Does the Golden Fishing Rod Break? A Comprehensive Guide for Animal Crossing New Horizons Players
Yes, unfortunately, the golden fishing rod does break in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While it’s the most durable fishing rod available, offering a significantly longer lifespan compared to its counterparts, it’s not indestructible. Like all other tools in the game, it will eventually wear out with use. This may come as a disappointment to some, but understanding its durability and how it compares to other rods can help you manage your resources effectively.
The Durability of the Golden Fishing Rod
The golden fishing rod is a coveted item among Animal Crossing players, not just for its aesthetic appeal, but also for its performance. Unlike the flimsy fishing rod, which breaks quite easily, the golden rod is designed for more extensive use. However, it is not permanent, and understanding its lifespan is essential for efficient gameplay.
How Many Uses Does a Golden Fishing Rod Have?
The golden fishing rod boasts a durability of 90 uses. This means you can cast your line and attempt to catch fish approximately 90 times before the rod breaks. While this might seem like a lot, it’s important to remember that each time you cast your line, whether you catch a fish or not, it counts as one use towards that total.
Comparison with Other Fishing Rods
To put this in perspective, let’s compare the golden fishing rod with other rods in the game:
- Flimsy Fishing Rod: This is the most basic rod and has a very short lifespan, breaking relatively quickly. It’s generally used early in the game before the player has access to more robust options.
- Colorful, Fish, and Outdoorsy Fishing Rods: These are all variants of the standard fishing rod and have a durability of 30 uses each. They are more durable than the flimsy rod but are still relatively fragile compared to the golden rod.
The substantial jump from 30 uses to 90 uses makes the golden fishing rod significantly more reliable and less prone to breaking during those long fishing sessions.
Why the Golden Rod Still Breaks
The fact that even the golden tools break in Animal Crossing can be a bit perplexing. After all, why wouldn’t they be made permanent and unbreakable? The game mechanics are designed to encourage resource management and crafting. Allowing for truly unbreakable tools would potentially remove a core element of the gameplay experience. Therefore, while the golden rod offers exceptional durability, it is still designed to be a tool that needs eventual replacement.
How to Obtain the Golden Fishing Rod
Before getting too concerned about its durability, you need to unlock the recipe for this item! The recipe to craft the Golden Fishing Rod is obtained by completing a specific achievement in the game: catching every fish in the Critterpedia. This is no small feat and requires dedicated effort and time. Once you’ve caught every fish at least once and filled out your Critterpedia, the DIY recipe will be available.
Crafting Requirements
Once you have the recipe, crafting the Golden Fishing Rod is relatively straightforward. You will need:
- 1 Fishing Rod: Any fishing rod will suffice – a flimsy rod, a standard rod, or even another golden rod if you have multiple.
- 1 Gold Nugget: Gold nuggets can be found by hitting rocks, as well as gifts by villagers.
Is the Golden Fishing Rod Worth the Effort?
Given the effort required to obtain the recipe and the fact that it still breaks, is the golden fishing rod worth it? The answer is a resounding yes! It offers several significant benefits:
- Increased Durability: As mentioned, its 90 uses are a substantial improvement over other rods. This means less time crafting new rods, and more time fishing.
- Enhanced Performance: While not drastically different, the golden rod offers a marginally better response time and a slightly longer cast range, making it easier to catch more elusive fish.
Although it’s not a permanently indestructible tool, the Golden Fishing Rod drastically reduces the need for crafting multiple tools while fishing and makes the process significantly more efficient. This is a worthwhile upgrade for any serious player.
Additional Tips for Managing Your Fishing Tools
While a golden fishing rod doesn’t make you immune to breaking tools, here are a few tips to help maximize your usage:
- Plan Your Fishing Trips: Be mindful of your rod’s remaining durability before heading out on a long fishing session.
- Keep Materials on Hand: Make sure you have the required resources for a new standard fishing rod and gold nuggets to quickly create a golden rod whenever needed.
- Use Regular Rods Early: For general use and non-critical fishing, use standard rods to save your golden rod for when you need it most.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some frequently asked questions about the golden fishing rod and its durability:
1. How much better is the Golden Fishing Rod than the standard rod?
The golden fishing rod lasts 3 times as long as the standard fishing rods. You get 90 uses with the golden rod, compared to 30 uses for the standard. It also has a very small increase to cast range and reaction time.
2. Does the golden fishing rod have any unique abilities besides durability?
Yes, the golden fishing rod has a slight increase in cast range and response time compared to other rods. This can make catching trickier fish a bit easier.
3. Can the Golden Fishing Rod catch any fish the standard rod can’t?
No, the golden rod does not allow you to catch any unique fish that you wouldn’t normally be able to catch with a standard rod. It only aids in how well you catch fish with its increased stats.
4. Do Golden Fishing Rods break faster if used incorrectly?
No, like the other tools, misuse will not affect how fast your golden fishing rod breaks. All usage will count as one use of durability, whether you catch a fish or not.
5. Does customization of the fishing rod affect its durability?
Customizing the regular fishing rod does not change the durability. However, customization options do not apply to the golden rod itself.
6. Can I repair the golden fishing rod?
No, the golden fishing rod cannot be repaired. Once it breaks, you will need to craft a new one.
7. Can I get multiple Golden Fishing Rods?
Yes, you can craft as many golden fishing rods as you have the required materials (gold nuggets and standard fishing rods).
8. What happens when my golden fishing rod breaks?
When the golden rod breaks, you will see the animation of it falling apart like other tools. It will disappear from your inventory, and you’ll need to craft another one.
9. Is there any tool in Animal Crossing that doesn’t break?
Yes, ladders, vaulting poles, and wands do not break. They are designed for traversal or specific in-game mechanics rather than daily resource gathering.
10. Why doesn’t the Golden Fishing Rod have unlimited uses?
Game mechanics are designed to encourage resource management and crafting. Having unbreakable tools could remove core elements of gameplay.
11. Does the game give a warning when a golden rod is about to break?
Unfortunately, the game does not provide a specific warning when your rod is nearing its breaking point. Pay close attention to usage when getting close to 90 uses.
12. How many gold nuggets will I need to maintain a steady supply of golden fishing rods?
This depends on how much you fish. Keep an eye on your gold nugget supply. Focus on hitting all of your rocks every day for maximum resource gathering.
13. Is the golden fishing rod affected by island visitor luck?
Luck can affect the fish you encounter, but it does not affect the durability of the fishing rod.
14. Can a golden fishing rod break when trying to catch a specific fish?
Yes, your fishing rod’s durability will be used even when your fishing attempt is unsuccessful.
15. Is the golden fishing rod the hardest tool to obtain?
No, the golden axe and watering can can be more difficult to obtain. The golden axe requires breaking 100 tools. The golden watering can requires a 5 star island ranking. However, the golden fishing rod is still a difficult tool to acquire.
In conclusion, while the golden fishing rod in Animal Crossing: New Horizons does break, its increased durability and small performance enhancements make it a valuable tool to acquire. Enjoy those fishing sessions!