Ever see a colossal squid or another cool fish in a pool of water and wonder “wow that’s super cool, I need that fish” only to realize it’s just a decorational entity
What if there was a way to catch said fish?
There are two ways of doing this. One is where each fish can be damaged by any attack, and killing them will give you the fish as a drop. This is more consistent with how you collect drops from jellyfish or sharks.
The other is where only certain attacks can damage fish. This is (in my opinion) more balanced because you can’t release a surge into the ocean to mop up a bunch of guppies. You don’t replace your rod with laser attacks. Plus it doesn’t make sense because hitting it with a nuke doesn’t leave much fish left. I know shooting jellyfish with anything gives the flesh, but you want the whole fish, not just pieces of it.
Magic
The javelin and snare spells can both deal damage to entity fish, as well as blasts with spear or trident shapes. Blasting the fish with other spells would disintegrate them with the message roughly saying “Fish destroyed, jackass: you disintegrated the fish since this spell is not meant to be fished with. Next time don’t hit it with a Kamehameha”
Fighting
All techniques can deal damage to fish. I was initially only considering shark embodiment, rushdown, and uppercut but you’re using your bear fucking hands to catch a squid, so you should be able to go all out. After all, that’s how the castaways do it and you can’t convince me otherwise
Weapons
All spear attacks can do damage to fish. A new rifle type weapon will be added; a handheld harpoon gun. All of its moves will be able to damage fish
Spirit
A new spirit weapon would be added: Glacus’ Boon. It’s a fishing rod. Its m1 is to cast the line and it’s better than your average rod in every stat, more like a jack of all trades. If you get bored of that, it comes with a unique rite. It fires out a hook made of spirit that can deal damage to fish. Its ultimate art fires a gigantic net projectile that can also deal damage to fish. I don’t speak Greek so idk what these would be called, so for now ill call them Fishcatchenos and Guppyharvestis
This wouldn’t overshadow real fishing for a few reasons. It isn’t every day you see a giant squid or other worthwhile fish as an entity spawn in the ocean. If it gets out of hand we can lower the spawn rate for good ones. This would make it more like a rare bonus than a thing you can consistently grind.
Also, it’s not one hit and it’s over. The fish have hitpoints. Any attack can damage them but they need to be finished with a fishing attack to collect the drop. Most normal fish won’t fight back, but some will have their own ai. The sharks will fight like regular sharks, but they won’t attack until someone attacks them. The squid will have a damage hitbox on its tentacles as well as ink. Also, in the dark sea, ALL fish fight when you get within range, even if it’s the tiniest clownfish
Side idea: infused fish. These would spawn in the abyss or anywhere in the dark sea, and can only be caught with combat fishing. They have way more hp than the average fish of that type, even a infused bass would take multiple javelins. They are imbued with a random water compatible magic, and when they are threatened they will run away while firing magic blasts at the player. If they’re a shark or a squid, they will charge at your ass while firing magic blasts. They are worth ten times the fish’s price due to the trouble of getting them
