DAVE THE DIVER (2023, PC / Switch / PlayStation / Xbox)
💡 Tips and beginner guide
Diving fundamentals, restaurant service, equipment selection and quest management. Start with the troubleshooting table for common obstacles.
| Problem | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Deeper dives quickly exhaust oxygen and lose catches | Suit, air and cargo upgrades are lagging, and being overloaded slows movement. Running out of oxygen limits what you can recover. | Balance Diving Suit, Air Cylinder and Cargo Box upgrades in iDiver. If the depth meter turns red, ascend or use an escape pod. Return with a heavy catch instead of overloading further. |
| The harpoon struggles against tough fish and bosses | The starting harpoon has limited damage; sharks and bosses can require more firepower. Weapon progression expands your options. | Collect weapon blueprints from dive chests and have Duff craft guns. Upgrade the harpoon through iDiver using gold. Temporary elemental tips such as Lightning or Poison can help with groups. |
| Cannot defeat Giant Squid | Shots into its body or tentacles do not address the weak point. This is a boss, not a fish to catch. | Target the eye when tentacles uncover it and avoid ink knockback. Choose an available weapon with useful range and damage. A fixed five-to-six-shot count and guaranteed Red Sniper Rifle availability at this encounter are unverified. |
| Cooksta rank will not increase | Promotion combines followers, researched recipes and Best Taste. Sales alone do not meet every requirement. | Serve promptly, pour drinks and replenish wasabi to earn followers. Enhance a dish through up to 10 levels to meet the Best Taste requirement. |
| A new recipe cannot be added to the menu | Unlocking a recipe is separate from researching it | Earn Artisan’s Flame through successful night service, then research the recipe through Bancho Sushi → Research. |
| Missing vegetables, seaweed or rice for valuable dishes | Recipes require seasonings and produce that diving alone does not fully supply | Serve Otto Moray Eel Curry to open the Fish Farm, then use the separate rice/vegetable farms and village seaweed farm as they unlock. They are not all facilities in the village. |
| Not enough gold for equipment upgrades | Selling raw catches can overlook the greater value of prepared dishes | Serving dishes at Bancho Sushi is the main income loop. Gold and Bei are separate currencies; some village purchases require Bei, so plan for both. |
| Cannot find rare creatures such as seadragons | Some appear randomly after mining deposits in particular areas, rather than swimming there on every visit | Check deposits in the relevant zone: Ruby Seadragon is associated with ruby deposits in the Hydrothermal Vents, and Weedy Seadragon with deposits in the Glacial Area. Improve equipment to reach the zone, mine and then look for the creature. |
Plan night trips around the available time
Night diving offers different catches but consumes restaurant-service time. One or two mandatory pre-service dives are unverified. Check the displayed time cost and each fish’s conditions.
Treat oxygen as your survival reserve
Damage reduces oxygen. Do not assume gathering arbitrary items passively restores a separate HP meter. Find actual oxygen supplies or return safely when reserves are low.
Check both depth and oxygen
Stay within the suit’s supported depth and leave enough oxygen for the return trip. Do not treat 100 m as a universal turnaround rule or depth as a substitute for oxygen management; upgrade through iDiver when the current limit blocks progress.
Read each large creature’s actual encounter
Use the pattern and weak point shown by the encounter. Defeating whale sharks as ordinary large fish by targeting fins or heads is unverified; do not apply a boss’s weak point to every species.
Match menu value to ingredients and service
Choose dishes around current prices, ingredients and portions you can serve. Optimization based only on price times seats, ignoring satisfaction, and a lunch/dinner split for normal service are unverified.
Train staff for their assigned roles
Cooking and Serving affect different jobs. Train staff for the bottleneck you actually have, and check Cooksta’s followers, researched recipes and Best Taste requirements rather than assuming a generic customer-star meter directly adds capacity.
Check the drinks currently unlocked
Use the drinks and service options shown by the restaurant. A specific hidden drink and automatic extra-order bonus are unverified and are not assumed in revenue planning.
Start with the weapons actually unlocked
Duff’s initial weapon quest opens the basic rifle; other guns follow blueprint and upgrade requirements. A guaranteed early material route for a particular sniper rifle is unverified. Choose from the current weapon screen.
Prioritize depth and oxygen capacity
Upgrade the suit and oxygen through iDiver to open the area you need, then improve weapons for the threats there. Check each upgrade’s actual cost; do not assume that all diving equipment uses crafting materials.
Check live-capture requirements individually
Live capture with nets or tranquilizing weapons depends on size and equipment level. A tranquilizer being mandatory for every aquarium event is unverified. Read the actual quest and tool conditions.
Keep the main story moving
Main quests unlock regions, recipes and characters. Advancing them opens options, although side requests and their requirements still need individual attention.
Check menu requests early
Regularly read restaurant and VIP requests, checking any displayed deadline. Specific menu-request deadlines remain unchecked; follow each quest’s actual conditions.
▶ What kind of game is DAVE THE DIVER?
MINTROCKET’s June 2023 game combines diving adventure with restaurant management. Catch fish in the Blue Hole by day and run Bancho Sushi at night. Early regions include the Shallows (0–50 m), Medium Depths (50–130 m) and Depths (130–250 m), with further regions later. The retained Steam review snapshot is Overwhelmingly Positive.
▶ How do I improve equipment and weapons?
Upgrade suit, air and cargo through iDiver with gold. Collect blueprints from matching guns in dive chests, then craft and upgrade through Duff: many need three, while Triple Axel and Hush Dart need two. The harpoon uses iDiver gold upgrades. Guns may require both materials and gold; check the actual displayed costs.
▶ How do I defeat Giant Squid?
Giant Squid is a boss, not a catch. Shoot its eye when the tentacles uncover it and avoid ink knockback. Use oxygen and ammunition crates when needed. A fixed 5–6-shot requirement and guaranteed access to Red Sniper Rifle for this encounter were not verified; damage depends on the available weapon.
▶ How do I raise Cooksta rank?
Cooksta progresses Bronze → Silver → Gold → Platinum → Diamond. Requirements combine followers, researched recipes and Best Taste. Enhance individual dishes through up to 10 levels; one dish meeting Best Taste satisfies that requirement without needing to be served. Earn followers through good service.
▶ Why can I not serve a new recipe?
Unlocking a recipe does not immediately make it available. Spend Artisan’s Flame to research it through Bancho Sushi → Research. Successful nighttime service earns the Flame used for research.
▶ Why are there two currencies?
Gold is the main currency earned from fish and restaurant sales. Bei is used in Sea People Village after gaining trust during Chapter 3; some village purchases, including blacksmith items, require it. Plan for both currencies.
▶ What is in the In the Jungle DLC?
The In the Jungle expansion released on June 18, 2026. MINTROCKET describes it as a large, roughly ten-hour expansion set around the jungle village Utara, with real-time activity, new characters, wildlife and ingredients, plus Bancho Grill. A physical Complete Edition for Nintendo Switch 2 and PS5 has also been announced. These are announcement details, not this guide’s hands-on certification.
▶ Which early upgrades should receive my gold?
Prioritize carrying capacity and the air tank. More oxygen and cargo improve earning, exploration and survival on each trip. Complete Duff’s early weaponsmith quest for the first gun, then collect blueprints to expand your options. Invest in dive time, carrying capacity and a means of defense.
▶ How can I earn money efficiently?
Use catches for cooking and sell surplus selectively. Compare dish prices for fish at your depth to use cargo profitably. Suitable live-capture tools help obtain three-star fish and more meat; an extra-ingredient chance is unchecked. Enhancements persist, so consider recipes with steady supplies, such as jellyfish or parrotfish. No species is always best; prepare equipment before deeper dives.