Valheim: Deep Waters

A fishing overhaul for Valheim. Fish swim up to your bait, nibble, and then bite, just like vanilla, but now you play the fight with line tension, drag, and stamina. There are rods for every era, hook sizes, bait you gather from the world, buffs, trophies, and a catch log.

Requires BepInEx 5 and Jötunn 2.30 or newer. Built for Valheim 1.0.20.

Features

• All 12 vanilla fish plus 31 new ones, including 10 legendaries, each with its own biomes, depth, favourite bait, time of day and weather
• Fish you can see swim up to your bait, nibble the float, then bite. Strike too early and you spook them; make noise and they flee
• A real fight: line tension, drag on the mouse wheel, sideways runs, leaps and snapped lines
• Twelve rods, one for each era plus special ones, that wear out with use and upgrade to level 4, and hooks in eight kinds
• Bait from the world: worms, grubs, flies, leeches and baitfish
• A tackle panel under the inventory (drag it anywhere) with slots for your rod, bait, hook, weight and leader; the rod in its slot takes no inventory space
• Weights and leaders: every fish feeds at its own depth, so set your leader to fish the depth you want, or fish the bottom with a weight, a Texas rig or a Carolina rig. Light weights get dragged about by waves and storms
• Tackle boxes in four tiers: carry your tackle in your hand, open it anywhere, set it down as a chest
• Lures you cast far and retrieve (spoons, spinners, crankbaits, jigs, soft baits, swimbaits, poppers and flies), with trailers, and seven boss lures
• A Fishing Boat you row, with a passenger seat and a bow holdfast
• Fishing meads, chum, totems, rare relics and a Fisherman's armour set
• Seven boss fish you summon with boss lures, each with its own weather, music and fight
• Angler ranks, species mastery with Gold Trophy Plaques, and rare golden and albino catches
• A Fish Cleaning Table, fish materials, dishes and feasts, and traders who each buy their own catch
• An endgame: the Allfather's Rod and Njord's Regalia, earned by landing every boss fish
• Size classes, a trophy mount, cooking, selling, a catch log with rewards, and Valheim's Fishing skill
• In multiplayer, players nearby see your line, the fish you're fighting and the catch

How to fish

1. Craft a Wooden Fishing Rod (workbench) and some Tiny hooks, and dig up worms from wriggling soil in the forest.
2. Put bait and a hook in your tackle slots under the inventory (or right-click them there).
3. Face the water, hold left click to charge, and release to cast.
4. Fish come to the bait and nibble the float with small dips. Don't strike yet.
5. On the real bite (FISH ON!, a big dip), right click to set the hook.
6. Hold right click to reel and use the mouse wheel to set the drag. Tighter drag reels faster and tires the fish quicker, but risks snapping the line. Reeling costs stamina.

Bait is only used up once a fish is hooked.

Rods

Each rod is better than the last. Every rod lists its stats in its tooltip: cast distance, line, line strength, reel speed, power, hook bonus, stamina use and durability.

Rods wear while a fish is on the line, faster with heavy fish and high tension. A broken rod loses the fish and must be repaired where it was crafted.

Upgrading rods

Every rod upgrades to level 4 at its crafting station, like vanilla gear. Each level adds cast distance, line, line strength, reel speed, power, hook bonus and durability, and eases reeling stamina; a fully upgraded rod sits about halfway to the next one. Upgrades cost fish materials (see below), the line of the rod's era (leather scraps, deer hide, linen, jute, morgen sinew, moose sinew) and some of each biome's oddments: greydwarf eyes, obsidian, tar, deathsquito needles, sap, charred bone, celestial feathers. The last level also needs a Trophy Fin. The tooltip shows the rod's stats at its level.

Fish materials

Clean a catch at the Fish Cleaning Table for its material. Bigger fish give more: a Trophy-size fish gives four times what a Small one does. The table (hammer, near a workbench: 10 wood, 4 flint, 4 resin) cleans the common fish; its three add-ons, built beside it, let it handle the rarer ones:

Cleaning fish raises your Fishing skill.

The materials go into rod upgrades, every lure (the boss lures take three of their biome's material), the crafted baits, the meads, chum, the Rune of Njord and the totems.

Fish dishes

Made from the cleaning table's prepared ingredients at Valheim's own food stations:

Landing a Trophy-size fish of any kind also gives a Trophy Fin.

Hooks

You need a hook to cast, and each size suits a range of fish weights.

• Too big for the fish: much harder to hook.
• Too small: a big fish can straighten it mid-fight, and a fish far too big won't bite at all.

You lose the hook if the line snaps, the rod breaks or the hook straightens.

Vanilla fish

All 12 vanilla fish can be caught with Deep Waters rods: Perch, Pike, Tuna, Tetra, Trollfish, Giant Herring, Grouper, Coral Cod, Pufferfish, Anglerfish, Northern Salmon and Magmafish. They live where vanilla spawns them, and landing one gives the normal vanilla item, so vanilla cooking, recipes and food all work. They also get a weight and size class, plus any extra drops vanilla gives. They bite Deep Waters bait like every other fish. The vanilla fishing rod and vanilla fishing baits are taken out of the game: no one sells them and they can't be crafted.

Deep Waters fish

28 new fish to catch and eat, plus 3 bait fish. Weights are each species' maximum. Ocean and deep-ocean fish bite in any sea; fresh-water fish only in their biomes.

Fresh water

Ocean

Deep ocean (15 m of water or more)

Legendary (rare, and they fight hard)

Bait fish (land as bait instead of food; use a Tiny hook)

Boss fish

Seven legendaries are named after Valheim's bosses, and they're boss fights. They never bite by chance: you summon one with a lure carved from that boss's trophy (or, for Kall Fimbulbringer, his Crown Jewel), cast in the right water at the right time.

Cast the lure in the right place and an omen begins: the water goes still, a dark swirl spreads around the float, a sign appears, bubbles rise and the float shudders - then it strikes. You get twice the usual time to set the hook. Reeling in during the omen calls it off and keeps the lure; it's only used up once the fish is hooked. In the wrong place nothing answers, and you're told where it hunts.

From the omen to the end of the fight the boss brings its namesake boss's weather - Eikthyr's storm, the Elder's mist, Bonemass's rot, Moder's blizzard, Yagluth's embers, the Queen's gloom. Everyone within about 150 m sees it and hears the boss music, so friends can come and watch.

The Queen Eel fights like a sea serpent: a 7.5 m monster that circles you, its back humping through the waves; once enraged it charges straight at you - reel hard to keep the line tight - and rears out of the water before crashing down. Pull back while it's reared up: that's when it tires fastest.

The fight brings up a boss bar with its name - its stamina, which drains faster the harder you fight it (tight drag, high tension) and recovers if you give it slack, so no two fights are alike. It plays its boss's music and goes through phases: at two thirds it's enraged (pulls harder, leaps more), at one third desperate (dives that tear line off the reel). An empty bar means it's beaten; then reel it in. Landing one drops its trophy the first time and a boss material every time, and tells the whole server. Two materials from each of the seven string the Leviathan Rod (black forge).

The endgame:

• Boss lures cost more each time you land their boss: every ingredient but the boss part needs one more per landing, up to three times the first cost, and the Bog Witch's price rises the same way. It's per character.
• Allfather's Rod: once you've landed every boss fish, remake the Leviathan Rod with three materials from each - the best rod there is.
• Njord's Regalia: once you've landed every boss fish three times, set the Pearl, the Scale, the Horn and the Golden Hook in one crown (they're used up), with two materials from each boss: every relic's blessing in one helm.
• The catch log's sidebar shows how many boss fish you've landed and what the next unlock needs.

Fenringfin, Thor's Hammerhead and Odin's Eye are mini-bosses: they still bite by luck and fight the same way (phases and all), with no bar, music or messages, and drop their trophy the first time.

Bait

Wriggling soil only grows in parts of the world generated after installing the mod.

Each bait goes for a few fish, so pick it for the fish you're after; anything else takes it only now and then. A bait's tooltip lists what it catches (species you haven't caught show as ???), the catch log shows each species' bait, and a cast tells you when nothing in that water goes for yours. You need bait (or a lure) to cast.

Deep Waters replaces vanilla fishing: the vanilla rod and baits aren't sold or crafted, and the vanilla rod can't be used.

Lures and trailers

A lure goes in the hook slot and needs no hook or bait. The bait slot then takes an optional trailer. With a lure there's no float: cast it further than bait, then work it back in. Fish only strike while the lure is moving; a lure left sitting draws nothing. Each kind of lure draws its own fish and mostly gets ignored by the rest.

Retrieves. How you work the lure is a retrieve, and the HUD names the one you're doing (green when it suits the lure):

The right retrieve brings the fish it draws more often and makes them likelier to strike; with the wrong one, fish follow the lure and turn away. Alt + mouse wheel sets the reel speed (also in a fight, where a slower reel strains the line less); Shift reels at full speed.

A trailer (Curly Tail, Boar Rind, Feather Skirt) brings fish of its own and makes the lure's fish keener. Lures are mid-game tackle: each is made at the forge with a hook in the recipe. Lures and trailers are only used up when a fish is hooked. The boss lures work the same way (they need a hook too), but only their boss answers them.

Fishing Boat

A small rowing boat built with the hammer at a workbench (24 wood, 8 resin, 4 deer hide). Use the bench to row (forward and back only; it has no sail, so the wind doesn't move it). It has a passenger seat at the stern, a holdfast in the bow to stand braced in rough water, and a ladder on the side to climb in from the water. Fish you land while aboard any ship go straight into your inventory.

Tackle slots

The tackle panel under your inventory has five slots: Rod, Bait, Hook, Weight and Leader. To fill them, drag items in, or right-click or Ctrl+click them in your inventory (Ctrl+click a slot to take it back out). Drag the panel by its wood to put it anywhere on the screen; double-click it to put it back.

• Rod: a rod in the rod slot takes no inventory space. Right-click the slot, or press Alt+F, to take it in hand or put it away. It repairs and upgrades from the slot (upgrading moves it into your inventory first). The panel shows its level, line, cast and wear.
• Bait and hook: while holding the rod, B / H swaps in the next bait or hook you're carrying. A slot refills from your inventory, then from the tackle box you're wearing, when it runs out.
• Weight and leader: see Weights, leaders and depth below.

Tackle is saved with your character and goes into your tombstone when you die.

Weights, leaders and depth

Every fish feeds at its own depth (near the surface, mid-water, or on the bottom), and a fish is about twice as likely to take a bait at its depth - much less far from it. Your rig decides how deep the bait sits:

With a weight there's no float: nibbles show as taps on the rod tip. Weights: Split Shot (tin), Bullet Weight (copper), Egg Sinker (bronze) and Pyramid Sinker (iron); the Leader Line is made at the workbench. They're only lost when the line snaps. The water moves a weight that's too light for it: waves, wind and storms drag it along the bottom, and nothing bites while it's dragged - only a Pyramid Sinker holds at sea, and only a storm shifts that.

Tackle boxes

A tackle box holds tackle - bait, lures, hooks, weights, leaders and floats - and keeps it inside wherever the box goes: your inventory, a chest, your grave. It weighs what's in it.

Wear it in the utility slot: it's carried by its handle in your right hand when that hand is free, at your hip otherwise. Press K to open it, and Shift+K to set it down as a chest whose lid opens for anyone using it; E opens a set-down box and Shift+E picks it up with everything inside. Your tackle slots refill from the box you're wearing.

Fishing buffs

Tiered items that unlock as you progress:

• Meads (cauldron): Angler's Mead (faster bites), Steady-Hand Tonic (easier hookset), Troll-Grip Mead (reel speed and stamina).

• Lingonberry Angler's Mead (cauldron 5): a strong all-rounder for the Deep North - faster bites, easier hookset and longer fights.

• Rune of Njord (forge, worn as a belt): bigger fish, more legendaries.

• Chum (cauldron): set the bucket down on the bank to draw more, less picky fish to the water around it for 5 minutes, for anyone fishing there. Blubber Chum (seal blubber, lingonberries) is the strongest and lasts 6 minutes.

• Totems (hammer): the Fisherman's Totem and Shrine of Njord buff anyone fishing nearby.

• Relics (can't be crafted, and each takes a slot of its own - they don't stack). Each comes from one place:

  Relic	Where it comes from
  Horn of Ægir	Hildir's prize for your 15th fishing bounty
  Pearl of Njord	Logging every species in the catch log
  Golden Hook	Very rarely (about 1 in 50) found inside a legendary fish you land
  Jörmungandr's Scale	Very rarely (about 1 in 33) dropped by a sea serpent you kill

  The Hook and the Scale can turn up again; Hildir buys spares.

The Bog Witch

Her wares go into fishing:

Fish feasts are made in the cauldron and set down with her Serving Tray, like vanilla feasts, for everyone to eat from:

She also sells Stinkbait, Lantern Floats and (after Bonemass) Spawning Musk, and each boss lure once you've beaten that boss, so a failed summoning doesn't mean hunting a new trophy.

Floats

Some items are floats: use one like a mead and your line wears that float instead of the usual one until it runs out. There's no slot to fill, and only one float at a time. The Lantern Float is the first; its candle lights up after dark.

Hildir

Fishing bounties. Hildir posts one bounty a day for a species you've caught: at least so heavy, sometimes caught in the rain, at night or Trophy-size. Hand the fish in from the trade panel for coins and bait. Your 5th, 15th and 30th bounties earn a Yule Hat, the Horn of Ægir and Megingjord, with a Thunder Stone at 10 and a Dverger Circlet at 20.

Lost tackle boxes. Three of Hildir's tackle boxes turn up in dungeon chests. Give one back (use it on her, or from the trade panel) and her shop gains more:

The dyed gear is bought, not crafted, but repairs at the workbench (level 2) like the rest of the set.

Fisherman's gear

A light armour set made at the workbench (level 2): the Sou'wester, Oilskin Coat (worn as a cape), Striped Fisher's Shirt and Oilskin Overalls with rubber boots. Wearing all four keeps the rain off (you never get Wet) and makes reeling cheaper and the hookset window longer.

Your catch

• Size class: each fish is Small, Medium, Large or Trophy, with its weight and catcher in the tooltip.

• Rare variants: any ordinary species can come up golden (about 1 in 300) or albino (about 1 in 150), its icon and model tinted to match. They never stack with ordinary fish, earn rank points (+10 golden, +5 albino), sell for more (Haldor 5x / 3x, Hildir 6x / 4x) and each species' card in the catch log marks which you've caught.

• Trophy Mount (hammer: fine wood, resin): hang a fish on the wall.

• Cook and sell: cook fish on a cooking station, and sell your catch to the traders. Each buys their own kind:

  Trader	Buys
  Haldor	Raw and cooked fish, at their value
  Hildir	Trophy-size fish (2.5x) and legendary fish (1.5x) for her collection, and spare relics (400)
  Bog Witch	Roe, fish oil, abyssal ink, brined roe, leeches, and swamp, Mistlands and eel-like fish (1.4x)

  Your catch sells from the Sell your catch panel beside the store window (it works alongside trader UI mods); click a row to pick what to sell, or Sell all. The store's own sell button sells vanilla valuables, as in vanilla.

• Catch log (J): records every species you catch, with your angler rank, the reward ladder and biome sets in a sidebar and each species as a card (its bait, mastery and record). The mouse is free while it's open: click a biome to filter, the arrows or the wheel to turn pages, Close (or J / Escape) to shut it.

  • Rewards every 5 species (hooks, meads, chum, a Lantern Float, a Trophy Fin, coins) and the Pearl of Njord for all of them.
  • Biome sets: catch every non-legendary fish of a biome in that biome for 10 of its bait, some coins and 25 rank points. A fish that lives in two biomes (pike: Black Forest and Swamp) has to be caught in each to count for both.
  • Finds: now and then a catch has a valuable inside (amber, amber pearls, rubies, silver necklaces, by where you fish): rarely in small, common fish, more often in big or rare ones.
  • Personal best: +5 rank points. Each angler rank comes with a small gift.

• Species mastery: catch enough of one species and it gets easier for you. Each tier also gives angler rank points (10 / 20 / 40), and the catch log shows a bronze, silver or gold mark and the count to the next tier.

  Tier	Catches (legendary / boss)	For that species
  Bronze	10 (1)	It comes to your bait more often and takes it more readily
  Silver	25 (3)	It pulls and lasts 10% less
  Gold	50 (5)	It runs bigger, and you can build its Gold Trophy Plaque with the hammer (fine wood, bronze, resin)

  Baitfish only go to Bronze. A plaque is a wall piece with a gold-plated fish of that species mounted on it and its name on a gold nameplate (a boss fish is mounted at 80% of its true size on a board grown to fit it, for 10 fine wood, 3 bronze and 5 resin); turn it to face out from the wall.

• Angler ranks: ten ranks, shown at the top of the catch log with a bar to the next rank and what it unlocks. Points: 10 per new species (40 for a legendary), 1 per fish landed, 5 per Trophy-size catch, 1 per 10 kg landed and 10 / 20 / 40 for each species' mastery tiers. The top rods, lures and Fish Cleaning Table recipes stay hidden from the crafting list until you reach their rank. (The Bog Witch still sells boss lures to anyone.)

  Rank	Points	Unlocks
  Thrall of the Shallows	0	-
  Minnow-Karl	40	Antler Lure
  Net-Weaver	100	Root Lure, Silver Swimbait
  Riverwarden	200	Silver Fishing Rod, Ooze Lure, Brined Roe
  Fjord-Farer	350	Wyrm Lure, Linen Popper, Ice Spoon, cleaning for Legendary Scales
  Skerry-Reaver	550	Black Metal Fishing Rod, Dried Fish
  Wave-Jarl	800	Yggdrasil Fishing Rod, Ember Lure
  Serpent-Slayer	1,100	Ashwood Fishing Rod, Chitin Lure, Frostcore Jig, cleaning for Cinder Scales
  Ægir's Hand	1,500	Frostwood Fishing Rod, cleaning for Rime Scales
  Chosen of Njord	2,000	Crown Lure

• Fishing skill: Valheim's Fishing skill rises as you reel and land fish. It makes reeling cheaper and faster and setting the hook easier.

Settings

The config is BepInEx/config/valheimdeepwaters.cfg.

Console commands (server admins)

These need devcommands, like Valheim's own spawn command.

• vdw_give <item> [amount]: gives an item, for example rod_copper, hook_small, tackle_egg_sinker, tacklebox_t2, buff_angler_minor, worm or a fish id.
• vdw_debug catch <fish id>: the next cast brings that fish straight to the bait (for trying a fish out).
• vdw_debug bite: the next cast gets a bite straight away.
• vdw_debug listrods | listhooks | listbait | listfish | listbuffs: lists the item ids.
• vdw_debug resetlog: clears your catch log.
• vdw_debug tokens: exports the mod's text for translating (see Translations below).

Customising

Fish, bait, rods, hooks and buffs

These are defined in Fish.json, Baits.json, Rods.json, Hooks.json, Tackle.json (weights and leaders) and Buffs.json in BepInEx/config/ValheimDeepWaters/. They're created on first run, and your edits are never overwritten. When an update adds new fish, bait, rods, hooks or buffs, they're added to your files automatically (each one only once, so an entry you delete stays deleted). Delete a whole file to get its defaults back.

Custom models

The mod's own models ship in a Models folder beside its DLL in BepInEx/plugins. To use your own, put model files in BepInEx/config/ValheimDeepWaters/Models/ (create the folder); a file there replaces the shipped one of the same name:

The mod looks for each model in this order:

1. <name>.bundle
2. A prefab called <name> inside any .bundle in the folder, so all your baits can share one bundle
3. <name>.obj with an optional <name>.png texture

Build bundles with Unity 6000.0 and turn on Read/Write for the model.

Sizing: every model is used at exactly its size in Unity - 1 unit = 1 metre, the mesh times every transform in its prefab (the root included). Nothing is resized, so build each model at the size you want it in game: model in metres in Blender (Metric, Unit Scale 1), apply all transforms, export FBX with Apply Scalings "FBX All", -Z Forward, Y Up and Apply Transform, and import in Unity with Scale Factor 1 and Convert Units on. Face models forward along +Z. With debug logging on (see Troubleshooting), the log shows each model's final size in metres.

Icons:

• A <name>_icon.png in the folder becomes that item's icon.
• Otherwise the icon is rendered from the model.

Animated fish

A fish model can be rigged and animated instead of static. Make it a prefab in a bundle, like any other model, with:

• a skinned mesh (an armature: a spine chain of 4-6 bones from head to tail, plus fins if you like), modelled at real size and facing forward along +Z
• an Animator (Rig: Generic) whose controller has states named Swim (default, looping), Thrash (looping) and optionally Flop, and optionally a float parameter Speed that scales them. A legacy Animation component with clips of those names works too.

The mod then uses the whole prefab: it swims in the world (faster as it moves), darts at your bait when it nibbles, thrashes when it runs and leaps on the line and swims slowly when it rests, flops when dropped on land, and holds still as a trophy. Missing clips fall back to Swim, and static models keep working as before, so fish can be animated one at a time. Model it at its real size: it is used exactly as big as it is in Unity.

Rigged rods

A rod model can have a skeleton so it bends and its reel turns. Make it a prefab in rod.bundle (or rod_<id>.bundle) with a skinned mesh and these bones (any you leave out just don't move):

• Rod.1 .. Rod.N: a chain up the blank from just above the reel to the tip. Most of the bend goes to the top segments, like a real blank.
• Rod.Tip: where the line leaves the rod. The line follows it as the rod bends.
• Rod.BendDir: a marker beside the tip, on the side the rod bends toward (the guide side).
• Reel.Spool: the part of the reel that turns (the crank and drum), and Reel.Axis, a marker along its axle.

No Animator is needed: the mod poses the bones itself. The rod bends toward the line, harder as a fish pulls toward the breaking point. It flexes back as you wind up a cast, whips forward on release and springs back when the line snaps. The reel winds in while you reel and spins backward as line pays out.

Translations

Run vdw_debug tokens, translate the file it writes, and save it as Translations/<Language>/vdw.json inside the mod's folder in BepInEx/plugins (any folder named Translations there works).

Multiplayer

Every player needs the mod, the same version as the server (the game checks when you join).

• Server rules: the gameplay settings (marked "Set by the server" in the config) come from the server, so everyone plays by the same rules. HUD, sound and keys stay each player's own.
• Shared: caught fish, worm mounds, totems and trophy mounts are normal world objects that everyone sees.
• Watching others fish: players within 90 m see your line, float or lure, the fish on your hook (running, leaping, thrashing - a boss too, the Queen Eel's humps, rearing and tail slaps included), the splashes and bites, and hear your reel. A fish you land is news for players within 50 m; a boss fish is announced to the whole server.
• Per player: the fight HUD, flies and rain worms only show for the player who has them.

Troubleshooting

The mod writes a few lines to the BepInEx log when it starts, plus warnings if something is missing. For a detailed log (every model loaded, and more), add Debug to LogLevels under [Logging.Disk] in BepInEx/config/BepInEx.cfg.

Credits

Several fish are built on models from Sketchfab, used under their licences:

Other models used:

The models were rigged, retextured and restyled for Valheim. Licences: CC BY 4.0, CC BY-NC 4.0, CC0.

Changelog

1.0.2

The Fisherman's gear remade so it no longer clips, and the knife rack goes on walls.

Changed

• Fisherman's gear is painted onto the body, the way Valheim's own armour is, so it bends with you and can't clip:
  • Striped Fisher's Shirt: the stripes are painted on; no separate shirt, no gap at the armpits.
  • Oilskin Overalls: overalls and rubber boots painted on, drawn over the shirt, with a short rubber cuff round each boot top.
  • Oilskin Coat: the sleeves and body are painted on over the shirt and overalls; the collar and the skirt are the only parts left as a model, matched to the paint. A wide belt with a brass buckle sits at the waist and cuffs finish the sleeves. The skirt follows your legs, swings in the wind and trails a little as you move.
  • The coat and overalls have folds and wrinkles, so they keep their shape and volume.
  • Sou'wester: smooth-shaded, and lit the same way as the coat.
  • Dropped on the ground, each piece still shows its folded model.
• Filleting Knife Rack can be hung on a wall, above the Cleaning Table.

1.0.1

Fixes from playtesting (mostly multiplayer), a rod slot, weights and leaders, and tackle boxes.

Added

• Rod slot: the tackle panel now has Rod, Bait, Hook, Weight and Leader slots. A rod in the rod slot takes no inventory space; right-click it or press Alt+F (Rod Key in the config) to take it in hand or put it away. Right-clicking a rod in the inventory moves it into the slot and takes it in hand. It repairs at its station from the slot, and moves into the inventory by itself when you upgrade it. The panel shows the rod's level, line, cast and wear.
• Weights and leaders (Tackle.json, two new tackle slots): fish now bite best at the depth they feed at, and the rig decides how deep your bait sits.
  • Leader Line: with a float, the bait hangs at the leader's length - set it with - and + on the tackle panel. Without one it hangs about a metre down.
  • Weights take the bait to the bottom with no float, and cast further: Split Shot, Bullet Weight (the Texas rig: on a soft lure it works the bottom), Egg Sinker (the Carolina rig: with a leader the bait drifts just off the bottom and fish take it more readily) and Pyramid Sinker.
  • Bottom feeders (catfish, cod, halibut, lingcod, grouper, gobies, sculpin and more) want bait on or near the bottom.
  • Water moves a weight that's too light for it: waves, wind and storms drag it along the bottom, and nothing takes a bait that's being dragged. Heavy weights hold.
  • Weights and leaders are lost only when the line snaps. Each has its own model and icon.
• Tackle boxes in four tiers: Tackle Box (workbench, 8 slots), Iron-Bound (forge, 12), Silver (forge, 16) and Dvergr (black forge, 24). They hold tackle only (bait, hooks, lures, weights, leaders, floats) and keep it inside wherever the box goes.
  • Wear one in the utility slot: it's carried by the handle in your right hand when that hand's free, at your hip otherwise. K opens it; Shift+K sets it down as a chest whose lid opens for anyone using it; Shift+E picks it up.
  • Your bait, hook, weight and leader slots refill from the box you're wearing, and B / H cycle through it too.
  • A box weighs what's in it.
• Move the tackle panel: drag it by its wood to wherever you like in the inventory screen; it stays there. Double-click it to put it back under the inventory.

Fixed

• Other players' fishing shows again: their line, float or lure, the fish on their hook and their rod's bend (the game doesn't load other players' inventories, so the mod now goes by the rod they're holding).
• Rowing for other players: the rower stays on the bench and their arms follow the oars on everyone's screen.
• Flies are the same for everyone: nearby players see the same swarms, and a fly someone catches or spooks is gone for everyone.
• The Fishing Boat no longer takes damage when you cast from it in deep water; only a storm's big waves wear it.
• Logging out while seated in the Fishing Boat no longer drops you into the water under it when you log back in.
• A rod you didn't craft yourself (bought, given or found) now shows in its station's Upgrade tab.
• defaults_offered.json is now defaults_offered.dat, so mod managers' config pages list only the files you edit (it moves over by itself).
• Boss fish no longer swim about on their own: they only come when their lure summons them.
• Bluegill bait (on the hook and swimming) uses the bluegill's own model.
• The pufferfish no longer looks like a different fish in the water.
• The Fish Cleaning Table has its icon in the crafting panel.
• The Fisherman's Hat hides your hair (no more hair poking through it).
• The tackle panel (bait and hook slots) is no longer hidden behind the inventory when another mod makes the inventory bigger.
• Mod managers' config pages show only the settings: the models now install beside the mod in BepInEx/plugins (your own models still go in BepInEx/config/ValheimDeepWaters/Models and win over the shipped ones).

Changed

• Lures are mid-game: made at the forge, each with a hook (a Large Hook for most, Heavy or Giant for the late ones, a Small Hook for the Feather Fly), and fewer at a time. Boss lures need a hook too. Your Baits.json updates unless you changed a lure's recipe yourself.
• Worm mounds can be cleared: one hit from any weapon or tool breaks one up, and hoeing or digging the ground under it does too.

1.0.0

The first public release. Everything from the development builds below is in it; these are the changes since 0.14.0.

Added

• Fish Cleaning Table: a crafting station of its own, with three add-ons (Filleting Knife Rack, Brining Barrel, Drying Line) that raise its level for the rarer fish and let it prepare Fish Fillets, Brined Roe and Dried Fish. Cleaning fish raises your Fishing skill.

• Fish dishes: eight dishes made from the prepared ingredients at Valheim's own food stations - a grilled fillet on the cooking station, stews, soups and plates in the cauldron, and cured salmon and travel rations at the food preparation table.

• Fish materials go into every lure, the crafted baits, the meads, chum, the Rune of Njord and the totems. Data files still on the old recipes get the new ones.

• Fish materials: clean a catch at the Fish Cleaning Table for its biome's material - Fish Scales, Fish Oil, Spiny Fins, Fish Roe, Abyssal Ink, Cinder Scales, Rime Scales, or a Legendary Scale from a legendary fish. Bigger fish give more. Landing a Trophy-size fish also gives a Trophy Fin. Each has its own model and icon.

• Rod upgrades: every rod upgrades to level 4 with fish materials, its era's line material and some of each biome's unused oddments. Each level improves every stat; the last level needs a Trophy Fin. Upgrades never ask for a higher station level than the station can reach.

• Rod tooltips show the stats for the rod's level.

• A warning in the log names any recipe item the game doesn't have (a typo in a data file).

• Endgame: boss lures cost more each time you land their boss (and the Bog Witch charges more); the Leviathan needs two materials from each of the seven boss fish; the Allfather's Rod (every boss landed) and Njord's Regalia, a crown made from the four relics (every boss landed three times): a runed bronze crown set with green and blue stones, worn on the head. The Allfather's Rod is a hand-made model: red wood, gold guards and reel, glowing runes, Mistwalker mist, snowflakes and ribbon lightning.

• Rod effects follow the bend: the top rods carry their effects along the rod as it bends. The Ashwood Rod now has Dyrnwyn's flames, the Frostwood Rod snowflakes and a frost cloud.

• Rare variants: golden (1 in 300) and albino (1 in 150) versions of every ordinary species, with tinted icons and models; they don't stack with ordinary fish, give rank points, sell for more and are tracked in the catch log.

• Fights everyone can see: players nearby see your line, float or lure and the fish on your hook (its own model, running, leaping, thrashing; a boss at its size, the Queen Eel circling, rearing and lashing its tail), with the splashes, bites and line snaps, and hear your reel; landing a fish tells the players around you.

• Rewards rework: catch log rewards every five species, biome sets (catch every fish of a biome in that biome for its bait, coins and rank points), the odd valuable inside a catch (amber, rubies, silver necklaces by where you fish), rank points for a personal best, a gift at each angler rank, and Hildir's bounty prizes are now a Yule Hat, Thunder Stone, the Horn of Ægir, a Dverger Circlet and Megingjord.

• Catch log redrawn: a sidebar with your rank (and what the next one unlocks), the reward ladder and biome sets; species cards with the bait on its own line, the count to the next mastery tier and the record. The cursor is free while it's open: click a biome to filter, the arrows or the mouse wheel to turn pages.

• Fimbul Hook is for big fish only (25–300 kg); the Golden Hook stays the one hook that suits every fish, and now sets the hook more easily too (+5% hook chance, +15% hook window). Hooks can carry a HookBonus and HookWindow in Hooks.json.

• Relics: each comes from one place and takes its own slot (no stacking): the Horn of Ægir from Hildir's 15th bounty, the Pearl of Njord for a full catch log, the Golden Hook rarely from inside legendary fish, and Jörmungandr's Scale rarely from sea serpents you kill. Boss fish no longer drop relics; the Horn is no longer found in fish.

• Dyed gear repairs: Hildir's Bog-, Frost- and Mist-Dyed Fisherman's gear repairs at the workbench like the rest of the set (it still can't be crafted).

• No accidental recast: still holding the pull (left click) as a fish lands no longer casts again straight away; let go and press again to cast.

• Bait targets fish: each bait and lure goes for a few fish (other fish take it only rarely), so you choose your bait for the fish you want. Bait tooltips list what they catch, the catch log shows each species' bait, and a cast says when nothing there goes for yours. Data files take the new bait lists once. The vanilla rod can't be used.

• Species mastery: 10 / 25 / 50 of a species (1 / 3 / 5 for legendary and boss fish) for Bronze, Silver and Gold - it bites more readily, fights weaker, then runs bigger for you - with rank points for each tier and a Gold Trophy Plaque (a wall piece with the species mounted on it, gold-plated) to build at Gold. The catch log shows each species' tier.

• Angler ranks: ten ranks (Thrall of the Shallows to Chosen of Njord) from species, catches, Trophy-size fish and weight landed, shown in the catch log with a progress bar and the next rank's unlocks. The top rods, lures and Fish Cleaning Table recipes stay hidden until you reach their rank.

• Each trader buys their own catch: Haldor ordinary and cooked fish, Hildir Trophy-size and legendary fish at a premium and spare relics, the Bog Witch roe, oil, ink, leeches and swamp and Mistlands fish - from a "Sell your catch" panel beside the store (pick from a list, or sell all) that works alongside trader UI mods.

• Hildir's bounties: a fishing bounty a day for coins and bait, with relics at 5, 15 and 30 bounties. The panel shows the fish, the conditions and the reward, and tells you whether the fish you carry counts.

• Hildir's lost tackle boxes: three, in Sunken Crypts, Frost Caves and the Mistlands dvergr ruins. Each one returned adds a dyed set of the Fisherman's gear and more tackle to her shop.

• Floats: an item can be a float - use it and your line wears that float for a while, no slot needed. The Lantern Float is the first: a candle-lit float that glows after dark, and fish bite sooner at night.

• The Bog Witch: her wares go into fishing - Stinkbait, Seaweed Chum, the Lantern Float, Spawning Musk (legendaries likelier) and the top Steady-Hand and Troll-Grip meads. Seven fish feasts made with her herb blends, each with its own model that's eaten down as it's shared, set down with her Serving Tray. She sells the brews, and each boss lure once you've beaten its boss.

Fixed

• Lures and hooks in the tackle slots survived death when the inventory was full; they now go into the tombstone.

0.14.0 (development build)

Added

• All 12 vanilla fish can be caught with Deep Waters rods. Landing one gives the real vanilla item, so vanilla cooking and recipes work, and they bite Deep Waters bait.
• Boss fish: seven legendaries named after Valheim's bosses, each summoned with a lure carved from that boss's trophy, in the right water and weather. An omen comes first, then a fight with a boss bar, the boss's music and weather (shared with everyone within about 150 m), and enraged and desperate phases. They drop a trophy, a boss material and sometimes a relic. The six materials craft the new Leviathan Rod.
• The Queen Eel fights like a sea serpent: a 7.5 m monster that circles, charges, rears out of the water and lashes its tail.
• Deep North: the Fimbul Salmon boss (summoned with a Crown Lure), three new fish (Rimejaw Cod, Glacier Grayling, Frost Sculpin), Northern Bait, the Frostwood Rod, the Ice Spoon and Frostcore Jig lures, the Fimbul Hook, Blubber Chum and Lingonberry Angler's Mead.
• Four new fish: Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, Sea Bass and Channel Catfish.
• Lures and trailers: nine lures (fly, spinner, soft bait, spoon, crankbait, Texas rig, jig, swimbait and popper) plus three trailers. Cast them further than bait and work them back in; each kind draws its own fish.
• Retrieves: Slow Roll, Steady, Burn, Stop & Go, Twitch and Hop. The right retrieve for the lure brings more fish and more strikes. Reel speed is on Alt + mouse wheel, and Shift reels at full speed.
• Pull back on a fish (hold left click) to tire it faster, at the cost of line strain and stamina.
• Fishing Boat: a one-person rowing boat with a passenger seat at the stern and a holdfast in the bow. Fish caught from any boat go straight into your inventory.
• Fisherman's gear: Sou'wester, Oilskin Coat, Striped Fisher's Shirt and Oilskin Overalls. The full set keeps you dry and helps with reeling and setting the hook. The coat swings as you move.
• New models for nearly every fish, all rods (they bend under load and their reels turn), hooks, baits, lures, meads, chum buckets, totems, relics and boss materials, with icons rendered from the models.
• Legendary and boss fish shimmer with effects borrowed from vanilla weapons (storm crackles, frost, flames, mist and more). The top rods glow too.
• Fish are as big as they weigh: a heavier fish of a species is visibly bigger.
• Baitfish swim in the world in schools, and rain worms come up around you when it rains.
• Chum buckets are set down on the bank and chum the water around them for everyone fishing there.
• The Horn of Ægir is blown rather than drunk, and can be blown again after a day's rest.
• Angler animations everyone can see: casting, reeling, setting the hook, twitching a lure and fighting a fish.
• Deep Waters fish can be made into vanilla Raw fish at the food preparation table.
• Better rods hold much more line, from 45 m on the Copper rod to 260 m on the Leviathan.

Changed

• Relics (Pearl of Njord, Jörmungandr's Scale, Golden Hook) now come only from boss fish; the Horn of Ægir is still found inside fish, rarely.

• The Deep Waters Perch, Pike, Tuna, Herring, Abyssal Angler, Salmon, Cod, Troll Trout and Ashscale are gone, replaced by their vanilla counterparts. The Dvergr Dace is gone too. Any already in an inventory disappear.

• The fishing hats and capes from 0.13 are gone (replaced by the Fisherman's gear).

• The vanilla fishing rod and baits can no longer be bought or crafted.

• In multiplayer, the server's gameplay settings apply to everyone, and every player needs the same version.

• Updates now add new fish, bait, rods, hooks and buffs to your existing data files and keep your edits.

• The config is down to what players need.

• Custom models are used at exactly their size in Unity (1 unit = 1 metre); ModelScale and ModelLength in the data files no longer do anything.

• Much quieter log at startup.

• The config file is now valheimdeepwaters.cfg. An existing trippy.valheimdeepwaters.cfg is moved over the first time the game starts, keeping your settings and dropping the ones that no longer exist.

• Floats: an item can be a float - use it and your line wears that float for a while, no slot needed. The Lantern Float is the first: a candle-lit float that glows after dark, and fish bite sooner at night.

• The Bog Witch: her wares go into fishing - Stinkbait, Seaweed Chum, the Lantern Float, Spawning Musk (legendaries likelier) and the top Steady-Hand and Troll-Grip meads. Seven fish feasts made with her herb blends, each with its own model that's eaten down as it's shared, set down with her Serving Tray. She sells the brews, and each boss lure once you've beaten its boss.

Fixed

• Landing a fish could fail and leave it stuck on the line at your feet.
• A fish reeled in from a high bank could get stuck in the ground.
• Worm mounds weren't saved and disappeared when you came back to an area.
• Flies fled before you could get close.
• Ctrl+click on bait or a hook dropped it instead of putting it in its tackle slot.
• Boss music only played during the fight; it now plays from the omen to the end.
• The float's nibble splash never played.
• vdw_give and vdw_debug worked without devcommands; they now need it.

0.13.0 (development build)

Added

• Rods for every era: eight craftable rods from Wooden to Ashwood, each better than the last, plus Haldor's Gilded Rod (sold only by Haldor). Rods wear out while fighting fish and are repaired where they were crafted.
• Hooks in six sizes. The wrong size misses small fish or gets straightened by big ones.
• Tackle slots for bait and a hook, under the inventory.
• Fishing buffs: meads, hats, capes, the Rune of Njord, chum, totems, and rare relics found inside fish. (The hats and capes were removed in 0.14.0.)
• Bait from the world: grubs from chopped logs, catchable flies, leeches from swamp leeches, and baitfish caught as small fish. Only Abyssal, Frost and Runed bait are crafted.
• Fish in the world: Deep Waters fish swim in their own biomes, and fish swimming near your float are likelier to bite.
• The fight: fish run sideways and leap. Vanilla fishing sounds and splashes.
• Fishing skill: uses and raises Valheim's Fishing skill.
• Your catch: size classes from Small to Trophy, a Trophy Mount, and catch-log rewards.
• Translation support for every item, piece and buff name.

Changed

• Bait is only used up when a fish is hooked.

0.12.2 and earlier

The fishing overhaul itself: vanilla-style fish that swim up, nibble and bite; the tension, drag and stamina fight; 30 fish across fresh water, ocean, deep ocean and legendaries; the catch log; cooking and selling; the fishing HUD; and custom model support (bundles and .obj).