FFXIV Fisher Unlock Guide: Quest Locations & Coordinates

In Final Fantasy XIV, fishing is one of the most calming side activities you can undertake. It’s also potentially very frustrating — pitting you against semi-random guppies that sometimes just refuse to let themselves be hooked. Before you get to the ups and downs of Eorzea’s wettest pastime, however, you need to unlock the Fisher in FFXIV. Luckily, it’s a pretty easy process! Even if keeping track of the many quest locations, ability unlocks, and bait types along the way isn’t very easy at all. Let’s get started all the same!

FFXIV Fisher Quest Locations

Finding your next Job quest in FFXIV can be tedious. You can search through your log of completed quests, which tells you the last mission you completed for any particular class, as well as the name of the NPC you need to speak with for the next one. But where is that NPC? Are they in the same place as last time, or did they move? Assuming you haven’t played a particular class in a while, where the hell was “last time”?

To help with this, we’ve laid out a simple table to indicate the region, coordinates, and required level for every Fisher Job quest. Note: The first quest, “Way of the Fisher,” begins at the Fishermen’s Guild in Limsa Lominsa, the capital city of La Noscea. The coordinates are listed below, but it’s worth noting the guild does have its own Aethernet shard. It’s on the southernmost end of the Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks. There’s a good chance you’ve already unlocked said fast travel point if you’ve been to the city (and attuned to all its Aethernet nodes as you should).

In addition, because this is a type of gathering class, there’s a lot more travel involved than just the quests. You need to hit up some fishing spots across the wider digital world. These are listed in the table below as well — alongside any special notes, such as weather conditions and bait.

Before we move on, there are a couple more minor things to note about fishing quests. A few of major missions aren’t actually part of the main quest chain. The most important of these is called “A New Fishing Ex-spear-ience.” This becomes available once you reach The Ruby Sea location in during the Stormblood campaign after the Main Scenario Quest “In Soroban We Trust” — assuming you have already unlocked fishing.

This Level 61 quest provides an entirely new kind of fishing mini-game: spearfishing. It even comes with its own secondary tool with bonus stats and everything. Not a bad deal for what’s basically a free reward! You’re going to need it, too, because of the Level 68 Fisher quest “Always a Bigger Fish.” This is a moderately unique quest for which spearfishing is mandatory.

As mentioned in the chart shown above, you need to begin spearfishing in Yanxia, underwater next to the Mercantile Docks location, in the hopes of finding Icthyosaurs. Seven, to be exact. Once you catch your seventh Icthyosaur in a single fishing trip — which is to say do not exit the water — a hidden spearfishing node will appear. This “Swimming Shadows” node is your real target. That’s where you’ll find the Dafangshi needed to complete the quest. Luckily, every time you catch an Icthyosaur or two, you’ll get a text notification on-screen that indicates the shadows are getting closer. So don’t worry about losing track. Don’t worry about bait, either, since the three types of “Gigs” on your spear are permanent fixtures that don’t run out.

That’s not always the case, though. Most bait in FFXIV is consumable. You burn through one piece whenever you catch a fish, or when a clever one makes off with your free food. But there’s a workaround: the humble Versatile Lure. You can purchase these from the Merchant & Mender on the Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks (X: 3.2, Y: 12.8). They’re nearly indestructible, too! Fish can make off with the lure if you don’t meet their stat requirements, but overall just one Versatile Lure can last you a lifetime since it doesn’t get consumed when you catch something.

More than that, the Versatile Lure can catch nearly every normal fish in FFXIV. It’s just not always the most efficient option. The Versatile Lure has exceedingly low catch rates for rare fish compared to standard bait. So while it can catch most stuff in the game, that doesn’t mean it will catch them in a timely fashion. Luckily, most Fisher quest targets are pretty common, making the Versatile Lure an excellent choice most of the way through the questline. That becomes even more true once you reach Level 60 missions and beyond.

That being said, we’ve opted to mostly include the best normal bait for each outing in the table above. That way, you know what stands the highest chance of catching fish quickly. In a couple of cases, the Versatile Lure really is the best way to go, though, so it might come down to your preference and patience.

Notes on The Crystalline Mean

Starting at Level 70 on all FFXIV crafters and gatherers, including the Fisher in this case, there are no more class-specific quests. Instead, you gain access to “The Crystalline Mean.” This is a small gathering spot for special NPCs in The Crystarium, back on Norvrandt, after you reach the capital city during the Shadowbringers campaign. It has its own Aethernet point (simply marked as “The Crystalline Mean”). It’s on the upper floor of the city near the Amaro Launch if you have trouble finding it initially. Crafters and gatherers of sufficient level will further find their eyes drawn there by the blue side quest marker. The opening quest is also simply called “The Crystalline Mean.”

There are five notable NPCs in the area with five unique quest chains. Each chain is tied to not just one crafting or gathering class, but several — meaning you can complete any step of the questline as any one of the appropriate classes. The sole exception is the Fishers; they get their own quests separate from any other classes.

Put another way: The Crystalline Mean functions very similar to Role Quests for the combat classes, where any DPS magic-user can complete any step of the DPS magic questline, and so on. In this case, however, Crystalline Mean missions for the “Facet of Fishing” are only completable by the Fisher class. Said quests start at Level 70 with “On the Trail of a Myth,” after talking to the NPC Frithrik at (X: 11.1, Y: 8.9) in The Crystalline Mean.

Pretty much every Crystalline Mean mission involves talking to someone, crafting or gathering items, and turning them in — like Custom Deliveries for characters in Idyllshire, Eulmore, etc. You receive XP and Gil for every quest and delivery — as well as Scrips from the latter. This makes the quest chains an excellent way to level up your non-combat classes. You can also use the Scrips to buy useful items and gear as you progress your Disciples of the Hand and Land.

Note: You must complete the Level 72 Main Scenario Quest “The Crystarium’s Resolve” as any combat Job to reach and unlock The Crystalline Mean.

Notes on Studium Deliveries

We don’t currently know a lot about this new series of quests, but developer Square Enix laid out the very basics in a November Live Letter prior to the release of Endwalker. On that topic: These appear to be the Endwalker equivalent of The Crystalline Mean quests. Given the Studium is a confirmed location in Old Sharlayan, it’s fairly safe to say the quests will occur there. Just know this is based on preview information and some educated guesses, so take it with a grain of salt until Endwalker goes live. At that point, we’ll have a Studium Delivery guide to go with everything else.

FFXIV Fisher Basics & Importance

Fishing is a slightly odd Job in FFXIV. It’s beloved by a certain subsection of players and really reviled by others, partly because of its uneven impact on the game world. Fishing can honestly feel like an entire game unto itself at times. Whether or not that appeals to you will be a matter of personal preference. As for what it provides, however, the answer is obviously… fish.

Like hauls from the other gathering jobs (Botanist and Miner), fish are almost entirely used for crafting. Specifically, they’re ingredients in food for the Culinarian class. That makes them tremendously valuable to pretty much all high-level play. FFXIV food provides a lengthy buff — between 30 minutes and over an hour — to XP gains across all classes in the game. Different foods also provide different stat buffs, making them invaluable to hardcore raiders and crafters. And since the Fisher class can be divisive, there’s not always a lot of competition for people selling seafood ingredients on the market board. That makes the Job a solid way to make some cash.

That’s not the only way to farm Gil with a Fisher, either. You can also use “Desynthesis.” This non-combat ability allows you to break down different items in the game, including fish, into their base components. It’s a good way to clear up your very limited FFXIV inventory space since you can often sell raw materials more easily than full, unwanted items. And the higher your Desynthesis level, the better your chances of getting a bonus bag of Gil. Yep! Fishing can just spontaneously generate free gold to sell to NPCs. In fact, many fish in FFXIV exist only to be Desynthesized, making this a very useful trick to include in your rotation. Not to mention Desynthesized fish provide the “Fine Sand” item, which is commonly used by digital homeowners when crafting in-game furniture for the housing market. Fine Sand is useless on its own but if you sell it in bulk, you can do okay for yourself.

Altogether, this makes the Fisher a strange but potentially rewarding gatherer for FFXIV players to wrap their seaworthy heads around. Give it a shot and you might just be one of the proud few who loves this class more than the main game itself.

And there you have the very basics of how to unlock the Fisher (and why you should) in FFXIV. Not to mention you now also have a handy list of locations to check as you progress through the class quests and your adventure. Best of luck snagging some Gil while you sail through the economy of FFXIV.