Hello,
As of today, Hypixel SkyBlock now has its first dedicated fishing island! The Backwater Bayou brings with it rod parts, fishing hotspots, and a wide array of new sea creatures, adding more depth to the fishing skill.
Read on to find out more!
► Backwater Bayou
The Backwater Bayou can be accessed from the Fisherman's Hut upon reaching Fishing Level 5. After helping Fisherman Gerald acquire the last necessary part to get his ship up-and-running, you can speak to Captain Baha to set sail for the Bayou.The Bayou is the first of what will hopefully be many fishing-themed islands that are accessible via this new Ship system. While the Bayou is static - always available and always accessible, future islands may be more fleeting.
Once you arrive at the Backwater Bayou, there are several key activities for you to partake in:
- Learn about Junk Fishing from Junker Joel
- Apply Rod Parts at Roddy
- Learn about Fishing Hotspots from Hattie
- Fish for Bayou Sea Creatures and Hotspot Sea Creatures!
► Junk Fishing
Junker Joel has lived in the Bayou for some time, and dislikes the state that its ended up in thanks to people dumping their trash in the waters of the area. Talking to Joel will give you the Junk Sinker, which you can attach to your rod to replace all Treasure catches with Junk! One man's trash is another man's treasure though - bring junk to Joel and you can trade it in for some goodies!Be careful as you fish, however - exclusive Bayou Sea Creatures lurk in these waters, and they're not particularly fond of trespassers!
► Rod Parts
When applied to a rod, the Sponge Sinker materializes a Sponge in the player's inventory whenever they fish something, and the Chum Rod does the exact same thing - but with Chum.
As is the case with drill parts, there are three varieties of rod parts, and you can have one of each applied to a rod at any one time:
- Hooks increase your chance to catch certain things.
- Example: The Common Hook increases your chance to catch COMMON Sea Creatures by 25%
- Lines grant fishing-related stats.
- Example: The Titan Line grants +2 Double Hook Chance
- Sinkers augment your gameplay in various ways.
- Example: The Junk Sinker allows you to catch Junk while in the Backwater Bayou, which can be exchanged at Junker Joel.
► Fishing Hotspots
Players can first learn about Fishing Hotspots by speaking to Hattie in the Backwater Bayou.The general gist of hotspots is that, on public islands (currently limited to the Backwater Bayou, Spider's Den, and Crimson Isle), particle circles known as hotspots will occasionally pop up. Casting your rod into a hotspot will grant you the stat buff listed above it, which can be anything from Fishing Speed to Double Hook Chance.
If that wasn't enough already, each type of hotspot also comes with its own exclusive sea creatures!
► 14 New Sea Creatures
This update adds a whopping 14 new Sea Creatures to the game. 6 of these are exclusive to the Backwater Bayou, while the remaining 8 are split evenly between Water and Lava Fishing Hotspots.You won't find a list of them here- - go get fishing!
► Fishing Balancing
A main goal of this update was to make fishing progression more linear and understandable. As such, a large number of QoL and balancing changes have been made, a list of which can be seen below:➥ Treasure Balancing
- Treasure Chance is now an official stat. Sources of it have been adjusted accordingly.
- Treasure Loot Tables have been rewritten.
- We aim for them to be better than before, but for treasure to be more difficult to reliably catch without a dedicated setup.
- Reduced Seal Talisman's Treasure Chance from 1% -> 0.1%.
- Reduced Seal Ring's Treasure Chance from 1% -> 0.2%.
- Reduced Frozen Amulet's Treasure Chance from 5% -> 0.5%.
- Reduced Golden Bait's Treasure Chance from 5% -> 4%.
- Added a tiered bonus to Diver's Armor that grants 0.5/1/1.5 Treasure Chance while underwater.
- Reduced the amount of Treasure Chance Luck of the Sea grants per level.
- Removed explanation of Treasure Chance from fishing level-up message.
- Adjusted Trophy Hunter Armor's "Odger's Blessing" ability into a Tiered Bonus.
➥ Sea Creature Balancing
- Decreased HP of Sea Walker from 1,000 -> 100.
- Decreased Damage of Sea Walker from 60 -> 10.
- Moved Sea Walker unlock from Fishing 2 -> 1.
- Increased Sea Walker Fishing XP from 68 -> 150.
- Decreased HP of Squids from 750 -> 50.
- Increased Squid Fishing XP from 41 -> 75.
- Increased Sea Guardian Fishing XP from 101 -> 250.
- Increased Sea Witch Fishing XP from 338 -> 400.
- Increased Reindrake's rarity from LEGENDARY -> MYTHIC.
- Loot Share now works on Sea Emperor Skulls.
➥ Collection Balancing
- Moved Ice Bait to Ice Collection II.
- Added Salmon Hat to Raw Salmon I.
- Moved Minnow Bait to Raw Fish I
- Moved Salmon Armor to Raw Salmon VI.
- Added the Umberella to Umber Collection IX.
- Added Common Hook to Lily Pad Collection V.
- Removed Angler Armor from Raw Fish I.
- It is now purchased from the Fishing Merchant, as is Angler Equipment.
- Reduced rarity of Challenging Rod to Uncommon and removed it from Lily Pad Collection V.
➥ Rod Balancing
With many rods having been replaced with hooks, lines, or sinkers, their methods of obtainment have also seen them replaced with their more modern counterparts. You may claim any rods that have been removed from the museum at your island's Jerry.- Replaced Phantom Rod in Phantom Fisher's drop pool with Phantom Hook.
- Replaced Shredder in Sea Emperor's drop pool with Shredded Line.
- Replaced Chum Rod in Moby's Shop with Chum Sinker.
- Replaced Ice Rod in Frozen Steve's drop pool with Icy Sinker.
- This Sinker also currently has a Hook perk on it. It's not a bug and is intentional for the time being.
- Replaced Winter Rod in Sherry's Shop with Festive Sinker.
- Replaced Sponge Rod with Spongy Sinker at Sponge Collection II.
- Replaced Prismarine Rod with Prismarine Sinker at Prismarine Shard Collection IV
- Added 1x Combat Gemstone slot to Soul Whip.
- Added a "Deals 2x damage to Sea Creatures" passive to Soul Whip.
- Added 2x Combat Gemstone slot to Flaming Flay.
- Added a "Deals 3x damage to Sea Creatures" passive to Flaming Flay.
- Removed Polished Topaz Rod's ability & renamed it to Topaz Rod.
➥ Miscellaneous Balancing
- Removed the Underground Fishing Speed Reduction.
- Aquamarine Gemstones now give Fishing Speed instead of Sea Creature Chance.
- Adjusted the stats and gemstone slots granted by all fishing rods/fishing-related armors. Some have lost stats/slots and others have gained them.
- Added the ability to break ice near bobber cast to all rods by default.
- Added Loudmouth Bass to Seal's Treat Bag.
- Adjusted the Bobbin' Time recipe to include the new water orbs.
- Added 1M coin NPC sell price to Golden Bounty, A Beginner's Guide to Pesthunting.
- Added Guardian Pet to Experimentation Table loot pool.
- Squid Pet has replaced it in the Treasure tables.
- Reworked Stereo Pants to now allow you to fish up Music Discs while worn.
- Removed Clay Crystal from the Hub & Wilderness.
- Clay now drops from Bayou Sea Creatures.
- Removed Frost Walker enchantment.
- Added "Ascending Rarity" and "Descending Rarity" sorts to /scg.
- Removed the ability to move at supersonic speed while in water from Diver Armor.
- Updated Bobbin' Time recipe to include the Bayou Water Orb.
► Future Plans
As usual, the list below isn't exhaustive, and is just what we're ready to share at this time.➥ Foraging
We know players have been waiting a long time for this update, and we appreciate your patience. Right now, we’re focused on quality assurance to ensure a smooth experience. If all goes well, we hope to enter the Alpha phase within the next few months!➥ Slayer Content
We're still hard at work on our previously promised slayer content, it shouldn't be long now!And that's all for today! The Backwater Bayou is playable now, so grab your rods and get fishing!
