My Experience Trawling Through Wraeclast (Jun 30, 2017)

Alternatively titled, So You Want to Find a Fishing Rod..

Greetings fellow exiles. This is a fishing post. If you are not interested in the theories, ramblings, and experiences of a naive, possibly foolish, gamer about the acquisition of Fishing Rods in Path of Exile this might not be the post for you. To those of you still interested, let us begin…

• Post 01: Current Theory & My Involvement
• Post 02: History & Timeline
• Post 03: My Tests by Event
• Post 04: Obligatory Trophy Post
• Post 05: Resources & References

Disclaimer
The current theory is really all the information you need you to try and find yourself a Fishing Rod in game. It takes some time, is not guaranteed, and requires the use of a unique hat which really becomes outclassed after the Dominus fight in normal difficulty. Fishing rods are not convenient to find, and can be a big source of frustration if grinding is not your thing. This optional hunt might be one of the most annoying carrot on a stick elements in the game. Thankfully the item filters make them much more obvious.


Background
During one of my early races, I found an Albino Rhoa in the Mud Flats. I had no idea they even existed, but when you see something rare the first instinct is to kill it right? So that is what I did and I acquired my first Albino Rhoa Feather. I had no idea what it did, and neither did race chat at the time. Afterwards I stashed it away and proceeded to research into this strange occurrence. This is where the rabbit hole truly started.

The searches yielded way more text on the topic than I thought existed. The results also re-directed the search into the concept of fishing. After devouring all of the information I could get my hands on through the official forums, Reddit, and YouTube videos, I was left with a theory consisting of some strange and expensive requirements. I continued to keep an eye out for more information, or a way to reduce the requirements from my initial list. Most of the information was presented with sarcasm or the intent to mislead, this made finding helpful sources a small challenge.

However, there are still some exiles not jaded by the fishing elements in the game. One such streamer was lucky during the 1-Month Flashback event (2015, May), and posted the highlight on Reddit. He found a fishing rod from a corrupted boss in Act 1 Cruel. I was able to watch the vods from character creation through the the fishing rod drop, and could eliminate the strange and expensive requirements from the theory. This was the final piece of bait I took before getting involved to my current level of tracking the different ‘Easter Eggs’ in the game, and testing different elements of the theory.

---

History & Timeline

Closed Beta
The idea of Fishing and Fishing Rods have existed in the community since the original closed beta. This is evidenced in the Anybody Catch Anything Good Yet? Thread. During the open beta an unfinished version of the fishing rod was accidentally added to the game for a weekend. This caused a lot of speculation and conversation from the community, but the sword version of the fishing rod was eventually removed from the game. Found A Fishing Rod. NO IDEA WHAT IT IS (no more rod in my stash). The conversation in this thread is mixed with some wanting the fishing joke to die, and others more excited by one actually being found.

Additionally Chris Confirmed in the Developer Q&A Answers, a two part question I had about Albino Rhoas.

"

Chris wrote:

I was recently told Albino Rhoas were added in the game since closed beta, is this true? Additionally, did the feathers carry over from closed beta the same way Demigod's did?

Yes, the Albino Rhoa was added to the game very early on. The feathers silently persisted into the Open Beta in the same way Demigod's Triumphs did. Very astute of you to notice :-)

Official Release
Patch 1.0.0 brought the game out of beta adding the rest of act 3, the Scion class, and the Domination/Nemesis challenge leagues. Fishing Rods as we know them with their correct art and weapon icon were added to the game at this time. Since the official release almost every major content patch, and even some shorter events, have expanded on the fishing element in one way or another. Many of these mysteries have not been solved, if solutions even exist for them.

Sacrifice of the Vaal
Patch 1.1.0 ushered in the Sacrifice of the Vaal mini expansion and the Ambush/Invasion challenge leagues. With the introduction of the Vaal orb new implicit mods could be added to items via corruption. Fishing rods were not left out. Besides some of the corruptions available to other weapon types they have corruptions unique to the item type:

• You can catch corrupted fish
• 10 to 20% increased cast speed
• 5 to 10% increased rarity of caught fish
• 5 to 10% increased quantity of caught fish

Forsaken Masters
Patch 1.2.0 introduced Wraeclast to the Forasken Masters. These masters brought with them the Rampage/Beyond challenge leagues, and likely the biggest fishing related addition to the game, Krillson. He has been the source of much debate and a greater amount of frustration. I have never found him, but there are plenty of examples of his existence and some of the ideas people have had to complete his quests. Still no recorded instances of a Krillson quest being completed. He has his own section in the Resources & References post. I do not know of any instance when an exile with a fishing rod has found Krillson. Players were able to add KrillsonOfWindingPier to their friends list through an effect of a Darkshrine. The account status message, “I wait but nobody ever comes back with a Rainbowstride.”

"

IMPORTANT
If you ever find Krillson here are a few things to keep in mind:

• He is only visible to one person in the party
• A fishing rod is required to start his quest
• He will leave if you move too far away, leave the instance

Forsaken Masters Redux
Patch 1.3.0 added Leo, the Player vs Player master to the game, and started the next set of challenge leagues, Torment/Bloodlines. Unless there is something in Bloodlines which has not yet been found, the fishing reference in this patch was limited to the Torment league. We were given the Tormented Illegal Fishermen. These have been chased into rare mobs and exiles alike with no fishing related outcomes. The secrets of the Illegal Fishermen are still a mystery, but for now I conclude it is just an ‘Easter Egg.’

The Awakening
Patch 2.0.0 the most content of any expansion since the release of the game. New act, new bosses, new challenge leagues, and one new fishing reference. The challenge leagues for this patch were Warbands/Tempest. Continuing in the trend of a league specific fishing reference, there was the Tempest of Angling. Or at least that was the information on the now down datamine website. I have not seen anyone report video or screen shots of this tempest, and with the future plans of the Tempest properties being unknown, this could be one lost to the annals of the past.

Darkshrine
Patch 2.0.5 started the Darkshrine event, and with it the seven fishing related effects obtained through sacrifice. Here is the list of the Darkshrine generated messages, the effects they created, and the required affix (if known).
Effects

Talisman
Patch 2.1.0 had a new take on the challenge leagues. Instead of a different mechanic for the Standard and Hardcore leagues there is Talisman for both. There are exclusive talismans for each league, however, the fishing talisman can be found in both. Giving Standard and Hardcore anglers alike access to the Rot Head Talisman. When enchanting a monster the Rot Head Talisman does not seem to do anything special. With the limited testing done during the league with the Rot Head Talisman it appears the item is just another nod to fishing. Nothing special happened when a monster was holding onto to talisman, and there were no special drops recorded. My conclusion is this just a simple ‘Easter Egg.’

Ascendancy
Patch 2.2.0 was the large content update for the Ascendancy launch and the Perandus challenge leagues. Ascendancy added the trials, Lord’s Labyrinth, and Ascendancy Classes to the core of the game. The Perandus challenge league, continuing with the same league for default and hardcore play, introduced Cadiro Perandus, Perandus boxes and their guardians. Cadiro could sell all manner of fine antiquities, including Song of the Sirens, and one of the Perandus boxes was specifically themed around fishing. The Perandus Tackle Box has a set drop table of; Fishing Rod, Fairgraves’ Tricorne, Albino Rhoa Feather, and Slitherpinch. The inclusion of Slitherpinch is a new twist on the hunt for answers, and might be a preferred glove when using live bait.

Prophecy
Patch 2.3.0 introduced Wraeclast to Navali and her skill of soothsaying. Silver Coins and Prophecies are the core feature of the Prophecy Challenge league. These elements end up in the core game at the conclusion of the league. Due to the information coming out as build up of the prophecy league continued, we knew the new fishing Easter Egg before the patch even went live. ItsYoji's Reefbane reveal.(reddit conversation) While the Reefbane unique item had been posted to reddit back in March this was the first confirmation of the new fishing rod making it into the game. Like the other unique fishing rod before it, Reefbane follows different drop restrictions compared to the base item type. Specifically, there are no drop restrictions. Reefbane follows the same pattern all other non-restricted unique items follow. It can be found from any monster of any rarity, and even from environmental items like breakables, chests and trunks.

The video states there is a way to more deterministic way find Krillson. Given the information gained and the prophecies run during the league, I do not think there is a current Krillson specific prophecy. Additionally, there do not seem to be any more deterministic way to find the Master Fisherman at this time.

During the week leading up to the Prophecy Challenge league, Chris was working on a shared document of the Prophecy patch notes. While this is no longer included in the document, there was a short lived fishing Easter egg, under the 'New Features' section.

Atlas of Worlds
Patch 2.4.0 ushered in a new endgame for those exiles looking to challenge themselves further. Maps and the map system were reworked, providing players with the Atlas. A new endgame boss encounter was added in the Shaper and his Guardians. The Atlas could be altered directly; by changing the levels of maps, what could and could not drop, or added modifiers to the atlas itself providing those bonuses to the maps in range. The new fishing Easter Egg for this expansion is in the form of a Cartographer Sextant Mod, "Areas are Alluring." Currently the only instances of this sextant mod spawning are from the Master Cartographer Sextant. Like will all fishing elements it is extremely rare, and its effects on the game are currently unknown. Additionally at this time it was noticed in the DB files a fishing related achievement was mined. Nothing confirmed for the achievement, but the requirements can be found in the spoiler below.


The Ring that Shouldn't
Patch 2.4.3 might have accidentally introduced a working version of the Angler's Plait, Unset Ring.

Breach
Patch 2.5.0 returned us to the realm of beyond. However, a little different than the first encounter. The Angler's Plait ring (the correct version of Hallowed Ground), was introduced at this time. None were found during the Breach League, or at least none were showcased here or on reddit.

Legacy
Patch 2.6.0 Legacy League, or the Grand Flashback. Leaguestones could be used to modify the areas and maps your character explore, adding the league to the zone. Think Zana mods, except up to three could be applied to a single zone at once. There were no leaguestones found with fishing specific mods (no Perandus stone with a Tackle Box, Talisman stone with a Rothead Talisman, Torment with Tormented Illegal Fisherman, etc), I was unable to find anything in the datamine information either. The fishing element for this league was a reduction to the quantity modifier for the Reefbane fishing rod. Before 2.6.0 the range was 30%-40%, Post 2.6.0 the range was changed to 10%-20%. I believe this was done to create the Relic version of Reefbane. Also, at least three of the correct Angler's Plait rings were found during Legacy League.

My Testing and Conclusions

When I started looking into the acquisition of fishing rods, there was a laundry list of superstitions and instructions required to have a fishing rod drop. Through my own play, and the experience of other exiles, I have attempted to prove or disprove the theories I have come across on the forums or on Reddit. This post will track the theories on my starting list, as well as additional points or questions that have arisen since. I will do my best to keep this in order of event, and explain how and why I came to a particular conclusion. Just know the current theory in the top post is all the information you need to have the chance at finding one, and recorded here is the path I took to arrive at the current theory.

---

Obligatory Trophy Post

My collection of fishing rods, or in the cases of void events or those pesky Darkshrines, screenshots and sacrifice information.

---

References & Resources
Because it is always a good idea to cite your sources. Or in this case how to get lost in the madness. There are way more posts in both the official forums and on reddit than I am linking here. These are mostly the ones I found when I was first searching, and then again after I started to piece this together. The Krillson links are pretty exhaustive, as it is still a pretty big outstanding mystery.

---

if you want to find a shav, you need to have a couple wisdom and portal scrolls in your inventory because whenever a person posted a pic on reddit about their newly found shav, they all had the said scrolls in their inventory..

"

wasedrcftvgzhbunj wrote:

if you want to find a shav, you need to have a couple wisdom and portal scrolls in your inventory because whenever a person posted a pic on reddit about their newly found shav, they all had the said scrolls in their inventory..

And if u will have 30 stacks of each in ur inventory, than the drop is basically guaranteed. Trust me.

That was a rather good read, thank you!

Awesome. I might use the last few days of the leagues to try and get lucky with my Tricorne!

Thank you for this ! POE living history lesson :)