Black Salt games’Dredgeis an indie fishing game with elements of Lovecraftian horror. Players take to the seas as an indebted fisherman, who must work catching fish and dredging shipwrecks in order to pay back the town that saved him. Not all of these fish, though, are quite…normal.
As game develops, players are able to explore a vast map of differing regions. Each of these regions comes with their own unique catches, characters, and threats. Fortunately, players are granted a range of special abilities to protect them from these threats, some relating to the boat and others of a more supernatural ilk.
10Light
As night sets in, players will notice a thick fog begin to obscure most of the water. With it, many of the scariest creatures in the game start to come out to play. The longer players are engulfed in the fog and encounter these malevolent entities, the more their Panic meter will increase, thereby increasing the frequency with which apparitions, hallucinations and threats will appear.
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Fortunately, players candefend against this with the use of Lights. Lights can be bought and sold at the Shipwright and, when activated, willdisperse the fogand allow for a little bit more ease when exploring at night.
9Foghorn
The Foghorn is perhaps an under-appreciated feature. It is generally perceived as simply giving players some means of making noise and honking with the boat. However, there is also a practical use for this function relating to the Ghost Boat/Angler fish that stalks the night-waters of The Marrows
Honking this Foghorn will sometimesdraw a response from the fog, giving players a rough indication as to the whereabouts of the Ghost Boat.Be warned, however, that if players are in too close of a proximity to this evil hallucination, they may attract the attention of the Angle Fish and draw it towards them unwittingly.
8Spyglass
The Spyglass has long been an essential tool of the traveling seaman. Granting a zoomed vision, the Spyglass inDredgewill help players toidentify areas of Disturbed Water as well as fish types and the locations of shipwrecks and materials.
This item can be particularly useful when looking for specific types of valuable fish, and ensuring that players' inventories as not filled with less valuable fish.
7Trawl Net
The Trawl Net ability will first require Research Parts to unlock, and comes in a varies of types depending upon the type of fish players wish to catch. When deployed, this ability will enable players to catch fish passively as theytravel around the five isles ofDredge’smap.
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It is always wise to ensure that the Trawl Net is only installed and deployed in the right waters. The Researcher in Stellar Bay will require a Trawl Net to be installed in order tocatch the Aurora Jellyfish.
6Crab Pot
Another means of making money inDredgeis the use of the Crab Pot. This valuable ability can be used todeploy pots anywhere on the map and come back to check them at any time.Rather than catching fish, these Crab Pots will catch all manner of Depth creatures, including crabs of several varieties and some other, stranger, creatures as well.
There are several different types of Crab Pot that can be researched and purchased via the Fishmonger. This is worth doing since it can provide one of the boat’s best upgrades.
5Bait
The Bait ability can be unlocked by completing the Pursuits for the Airman in Twisted Strand. To do this, players will need to bring him several combinations of fish, which he will turn into bait and use it to catch and kill the psychedelic Mind Eaters.
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Having done this, players will then be able to revisit the Airman and give him any combination of fish in order to turn into Bait. When deployed, this willattract several random fish from the area to the player’s location,and can be deployed in both Shallow and Oceanic regions alike, as well as all others.
4Haste
The Haste ability is the first Supernatural ability players will gain from The Collector. A mysterious book is used to grant this ability, a book which will become increasingly relevant as players progress toward’s theDredge’s multiple endings.
When activated,Haste will grant players additional movement speed at the expense of Engine Overheating.A small meter is displayed in the lower-left hand side of the screen to show players how close they are tooverheating the boat’s engines. If this limit is filled, the engines may break and any predator following will have a quick and easy meal. This ability is best used sparingly, and only when faced with extremely dire threats.
3Manifest
Perhaps the most puzzling and supernatural of the abilities granted by The Collector, the Manifest ability willimmediately disassemble the ship and teleport players to Blackstone Isle.While this can be extremely useful when faced with extreme danger, it can only be used sparingly due to its lengthy cooldown time.
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For the most part, the game’s predators can be avoided with a good enough engine, but there aresome behemoths stalking the watersthat may call for Manifest to be used in order to escape them.
2Banish
One of the most useful Supernatural abilities players will learn from The Collector is Banish. When used, this willscare off all but the very biggest of hostile threats in the area for a short duration.
Particularly useful against Fire Fish and the pesky Birds that often steal catches, Banish is often the player’s only real recourse against the multitude of external threats.
1Atrophy
The Atrophy ability is a slightly haunting, unnatural ability players can learn from The Collector on Blackstone Isle. When used, it willimmediately harvest anentire shoal of fish,in addition to providing a much-increased chance of catching Aberrations in the water.
However, this ability does have a lengthy cooldown time. The fish caught with it will also suffer from a much more rapid decay and chance of infection than normal.
Dredgeis available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
