Ultimate Fishing Simulator Experience Guide

A look at the experience required per level and some analysis regarding achievement hunting, top gear, and max level.

Introduction

Greetings, anglers! I wasn’t able to find this information anywhere, so I gathered it by jotting down data after most levels & asking around for those I either missed or haven’t reached yet. Have added some analysis, in terms of what this means for end-game gear, achievement hunting, and attaining the maximum level.

What can I say? I’m a numbers guy.

First, the raw data.

Experience Table

Level	XP Needed
2	100
3	250
4	470
5	800
6	1,290
7	2,010
8	3,060
9	4,590
10	6,810
11	10,010
12	14,600
13	21,150
14	30,450
15	43,590
16	62,060
17	87,890
18	123,830
19	173,590
20	242,130
21	336,070
22	464,180
23	638,010
24	872,700
25	1,187,980

It isn’t all that clear from this, but there’s a really nasty curve in there. Have a look.

Experience Graph

Oooooh, OK. Notice how levels 1-10 are practically nothing compared to 15-25? Notice how once you get to 20, you’ve gotta do what you just did four more times to get to 25? Very steep curve here, there is pretty hard grinding in the upper levels.

What does this mean for goal-seeking?

Achieves. Top Gear, and Max Level

Of the 125 achievements available in this game, there’s only one that’s really hard, and one that’s about ten times as hard as that. The rest either happen automatically (lower levels, lower fish count), or involve catching a certain species of fish (like – all of them).

The really hard one is “Expert” (reach level 20). And the one that’s way, way, way worse than that one is “Fish Basket XL” (catch 10,000 fish). Ten thousand. One hundred fish per day for one hundred days, for example. Over three months.

So if you’re hoping to collect all 125 achievements, that ten grand things is the anchor around which all other plans are made. You’ll need to catch fish fast and it’s probably a good idea to target the smallest fish that will get the job done, to minimize both bite and fight times.

Making level 20 by catching 10,000 fish requires 24.2 experience points per catch. After the three skill upgrades to experience earned, and assuming the overwhelming majority of your catches are released, this is a bit less than a 1.3 kg fish.

The next interesting milestone is level 21 because, at this point, all equipment is available for purchase. The only reason to progress beyond this is the increase in the average size of fish spawns (which is tied to player level). 10,000 catches get you to level 21 if you average 33.6 XP per fish. This is 28 XP plus the released bonus, which is about a 1.7 kg fish.

Finally, there’s level 25. Although the curve on that graph up there looks pretty daunting, it’s not all that bad if you’re crazy enough to catch 10,000 fish. An average of 118.8 XP each, or 99 plus the released bonus, will get you there. That’s a bit bigger than a 5 kg catch.

Thankfully, all of these are pretty small fry. Regular play is likely best on Lake Betty, with its small area and tightly packed groups. At my level (20), I’m using a Dakino QRT spoon (loved by many a trout) and varying hook size from #3/0 to #7/0, though I tend to stay at the low end of that for speed.

But there’s no need to limit yourself to the starter lake. Every map, save the open ocean variants of Pinas Bay and Greenland, has plenty of quick-to-catch small fish. You’re going to have to visit them all anyway since each species must be caught, and you’ll probably come up with a favorite location or two.