Scale the Depths Achievements Guide
Scale the Depths has 25Steam achievements. A handful pop naturally as you learn the loop, eight cover each world’s legendary fish and customer, and the rest are a real 100% grind: catch every fish, perfectly prep every fish, and collect every cosmetic, decal, boat, bait, and shop upgrade. Below is every achievement with an unlock step and rarity, the smartest order to do them in, and fixes for the ones that got reported as bugged at launch.
◇ The fastest 100% route
The single biggest time-saver is tying achievement cleanup to location cleanup. Every time you fully clear one world, you also push progress on Elite Explorer, Master of Bait, Boat Collector, Fashion Fan, Decal Delighter, True Fisherbot, and that world’s two legendary achievements at once. Rushing the story and ignoring messages, artifacts, baits, cosmetics, customers, and perfect prep just builds a long, messy backtrack later.
- Learn the loop. Catch, prep, feed, earn a tip, try a bait, and equip a new boat — that clears the six easy story unlocks plus New Boat! New You!
- Finish the main story across Loch Ness, Huatulco, Outer Banks, and Point Nemo for Crowning Achievement! and the regional legendary fish/customer pairs.
- 100% each world using the full walkthrough: messages, artifacts, treasures, switches, baits, boat items, cosmetics, and legendary fish.
- Fish & prep cleanup. Catch every missing species (including the patch-added rare fish) and perfectly prep each one for True Fisherbot and Prep Expert.
- Customer cleanup. Feed every normal customer, then hunt customer variants for Elusive Customer Entertainer.
- Final shop buyout for Deep Pockets once you know which areas still need money.
Rule of thumb: story progress is not completion. The in-game GPS, CARP Manual, and area records tell you what a world still owes you — trust those over the fact that the next location is already unlocked.
◇ Story & basics
These teach the core loop and unlock almost on their own during your first hours in Loch Ness. None are missable — but Perfection! and the early habits they build matter later for Prep Expert.
| Achievement | Unlock % | How to unlock |
|---|---|---|
| First Catch! | 98.1% | “You caught your first fish! Go prep it at the prep station.” Unlocks automatically the moment you land your first fish in Loch Ness and carry it to the prep station. Nothing to plan for. |
| Perfection! | 97.8% | “Your first perfectly prepped fish!” Perfectly prep any single fish. Use a small early fish, move slowly during scaling, and don't rush the knife — a clean first prep is far easier on a simple fish than on a big one with barnacles or parasites. |
| A Favorite Found! | 97.0% | “Fed a customer their liked fish, check more in the CARP Manual.” Serve any customer a fish they like. Watch the preference hint in the corner and check the CARP Manual so you know who wants what before spending a valuable catch. |
| Tip Obtained! | 89.3% | “A well earned reward for good service.” Earn a tip from a satisfied customer. Serving a liked fish that's been cleanly prepped is the reliable way to trigger a tip early. |
| A Bait and Switch | 65.1% | “Explore the effects of your new bait!” Find a bait and use it so you see its effect. Bait usually comes from exploration and chests rather than plain money-fishing, so poke around each map. |
| New Boat! New You! | 27.0% | “Setting sail on a new beauty!” Select and sail with a new boat. You'll need boat blueprints, which also feed the Boat Collector cleanup later — grab every blueprint you pass. |
| Crowning Achievement! | 13.4% | “Finish the main game!” Beat the main story. This is story completion only — it does NOT require 100% collectibles, so plenty of players unlock this long before the harder cleanup achievements. |
◇ Regional legendary
Two achievements per world: one for catching the legendary fish, one for satisfying its legendary customer. Treat each legendary fish as a route target — open shortcuts, clear nearby collectibles, and upgrade hook and line first, then catch and prep it in a clean run. Full locations are in the legendary fish guide.
| Achievement | Unlock % | How to unlock |
|---|---|---|
| Loch Ness Legendary Fish Caught | 71.7% | “Quite the impressive catch!” Catch Beithir in Loch Ness. It's a deep-water serpent, so upgrade rod distance and hook damage first, go in with empty storage, and keep your hook ahead of its wide arcs instead of chasing from behind. |
| Loch Ness Legendary Customer Satisfied | 82.6% | “Another satisfied customer!” Satisfy the Loch Ness legendary customer (Nessie). Save Beithir for Nessie rather than feeding it to a normal customer. |
| Huatulco Legendary Fish Caught | 29.3% | “Quite the impressive catch!” Catch Hoga in Huatulco. It moves in wider arcs than normal fish — start with enough line, and clear the pressure-plate door route and late collectibles before committing so a bad run doesn't cost extra cleanup. |
| Huatulco Legendary Customer Satisfied | 42.5% | “Another satisfied customer!” Prep the Huatulco legendary-tier fish cleanly and serve the Huatulco legendary customer. |
| Outer Banks Legendary Fish Caught | 19.9% | “Quite the impressive catch!” Catch the Lost Dimetrodon in Outer Banks. It's a moving multi-hit fish — lead its path rather than chasing turns, and clear the Sonar Receiver route and nearby collectibles first. |
| Outer Banks Legendary Customer Satisfied | 24.3% | “Another satisfied customer!” Prep the required Outer Banks legendary fish cleanly, then feed the correct legendary customer. |
| Point Nemo Legendary Fish Caught | 11.0% | “Quite the impressive catch!” Catch Apophis 99942 in Point Nemo. It sits deeper than normal fish and strains your line — open the Yellow Switch shortcut first, and if the line warning builds, back off and reposition instead of forcing the same angle. |
| Point Nemo Legendary Customer Satisfied | 37.5% | “Another satisfied customer!” Bank the nearby collectibles, then catch, prep, and serve Apophis 99942 to the required Point Nemo legendary customer. |
◇ 100% completion (the grind)
This is where the 20–30 hour completion time comes from. Prep Expert and True Fisherbot are the rarest — do not save perfect prep for the very end, and don’t leave a world with blank almanac slots. Use the fish almanac and customer listto track what’s still missing.
| Achievement | Unlock % | How to unlock |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Connoisseur | 35.9% | “Fed every customer in the game.” Feed every customer across all four worlds. Keep feeding even after the next location unlocks — the story can advance before a location's customer count is actually complete. |
| Deep Pockets | 28.2% | “Get every shop upgrade in the game.” Buy every shop upgrade. Treat it as a final buyout: prioritize route-enabling rod/hook/knife upgrades first, then return for the remaining expensive purchases once your location cleanup is stable. |
| Elite Explorer | 27.1% | “Get all the data to be found in every level.” Collect every piece of data in every level — messages, artifacts, treasures, switches, baits, boat items, cosmetics, and legendary fish. Finishing each world's 100% checklist covers this. |
| Boat Collector | 25.4% | “Collect every boat in the game.” Collect every boat. Grab each boat blueprint during area cleanup instead of focusing only on legendary fish. |
| True Fisherbot | 25.2% | “Caught every fish in the game.” Catch every fish species. Don't leave an area with fish silhouettes still blank in the almanac, and note that patches added extra rare fish (see the bugged section) that block this if you completed the game earlier. |
| Prep Expert | 24.7% | “Scale every fish in the game perfectly.” Perfectly prep every fish species — the hardest cleanup achievement. Perfect each new species as soon as you catch it, slow down on scale removal and parasites, and upgrade knives before perfecting larger fish. See the bugged section for the known tracking issue. |
| Master of Bait | 24.3% | “Obtain every bait in the game.” Obtain every bait. Track bait pickups inside each world's 100% route rather than trying to remember them at the end. |
| Elusive Customer Entertainer | 23.9% | “Find and feed every customer variant in the game.” Find and feed every customer variant (alternate/special versions of customers). Treat this as late cleanup after your normal customer counts are done, then cycle customers again and watch for variant appearances. |
| Decal Delighter | 24.1% | “Get every decal in the game.” Get every boat decal. Don't skip decal pickups while hunting artifacts, baits, and messages — they're easy to overlook. |
| Fashion Fan | 23.4% | “Get every character cosmetic in the game.” Get every character cosmetic. Cosmetics look optional but block 100% — pick them all up, and note the commonly-missed Outer Banks pirate shirt (see bugged section). |
⚠ Bugged achievements & how to fix them
Several achievements were reported as bugged when the full game launched. After multiple patches, the community consensus on r/steamachievements is that all of them are now obtainable — most of the remaining trouble is patch-added rare fish or one commonly-missed cosmetic rather than a true code bug. Here is what players actually ran into and the fixes that worked.
Prep Expert
Symptom — Players report perfectly prepping every fish — sometimes several times over — without the achievement firing. It was one of the achievements widely reported as bugged at launch.
Fix — There have been several patches since release, and the community consensus is that everything is now obtainable. If it still won't unlock: make sure you've caught AND perfectly prepped the rare fish added by patch (the Red Herring in Loch Ness and the hidden Point Nemo fish) — those species also need a perfect prep, and missing one silently blocks the achievement. Verify against the in-game almanac / CARP Manual rather than memory. [Steam Discussions — Single Missing Fish]
True Fisherbot
Symptom — Players who caught "every" fish before an update found new blank silhouettes in the almanac and the achievement not unlocking, because patches added extra ultra-rare fish.
Fix — Catch the two patch-added rare fish: the Red Herring, which spawns very rarely mid-lake in Loch Ness (several players report it appears more reliably around serving the Selkie customer, though this isn't fully confirmed), and the tiny hidden fish in Point Nemo, found in a secret tunnel by the trash circle on the right side, just under where the Point Nemo legendary fish spawns. [Steam Discussions — Single Missing Fish]
Fashion Fan
Symptom — Players buy every cosmetic in every shop and still sit one cosmetic short, because some cosmetic chests don't trigger the treasure compass and are easy to walk past.
Fix — The most commonly-missed cosmetic is the pirate shirt: it's in a chest inside the sunken ship with the chain attached on the right side of the Outer Banks map. Some cosmetic chests won't ping your compass, so open every chest even when the compass is silent. [Steam Discussions — The problem with achievements]
? Frequently asked
How many achievements does Scale the Depths have?
Scale the Depths has 25 official Steam achievements worth 5,371 points. They break down into easy story-and-basics unlocks, eight regional legendary fish and customer achievements, and the hard 100%-completion cleanup set (catch every fish, perfectly prep every fish, every cosmetic, decal, boat, bait, and shop upgrade).
How long does it take to 100% Scale the Depths?
The main story runs roughly 8–12 hours. A full achievement 100% is closer to 20–30 hours depending on how carefully you track collectibles per world. The fastest recorded completion on SteamHunters is about 6h 24m, with a median around 11 hours.
What are the rarest achievements in Scale the Depths?
By community unlock rate, the hardest are the pure 100% cleanup achievements: Prep Expert (perfectly prep every fish), True Fisherbot (catch every fish), Fashion Fan (every cosmetic), Decal Delighter (every decal), and Elusive Customer Entertainer (every customer variant). Deep Pockets, Elite Explorer, Master of Bait, and Boat Collector round out the grind.
Are any Scale the Depths achievements bugged?
Several were reported bugged at launch — most notably Prep Expert, True Fisherbot, and Fashion Fan. After several patches the community consensus on r/steamachievements is that all of them are now obtainable. Most remaining "bugs" are actually patch-added rare fish (the Red Herring and a hidden Point Nemo fish) or a missable cosmetic that some players simply hadn't collected yet.
Are any achievements missable in Scale the Depths?
No achievement is permanently missable — you can freely return to every world after the story to clean up fish, cosmetics, baits, decals, boats, and customers. The catch is that finishing the story does not equal 100%, so plan a dedicated cleanup pass per world instead of assuming the credits mean you're done.
Do I need the legendary fish for 100%?
Yes. Each of the four worlds has two legendary achievements — one for catching that world's legendary fish (Beithir, Hoga, Lost Dimetrodon, Apophis 99942) and one for satisfying its legendary customer. Save each legendary fish for its matching legendary customer rather than feeding it to a normal one.
⌬ Sources
- SteamHunters — Scale the Depths achievements — Full 25-achievement list with verbatim names, descriptions, and community unlock rates.
- Steam store page (Scale the Depths) — Confirms the game ships 25 official Steam Achievements + Steam Cloud.
- Whisper of the House — Scale the Depths Achievements Guide — 100% route order, per-achievement cleanup tips, and legendary fish/customer handling.
- Steam Discussions — "The problem with achievements" — Player reports on Prep Expert / cosmetic tracking bugs and the missing pirate-shirt cosmetic in Outer Banks.
- Steam Discussions — "Single Missing Fish" — Confirms the Red Herring / hidden Point Nemo fish added by patch that block True Fisherbot, plus Prep Expert bug reports.
- r/steamachievements — Scale the Depths thread — Community consensus that several achievements were bugged on release and have since been patched to be obtainable.