Research Parts : Random/Luck = Not Fun

[timeisanillusion]

I've really enjoyed this game, however the end game with research parts isn't fun. I've collected every fish, completed the game, done all the boat upgrades and I've still got 14 research parts missing....From what I can tell it's just luck for them to spawn when dredging, or I need to keep sleeping and again, luck will decide if the travelling merchant will have one... I have 1000's of $, why not just keep increasing the price so I can fish/sell rather than this game of luck, where I seem to be very unlucky....

[July]

This is honestly my only gripe with the game. You'd think the upgrades would instead be paced out in a way that you got them all long before you were able to finish collecting all the fish with the implication being that upgrades would make the search easier.

[Gecks]

It is cheesy, but you can just dock with the travelling merchant, then repeatedly save and quit then reload to refresh the merchant's shop, checking every reload if a research part is in stock and buying it if it is there.

I do agree that a less chance-based research part gathering mechanic (maybe putting a few dredging sports in dangerous / hidden areas which spawn only research parts?) would have been very welcome, it does kind of become a slog during the endgame if you want to research everything.

[Empty_The_Void]

Have you completed all the side quests? after doing my normal game play, maybe I got really lucky from dredging, I know I always purchased them from the traveling merchant when she had them, but I was only missing 3 and was able to quickly find 2 and buy the final one.

[Aquillion]

Why do you want all of them, though? You don't need to research everything.

You can totally ignore all crab pot research, because the Mouth of the Deep is sufficient to do everything you need.

For fishing lines, you only really need the upgraded Abyssal line and the two individual volcanic and tangle lines.

For engines, you only really need the jet engine.

For nets, you can just make a beeline to the one on the far right for passive income.

There's some other options that might be occasionally useful, but they're unnecessary sidegrades at best. Researching every last thing is unnecessary - I'd reached the point where I was spending research on stuff I'd probably never use by the midpoint of the game.

If you feel you absolutely must research everything for completeness purposes, or if you feel you wasted your research and now want more, you can grind the ones the merchant sells, but the game doesn't really force you to.

The only things you absolutely must research are at least one source of Tangle, Volcanic, and Hadal each (plus, while not strictly necessary, you probably want at least one top-tier engine and at least one top-tier net.) Everything else is an optional sidegrade.

[Dridore]

the first crab pot research that gives 2-3 per day is great for only a cost of 1 early on. even better in addition to mouth of the deep.
and yeah, I would agree with op, the random aspect of research part is annoying
yes you can play around it, but it's annoying

[ChaosLegion]

Have you done the exotic fish side quest for the merchant? It's 2 parts per fish. Either way, if you encounter the merchant selling parts you can just buy > quit > reload > repeat. Quitting to menu and reloading refreshes everything - fishing spots, dredging spots, vendor inventory.

[BoiledTeaBag]

The only research you really need is the rods(don't get the massive rod at the end, just the rod that lets you fish everywhere is needed plus the upgraded ocean winch)
Engines(at least the first big one, then you can stop there and get max revs with that plus a L shape engine and your starter engine.)
And maybe the two specialist nets then others are just extra fluff, I'm actually disappointed even at the lack of a net reward from the shrines, instead of that useless swamp rod reward, it could of been a net that could trawl the strand and volcanic, then we could skip net research.

Nets are meh anyway, only used one when fishing spots got exhausted and needed that fish, and the jellyfish.

Crab pots???? LMFAO crab pot research is a trap, don't bother just get the shrine crab pot and you never need to buy or research crab pots.

If you are a completionist yeah sure its annoying, but in terms of fishing access and general gameplay its not grindy or annoying at all.

[Yuri (The first Cosmonaut)]

Originally posted by HammyBread:

The only research you really need is the rods(don't get the massive rod at the end, just the rod that lets you fish everywhere is needed plus the upgraded ocean winch)
Engines(at least the first big one, then you can stop there and get max revs with that plus a L shape engine and your starter engine.)
And maybe the two specialist nets then others are just extra fluff, I'm actually disappointed even at the lack of a net reward from the shrines, instead of that useless swamp rod reward, it could of been a net that could trawl the strand and volcanic, then we could skip net research.

Nets are meh anyway, only used one when fishing spots got exhausted and needed that fish, and the jellyfish.

Crab pots???? LMFAO crab pot research is a trap, don't bother just get the shrine crab pot and you never need to buy or research crab pots.

If you are a completionist yeah sure its annoying, but in terms of fishing access and general gameplay its not grindy or annoying at all.

It is for the achievements

[Necroscourge]

The trader will only sell so many research parts, it's progress locked. If you find that she stopped selling you parts, you need to progress more in the main quest.

[djduke21]

Not sure if this helps but I notice that there is usually more chances of a research part after I sell her my catch of the day which are crab pots I put as a test in Twisted Strand by the Traveler. I was working on Banisher achievement so was traveling between Steel Point and Rickety Pontoon. It may be based on activity than time passage.

[Moodyman90]

There's nothing saying that you have to unlock all the different research paths in a single play through either. Honestly thinking of doing a new game and skipping crab pots and doing the bare minimum for trawl nets. I finished those out because they where the quickest and easiest to do, but that was also before I knew about the eldritch crab pot and thought I'd need the various different trawl nets for different fish. Turns out other than the jellyfish and anchovies you don't need them.

[Shadowgirl00]

I would suggest explore around, and make sure you've hit all up the little islands. I think some wreckages will have more gears, and certainly some wreckages I think on default when you dredge them will have other things like trinkets or gears. Some quests will too, though I found out recently that the monks are timed events so that's fun to find out.

There's some odd side quests that won't show up in your list of quests. Just odds and ends, like a treasure map in the Stella Basin which does give you a gear.

[wander]

For people like me who like to research everything because it gives us a dopamine hit we can't explain to other people: go to one of the pontoons. Look under the shipyard "miscellaneous." If no research parts there, buy the explosives. Sleep until the next day. Check again. If no research parts, buy more explosives, sleep again. Every three or four days, research parts will appear. You should have enough money on you to buy them $315 each, plus the cost of explosives--a couple of thousand will do. I was able to "farm" research parts this way and get the research achievement.