[Mogar]

Do I have to fish up the fish or just press enter when I get a catch in order to break a rod?

[Juib]

you have to be able to wear down their stamina

[Mogar]

Then I reel it up? Or press enter when it's at low stanima

[Juib]

deplete to 0 then reel in

g. Breaking Fishing Rods
While most fishers generally try to avoid rod breaks, broken fishing rods are used in several Woodworking and Alchemy synths, which means many crafters will actually try to break fishing rods on purpose in order to level their craft by repairing them.

However, under the new fishing system, rods are generally significantly more difficult to break.

Before the last major fishing update all you had to do to snap a Composite Fishing Rod, for example, was hook a fish capapble of breaking it and hit enter. Though the Composite Rod is the second most durable rod in the game, many Alchemists could hook fish capapable of snapping it on the Ferry fairly consistently, even with a very low fishing skill.

However, under the current system, pressing enter before the stamina bar is completely depleted will merely snap your line 99% of the time. This means that in order to break a Composite Rod you now have to not only hook a fish capable of breaking it, but have a high enough fishing skill to completely deplete that fish's stamina.

In addition, according to the patch notes provided by SE, "the durability of wooden fishing rods designed for catching small fish has been substantially increased", making them a little harder to snap as well.

However, there are still many items in the game that are capable of snapping several fishing rods, and since your fishing skill is not taken into consideration when catching items, leveling Woodworking and Alchemy by breaking and repairing rods yourself can still be a viable alternative to more expensive synths, even for players with 0 fishing skill. Unfortunately, there are currently no items in the game that are heavy enough to break the Composite or Lu Shang's fishing rods, so if you decide to level Alchemy or Woodworking by repairing them you will need to find a fisherman on your server with a moderately high fishing skill and offer to supply them with rods or bait in exchange for breaking the rods. Since you can still get skillups on rod breaks, chances are you might be able to find a fisher who could get skillups targeting the fish that will break the specific rod you are looking to repair, and so you can actually set up an arrangement that will be mutually beneficial. For example, If you are a level ~80 Alchemist looking to skill up by repairing broken Composite Rods, you should be able to find a level ~80 Fisher who could get skillups targeting Ryugu Titan and Titanictus on the Ferry with a Composite Rod and Meatballs, and both of these fish are capable of breaking the Composite. If you bring about 5-10 Composite Rods and several stacks of Meatballs and head out to the Ferry, the Fisher could keep casting and trade you the broken Composite Rods a few at a time, while you trade him the repaired rods at the same time. This way the Fisher could be fishing and you could be synthing pretty much the entire time, and both of you would be getting consistent skillups.

Below is a list of the synthetic and wooden fishing rods that can be repaired with Alchemy or Woodworking, the level cap of the repair synth, and what is in my opinion the easiest way to break them depending on whether you have moderately high fishing skill, or no fishing skill whatsoever.

Zero Fishing Skill


Willow Fishing Rod Woodworking 10
Bamboo Fishing Rod Woodworking 15
Yew Fishing Rod Woodworking 20
Glass Fiber Fishing Rod Alchemy 25
Carbon Fishing Rod Alchemy 49
Fastwater Fishing Rod Woodworking 52
Tarutaru Fishing Rod Woodworking 63
Single Hook Fishing Rod Alchemy 69
Hume Fishing Rod Woodworking 72
Clothespole Woodworking 73


The fastest way to break the rods listed above with zero fishing skill is to fish in the small ponds at G-6, H-6, or I-6 all the way in the back basement of Gusgen Mines with Meatballs (which you can purchase from the Fisherman's Guild at C-8 in Port Windurst for ~52 gil each).



Halcyon Rod Alchemy 72
Mithran Fishing Rod Woodworking 83


The fastest way to break the rods listed above with zero fishing skill is to fish at the small greenish ponds at I-9 in the Labyrinth of Onzozo with Little Worms (which can be purchased for about 4 gil from any of the merchants listed here), or Peeled Crayfish (which can be purchased from the Fisherman's Guild at C-8 in Port Windurst).

NOTE: If you are planning on breaking fishing rods with zero fishing skill, I highly recommend placing Rusty Buckets or Commodes in your Moghouse in order to obtain Moghancement: Fishing, which increases your chances of catching items.

Moderate/High Fishing Skill


Willow Fishing Rod Woodworking 10
Bamboo Fishing Rod Woodworking 15
Yew Fishing Rod Woodworking 20
Glass Fiber Fishing Rod Alchemy 25
Carbon Fishing Rod Alchemy 49
Fastwater Fishing Rod Woodworking 52
Tarutaru Fishing Rod Woodworking 63
Single Hook Fishing Rod Alchemy 69
Hume Fishing Rod Woodworking 72
Halcyon Rod Alchemy 72
Clothespole Woodworking 73
Mithran Fishing Rod Woodworking 83


The fastest way to break the rods listed above with moderate/high fishing skill is to fish from the cliffs at H-9 in Qufim Island South with Sliced Cod (which you can purchase on the auction house or synth yourself with only 13 cooking skill and a Wind Crystal by catching Tiger Cod in Qufim Island South with the Shrimp Lure).



Lu Shang's Fishing Rod Woodworking 80
Composite Fishing Rod Alchemy 85


The easiest way to break the Lu Shang's or the Composite with moderate/high fishing skill is to fish from the Selbina -> Mhaura Ferry with Meatballs (which can be purchased from the Fisherman's Guild at C-8 in Port Windurst for ~52 gil). It should be noted that Ryugu Titan are currently the only non-Ebisu fish on the Ferry capable of snapping the Lu Shang's, but unfortunately most fishers are unable to land them consistently until they reach the late 70s to early 80s.

[xurion]

When the stamina bar is at 0 is best bet, but low stamina can get you the fish also.