Fish It Dorian Quest Guide: Steps and Rewards
The fastest way to finish the Dorian quest line in Fish It is to catch four named trophy fish in a fixed order — Copperfin Minnow, Pale Lanternfish, Siltback Sturgeon, and Dorian’s Ghost Carp — then deliver them to Dorian at the Old Pier before you sell, cook, or trade any of them. The whole chain is gated by a single progression flag (Pier Reputation 3), so if Dorian won’t talk to you, that flag is almost always the reason, not a bug. Budget roughly 45–70 minutes of active play if you know the route, or 2+ hours if you fish blind.
The guide below maps every objective, the catches each one requires, a route that removes most of the backtracking, and what the rewards actually do once you have them.
Quest Requirements Before You Start
Dorian’s quest line does not appear on the map until three things are true. Check them in this order, because each one silently blocks the next.
- Pier Reputation 3. Earned by completing any combination of four delivery jobs for the pier vendors, or by turning in 30 common catches at the dockside bin. Delivery jobs are faster; the bin is the fallback if you dislike timed tasks.
- Rod Tier 2 or better. Not strictly enforced by the quest text, but the Siltback Sturgeon has a line-tension check that Tier 1 rods fail outright. Tier 2 is the practical floor.
- Lure recipe: Bitter Glow. Sold by the pier bait vendor for 850 coins after Pier Reputation 2. You cannot craft it, only buy it.
Per the game’s official patch notes for the update that added the Dorian chain, the quest was designed so that a player who has finished the pier’s introductory jobs never needs to leave the eastern map region. That is a strong hint about the intended route — if you are crossing the whole map, you have missed a shortcut.
Every Dorian Quest Objective, In Order
There are five objectives. The first is a conversation, the next three are catches, and the last is a hand-in. Nothing is optional and nothing can be skipped with a trade from another player, because the quest checks each fish’s tag rather than the fish itself.
| Step | Objective | Fish / action required | Where | Typical time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Speak with Dorian | Dialogue only | Old Pier, east end, 19:00–05:00 in-game | 2 min |
| 2 | Bait the shallows | Copperfin Minnow ×1 | Shallow shelf, 0–2 m depth | 5–10 min |
| 3 | The night run | Pale Lanternfish ×1 | Drop-off wall, night only | 10–20 min |
| 4 | The heavy pull | Siltback Sturgeon ×1 | River mouth silt bed | 15–25 min |
| 5 | Dorian’s catch | Dorian’s Ghost Carp ×1, then hand-in all four | Deep basin, then back to Old Pier | 15–25 min |
Step 1: Finding Dorian
Dorian stands at the far east end of the Old Pier and only spawns between 19:00 and 05:00 in-game time. You can sleep at the pier cabin to skip to evening. If he is absent, you are either there during daylight or below Pier Reputation 3 — there is no third explanation, despite what you may read elsewhere.
Step 2: Copperfin Minnow (shallow shelf)
Cast into water 0–2 m deep along the shelf directly south of the pier and use Bitter Glow. The Copperfin is a common spawn with roughly a 1-in-4 bite rate on that lure in shallow water, so expect a handful of casts. Reason for the specific lure: the shallow shelf also spawns Mud Snapper and Boot Carp, and Bitter Glow is the only lure in the early game that both those species ignore.
Step 3: Pale Lanternfish (night drop-off)
Walk to the drop-off wall northwest of the pier and cast into water marked as 12 m or deeper. The Lanternfish only bites at night, and its spawn is suppressed by daylight regardless of lure. The catch is light — Tier 2 rod handles it with no tension management — but the window is the real constraint, so do this objective first if your in-game clock is already close to 19:00.
Step 4: Siltback Sturgeon (river mouth silt bed)
This is the only genuinely difficult catch in the chain. Cast onto the silt bed where the river meets the sea, keep your line in the 60–75% tension band, and resist the urge to reel while the sturgeon is surging. Reason for the band: below 60% tension the fish spits the hook after roughly four seconds, and above 75% the line snaps on Tier 2 gear. The sturgeon runs three times before tiring; hold position and let it tire rather than chasing it downstream.
Step 5: Dorian’s Ghost Carp and the hand-in
The Ghost Carp lives in the deep basin past the drop-off, in water 18 m or deeper, and it only appears once Steps 2 through 4 are complete — it will not spawn early, so do not waste casts there on spec. Catch it, then return to Dorian at the Old Pier. Hand in all four fish together. Selling any of them early resets the relevant objective, and the fish are untradeable while quest-tagged, so there is no recovery shortcut.
The Efficient Route (No Backtracking)
The four catch locations form a rough loop around the eastern map if you take them in the right order. Taking them in the order listed in the quest log creates two long walks; this order removes both.
- Sleep to 18:30 at the pier cabin. Costs nothing, and puts you at the drop-off right as night begins.
- Drop-off wall — Pale Lanternfish. Night-gated, so clear it first while the clock is on your side.
- Shallow shelf — Copperfin Minnow. Directly on the path back toward the pier; takes five minutes in passing.
- River mouth — Siltback Sturgeon. Continues the loop eastward, so you never re-cross the pier.
- Deep basin — Dorian’s Ghost Carp. Adjacent to the river mouth; the shortest leg of the route.
- Old Pier — hand in. One straight walk west.
Followed in this order, the route is a single loop of roughly 20 minutes of travel. Followed in quest-log order, it is closer to 35 minutes because you cross the shelf and drop-off twice each.
Dorian Quest Rewards and What They’re Worth
The reward package is front-loaded: the coins and the rod are the real value, and the cosmetic is a nice-to-have.
| Reward | What it does | Practical value |
|---|---|---|
| 3,000 coins | Flat payout on hand-in | Covers a Tier 3 rod upgrade roughly a third of the way |
| Tidecaller Rod (Tier 3) | +15% tension tolerance, +1 rare spawn on deep casts | The strongest early-to-mid rod upgrade available without a boss drop |
| Dorian’s Tackle Box | Expands lure storage by 8 slots | Removes the most common inventory annoyance in the mid game |
| Lantern Trinket (cosmetic) | Small glowing lure on the rod tip | No stats, but it doubles as a light source at night |
| Pier Legend achievement | Unlocks the Old Pier fast-travel point | The genuinely best reward — it shortens every future eastern-map trip |
The fast-travel unlock is easy to undervalue on a first read. In practice it saves several minutes per session for the rest of the game, and it is the only way to reach the drop-off wall without a boat.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Casting for the Ghost Carp too early
The basin spawn flag is set only after the sturgeon objective completes. If you are getting common deep-water species instead of the Ghost Carp, you skipped the sturgeon — check your quest log before blaming your lure.
Fishing the Lanternfish in daytime
No lure overrides the night gate. Bitter Glow at noon will not work, and neither will anything sold later. Sleep to evening.
Selling quest fish for coins
Quest-tagged fish sell for their normal value and reset the objective. The 3,000-coin payout is worth more than the four fish combined in every case, so there is no reason to do this on purpose.
Fighting the sturgeon with a Tier 1 rod
The tension band that keeps the hook set is narrower than Tier 1 line can survive. Upgrade first; the 15-minute detour is faster than re-farming the silt bed after three line snaps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why won’t Dorian appear at the Old Pier?
Two reasons, in order of likelihood: you are there outside his 19:00–05:00 spawn window, or your Pier Reputation is below 3. Sleeping at the pier cabin fixes the first. Four vendor delivery jobs or 30 bin turn-ins fix the second. There is no quest-flag bug that produces this symptom.
How long does the whole Dorian quest take?
About 45–70 minutes of active play if you follow the loop route and have a Tier 2 rod and Bitter Glow on hand. Two hours or more is normal for a blind first attempt, mostly because of the night gate on the Pale Lanternfish and the trial-and-error on the sturgeon’s tension band.
Do I need the Bitter Glow lure for every catch?
No. It matters most for the Copperfin Minnow, where it filters out two competing species. For the sturgeon and the Ghost Carp, a standard deep-water lure works fine, and the Lanternfish is gated by time of day rather than by lure choice.
Can I buy or trade the quest fish from another player?
No. Quest-tagged fish are untradeable and the hand-in checks each fish’s tag, not the species. You must catch all four yourself, in progression order.
Is the Tidecaller Rod worth using over later rods?
It is the best available rod in the early-to-mid game and holds up until you can farm a boss-drop rod. Its +15% tension tolerance is the stat that matters, and it makes the sturgeon-style fights noticeably more forgiving on all future catches.
What happens if I complete the quest but sell a reward?
Rewards are not quest-tagged once handed out, so you can sell them freely — but do not sell the Tackle Box or the Tidecaller Rod unless you have clear upgrades, since both are cheap to keep and awkward to reacquire. The achievement and the fast-travel unlock are permanent and cannot be lost.
