Fishing is an ancient human recreational activity that 2B, 9S and A2 can partake in during the events of NieR:Automata. Fishing serves three purposes: firstly, catching and selling the fish/items caught is a good early source of currency. Secondly, catching different types of fish will add to the Fishing Encyclopedia, an Intel section. Thirdly, a few unique items can only be retrieved by fishing in specific locations.
Overall, fishing is an optional activity, though one of the items that can be caught is required to complete a secret sidequest.
Method[]
To fish, the player needs to find a body of water where the fishing icon appears (a plug-in chip can be equipped to mark fishing spots on the mini-map, if desired). Holding the button down will cause the controlled character to form a holographic chair and begin fishing.
The fishing controls are very simple, with one button used to cast and retrieve the Pod. Just pressing the button to retrieve the Pod after getting a bite will automatically catch the fish; unlike in NieR RepliCant and NieR Gestalt, there is no need to drain the fish's health to reel them in. Trying to cast to an area of solid ground will result in the Pod bouncing back so it can be cast again.
There are two different cues that indicate a fish has been hooked: one is the Pod dropping below the surface of the water with an audible plop sound. The second is more subtle: in an area where the Pod drifts on the current, if the Pod stops moving or reverses direction, a fish has been caught. This can also happen in areas where there is no current, though in this case, it is impossible to tell if this has happened. If the Pod is left for too long after getting a bite, the fish will get away. The Pod bobbing in the water does not seem to indicate anything in particular.
A second button is used to conclude fishing and will reel the Pod in if it is floating.
A great deal of experimentation by players has found no clear pattern determining what is caught or when: it does not seem the location in a given fishing spot the Pod is cast in, which Pod it is, or whether the Pod light is on or off has any real effect on catches. Neither does the water the Pod is cast in need to be deep enough to actually accommodate the fish in question; even ankle-deep water can often be fished in. Fish do, however, have set locations where they can be caught, and set levels of rarity which affect how likely it is to catch them in a given session.
List of Fish[]
Below is a list of every item caught through fishing and their locations:
 |
Arowana | City Ruins: Deep Cave - Outside Emil's Residence Desert Zone - Oasis Forest Kingdom - Waterfalls and rivers |
 |
Twinfish | City Ruins: Deep Cave - Outside Emil's Residence |
 |
Killifish | City Ruins - Waterfalls, streams, and underground lake (outside Emil's Residence) Desert Zone - Oil Field and oasis Amusement Park - Bridge Forest Kingdom - Waterfalls, rivers and castle moat Flooded City - Waterfalls (near Coast access point) |
 |
Carp | City Ruins - Waterfalls, streams, and underground lake (outside Emil's Residence) Desert Zone - Oil Field and oasis Amusement Park - Bridge Forest Kingdom - Waterfalls, rivers and castle moat Flooded City - Waterfalls (near Coast access point) |
 |
Bloat Fish | City Ruins: Deep Cave - Outside Emil's Residence Flooded City - Coast and near the missile |
 |
Koi Carp | City Ruins - Waterfalls, streams, and underground lake (outside Emil's Residence) Desert Zone - Oil Field and oasis Amusement Park - Bridge Forest Kingdom - Waterfalls, rivers and castle moat Flooded City - Waterfalls (near Coast access point) |
 |
Fur Carp | City Ruins - Ravine under wooden bridge Forest Kingdom - Waterfalls, rivers and castle moat |
 |
Freshwater Ray | Amusement Park - Bridge*
*Right side, facing the Theater. Does not appear on the left side. |
 |
Arapaima | Forest Kingdom - Waterfalls, rivers and castle moat |
 |
Oil Sardine | Desert Zone - Oil Field |
 |
Beetle Fish | Desert Zone - Oasis |
 |
Water Flea | Flooded City - Coast and near the missile |
 |
Twoface | Flooded City - Coast and near the missile |
 |
Coelacanth | Flooded City - Coast |
 |
Blowfish | Flooded City - Coast and near the missile |
 |
Swordfish | Flooded City - Near the missile |
 |
Mackerel | Given to player by Jackass Flooded City - Coast and near the missile |
 |
Horseshoe Crab | Flooded City - Coast |
 |
Starfish | Flooded City - Coast; near the submerged buildings |
 |
Bream | Flooded City - Coast and near the missile |
 |
Basking Shark | Flooded City - Near the missile |
 |
Killifish Machine | City Ruins - Waterfalls and streams Forest Kingdom - Waterfalls, rivers and castle moat Flooded City - Waterfalls (near Coast access point) |
 |
Koi Carp Machine | City Ruins - Waterfalls and streams Desert Zone - Oil Field Amusement Park - Bridge Forest Kingdom - Waterfalls, rivers and castle moat Flooded City - Waterfalls (near Coast access point) |
 |
Arapaima Machine | Amusement Park - Bridge City Ruins - Waterfalls and streams Forest Kingdom - Waterfalls, rivers and castle moat |
 |
Carp Machine | City Ruins - Waterfalls and streams Desert Zone - Oil Field Forest Kingdom - Waterfalls, rivers and castle moat Flooded City - Waterfalls (near Coast access point) |
 |
Bloat Fish Machine | City Ruins - Ravine under wooden bridge Desert Zone - Oil Field Forest Kingdom - Waterfalls, rivers and castle moat |
 |
Blowfish Machine | Desert Zone - Oil Field Flooded City - Coast and near the missile |
 |
Swordfish Machine | Flooded City - Near the missile |
 |
Starfish Machine | Desert Zone - Oil Field Flooded City - Coast |
 |
Bream Machine | Desert Zone - Oil Field Flooded City - Coast |
 |
Coelacanth Machine | Flooded City - Near the missile |
 |
Mackerel Machine | Desert Zone - Oil Field Flooded City - Coast |
 |
Horseshoe Crab Machine | Flooded City - Coast |
 |
Arowana Machine | City Ruins - Ravine under wooden bridge |
 |
Basking Shark Machine | Flooded City - Near the missile |
 |
Freshwater Ray Machine | Amusement Park - Bridge |
 |
Machine Lifeform Head | City Ruins - Ravine, Waterfalls, streams, and underground lake (outside Emil's Residence) Desert Zone - Oil Field and oasis Amusement Park - Bridge Forest Kingdom - Waterfalls, rivers and castle moat Flooded City - Waterfalls (near Coast access point), Coast, and near the missile |
 |
Tire | Sewers leading to the Amusement Park Flooded City - Coast and near the missile |
 |
Gas Cylinder | City Ruins - Ravine under the wooden bridge Sewers leading to the Amusement Park or the sewers between the City Ruins and the Flooded City Forest Kingdom - Waterfalls, rivers and castle moat |
 |
Battery | Sewers leading to the Amusement Park or the sewers between the City Ruins and the Flooded City Desert Zone - Oil Field |
 |
Broken Firearm | Sewers leading to the Amusement Park or the sewers between the City Ruins and the Flooded City Amusement Park - Bridge |
Other rewards[]
These items are acquired by fishing but are not logged as entries in the Fishing Encyclopedia. They can only be "caught" once:
 |
Iron Pipe | Sewers leading to the Amusement Park or the sewers between the City Ruins and the Flooded City |
 |
Pod B | Flooded City - Coast |