How to Fish Guides & Tips
How To Fish Difficulty Settings
Quick answer: Patch 1.0.9 (August 24, 2026) added three difficulty modes. Easy Mode gives all creatures 25% less health and 50% less damage; Hard Mode gives all creatures 25% more health and 25% more damage; Normal is the launch balance. You can switch from the main menu or in-game at any time, and switching is free — no save rollback, no unlock requirements.
The exact numbers, from the official patch note
| Mode | Creature health | Creature damage |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | −25% | −50% |
| Normal (default) | launch balance | launch balance |
| Hard | +25% | +25% |
Read that table carefully, because the modes are not symmetric: Easy is a bigger relief than Hard is a challenge. Damage is halved on Easy — which means mistakes that used to kill you now cost half the punishment — while Hard only adds a quarter. Dazed Games tuned Easy for accessibility and Hard as a mild seasoning, not a soulslike. The numbers above are quoted verbatim from the official 1.0.9 announcement; no other difficulty modifiers (economy, fish behavior, spawn rates) are mentioned in any official source, so claims that Easy mode changes prices or loot are speculation.
When to switch to Easy
Three situations justify Easy, and none of them are shameful. First, the late bosses: the Albatross, the Terrorizing Bird and especially the Mutated Bowhead Whale put long, precise fights in front of you, and a 50% damage cut turns one-shot dangers into recoverable mistakes. Second, Handyman — the achievement that requires beating the final boss with empty hands — becomes dramatically more survivable when boss damage is halved; the community's advice for that achievement and Easy mode overlap heavily. Third, co-op with newer players: the difficulty setting is per-lobby, and halving damage keeps a relaxed session relaxed.
The one thing Easy costs you: there is an achievement tied to completing the game on Easy — literally named Easy — so a Hard purist run that dips into Easy for one boss should know that some speedrun and achievement categories care about which mode the run finished on. Check the achievement list before your final fight if completion percent matters to you.
When Hard is worth it
Hard adds 25% health and damage to everything, which mostly means fights last longer and the white escape timer on bosses gets tighter relative to your damage output. It exists for players who finished the game and want the same routes to feel less automatic. Nothing in the official notes ties achievements, drops or money multipliers to Hard mode — so far it is a self-imposed challenge, not a reward track. If you are deciding between the two extremes purely by rewards, there are none to decide between.
Difficulty in co-op and speedrunning
Two contexts care about the mode more than solo play does. In co-op, the setting is shared per lobby, not per player — one person cannot play Easy while their friend plays Hard in the same session, so groups should agree before hosting; the fix for a mismatched group is a mid-game switch, which the game permits freely. In speedrunning and achievement circles, the mode is part of the run's identity: the community that tracks routes records which difficulty a clear used, the Easy achievement exists specifically for a full Easy completion, and Hard runs carry their own bragging rights precisely because the bonus is only 25%. If you plan to submit a run anywhere, pick a mode at the start, finish on it, and note it — a mid-run difficulty change is the kind of detail a moderator checks.
Switching mid-game
Both switching points work: the main menu before loading a save, and in-game during a session. The switch applies immediately to creature stats — there is no need to reload, restart an encounter or sleep in-game. If a boss fight is going badly, you can step the difficulty down mid-attempt; the community treats this as a legitimate tool rather than a cheat, and the official patch note offers no restriction. Speedrunners care about the mode their run used because leaderboards and the Bean achievement community track it, but for everyone else the setting is a dial, not a commitment.
What difficulty does not change
The official note lists creature health and damage — nothing else. Prices, quest rewards, spawn rates, boss escape timers' existence, weapon stats, save behavior and multiplayer scaling are documented nowhere as difficulty-dependent. Guides claiming Easy mode nerfs your earnings or that Hard mode unlocks items are inventing details the patch note does not contain. If a future patch changes that, it will appear in the official announcements and our patch notes page will track it.
What not to do
- Do not grind for a Hard mode reward — no official source documents one.
- Do not assume Easy invalidates achievements — only the mode-specific ones care, and the list is known.
- Do not forget the setting exists before a rage-quit — the Albatross fight on Easy is a different fight.
- Do not quote asymmetrical numbers as symmetric — Easy's −50% damage is twice Hard's +25%.
### Does switching difficulty affect existing fights?
Yes — the change applies to creature stats live, including a fight already in progress. That is why the mid-boss switch works as a pressure valve: step down mid-fight and the boss immediately deals less damage. It also means switching to Hard for one moment of bravado changes the fight you are already losing, so make the decision deliberately rather than reflexively.