Starcatcher in FTB Evolution 2

Starcatcher is a fishing overhaul. It adds a skill-based fishing mini-game, and your catches are recorded in a catalogue that tracks your best ones. There are 100+ new fish, each restricted by things like biome, weather, daytime and elevation, so some of them are harder to find than they look.^[1]

This pack includes version 3.3.6 of the mod for NeoForge, and it has been in the pack since 1.0.2 or earlier.^[2]

What it adds

• Hooks, bobbers and baits for your rod, plus tackle boxes to store fish and swap rod attachments. For Legendary fish, using the correct attachments matters.^[1]
• Trophies, secret messages and the message-in-a-bottle, which are there to reward progress and exploration.^[1]
• Aquariums and a display block to show off your catches. Fish placed in an aquarium are scaled by their size and weight percentile.^[1]
• Fishing tournaments to challenge your friends, and cosmetics to dress up your rod.^[1]
• A selling bin feature, which the mod page describes as turning your catches into money through wd's Selling Bin, with bigger fish selling better.^[1]

Good to know

For version 3 and above, the mod lists Tide 2 and Create as the mods whose fish are added to the catalogue. Fishing rods from other mods do not work with Starcatcher.^[1][2]

The mod's own guide book does not display recipes, so the mod page recommends using EMI or JEI alongside it. It also has an in-game config menu with accessibility options, such as disabling the mini-game completely or enabling FTB Team catch-sharing.^[1]

Starcatcher adds a fishing mini-game, tackle boxes, baits, trophies and 100+ new fish to catch and record in a catalogue. The mini-game is switched on in this pack (enable_minigame is true), so here is the order I'd go in.^[1][3]

Step one: get the Starcatcher's Rod

You may not even need to craft it. This pack sets give_rod to true, so the first time you fish with a vanilla fishing rod you are awarded the Starcatcher's Rod and the guide.^[3][4]

Starcatcher's RodMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Fishing Rod
• Iron Hook
• Bobber
• String

Recipe id: starcatcher:rod_from_vanilla

If you would rather make the rod yourself, this is the in-pack recipe.

Rod durability is turned off here (enable_rod_durability is false), so you don't have to worry about the rod wearing out.^[3]

Step two: grab the guide

The Starcatcher's Guide is your in-game reference. This pack does not hand it out on joining (give_guide is false), but you get it with the rod as described above, or you can craft it.^[3][4]

Starcatcher's GuideMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Starcatcher's Rod
• Book

Recipe id: starcatcher:starcatcher_guide

Its index has pages such as The Basics, Hooks, Bobbers & Baits, and Tackle Boxes & Rod Attachments. The pack lets you open it with a keybind without holding the item (allow_guide_keybind), and guide help pages are enabled. Entries stay hidden until you have caught that fish (hide_entries_until_found).^[3][5]

Next: make your first rod attachments

Hooks, bobbers and baits are attached to your rod using a Tackle Box. They give modifiers that help in different ways, from decreasing lure time to buffs that reduce difficulty. A good first set is a hook, a bobber and some bait.^[5]

Copper HookMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Copper Block	Empty slot	Empty slot
Copper Ingot	Iron Hook	Copper Ingot
Empty slot	Copper Ingot	Empty slot

Recipe id: starcatcher:copper_hook

BobberMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	any plank	Stick
any plank	any wool	any plank
Stick	any plank	Empty slot

Recipe id: starcatcher:bobber

4× Cherry BaitMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Bone Meal
• Pink Petals

Recipe id: starcatcher:cherry_bait

This recipe makes 4 Cherry Bait at a time.

Tackle boxes also store your fish, hooks, bobbers and baits. The pack's recipes include a Tackle Box Boat for several wood types, starting with the oak one below.^[1][4]

Oak Tackle box BoatMod recipe

Tackle Box Boat (starcatcher)

Recipe id: starcatcher:oak_tackle_box_boat

Step four: try worms as bait

Worms are enabled in this pack (enable_worms is true), which covers bonemealing a block to get them. Each worm gives different fishing modifiers when used as bait. The Almighty Worm is the one that lets you catch fishable entities alive.^[3][5]

Seeking WormMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Almighty Worm
• Almighty Worm
• Almighty Worm
• Almighty Worm

Recipe id: starcatcher:seeking_worm

Starcatcher turns fishing into a skill minigame, and it is switched on in this pack (enable_minigame), so every bite plays out as a fight you have to win. Around it sit tackle boxes, hooks, bobbers, baits and aquariums.^[3][5]

Getting your rod and guide

The first time you fish with a vanilla rod, the pack awards you the Starcatcher rod and the guide. You are not handed the guide just for joining the world, because give_guide is off and give_rod is on. You can also open the guide with a keybind without carrying the Starcatcher's Guide, since allow_guide_keybind is on.^[3][4]

Guide entries stay hidden until you have caught that fish (hide_entries_until_found), and the help pages are enabled (enable_guide_help_pages).^[3]

The bite and the minigame

Each tick the rod has a base chance of 0.005 (out of 1) to fish, set by base_chance. The bobber bobs for at least 100 ticks (base_min_ticks) and at most 300 ticks (base_max_ticks), before modifiers. The pack leaves all of these at the mod defaults.^[3]

Once a fish bites, you have to hit all of its sweetspots to reel it in. Some sweet-spots move and some vanish.^[3][5]

The pack sets every global difficulty multiplier to 1, which is the mod default. These are the knobs you can turn:^[3]

• vanishing_rate_multiplier: how fast vanishing sweet-spots vanish.^[3]
• moving_speed_multiplier: how fast moving sweet-spots move.^[3]
• penalty_multiplier: the penalty for missing.^[3]
• hp_multiplier: the fish's HP.^[3]
• handle_speed_multiplier: the handle speed.^[3]
• decay_multiplier: the fish decay rate.^[3]

The catch and the treasure stay visible during the minigame, since hide_catches and hide_treasures are both off. Rod durability is also off in this pack (enable_rod_durability).^[3]

Tackle boxes and rod attachments

The tackle box stores your fish alongside hooks, bobbers and baits, and it is also where you swap your rod attachments. Attachments give modifiers, from shorter lure time to buffs that reduce the difficulty.^[5]

• The box has an 'infinite slot' for fish, capped at 900 in this pack (max_tackle_box_fish_storage, the mod default).^[3]
• Only items in the #starcatcher:placeable_in_tacle_box tag fit inside, because restrict_tackle_box_to_tag is on.^[3]
• There is also a Tackle Box Boat entity. It comes in several wood types, such as the Acacia Tackle box Boat and the Bamboo Tackle box Raft raft.^[4][5]

Acacia Tackle box BoatMod recipe

Tackle Box Boat (starcatcher)

Recipe id: starcatcher:acacia_tackle_box_boat

One of the nine tackle box boat recipes in the pack.

Some modifiers also come from vanilla sources. The Lure enchantment multiplies both the minimum and maximum bite ticks by 0.95. Luck of the Sea adds a 0.02 chance to spawn a treasure. The Luck status effect multiplies handle speed by 1.25.^[6][7]

Unverified Which items act as hooks, bobbers and baits, and the exact modifier each one gives, is defined in the mod's item modifiers data map. The sources here do not show that file, so check the in-game guide or EMI for the values. This site does hold FTB Evolution 2's own recipes, read from the pack itself: look the item up in the item browser.

Baits, worms and live catches

Worms have different fishing modifiers when used as bait. You get them by bonemealing farmland, which can give a few different items, as long as enable_worms is on (it is in this pack).^[3][5]

Fishing with a bucket as bait lets you catch bucketable fish in a bucket. An Almighty Worm as bait lets you catch fish alive when the entry supports it.^[5]

Several baits are crafted in the pack, including Cherry Bait, Dripstone Bait, Gunpowder Bait and Targeted Bait.^[4]

4× Cherry BaitMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Bone Meal
• Pink Petals

Recipe id: starcatcher:cherry_bait

One of the simple bait recipes in the pack.

16× Targeted BaitMod recipe

Targeted Bait (starcatcher)

Recipe id: starcatcher:targeted_bait

Crafts 16 Targeted Bait at once.

Treasure

Each fish can have its own treasure pool. As an example from this pack, the NauTec 2 silt skipper draws treasure from a NauTec loot table and has a blacklist of items that it will not give.^[8]

Clams and pearls

Clams generate on beaches. Place a clam on sand and it slowly creates pearls. Once the clam has opened, click it to harvest a pearl. The pearl smithing template can rarely drop when you collect pearls from clams.^[5][9]

Aquariums

The Aquarium is where you show off your catches. Fish placed inside are scaled by their size and weight percentile, between 0.5 and 1.5 of normal in this pack (fish_percentile_size_min_scale and fish_percentile_size_max_scale, both mod defaults). Dead fish cannot go in.^[3][5]

AquariumMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

8 × any glass panes

Recipe id: starcatcher:aquarium

What you hold when you use the aquarium decides what happens:^[10]

• An empty bucket removes a fish.^[10]
• A pickaxe builds a cave and a shovel builds a castle.^[10]
• Sand, red sand, gravel, stone, kelp and seagrass can be placed as decoration.^[10]
• A clam or conch can also be placed.^[10]
• A starcaught bucket or starcaught lava bucket places a fish.^[10]

Catalogue, signing and sharing

Sign the guide at the start of the book to bind your collection to it. A signed book shown on a Display block then shows your collection, while an unsigned one shows the collection of whoever looks at it.^[5]

With enable_ftb_team_sharing on, a fish caught by one player unlocks the entry for all online team members. Offline players are not awarded it. save_data_to_items is also on, so size, weight, percentile, rarity and golden values are saved on the fish item.^[3]

Cooking your catch

Starcaught fish can be cooked into Cooked Starcaught Fish in a furnace, a smoker or a campfire. Eating starcaught fish leaves you with fish bones.^[4][5]

Starcatcher adds a lot of fishing gear, and in this pack all of it comes from crafting recipes. The sources here do not give a tier ranking or a set order for working through the gear, so this section groups it by what each item is and shows the in-pack recipes where they matter.^[4]

Rod, hooks and bobbers

The Starcatcher's Rod has a shapeless recipe in the pack, listed as rod_from_vanilla. The block below shows it exactly.^[4]

Starcatcher's RodMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Fishing Rod
• Iron Hook
• Bobber
• String

Recipe id: starcatcher:rod_from_vanilla

The pack's recipe for the Starcatcher's Rod.

• Hooks in the pack: Iron Hook (the Iron Hook), Copper Hook, Exposed Copper Hook, Gold Hook, Amethyst Hook, Echoing Hook, Frozen Hook and Heavy Hook.^[4]
• Bobbers in the pack: Bobber, Clear Bobber, Cloudy Bobber, Dripstone Bobber, Glowing Bobber and Golden Bobber.^[4]
• The Vanilla-flavoured Bobber has its own shapeless recipe, listed as vanilla_bobber_from_vanilla_fishing_rod.^[4]

Iron HookMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Iron Nugget	Empty slot	Empty slot
Iron Ingot	Empty slot	Iron Ingot
Empty slot	Iron Ingot	Empty slot

Recipe id: starcatcher:hook

The Iron Hook recipe.

BobberMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	any plank	Stick
any plank	any wool	any plank
Stick	any plank	Empty slot

Recipe id: starcatcher:bobber

The plain Bobber recipe.

Baits and worms

Baits come in batches. The base batch is 4 for Cherry Bait, Dripstone Bait, Gunpowder Bait, Murkwater Bait, Sculk Bait, Lush Bait and Legendary Bait. Targeted Bait comes in batches of 16, and Meteorological Bait in batches of 32.^[4]

Several baits have extra recipes with different yields. Legendary Bait makes 16 from the legendary fish recipe and 64 from the enchanted golden apple recipe. Meteorological Bait also has an epic fishes recipe that makes 8. Sculk Bait has two recipes that make 16 each, one from a sculk catalyst and one from sculkfish. Lush Bait has a moss carpet recipe that makes 2 and a mossy boot recipe that makes 8. Dripstone Bait has a pointed dripstone recipe that makes 4, and Murkwater Bait has lilypad and mangrove roots recipes that make 4 each.^[4]

64× Legendary BaitMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Bone Meal
• Enchanted Golden Apple

Recipe id: starcatcher:legendary_bait_from_enchanted_golden_apple

The biggest Legendary Bait batch: 64 per craft.

The Seeking Worm, the Almighty Worm and the Fish Radar each have a recipe in the pack, shown below.^[4]

Seeking WormMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Almighty Worm
• Almighty Worm
• Almighty Worm
• Almighty Worm

Recipe id: starcatcher:seeking_worm

The pack's Seeking Worm recipe.

Almighty WormMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Worm
• Worm
• Worm
• Worm

Recipe id: starcatcher:almighty_worm

The pack's Almighty Worm recipe.

Fish RadarMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	Echo Shard	Empty slot
Iron Ingot	any legendary fishe	Iron Ingot
Empty slot	Iron Ingot	Empty slot

Recipe id: starcatcher:fish_radar

The pack's Fish Radar recipe.

Smithing templates

Smithing templates come two at a time in this pack. That covers Clear Tackle Smithing Template, Colorful Tackle Smithing Template, Frog Tackle Smithing Template, Kimbe Tackle Smithing Template and King Tackle Smithing Template. It also covers the skin templates: Humble Skin Smithing Template, Iceborn Skin Smithing Template, Azure Crystal Skin Smithing Template, Bamboo Skin Smithing Template and Bone Skin Smithing Template.^[4]

2× Clear Tackle Smithing TemplateMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Diamond	Clear Tackle Smithing Template	Diamond
Diamond	Glass	Diamond
Diamond	Diamond	Diamond

Recipe id: starcatcher:clear_smithing_template

The Clear Tackle Smithing Template recipe, which makes 2.

Decoration and extras

For decorating there are fish plaques, tackle box boats, the Aquarium, the Starcatcher's Display and Fisherman's Hats in 16 colours. There are also cooked fish recipes: Cooked Starcaught Fish can be made by smelting, smoking or a campfire.^[4]

The Acacia, Bamboo, Birch, Cherry and Dark Oak fish plaques, the aquarium and the display each drop themselves when broken.^{[11][12][13][14][15][16][17]}

The black, blue, brown, cyan, gray, green and light blue Fisherman's Hats drop themselves when broken as well.^{[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]}

The clam and conch blocks also drop themselves when broken.^[25][26]

All of Starcatcher's settings live in one file, config/starcatcher-server.toml. Every numeric option that lists a mod default is left at exactly that default in this pack, so the numbers below are the mod's own balance. What shapes how the pack plays are the on/off switches.^[3]

Starting gear and the guide

• give_rod is true: the first time you fish with a vanilla fishing rod, you are awarded a Starcatcher rod and guide.^[3]
• give_guide is false, so the guide is not handed out just for joining the world or server.^[3]
• allow_guide_keybind is true: you can open the guide with a keybind without carrying the item.^[3]
• enable_guide_help_pages is true, so the guide help pages are visible and accessible.^[3]
• hide_entries_until_found is true: guide entries stay hidden until you have caught that fish.^[3]

Gameplay switches

• enable_minigame is true, so the fishing minigame is on.^[3]
• enable_rod_durability is false, so Starcatcher's fishing rod durability is turned off.^[3]
• enable_worms is true, so you can bonemeal a block to get worms.^[3]
• enable_ftb_team_sharing is true: a fish you catch is unlocked for all online team members. Offline players do not get the entry.^[3]
• save_data_to_items is true, so size, weight, percentile, rarity and golden values are saved on the item for display.^[3]
• hide_catches and hide_treasures are both false, so you can see the catch and the treasure item during the minigame.^[3]

Minigame difficulty

The global difficulty dials are hp_multiplier, decay_multiplier, handle_speed_multiplier, moving_speed_multiplier, penalty_multiplier and vanishing_rate_multiplier. Every one of them is set to 1, the mod default, so the pack does not make fishing easier or harder here. If you want to tune difficulty on your own server, this is the place.^[3]

Bite timing, fish size and the tackle box

• base_chance is 0.005, the mod default. It is the rod weight to fish every tick, out of 1.^[3]
• base_min_ticks is 100 and base_max_ticks is 300, both mod defaults. The first is how long the bobber bobs before a fish can be caught, the second the maximum bobbing time, both excluding modifiers.^[3]
• fish_percentile_size_min_scale is 0.5 and fish_percentile_size_max_scale is 1.5, both mod defaults. They set the smallest and largest fish model scale based on size and weight percentile.^[3]
• max_tackle_box_fish_storage is 900, the mod default: the most fish the tackle box can store in its infinite slot.^[3]
• restrict_tackle_box_to_tag is true, so only items in the #starcatcher:placeable_in_tacle_box tag can be placed inside the tackle box.^[3]

FTB Evolution 2 1.1.0 ships Starcatcher 3.3.6 for NeoForge 26.1.2. The mod has been in the pack since 1.0.2 or earlier.^[2]

Notable mod changes

• 3.3.5: fixed tackle boxes sometimes not dropping when they were destroyed by an explosion. The same build also cleaned up the logs.^[27]

The 3.3.5 notes are the only mod changelog I have here. The pack runs 3.3.6, a later build, so that fix is older than the version you are playing.^[2][27]

Unverified The sources here include no pack changelog entries for Starcatcher, and no changelog for 3.3.6. What changed in that build, and across earlier pack releases, is not shown here.