Six Things I Wish I Knew Before Playing DREDGE

After being tempted by my co-worker's excitement over one of the latest indie titles that rocked the boat, I have finally caved and bought DREDGE, the cosmic horror fishing adventure. While I haven't quite got to the ending yet (I'm close, though!), I have amassed some knowledge I'd love to share with anyone considering starting their journey — tips, tricks, and answers to questions you might have! Of course, don't forget to check out DREDGE's review and tips and tricks for even more information!

1 — What Are Trophy Fish For?

This was one of the first questions I had during my playthrough, as I wasn't sure if the trophy was just a new record or if it meant you could do something with the fish, like hang it somewhere (don't judge me; I play a lot of decoration games). I'm here to ease your mind — when you catch a Trophy Fish, it's just to sell it for more! There's no special or hidden feature you can use in the future. 

2 — What Are Aberrated Fish For?

After playing games for decades, I've become suspicious about throwing things away too early. Just as with the Trophy Fish, I thought perhaps the aberrated ones would work for something important — such as crafting — but, just as the ones above, they're just for selling. Of course, completionist fans and collectors will still have a reason to get these (and the above) for more than just some in-game bucks!

3 — How Do I Get Research Parts and What Are They For?

If, unlike me, you paid attention at the beginning of your journey, you'll know that Research Parts are used to uncover new equipment for your vessel, such as new rods and engines. You can do this by docking and checking in the menu (where you can find "sleep" and "undock" in)! But if you're wondering where you get them, well, thankfully, here are plenty of ways to. If you need some, you can find them by Dredging, as a Pursuit reward, exploring, exchanging them for dog tags, and buying them from the Travelling Merchant! 

Quick tip: I'd like to mention here that leaving markers around the map goes a long way! If you place reminders of where you've seen Dredging areas or interesting fishing spots, you'll thank yourself later! 

4 — What Are the Abilities and Their Downsides?

One of the things I didn't expect to find in DREDGE was abilities. When I got the first one — which allows you to suddenly boost your speed — I was absolutely terrified of using it! The NPC makes sure to let you know that whenever you use Haste, you'll increase your panic and break your engines. This meant I didn't use it almost at all for a good chunk of the game until I found out they only break your engines if you get to the maximum. So, in order to help you ease your anxiety, these are the abilities available and what their downsides are (beware, spoilers below! Skip to the next point if you'd like to find out yourself):

Haste — as I mentioned above, this ability will simply boost your speed! I'd recommend using it intelligently, as the meter that comes with it goes down relatively slowly, and if it fills up, you'll run the risk of breaking your engine.

Manifest — another ability I was too scared to use too freely! This one is great to deploy when you're in a sticky situation, such as it happened to me when I broke my engines while looking for a way into the Pale Reach DLC! Manifest has a cooldown, but it will teleport you to the safety of Blackstone Isle. 

Banish — probably my favourite ability, Banish allows you to create a safe zone around yourself that eliminates any threats. This works as a tool against anything from birds to terrifying, monstrous beasts lurking underneath! It'll only work for a short time, and it has a cooldown, so be especially sure when you want to use this one. But again, no downsides to using it often!

Atrophy — this skill is going to be a favourite amongst those who need money quickly or aren't a big fan of long fishing journeys, as with one click, you'll be able to harvest an entire shoal of fish! Of course, this comes with a price, as they'll decay much faster and have an increased risk of infection... but on the other hand, it increases the chance of Aberrated Fish, so I say go for it! 

As you might have been able to tell, The Collector's warnings are just fear-mongering! The only real downsides are just cooldowns and Haste's danger to the engines. Otherwise, you're free to use them without fear!

5 — What Does the Foghorn Do?

As someone who is both a coward and a newcomer to anything nautical, I had no idea what the foghorn did; the only thing I could surmise through logic was that it would be loud, and I didn't ever want to risk it. It turns out that it does have a use outside of making a cool boat sound — as it'll make it easier to find the whereabouts of the Ghost Boat! But my fears were right, too — if any scary dangers are lurking nearby, you'll also get their attention, so make sure you're ready to Haste out of there if you use the foghorn.

6 — What Does Panic Do?

I'M NOT PANICKING!! YOU ARE!!

Another mechanic I failed to understand from the beginning was Panic. As you go throughout your journey, you'll increase the Panic meter, which you can tell from the eye at the top of the screen. As long as you don't go out during terrifying hours, encounter monsters, or go too many days without sleeping, it will remain low and manageable. If you haven't been able to tell by my article already, as a person, my Panic meter is very high in real life, so I never really pushed the boundaries too much. I'd go to sleep at night time, and if I had to go fishing in the dark, I'd make sure to rest before... and I also had the biggest lights available as early on as I could! This caused me never to encounter some of the side effects of high Panic, which are:

• Obelisks become active. 
• You'll find birds during the day (which steal your fish; you can fight them off with the foghorn or the Banish ability).
• Invisible rocks appear.
• Image distortions.
• Aberrations and monsters will attack the boat (such as the Aberrant waterspout and the Night Anglers, which I never encountered).
• Weird things will happen depending on where you are; for example, you'll get attacked by a gigantic octopus if you're in the open ocean.
• Phantom islands will appear (you unfortunately can't dock in these).

That's it for some of the tidbits I've gathered during my 12-hour run of DREDGE so far! If you have any more questions, feel free to post them below! Have fun and good luck in the waters.