GUIDE

DREADMOOR demo guide: rods, baits, boat and night

DREADMOOR revolves around fishing from a boat, and each system feeds the next: rod parts decide what you can land, the grinder turns fish into materials, including the meat that becomes fuel, and materials become boat modules. This guide covers the public demo (version 0.3.34), so numbers may change in the full game.

Rod strength: which fish your rod can land

The Simple Rod starts at strength 10, and its default parts add nothing. Braided Line adds 10, the Baitcasting Reel 20 and the Reinforced Rod 15, for 55 with all three; coral parts would reach 85, but they are locked in the demo.

Compare that number with the fish's level. The starting rod covers the 24 species at level 10 or below; Softgrazer (15) needs one upgrade, and Bloodgill and Greasechar (30) need the Baitcasting Reel, or Braided Line and Reinforced Rod together. Sharpfin (50) needs all three, since no pair passes 45, while Bristler (60) is beyond demo parts and has no demo shoal.

The tutorial confirms the comparison but not its exact rule, so treat these thresholds as a guide. The parts also shape the fight: tension builds 30% more slowly with Braided Line, the reel pulls in 15% faster and the rod drains the fish's stamina 60% faster.

Greasechar shoals also require line strength 30, so pair Braided Line with the Baitcasting Reel or the Reinforced Rod: the line alone leaves rod strength at 20.

Which bait for which fish

Baits come in families. Earthworm, known from the start, is only for Snapper. Wind-Up Tin and Sturdy Earcrawler attract the other nine peaceful species, while Rainbow Fin and Flaming Belly cover fourteen predators, from Bloodgill and Greasechar to Harpooner and Harpy.

The last family is the exception: Bonescar, Bully, Rammfish and Stonegnawer only take Pipecross or Deadly Tick, and Bristler only Deadly Tick.

In each pair, the second bait (Sturdy Earcrawler, Flaming Belly or Deadly Tick) has a bonus of 50 on the two heavier weight classes, which points to bigger catches. In every species, the heaviest class has the lowest odds (8, against 32 and 60) and the highest line tension.

Flaming Belly needs a Lily, and lilies only spawn from 22:00 to 06:00, so gather them on night trips.

The boat: engines, propellers and hull

Ten modules can be crafted in the demo. The Upgraded Engine lifts top speed from 600 to 750 and low-speed acceleration from 120 to 140. The Heavy-Duty Engine shows a speed rating of 8 instead of 4, but in the demo it handles like the Upgraded Engine, so it costs more (14 Metal Plate against 10, 2 Carburetors against 1) for the same 750.

The Upgraded Propeller has a turn rate of 15, where the Old Propeller's turning values are all zero, and lifts control from 1 to 3. Hull Protection trades one point of speed rating for 2 protection; every higher tier, Fuel Tank Mk2 included, is locked.

Barnacles, which the quests call polyps, slow the boat: it loses 200 of top speed from 50% fouling and 350 above 75%. The water hose clears them at 100 damage per second, against 50 health each.

Keep 3 Rusty Scrap Metal aboard: it is the repair cost of a breakdown on every engine you can build in the demo.

Grinder, Fish Meat and fuel

Every fish spends 15 seconds in the grinder. Fourteen species give 2 Fish Meat and 2 Chromatic Scales; Bloodgill, Bully, Crackback and Gleamer give 3 Fish Meat and 1 Jaws; Necrosoft is the richest, with 3 Fish Meat, 3 Chromatic Scales and 2 Leeches. Bristler is the only fish that grinds into Chitin, and Greasechar the only one that yields Bug slime.

Fish Meat is also fuel: one piece fed to the fuel larva adds 100, and the pump fills the boat at 3.9 per second. A new boat starts with 220 of 360, so topping up should take about two Fish Meat and 36 seconds.

Don't run dry: the low-fuel warning comes at 30, and without fuel the boat only reaches a speed of 100.

Night on the moor: shoals and threats

Some shoals only appear at night: on the main map, Softgrazer and Necrosoft share 15 night-only positions, and Harpooner and Harpy another 10. Those are the only main-map spots for Harpy and Necrosoft, so plan them as night catches.

From 00:00 to 06:00 tentacles rise, up to six at once and one every 25 seconds, each strike dealing 15. The Angler, a water boss with 10,000 health and tail strikes of 20, is only active at night, and a night variant of the Liligator (225 health, 7 per strike) joins the daytime one.

Before a night trip, craft the Spotlight Mk1 (lighting 5, against 1 for the Mk0) and keep Bug slime for the Repair gun, whose tar refills cost 2 each.

The Mastery tree in the demo

The tree has 51 nodes in three branches (Ship, Fishing and Tools), and 26 are locked in the demo. Eight are already learned at the start: Old Propeller, Standard Engine, Fuel Tank, Spotlight, Old Rod, Earthworm, Hook Gun and Axe.

Ship nodes cost 2 research points, and each Scraps of Knowledge item gives 2 (listed at 200; Gill and Bozur stock 10). Six of the seven open ship nodes unlock craftable modules: Hull Protection leads to the Upgraded Engine, which opens the Small fish hold, Upgraded Propeller and Heavy-Duty Engine, with the Afterburner Mk1 after the hold.

Fishing and Tools nodes cost nothing except Deadly Tick (5), and most are recipe-only: getting the blueprint unlocks them. Gill and Bozur sell five blueprints, including Baitcasting Reel, Flaming Belly and Sturdy Earcrawler; those for Braided Line, Reinforced Rod, Rainbow Fin and Wind-Up Tin aren't in their shop.

Ten Scraps of Knowledge cover every open node with a cost: 19 points, Deadly Tick included.

Think twice about Deadly Tick: its recipe may change in the full game.