The Depths in Fisch went from a niche fishing spot to one of the fastest cash routes in the game after v1.96.2 pushed base values up across four of its fish. The Ancient Depth Serpent is the headline change, and it now sells for enough that a single Absolute Darkness window can outpay a long grind anywhere else. The catch, literally, is that the fish fights back harder and the event window is shorter than it used to be.
Quick answer: Trigger Absolute Darkness with an Eclipse Totem while fishing the Depths with the Rod of the Depths and Obsidian-Bone bait, then swap to the Destiny Rod with Truffle Worm bait and farm Ancient Depth Serpents for the duration of the event.
What the v1.96.2 Depths buff changed
Four fish got straight base value increases, and the Ancient Depth Serpent picked up a defensive ability on top of a harsher progress penalty. Absolute Darkness itself was tuned in both directions, running for less time but carrying a higher Max Risk ceiling.
| Change | Detail |
|---|---|
| Barreleye Fish | Base value up roughly 174% |
| Mutated Shark | Base value up roughly 83% |
| Sea Snake | Base value up roughly 114% |
| Ancient Depth Serpent | Base value up roughly 125% |
| Serpent progress speed | -60% changed to -75% (still not forced) |
| Serpent new ability | 15% chance per fish movement to cut progress by 20%, on an 8-second cooldown |
| Absolute Darkness duration | Reduced from 10–15 minutes to 6–10 minutes |
| Absolute Darkness Max Risk | Raised from 10,000 to 12,000 |
Note: the shorter Absolute Darkness window means setup time now eats a bigger share of the event. Have every totem and potion ready before the darkness lands, not after.
Gear and consumables for the run
Two different rods do two different jobs here. One builds disturbance to force the event to spawn, the other handles the serpent’s progress penalty once you are actually fishing for money.
| Item | Role |
|---|---|
| Rod of the Depths | Spawn phase rod, used to build disturbance |
| Obsidian-Bone bait | Raises disturbance during the spawn phase |
| Eclipse Totem | Starts the Eclipse, which leads into Absolute Darkness |
| Destiny Rod | Farming rod once Absolute Darkness is active |
| Truffle Worm bait | Paired with the Destiny Rod during the event |
| Aurora Totem and Sparkling Totem | Luck and mutation coverage while farming |
| Luck Potion III and All Season Potion | Consumed before the farming phase begins |
How to run the Absolute Darkness money method
What the payout looks like
A clean run through one Absolute Darkness window sold for 19,406,454 C$ in roughly six to seven minutes of fishing. The money is concentrated in a handful of mutated serpents rather than spread evenly across the haul, so mutation rolls matter more than raw catch count.
| Catch | Sell price |
|---|---|
| Sparkling Giant Thalassic Ancient Depth Serpent | 1,529,020 C$ |
| Sparkling Giant Bathyal Ancient Depth Serpent | 1,408,041 C$ |
| Giant Hadal Ancient Depth Serpent | 1,231,054 C$ |
| Giant Hexed Ancient Depth Serpent | 312,855 C$ |
The gap between the top and bottom rows is the whole argument for stacking the Aurora and Sparkling Totems. A plain Giant serpent is worth a fraction of a Sparkling one, and both take the same amount of time to reel in.
Grinding the Depths without the event
Fishing the Depths normally still benefits from the value increases, just far less dramatically. A comparison run using the Olympian God-Breaker rod with Fish Head bait, outside of Absolute Darkness, sold for 8,497,652 C$ over a longer stretch.
That is a usable fallback if you are out of Eclipse Totems, but it is not competitive. Roughly half the payout for more time in the water means the event setup pays for itself easily, even after spending a totem to force the spawn.
Why the run fails or underperforms
- Setting up after the event starts. Drinking potions and placing totems during the darkness burns minutes you cannot get back from a 6–10 minute window.
- Staying on the Rod of the Depths. It is the spawn tool, not the farming tool. The Destiny Rod with Truffle Worm handles the -75% progress speed far better.
- Losing serpents to the progress drain. The 20% progress reduction fires up to once every eight seconds, so long, sloppy minigames can stall out entirely.
- Skipping the luck stack. Without Aurora and Sparkling Totems, most of what you sell will be low-value variants instead of million-credit ones.
The short version: is that the Depths is now worth returning to, but only on the event clock. Keep a stock of Eclipse Totems, treat the four and a half minute spawn phase as setup time, and have every buff queued so the entire darkness window goes into catching serpents rather than fumbling through menus.
