Cults.
Demons.
People building settlements approximately twelve metres from entrances to Hell.
And now, apparently, fishermen.
A recent Diablo Immortal community discussion has raised eyebrows after players reported seeing groups of strange, clan-less characters standing around fishing spots for hours at a time.
The suspicion?
They may be automated accounts farming tradable gems.
Blizzard has not confirmed that the accounts described by players are bots, so that distinction matters.
But if the reports are accurate, Diablo Immortal's botting economy may have discovered the most peaceful profession imaginable.
Fishing.
A Very Strange Day in Bilefen
The discussion began after a player reported encountering roughly a dozen Adventurers fishing together in Bilefen.
According to the report, the characters had no clans, varied Paragon levels and names that appeared randomly generated.
That alone does not prove automation.
Diablo players are perfectly capable of choosing terrible character names without assistance from software.
But the player said the characters remained at the fishing location for extended periods, leading to speculation that they were supplier accounts gathering items that could eventually be sold through the Marketplace.
Why Would Anyone Bot Fishing?
Because Diablo Immortal fishing can produce more than fish.
The system was introduced back in 2023 as a relaxed, non-combat activity where players could cast a line, complete their Angler's Log and collect rewards.
Fishing has remained part of Diablo Immortal's wider reward ecosystem ever since.
The interesting part of the current discussion concerns Normal Gems.
Players in the forum thread say fishing reward chests have a very small chance of containing an unbound gem.
One commenter puts the fishing limit at only a few additional gems per day and emphasises that the drop chance is extremely low.
Which sounds like an excellent argument against spending your evening doing it.
It sounds considerably less convincing when the fisherman does not need sleep.
Low Odds Matter Differently to Automation
This is the fundamental problem with botting in loot games.
A normal player asks:
“Is this worth my time?”
An automated account asks:
Nothing.
It is software.
If an activity produces something valuable once every several hours, that may be terrible gameplay for a human and perfectly acceptable economics for a system capable of repeating it all day.
That is exactly the argument being made in the Diablo Immortal discussion.
Even if fishing provides only a tiny number of extra tradable gems, those gems become more meaningful when multiplied across many accounts operating for very long periods.
Fishing Was Supposed to Be the Relaxing Part
There is a wonderful irony here.
When Blizzard introduced fishing, the developers described it as an opportunity to add more immersive, world-based experiences without combat.
The idea was essentially:
You have finished improving your character for the day.
You are not ready to log off.
So grab a fishing rod and enjoy Sanctuary for a while.
It was Diablo Immortal's version of taking a quiet walk after spending several hours turning demons into building materials.
If automated farming has genuinely migrated there, even Sanctuary's retirement hobby has now become part of the grind.
There Is Still No Proof These Accounts Were Bots
This is the important caveat.
A group of characters behaving strangely is not the same thing as Blizzard identifying those accounts as automated.
Players can speculate based on names, behaviour and repetition.
Only Blizzard has the information required to establish whether an account is actually using prohibited automation.
There is also disagreement within the community discussion about how economically significant fishing really is.
Some players argue the gem chance is so low that the advantage is marginal.
Others respond that marginal advantages stop being marginal when repeated endlessly across multiple accounts.
Both points can be true.
The War Against Bots Has Reached the Lake
Botting has always been unusually difficult to eliminate from games with player economies.
Remove one profitable farming route and another appears.
Reduce the value of one activity and automation moves somewhere else.
That does not mean Blizzard should ignore suspicious behaviour.
It means the problem tends to behave rather like water.
It finds the next available opening.
And according to Diablo Immortal players, the latest opening may literally contain water.
For now, these remain player reports rather than confirmed bot accounts.
But if Sanctuary's automated workforce really has traded demon slaughter for fishing rods, we have to admire one thing.
At least somebody found a healthier work-life balance.
Sources
Diablo Immortal Forums – Bots Are Now Fishing Instead of Open-World Farming
Blizzard Entertainment – Grab a Rod: Fishing Debuts in Diablo Immortal
