Merlin’s Staff sits near the top of Fisch’s rod progression. It’s a Stage 7 rod with infinite weight capacity, a rhythm-based passive, and a built‑in money multiplier through the Magical mutation. Getting it, though, means solving the Mineshaft puzzle, fishing for very specific trash, and handing over a million C$.
Merlin’s Staff requirements and where to craft it
Merlin’s Staff is crafted directly from Merlin on Sunstone Island once his rift questline is done and his shop is unlocked. In his dialogue, choose the shop option and then the Merlin’s Staff “Deal (Craft)” entry to see the recipe.
| Requirement | Amount | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Shard of Time | ×1 | Complete the Mineshaft pedestal puzzle using three gemstones. |
| Anomalous Log | ×1 | Fish up a Log with the Anomalous mutation using a trash‑tier rod and Anomalous enchant. |
| Iron Chunk | ×1 | Fish in the Chasm/Mineshaft until you pull the Iron Chunk trash item. |
| C$ | 1,000,000 | Earn and pay directly at Merlin’s craft prompt. |
Once you have all three items and the currency, talk to Merlin on top of Sunstone Island, select Merlin’s Staff in his shop, and confirm the trade to receive the rod.
How to get Shard of Time in the Mineshaft
The Shard of Time is the only part of the recipe that feels like a mini‑dungeon. It is created in the Mineshaft by combining three different items on a central pedestal: Radiant Crystal, Rough Geode, and Cut Gem.
| Gemstone | Where | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Rough Geode | Mineshaft rubble piles (stone + wood) | Equip a spear and use it on rubble‑and‑wood piles to play the spear minigame until one drops a Rough Geode. |
| Cut Gem | Mineshaft minecart track junction | Wait for the minecart to reach the junction, flip the nearby lever to divert it into a wall, then loot the Cut Gem from the crashed cart. |
| Radiant Crystal | Mineshaft fishing pool | Fish in the underground pool until the Radiant Crystal (mythical rarity) appears; a high‑Luck rod and good bait shorten the grind. |
With all three in your inventory, return to the illuminated pedestal in the center of the Mineshaft. Place the Radiant Crystal, Rough Geode, and Cut Gem on the three slots. A short sequence plays, the back section of the room opens, and the Shard of Time can be picked up inside.
How to get an Anomalous Log
The Anomalous Log looks like trash but is the real bottleneck for Merlin’s Staff because it relies on a specific mutation.
| Step | Details |
|---|---|
| 1. Prepare a trash‑tier rod | Use a Training Rod or Flimsy Rod so the loot table favors trash items such as Logs. |
| 2. Add Anomalous enchant | Apply the Anomalous enchantment so catches can roll the Anomalous mutation. Exalted‑type relics are commonly used to force this enchant. |
| 3. Choose a Log hotspot | Fish at Log‑friendly water, such as the pond on Ancient Isle or Roslit Bay, where Logs are especially common. |
| 4. Use Magnet bait | Equip Magnet bait, which is favored by Logs, to speed up the process. |
| 5. Fish until it mutates | Keep casting until a Log appears with the Anomalous mutation tag. That single Anomalous Log is enough for the rod recipe. |
Most of the time here is sunk into getting the Anomalous enchant at all; once the rod has it, actually fishing the Log is relatively painless.
How to get Iron Chunk
Iron Chunk is a common‑rarity trash item, but it only drops in the Mineshaft area.
- Use Merlin’s dialogue on Sunstone Island to obtain Merlin’s Veil and unlock access to the Chasm.
- Jump into the Chasm to load into the Mineshaft zone.
- Fish in the underground water there around the lever area works well.
- Because Iron Chunk is common trash, a weaker rod with trash‑oriented bait (like Garbage‑style baits) improves odds.
Expect to see Iron Chunk within roughly 10–15 minutes of focused fishing in the Mineshaft.
Merlin’s Staff stats and what they mean
On paper, Merlin’s Staff looks like a balanced late‑game rod with one extreme: very low Control.
| Stat | Value | Practical impact |
|---|---|---|
| Lure Speed | 80% | Hook travels quickly to fish, keeping downtime between catches low. |
| Luck | 102.54% | Strong chance to roll rarer fish and item drops. |
| Control | 0.1 | Gives a wide fishing bar (about 40% of the minigame width), but the passive temporarily reduces Control during a fight. |
| Resilience | 50% | Line holds out well against thrashing fish, lowering break risk. |
| Max Kg | infkg | No weight limit: the rod can land any fish in the game. |
| Passive (Magical) | 25% chance | On catch, has a one‑in‑four chance to apply the Magical mutation, which boosts sell value by 7.2×. |
That combination makes Merlin’s Staff especially well‑suited to late‑game money fishing, where weight caps and inconsistent passives usually slow runs down.
How Merlin’s Staff passive behaves in the minigame
Beyond the Magical payout bonus, Merlin’s Staff layers a timing‑based progress spike on top of the fishing minigame.
- While the fish is inside the bar, the rod gradually lowers Control until it reaches −0.2.
- At that threshold, the rod instantly grants +30% Progress towards landing the fish.
- After the burst, Control snaps back to its original 0.1 and the passive goes on cooldown.
- If the fish slips out of the bar before Control hits −0.2, the process cancels and only restarts once the fish re‑enters the bar.
In practice, that means the optimal play is to keep the fish pinned in the bar as steadily as possible and let the rod “charge up” the spike. Every time Control hits the cutoff, you get a big chunk of free progress, which is especially useful on high‑HP bosses and heavy fish that usually turn into long, risky fights.
Recommended enchantments for Merlin’s Staff
Merlin’s Staff functions well out of the box, but certain enchantments line up particularly well with its weaknesses and passive.
| Enchant | Role | Why it fits Merlin’s Staff |
|---|---|---|
| Chronos | Passive synergy | Plays into the rod’s timing‑centric ability, rewarding longer controlled fights and helping you trigger the progress spike consistently. |
| Fractured + Tryhard | Control manipulation | Further reduces Control so the rod’s passive reaches −0.2 faster, trading comfort for more frequent progress bursts. |
| Mystical + Cryogenic | All‑round stats | Boosts Lure Speed, Luck, Resilience, and Progress Speed, smoothing out fishing sessions and complementing the Magical mutation for money runs. |
| Herculean | Control and weight | Adds +0.2 Control, extra Max Kg, and Progress Speed, making the bar easier to manage if the default 0.1 feels too twitchy. |
| Controlled | Comfort | Simple +0.15 Control bump for players who value a more forgiving bar over aggressive passive cycling. |
| Sea Overlord | Money farming | Increases fish size by 50%, multiplying the cash effect of Magical when it does trigger. |
| Sea Prince | Money farming | Smaller +15% size increase that still amplifies Magical value and pairs cleanly with other money‑focused builds. |
| Divine | Stopgap power | Useful if Exalted‑level relics aren’t available, adding a strong, general‑purpose buff on a rod you’ll use constantly. |
The choice ultimately comes down to how comfortable you are with low Control. If the shrinking bar doesn’t bother you, lean into Fractured, Tryhard, and Chronos. If it does, patch it with Herculean or Controlled and use Sea Overlord or Sea Prince to convert the Magical passive into raw income.
Merlin’s Staff demands a full loop through Fisch’s Sunstone and Mineshaft content, plus a targeted grind for an Anomalous Log. In exchange, it hands over one of the most reliable late‑game rods: fast enough for general farming, sturdy enough for bosses, and generous enough with Magical rolls that it quickly pays back the million‑coin buy‑in. Once it’s in your hands, there are very few situations where you’ll want to swap it out.
