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How to get a Fishing Rod PoE Guide
An in-depth analysis and comprehensive list of all the possibilities to obtain the Fishing Rod, a must-read for all Surfcasters!How to get a Fishing Rod
Legacy of Phrecia Guide
The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
Created for Patch 3.27
The Fishing Rod can be used in several ways, but the main topic of this Guide is the Surfcaster Ascendency introduced in the Legacy of Phrecia Event League. It is the only Ascendency in the game that interacts with Fishing Rods via two specific Notables, enabling a completely new and unique way to build your character. The Screaming Reels grants 50% More Cast Speed while holding a Fishing Rod, and the following Notable, the Baited Breath, makes all your Hits Critically Strike your Enemies. This bonus also applies to Hits that usually lack Critical Strike capabilities, such as Corpse Explosions and Herald's secondary effects. Keep in mind, the Fishing Rod is not a suitable Weapon for any Attack existing in the game, so Cast on Critical archetypes are not compatible here.
If you are interested in playing the Surfcaster in Phrecia League, or seek economical gains by providing Fishing Rods to other players, this guide is for you! To learn more about the potential Builds, make sure to check our Arc Surfcaster Build Guide!
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Fishing Rods
It is important to understand what you are looking for. The Fishing Rod is a Two-handed Weapon, but it can have only 4 Gem Sockets. There is only one base type for the Fishing Rod Weapon class, with two Unique Item outcomes. The regular version can be crafted using the common Currency Items, although specialised Crafting methods, such as Essences or Fossils, do not apply. Most modifiers on the Fishing Rod apply to the fishing capabilities, which do not really help in combat. The exception to that is the Cast Speed modifier, which comes in handy when paired with the Surfcaster's powerful Cast Speed multiplier.
| Notable Fishing Rod Items | |
 (Weapon) Rare Fishing Rod - the Fishing Rod can roll many modifiers, but your primary goal will be Cast Speed, which can be guaranteed by the Caster and Speed Reforges in the Harvest's Horticrafting bench. Furthermore, you can Corrupt it to gain even more Cast Speed. |
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| Recommended modifier: (24-28)% increased Cast Speed (Explicit) (10-20)% increased Cast Speed (Corrupted Implicit) |
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 (Weapon) Reefbane - the best combat-themed Fishing Rod you can use. It grants more Cast Speed than the regular Rare variant, and can be Corrupted as well. It is much harder to obtain, so the price will be adequately higher. |
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| (30-40)% increased Cast Speed Thaumaturgical Lure (10-20)% increased Quantity of Fish Caught Glows while in an Area containing a Unique Fish Foulborn modifiers: (30-40)% chance to Ignore Stuns while Casting Otherworldly Lure |
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 (Weapon) Song of the Sirens - it is the fishing-themed variant. It can still be used to Cast Spells, but its combat prowess is lower than that of a regular Rare Rod. It is even harder to obtain than Reefbane due to high drop restrictions. |
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| Siren Worm Bait (50-40)% reduced Quantity of Fish Caught (50-60)% increased Rarity of Fish Caught You can catch Exotic Fish |
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 (Helmet) Fairgraves' Tricorne - this Helmet enables hidden interactions that allow you to obtain the Fishing Rod while killing Unique Monsters. |
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| Adds 15 to 25 Cold Damage to Attacks 70% increased Evasion Rating +(20-30)% to Lightning Resistance Cannot be Shocked You can be Touched by Tormented Spirits |
How to get Fishing Rods?
The answer to that question depends on the Fishing Rod you are aiming for, as each of them has distinctive requirements.
The regular, non-unique Fishing Rod is the only one you can reliably target farm. It is a simple but time-consuming process. It can drop only from Unique Monsters, and only if you wear the Fairgraves' Tricorne Helmet. The exact chance is not known, but the estimations point toward 1 in 1000 Unique Monsters slain.
The popular and easy way is to farm the Grain Gates area in Act 8 of the Campaign. In there, you can find 5 Unique Legionnaire monsters required for The Gemling Legion Quest. Start from the entrance to the Imperial Fields area, kill the Unique monsters, repeat. By continuously running back and forth, you will eventually obtain your Fishing Rod. This method does not require any resources other than your time, as the Campaign Areas can be reset limitlessly. The Drop Penalty for higher levels applies only to Currency and Divination Card Items, so you don't have to worry about overleveling the zone. The obvious downside of this method is the lack of any other meaningful drops during your journey. You will quickly learn the zone layouts, which can be easily distinguished by the position of the tunnel leading to the exit. There are 2 good layouts, and one bad one, which calls for an immediate reset.
| Good layouts | Bad layout |
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Another method is much more engaging, but requires more effort. It revolves around the Rogue Exiles on your Maps. With the help of Anarchy and Titanic Scarabs and Idols or Atlas Passive Tree, you can add multiple Rogue Exiles to your Maps and significantly boost their rewards and difficulty. You will be farming Rogue Exiles for their regular drops with an added bonus of getting the Fishing Rod along the way. This way, you will get both Currency and Fishing Rod and avoid the burnout from dry streaks.
| Notable Scarabs | |
| Anarchy Scarab | Area contains 4 additional Rogue Exiles |
| Anarchy Scarab of Gigantification | Wild Rogue Exiles in Area have a 30% chance to be replaced with a Rogue Giant |
| Anarchy Scarab of Partnership | Wild Rogue Exiles in Area have a 50% chance to appear in pairs |
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Titanic Scarab |
Unique Monsters have 1% increased Toughness, Damage, Rarity and Quantity of items dropped per 1% increased Pack Size of Area |
| Titanic Scarab of Legend | Unique Monsters in Area have 4 additional Monster Modifiers |
| Titanic Scarab of Treasures | Unique Monsters in Area have an additional Reward Unique Monsters in Area have 30% increased Toughness |
| Notable Idol modifiers |
| (8—12)% increased effect of Explicit Modifiers on your Maps |
| (2—3)% increased effect of Explicit Modifiers on your Maps per Explicit Modifier |
| (3—5)% increased effect of Explicit Modifiers on your Maps per 5% Map Quality |
| Your Maps have a (8—12)% chance to contain (6—10) additional Rogue Exiles |
| Your Maps have a (5—8)% chance to contain 20 additional Rogue Exiles |
| Wild Rogue Exiles in your Maps have (40—60)% chance to have additional Rewards |
| (30—40)% increased Rarity of Items Dropped by Wild Rogue Exiles in your Maps |
| Rogue Exiles in your Maps have (15—20)% chance to drop an additional Currency Item |
| Unique Monsters in your Maps have (75—100)% increased chance to drop Scarabs |
| Delirious Unique Monsters in your Maps have a (1—2)% chance to drop an additional Delirium Orb |
The popular and lucrative way of farming Rogue Exiles is to boost the natural drops. Most players may remember this method as the ultimate farming strategy of the previous Phrecia League. You will massively increase their Item Rarity by increasing their Toughness, adding Monster Modifiers, and making your Maps as hard as possible to increase the rewards. This method is very hard and expensive to get going, but yields a massive amount of Currency and the rarest Unique Items in the game, such as Mageblood or Headhunter. However, this way is NOT recommended for a regular Fishing Rod, although it will undoubtedly be the best source of the Unique Reefbane Rod.
The other, less popular method relies on adding Reward tiles to Rogue Exiles, which are similar to Legion or Delirium rewards. They do not scale with difficulty, so you will focus on quantity over quality by increasing the amount of Exiles on your Maps or adding even more Rewards. To speed things up, you can farm low-tier maps while still getting reasonable drops, such as a variety of Scarabs, Sacrifice Fragments, special Gems, Fossils, Essences, etc. You still need a bit of tankiness and Single-target Damage in your Build, but it is nothing too serious. The best ratio of Anarchy and Titanic Scarab of Treasures depends on your Idol setup and the current market values, so you will have to experiment a bit.
The final way to obtain a regular Fishing Rod is by the use of Divination Cards: The Catch, The Old Man, and The Void. However, the chances of obtaining those Cards from sources other than Stacked Decks are very low, making it unfit for the target-farming method.
The aforementioned Reefbane can drop everywhere, but it is one of the rarest Uniques in the game. It means you can use a Chance Orb and the Omen of Fortune to reliably obtain it once you get the regular Fishing Rod, although it is hardly a econmicaly wise decision. It can also be obtained via the Baited Expectations Card, but the chances are very low. Lastly, the new Breach mechanics introduced the Foulborn Reefbane, which replaces Cast Speed or Bait modifiers, meaning you can obtain this Item as a random drop from the Breach encounters or Genesis Tree.
The Song of the Siren Rod is even harder to obtain, as it requires a 100 Item Level to drop naturally. It can be obtained via the Chance Orb, Ancient Orb, and Divination Cards, but again, the chances are very low, and it shouldn't be pursued.
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Notable mentions
Additionally, the Runegraft of the Angler is an exceptionally rare Runegraft that grants the same guaranteed Critical Strikes modifier. It can be found in regular League via Kingsmarch as a reward for shipping resources to Riben Fell, Pondium, or Kalguur. This way, you gain only half of the Surfcaster's powers, but you can use any other Ascendency available in the base version of the game, which are usually much more fleshed out. The main problem is the rarity of this Runegraft, as it tends to be insanely expensive. For this reason, we recommend giving a Surfcaster a try if you have the opportunity to engage with the Phrecia League!
If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.
Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.
