as the Jungle or the Corruption are biomes. But with the changes that 1.4 made to how the Dungeon generates, large pits of water are seen very often in the structure, which means Dungeon fishing is much more accessible to the player. The only problem is, the Dungeon is too dangerous for most new players to think of fishing in it, and veteran players generally have no need for the extra loot gotten from Golden Lock Boxes, as there are enough Locked Gold Chests to be found in the Dungeon to satisfy any playthrough. These, then, are the problems that remain to be fixed: new players should be alerted to Dungeon fishing, and old players should have a reason to do it.
Part 1: Introducing Dungeon Fishing
The first problem is easily solved by putting Quest fish in the Dungeon. Players who are interested in fishing will be speaking with the Angler every day to turn in quest fish, so this is a good way to point new players towards specific fishing zones. I suggest that there be three Quest fish that can be found in the Dungeon, being the following:
These quests would only be possible to get after Skeletron is defeated, but in order to ensure that this is a feature that reaches the players, the second and seventh fishing quests after the defeat of Skeletron would be guaranteed to be Dungeon fish. Additionally, there could be certain quest rewards that are tied to these Dungeon quests, similarly to the Bumblebee Tuna. To avoid adding new items in this suggestion, I think that the informational accessories, the Tackle Bag ingredients, and the Golden Bug Net should have a greater chance of being rewarded when turning in Dungeon fishing quests. This would motivate players to fish in the Dungeon more often, while also rewarding the player for taking the risk of fishing in the Dungeon by reducing the RNG on the most desirable items that the Angler rewards.
Part 2: Making Dungeon Fishing More Worthwhile
The second problem is a knottier one. We need a reason to choose Dungeon fishing over other biomes from time to time. I have a few ideas for how this could be accomplished.
Conclusion
The Dungeon is one of the most important parts of Terraria, and deserves to be fleshed-out in as many aspects as possible. It has a very unique air compared to the rest of the game, but that air is not contributed to at all by fishing in its current state. It would be a shame to leave Dungeon fishing in the state it's in now. These ideas I've come up with are rough and unpolished, mostly spitballing ways to spice up the game, but even if my ideas aren't used at all, something ought to be done.
Dungeon fishing has a lot of potential to be something interesting, and in this post I will give some suggestions to help it reach that potential. The problem with Dungeon fishing has always been its accessibility, and this used to be understandable; after all, the Dungeon doesn't have predetermined water features, and it's not a biome in the same sense as the Jungle or the Corruption are biomes. But with the changes that 1.4 made to how the Dungeon generates, large pits of water are seen very often in the structure, which means Dungeon fishing is much more accessible to the player. The only problem is, the Dungeon is too dangerous for most new players to think of fishing in it, and veteran players generally have no need for the extra loot gotten from Golden Lock Boxes, as there are enough Locked Gold Chests to be found in the Dungeon to satisfy any playthrough. These, then, are the problems that remain to be fixed: new players should be alerted to Dungeon fishing, and old players should have a reason to do it.
Part 1: Introducing Dungeon Fishing
The first problem is easily solved by putting Quest fish in the Dungeon. Players who are interested in fishing will be speaking with the Angler every day to turn in quest fish, so this is a good way to point new players towards specific fishing zones. I suggest that there be three Quest fish that can be found in the Dungeon, being the following:
- The Fishotron, an existing Quest fish in the game, should be moved to the Dungeon. This seems obvious to me, and honestly I'm surprised it hasn't been done already.
- The Darkwater Eel, a slimy little fella who enjoys the reclusive dark corners and watery magic of the Dungeon.
- Finally, once the world enters Hardmode, a third Quest fish would appear in the Dungeon: the Ecto Trout, a ghostly fish infused with the ectoplasm that has begun to gather in the Dungeon.
These quests would only be possible to get after Skeletron is defeated, but in order to ensure that this is a feature that reaches the players, the second and seventh fishing quests after the defeat of Skeletron would be guaranteed to be Dungeon fish. Additionally, there could be certain quest rewards that are tied to these Dungeon quests, similarly to the Bumblebee Tuna. To avoid adding new items in this suggestion, I think that the informational accessories, the Tackle Bag ingredients, and the Golden Bug Net should have a greater chance of being rewarded when turning in Dungeon fishing quests. This would motivate players to fish in the Dungeon more often, while also rewarding the player for taking the risk of fishing in the Dungeon by reducing the RNG on the most desirable items that the Angler rewards.
Part 2: Making Dungeon Fishing More Worthwhile
The second problem is a knottier one. We need a reason to choose Dungeon fishing over other biomes from time to time. I have a few ideas for how this could be accomplished.
- Dungeon Crates deserve an overhaul. As they are now, they're essentially just Iron/Mythril crates with one additional item. Obsidian and Hellstone crates got their own special loot tables, and comparatively the Dungeon crates just feel a bit lackluster. I think Dungeon Crates should be changed in the following ways:
- Low tier ores (copper, tin, iron, and lead) do not drop from Dungeon and Stockade crates.
- Dungeon and Stockade crates now have a unique selection of potions that can be gotten from them: Ammo Reservation, Titan, Summoning, Mana Regeneration, Lesser Luck, and Endurance. These potions are (mostly) very valuable, and four of them have class-specific benefits. However, to compensate for this powerful selection of potions, they drop in smaller amounts, being limited to 1-2 potions instead of the 2-4 possible with the current in-game selection.
- Add the Water Bolt to Golden Lock Boxes. While you're unlikely to ever need this, if on the off chance you can't find a Water Bolt through exploring your Dungeon normally, you can fish for one.
- Stockade Crates no longer have Golden Lock Boxes. The items found in these boxes aren't useful in Hardmode anyway, and since Shimmer allows you to turn Stockade Crates into Dungeon Crates, there is no loss of opportunity by removing Lock Boxes from Stockade Crates. In their place, Stockade Crates should give an item dropped by regular Mimics. I feel that this fits thematically, as the Dungeon is very chest-centric in its loot anyway, while also not breaking progression or making powering up much easier.
- Finally, Dungeon and Stockade crates should have a chance to drop a random Dungeon painting. This would enable having multiple copies of the paintings on one world without needing to pull them from other worlds, as well as adding further variety and identity to the crates.
- There should be unique fish found in the Dungeon that are used in potions. While I recognize that at this point in development, adding new items is probably not going to happen, it's a shame to not at least try. If the Dungeon is considered its own biome in terms of fishing, it should not be the only biome without a unique potion ingredient. (Honey has Honeyfins, which act as potions in their own right.) I've come up with the following three ideas:
- Stout Stonefish: a blue fish of noteworthy ugliness. Combine with Bottled Water, a Blinkroot, and a Deathweed to make a Fury Potion, which increases melee speed by 10% for 4 minutes. (This is probably the most obvious potion idea in the world, but I think it has real merit.) This fish can be found in the Dungeon at all times.
- Thin Stonefish: a green fish of remarkable ugliness. Combine with Bottled Water, a Blinkroot, and a Shiverthorn to make a Piercing Poion, which provides 10 armor penetration for 6 minutes. This fish only appears in the Dungeon after your world has entered Hardmode.
- Flat Stonefish: a pink fish of significant ugliness. Combine with Bottled Water, a Blinkroot, and a Daybloom to make an Unflinching Potion, which provides knockback immunity for 8 minutes. This fish only appears in the Dungeon after Plantera has been defeated.
- The player would also be able to fish up Biome Lock Boxes. These would be added to the fishing pool after Plantera is defeated, and would supply an alternative (as well as renewable) way of getting the Biome chest weapons. It should be noted that these would not be common items to reel in. The probability of reeling in a Biome Lock Box is exactly twice as rare as reeling in an Extremely Rare catch. In numbers, this means that your chance of reeling in a Biome Lock Box is equal to fishing power / 9000, and it's hard capped at 1/12. Practically speaking, this means that if your fishing power is 100, your chance of getting a Biome Lock Box is 1.11% (1/90), and if your fishing power is 300, your chance is 3.33% (1/30). Of course, you have to consider that there are 6 different Biome keys, so while your chance of getting any Biome Lock Box is generally going to be between 1 and 3%, the chance of getting the specific one you want is much lower. There is one other benefit to reeling in a Biome Lock Box, and that is that you can shimmer Biome Lock Boxes into their corresponding Biome keys. This means that, if you have enough patience and good luck, you can get every Biome chest weapon through fishing: one box to turn into a key, and another to unlock it. Now, this would be by far the fastest way of getting Biome Keys, but it certainly isn't free. The odds are not in your favor, even with high fishing power. And since you can only fish them up post-Plantera, you also have to deal with all the tough Dungeon enemies, like Diabolists, Giant Cursed Skulls, and Paladins. If you have a good setup, you can get many Lock Boxes, but you'll need your head on a swivel the whole time, and for a lot of people it probably isn't worth the hassle.
(Left to right: Jungle, Corruption, Crimson, Hallowed, Frozen, and Desert Lock Boxes)
- Finally, the Dungeon should have a fish weapon in Hardmode, in the same vein as the Corruption, Crimson and Hallow. This is the most ambitious part of this suggestion, as well as the most unnecessary, but I wanted to include it anyway. As the existing weapons gotten through fishing in biomes cover three of the four classes, it seems natural to me that there should be a Summon weapon gotten through fishing, and the Dungeon could be the place to get it. Here's what I've come up with:
- Cartilage Staff
24 summon damage
Very weak knockback (2)
Summons a skeletal shark to gnaw on your foes
- This staff works very much like an early Hardmode version of the Stardust Dragon Staff. Instead of summoning multiple sharks, the existing shark gets longer and has increased damage. The damage increases by 25% of the initial damage for each summon, as well as adding 2 armor penetration to the shark. The shark would follow the same attack and movement patterns as the Stardust Dragon, flying around the player and going after enemies within its range, although it would be slower and would not hit as often. Also, while it would be able to go through blocks to attack enemies, it would not target enemies through blocks, so it still needs ordinary line of sight to attack enemies.
- This item would benefit the game in a couple of ways. It's a reason to go back to the Dungeon at the beginning of Hardmode, which normally players do not do as the Dungeon does not offer new loot in early Hardmode. Additionally, as said before, it closes the gap in Hardmode fishing weapons. I also think that there should be more minions in Terraria that work like the Stardust Dragon, compounding damage onto one minion instead of summoning an army. It also would synergize well with the Firecracker, which is certainly something.
- Cartilage Staff
Conclusion
The Dungeon is one of the most important parts of Terraria, and deserves to be fleshed-out in as many aspects as possible. It has a very unique air compared to the rest of the game, but that air is not contributed to at all by fishing in its current state. It would be a shame to leave Dungeon fishing in the state it's in now. These ideas I've come up with are rough and unpolished, mostly spitballing ways to spice up the game, but even if my ideas aren't used at all, something ought to be done.
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