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Destiny 2 Focused Fishing: Rewards, Locations & Exotics

by | May 25, 2023

Who could have imagined that fishing would someday be a legitimate activity in Destiny 2? Yet here we are. Fishing is now available in Destiny 2, it is fun and offers excellent rewards.

We’ll cover everything you need to know about fishing in this guide, including how to fish, where, and how to farm its top-tier rewards.

How to unlock fishing in Destiny 2

In order to unlock fishing, you’ll need to progress through the Season of the Deep story. Don’t worry, though; you just need to complete a few steps from Week 1 Quest steps.

After completing the Salvage and Deep Dive missions for the first time, you can visit Hawthorne at the Tower. She’ll introduce you to the essential fishing mechanics to get you started via a short quest that will take you to all three fishing locations currently in the game.

Destiny 2 Fishing locations

There are three different fishing holes in the game:

  • The Cistern – Nezzus
  • Outskirts – The EDZ
  • Miasma – Throne World

After visiting these three locations for the first time, you can return to Hawthorne for 10 free baits and fully unlock fishing in Destiny 2.

Fishing Ponds

Fishing Ponds, Destiny 2

How to fish: Finding Bait and Fishes

Fishing requires two different resources: Bait and Fish.

Bait can be acquired by completing Salvages, Deep Dives, Playlist activities, Public events & Patrols, and collecting Planetary materials. As a general rule of thumb, the longer the activity, the more bait it rewards. As such, completing a Deep Dive can reward you with up to 19 bait, whereas collecting Planetary Materials will reward you only 1 bait. You can carry up to 500 bait at any given time.

Fish can only be acquired from one of the three fishing holes listed above. We have a full list of Fish in Destiny 2 here. When it comes to the actual fishing mechanics, I strongly believe that a picture (or video) is worth a thousand words; therefore, I recommend you can check this video from EK1 Gaming instead!

How to catch Exotic fish in Destiny 2

Kheprian Axehead Exotic Fish

To catch Exotic fish, you’ll need to increase your chances of getting rarer fish (Legendary and Exotic) as much as possible.

To do this, you want to aim for a Perfect Catch, which occurs when you reel in the fish as soon as it bites. Also, the higher your Focused Fishing meter, the higher your chances of getting Legendary and Exotic fish. More on that below.

Focused Fishing in Destiny 2

Focused Fishing is the meter mechanic that will allow you to rarer fishes. While fishing, you’ll see the Focusing Fishing meter appear, and the higher the meter, the higher your chances of finding rarer fish.

You can increase the Focused Fishing meter by fishing with other Guardians and fishing for as long as possible. For that reason, you’ll want to start fishing as soon as a fishing hole appears. Keep in mind that the same meter applies to everyone fishing on that spot, not only you. To increase your drops rate as much as possible, you should always fish in the weekly featured Pond. You can visit the Fishing Tackle on your inventory to see what fishing pond is featured at any given time:

Fishing Tackle screen Destiny 2

Fishing Tackle, Destiny 2

Last but not least, when a Public Event, the fishing pond completely disappears, restarting the Focusing Meter…

Destiny 2 Fishing Rewards

Fishing is one of the quintessential activities that all true MMOs offer, and I’m glad Destiny 2 now supports it. But the real reason you’ll be fishing is to get some of the top-tier rewards it can offer.

To earn rewards from fishing, you need to catch fish and turn it at the aquarium located at the H.E.L.M. This can reward you with Reckoning weapons, armor, exotics, and more, depending of the rarity of the fish you managed to catch:

  • Legendary Fish can reward you with Legendary gear, including Reckoning weapons, or keys
  • Exotic Fish can reward you with Exotic items, such as Ascendant Shards, Exotic armor, and more

Reckoning weapons

While Reckoning weapons can be later focused at the H.E.L.M., you’ll first need to discover each weapon by fishing.

ArtWeaponTypeArchetypeRarityAmmoElementRequirementsIn loot pool?Ammo?Element?TierExcelsSourceCraftable?RequiresReleasedSlotCan be Crafted?Best of?Top Perk?
Bug-Out Bag art Destiny 2Bug-Out BagSubmachine GunAdaptiveLegendaryPrimarySolarSeason 21YesPrimary ammo Destiny 2 PrimarySolar SolarFishingError icon V2Season of the Deep Icon
Season 21
Season 21EnergyNo
Just in Case art Destiny 2Just in CaseSwordAdaptiveLegendaryHeavySolarSeason 21YesHeavy ammo Destiny 2 HeavySolar SolarFishingError icon V2Season of the Deep Icon
Season 21
Season 21HeavyNo
Last Man Standing art Destiny 2Last Man StandingShotgunAggressiveLegendarySpecialSolarSeason 21YesSpecial ammo Destiny 2 SpecialSolar SolarFishingError icon V2Season of the Deep Icon
Season 21
Season 21EnergyNo
Outlast art Destiny 2OutlastPulse RifleRapid-FireLegendaryPrimarySolarSeason 21YesPrimary ammo Destiny 2 PrimarySolar SolarFishingError icon V2Season of the Deep Icon
Season 21
Season 21EnergyNo
Sole Survivor art Destiny 2Sole SurvivorSniper RifleAdaptiveLegendarySpecialArcSeason 21YesSpecial ammo Destiny 2 SpecialArc ArcFishingError icon V2Season of the Deep Icon
Season 21
Season 21EnergyNo
Spare Rations art Destiny 2Spare RationsHand CannonAdaptiveLegendaryPrimaryKineticSeason 21YesPrimary ammo Destiny 2 PrimaryKinetic symbol Destiny 2 Kinetic
Average

B

PvPFishingError icon V2Season of the Deep Icon
Season 21
Season 21KineticNo

Reckoning weapons also feature a unique Origin trait.

-TraitSourceActivation | EffectsSpecsSource TypeReleased
Disaster Plan Origin Trait artDisaster PlanReckoning weaponsPicking up ammunition increases this weapon's flinch resistance and range, which lasts until it is fired again. Swords gain a large increase to charge rate instead.-ActivitySeason 21

We cover the returning Reckoning weapons in detail here.

Before you go…

These are some of our latest guides featuring many of the exciting new features delivered with Season of the Deep:

About The Author

Ric Molina
Ric Molina
I've been covering gaming since 2012, and some of my work has been featured by large brands, including MSN.com, Forbes, Rock Paper Shotgun, and more. I've been obsessed with Destiny 2 for years now, and I hope to provide new and returning players with the guides and resources I wish I had when I first started.
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