You spawn at Northern Expedition, run past the camp selling the Avalanche Rod and Pickaxe, and jump up three tiers of stone platforms. At the top stands a wiry guy with a telescope — Meteor Maniac Matthew, the quest marker above his head reading Anomaly Investigation: SPACE CANDY. The name sounds silly. The items behind it are not. This questline ends with the Meteoric Rod, one of the more interesting rods added in the Astral Observatory update.
Why the Meteoric Rod Is Worth the Grind
The Meteoric Rod is not a quick pickup. It sits at the end of two multi-part quests, and the second one asks for items most players don’t keep lying around. So why bother?
Three reasons. First, the Cragged mutation — a 20% chance to roll a 7x value multiplier on a catch. That turns a mid-value fish into real money without needing a rare event. Second, the raw stats. Lure Speed 75% and Luck 175% put it in the upper tier of rods on the best rods tier list, with a 550,000 max Kg that means big fish won’t snap your line early. Third, and most important, the meteor-dodge passive.
Most rods are stat sticks. You cast, you hold the bar, you win. The Meteoric Rod drops meteors onto your minigame every few seconds and dares you to move out of the way. Dodging gives progress. Getting hit costs progress. It turns a passive minigame into a timing challenge, which is rare in Fisch and exactly what makes this rod fun to actually use.
Finding Meteor Maniac Matthew
Head to Northern Expedition. The camp you want is the one selling the Avalanche Rod and the Pickaxe. From there, look up — Matthew is on a three-tier platform stack behind the camp, not on the ground.
Jump the tiers one by one. The platforms are meant to be climbed, so don’t look for a staircase or a teleporter. When you reach the top, Matthew (sometimes called Astral Matthew) stands near the telescope. Talk to him and the first quest pops up: SPACE CANDY.
One note: he only exists on servers running the Astral Observatory update. If you arrive and the platform is empty, you’re likely on an old server. Rejoin.
Quest 1 — Anomaly Investigation: SPACE CANDY
This first quest is a warm-up, but the Cosmic Relic trip-wires more players than it should. Three objectives.
1. Cosmic Relic (x1). Buy or find a Starfall Totem, then use it to trigger a meteor shower. When a meteor lands, a pink beam of light shoots up from the impact point. Walk to the beam and interact with it to pick up the relic. The key is to react fast — the beam marks the exact spot, but if you stand around watching the shower you can lose track of which crater glowed.
2. Moonstone (x1). You have three routes. Your personal aquarium can produce it passively. A Meteor Totem drop can give it. Or the Daily Shop sells it when it’s in stock. The aquarium is the least effort, so check it first before you burn a totem.
3. Solar Blaze OR Nova Frozen Walnut (x1). Fish the Overgrowth Canal with the Cerulean Fang Rod and Starlight Worm bait. The result depends on the event running: an Eclipse gives you Solar Blaze (the Fan of the Eclipse rod gives the best odds, and the Wicked Fang Rod gives a 30% chance), while a Starfall gives the Nova mutation. Check the weather, time, and season guide before you cast so you’re not fishing the wrong window.
Turn the three items in. A cutscene plays and meteors rain down across Northern Expedition. That’s your cue — quest two starts immediately.
Quest 2 — Anomaly Investigation: METEORS GALORE
Four objectives, and this is where the grind actually happens. Go in order; two of these are locked behind events, so plan around them.
1. Break 10 Fallen Meteors. Equip a Pickaxe, then break 10 meteor crash sites scattered around Northern Expedition. They glow with a blue-star light and are visible from a distance. Start from the top of the island and work down — the sites cluster near where the cutscene meteors landed, and working high-to-low means you don’t walk past one you already cleared.
2. Quartz Glass (x1). This is an Exotic fish in the Cryogenic Canal Stone Cavern, a hidden area. Go under the bridge in the Cryogenic Canal and enter the dark portal at the bottom. Use Magnet bait and fish during Foggy weather. It won’t show up otherwise, so don’t camp the cavern in clear weather and wonder why you’re skunked.
3. Solar Blaze Stalactite (x5). Fish with the Wicked Fang Rod and Garbage Bait during an active Eclipse. Most players grind this in Crimson Cave; Tidefall also works. You need five, and the Eclipse window is limited, so have bait and the right rod ready before the event starts. The bait economy guide covers stocking up on Garbage Bait without overspending.
4. Gemstones — Ruby, Amethyst, Opal, Lapis Lazuli, and Moonstone (one each). All five drop from Meteor Totem events on Ancient Isle, and your aquarium generates them passively. Moonstone is the rarest of the five, so treat it as the bottleneck. More on the smart way to fill this below.
Hand everything to Matthew and the Meteoric Rod is yours.
Meteoric Rod Stats and the Meteor-Dodge Passive
The numbers are easy to read. The passive is where the rod earns its keep.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Lure Speed | 75% |
| Luck | 175% |
| Control | 0.05 |
| Resilience | 25% |
| Max Kg | 550,000 |
| Line Distance | 75 m |
| Mutation | Cragged — 20% chance, 7x value |
The meteor-dodge passive works like this: every 4 to 6.5 seconds, a meteor drops onto your minigame, up to five per catch. Each meteor covers roughly 13% of the minigame width. Dodge it and you gain +10% progress. Get hit and you lose -15% progress.
That asymmetry is the whole skill. One dodge is worth almost nothing by itself, but over a long catch with five meteors, dodging all five is a +50% swing while eating all five is -75%. You want to stay just ahead of the drop, not panic-dodge. Watch where the meteor is falling, move out of its column, and settle back into the fish.
Where Players Get Stuck
Most failures on this questline come down to three mistakes.
Breaking meteor sites before equipping the Pickaxe. The quest says “break 10 Fallen Meteors,” so players run out and start clicking. Nothing happens because they never equipped the Pickaxe. The fix is simple: equip it first, then walk the island. A minute of setup saves a lap.
Wasting an Eclipse window in the wrong canal. Solar Blaze Stalactite and Quartz Glass both want specific conditions, and both feel urgent. Players burn a rare Eclipse fishing Overgrowth Canal for Solar Blaze when Solar Blaze Stalactite is the Crimson Cave fish. The cause is not reading the quest text closely. The recovery is to pull up the objective list and match each fish to its spot before the next event.
Burning Starfall Totems with no plan. You fire a totem to get the Cosmic Relic, but you don’t know where the meteor will land, the beam fades, and the relic is gone. Then you fire another, and another. The cause is treating the totem as a slot machine. The fix is to stand on high ground, watch the sky, and sprint the moment the beam appears.
Quick Decision Guide
When a step stalls, here’s what to do instead of guessing.
| If you’re stuck on… | Do this |
|---|---|
| No Cosmic Relic | Use a Starfall Totem, watch for the pink beam, sprint to it immediately |
| No Moonstone | Check your aquarium and the Daily Shop before any totem |
| No Quartz Glass | Go under the Cryogenic Canal bridge, enter the dark portal, use Magnet bait in Foggy weather |
| No Solar Blaze Stalactite | Wicked Fang Rod + Garbage Bait in Crimson Cave during an Eclipse |
| Missing gemstones | Check the Daily Shop and aquarium daily; Moonstone is the rare one, so target it |
| No event running | Check the weather, time, and season guide and wait for Eclipse or Starfall |
A Counter-Intuitive Tip: Aquarium + Daily Shop Beats Totem Gambling
For the gemstone step, most players’ first instinct is to farm Meteor Totems on Ancient Isle until all five drop. That works, but it’s a gamble, and Moonstone’s rarity means you can burn a stack of totems chasing one stone.
The quieter route is better. Your personal aquarium and the Daily Shop both hand out gemstones over time with no RNG chasing. Check them every day, bank whatever drops, and only use Meteor Totems to fill the last gap. It’s slower in real time but almost zero effort, and it saves your totems for a time you actually need a shower. Treat the totems as a top-up, not the primary source.
What’s Still Unconfirmed
A few figures come from player testing rather than patch notes, and they can drift with updates. The meteor spawn window (4 to 6.5 seconds), the 13% minigame width, and the exact +10%/-15% progress values are all community-measured. The gemstone drop odds are also not published; we only know Moonstone is the rarest. Treat these as “as of the Astral Observatory update” and re-test after a patch if the passive feels different.
FAQ
How do I get the Meteoric Rod in Fisch?
Finish both Anomaly Investigation quests from Meteor Maniac Matthew at Northern Expedition. The first quest, SPACE CANDY, asks for a Cosmic Relic, a Moonstone, and either Solar Blaze or a Nova Frozen Walnut. The second, METEORS GALORE, needs 10 broken Fallen Meteors, one Quartz Glass, 5 Solar Blaze Stalactite, and one each of Ruby, Amethyst, Opal, Lapis Lazuli, and Moonstone. Hand everything to Matthew and he gives you the Meteoric Rod. There is no shop price or code for it.
Where is Meteor Maniac Matthew?
He’s at Northern Expedition, on the top tier of a three-tier platform near the camp selling the Avalanche Rod and Pickaxe. Jump the tiers to reach him. He also goes by Astral Matthew and only appears on servers running the Astral Observatory update. If the platform is empty, rejoin a current server.
How do I get a Cosmic Relic?
Use a Starfall Totem to start a meteor shower. When a meteor lands, a pink beam shoots up from the impact point. Walk to the beam and interact to pick up the relic. Each totem triggers one shower, so clear your inventory and stand on high ground before you use it. If the beam doesn’t show, the meteor likely landed elsewhere — try another totem.
How do I catch Solar Blaze Stalactite?
Equip the Wicked Fang Rod with Garbage Bait and fish during an active Eclipse event. Crimson Cave is the most common spot; Tidefall also works. You need five. Wait for the Eclipse rather than fishing outside the window, because the mutation won’t trigger without it. Have bait ready before the event starts so you don’t waste the window.
Is the Meteoric Rod worth it?
For late-game players, yes. It has 75% Lure Speed, 175% Luck, 550,000 max Kg, and a 20% Cragged mutation at 7x value. The dodge passive adds a skill layer most rods lack: dodging a meteor gives +10% progress, getting hit costs -15%. If you like active minigames, the grind is worth it; if you want a set-and-forget rod, look at the rod progression timeline for alternatives.