Dave the Diver's gear comes from two shops that work very differently. The iDiver app on your phone sells permanent upgrades for gold: air, carrying capacity, depth and harpoon damage. Duff's Weapon Shop builds permanent guns from materials you bring up. Everything else you pick up underwater, from baseball bats to flame harpoon tips, breaks the moment you leave the water.
This guide covers what to buy first and what it costs, every harpoon level, the main gun families and how they upgrade, melee weapons, why the net gun and tranquilizer matter more than raw damage for your sushi bar, what each depth zone needs, and the best loadout for each stage. Prices and stats come from the Dave the Diver Wiki's equipment and weapon data; updates can change balance, so treat exact numbers as a guide.
The short answer: what to upgrade first
| Priority | Upgrade | Cost | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Air Tank Lv2–4 (iDiver) | 65 + 135 + 400 gold | 90 bar becomes 180. Air is your time underwater and your buffer against hits |
| 1 | Cargo Box Lv2–4 (iDiver) | 55 + 110 + 325 gold | 9 kg becomes 28 kg normal load, so each dive brings back about three times as much |
| 2 | Basic Underwater Rifle (Duff) | 1 Rope + 1 Scrap Iron | 15 damage, 8 rounds and permanent. Your answer to sharks from day 2 |
| 2 | Steel Harpoon Gun (iDiver) | 300 gold | Harpoon damage goes from 3 to 10 |
| 3 | Small Net Gun or Hush Dart (Duff) | Blueprint + 100 or 50 gold and materials | Catches fish alive for three-star grade and more sushi per fish |
| 4 | Diving Suit depth (iDiver) | 225 / 1,000 / 2,000 / 3,500 gold | Buy each level when a mission sends you deeper, not before |
| 5 | Harpoon Lv3–6 (iDiver) | 700 / 1,500 / 4,500 / 9,700 gold | Worth it once tougher fish are your main income |
| Late | Dive Knife Lv2–3 (iDiver) | 3,000 / 7,200 gold | Only available from Chapter 6. Adds damage and lets you mine better ore without a Pickaxe |
The old advice to "stack armor before going deep" does not apply: there is no armor to buy, only a few charms that reduce damage. What keeps you alive is the Air Tank, because taking hits costs air. Depth itself is a hard limit set by the Diving Suit.
iDiver upgrades: full price table
The iDiver app arrives from Dr. Bacon at the start of Chapter 1, together with a free suit upgrade to 80 m. Not every level is on sale from the start: some open with story progress, and reaching the Glacial Area adds new ones.
| Level | Air Tank | Cargo Box (normal / max) | Diving Suit (depth) | Harpoon Gun (damage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 90 bar — free | 9 / 13 kg — free | 40 m — free | Old — 3 |
| 2 | 115 bar — 65 | 13 / 19 kg — 55 | 80 m — free (Dr. Bacon) | Steel — 10, 300 |
| 3 | 145 bar — 135 | 19 / 28 kg — 110 | 150 m — 225 | Pump — 17, 700 |
| 4 | 180 bar — 400 | 28 / 41 kg — 325 | 230 m — 1,000 | Shark — 24, 1,500 |
| 5 | 220 bar — 750 | 42 / 56 kg — 675 | 375 m — 2,000 | Dragonbite — 32, 4,500 |
| 6 | 265 bar — 1,500 | 63 / 78 kg — 1,375 | 540 m — 3,500 | Super Alloy — 40, 9,700 |
| 7 | 315 bar — 3,000 | 94 / 109 kg — 2,750 | Cold-resistant suit: 560 m (free, Chapter 6) | — |
| 8 | 370 bar — 6,000 | 125 / 136 kg — 5,500 | Cold-resistant Lv2: 800 m — 6,600 | — |
| 9 | 425 bar — 11,300 | 155 / 166 kg — 9,950 | — | — |
| 10 | 480 bar — 17,000 | 185 / 196 kg — 15,500 | — | — |
Maxing costs about 40,150 gold for the Air Tank (to level 10), 36,240 for the Cargo Box, 6,725 for the suit and 16,700 for the harpoon, while air and cargo levels 2 to 4 together cost less than the Shark Harpoon Gun. The level 6 suit also makes Dave less visible to fish.
Two more iDiver items appear later. The Salvage Drone, which hauls large fish to the surface, unlocks on the afternoon you receive the Tuna Party invitation; extra uses per dive cost 6,300 (2 uses) and 12,800 (3 uses). The Dive Knife upgrades (10 damage for 3,000, 17 damage for 7,200) open in Chapter 6 after Dr. Bacon gets new material from the Sea Blue base.
Harpoon Gun and harpoon tips
The harpoon has unlimited shots and range 8 at every level. Its job is to pull fish in, and higher damage means fewer shots and shorter struggles with large fish. The levels are Old (3), Steel (10), Pump (17), Shark (24), Dragonbite (32) and Super Alloy (40). If you own the In the Jungle DLC, its story adds the Jungle Harpoon Gun (50 damage, paid in the DLC's own currency) and a Blue Harpoon Gun (55).
Harpoon tips are temporary. They come only from Weapon Crates in the Blue Hole and are lost at the end of the dive. Hard fish trigger a short minigame (button mashing for the basic and Enhanced tips, other inputs for elemental ones), and time pauses while you do it.
| Tip | Effect (level 1 → 4) | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| Enhanced | +4 to +16 harpoon damage | Simply more damage on everything |
| Lightning | +4 to +10 damage, 50–80% chained to a nearby fish (up to 4 times) | Schools of fish |
| Poison | +3 to +13 damage plus damage over 8 s | Large fish that flee |
| Shock | 60–75% chance to paralyze for 10 s and slow | Aggressive fish |
| Ice | 30% chance to freeze; frozen targets take extra damage | Burst on big targets |
| Flame | Extra fire damage on hit | Large fish |
| Tranquilizer | No damage; captures at the highest grade, 40–55% chance of instant sleep | Sushi fish you want three-star |
Guns: Duff's Weapon Shop
On the afternoon of day 2, Cobra puts you in touch with Duff, who explains that anything not made from Blue Hole materials breaks down when it leaves the water. Bring him one Rope and one Scrap Iron (sub mission Weaponsmith Duff) and you get the Weapon Shop app. Weapon Crates also start appearing in the Blue Hole from then on.
How the shop works:
- Blueprints. Except the Basic Underwater Rifle, every gun needs a blueprint. You get it by picking up that gun from crates on enough dives (two or three, depending on the gun).
- Upgrades and elements open with the Chapter 2 main mission Speak with the Sea People, when Duff calls to say he can modify guns. Each upgrade consumes the previous gun plus materials, Fragments and gold.
- Fragments come from the floor of the Blue Hole and from dismantling crate weapons and tips (hold interact on one underwater; you get its level + 1). Later, Duwa in the Sea People Village sells them for 2 Bei. All upgrades and variants together need 1,840.
- Swapping guns is done at the storage box on the boat. You carry one gun per dive.
- In-dive levels. A Gun Enhancement Kit from a crate raises your current gun's level (up to 5) and refills its ammo. An Ammo Box refills ammo. Cobra sometimes sells both.
The main gun families
| Gun | Base stats (dmg / range / mag) | Blueprint and craft | Upgrade path |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Underwater Rifle | 15 / 5 / 8 | No blueprint. 1 Scrap Iron, 1 Rope | Rifle II (35) → Rifle III (55) → Death Rifle (80, 30% instant kill) |
| Red Sniper Rifle | 32 / 20 / 3 | 3 pickups. 1 Glass, 2 Scrap Iron, 3 Iron Ore, 50 gold | II (47) → III (67) → Death Sniper Rifle (92, 30% instant kill) |
| Triple Axel (shotgun) | 12–36 / 3 / 6 | 2 pickups. 2 Wood, 2 Rope, 3 Copper Ore, 50 gold | Quattro Axel I and II → Penta Axel (22–110) |
| Small Net Gun | No damage, catches up to 7 fish | 3 pickups. 4 Rope, 2 Scrap Iron, 100 gold | Medium → Large → Steel Net Gun (up to 15 fish at top level) |
| Hush Dart (tranquilizer) | No damage, fish sleep after 8 s | 2 Red Starfish, 2 Orange Starfish, 3 Copper Ore, 50 gold | Enhanced I → Enhanced II → Modified Hush Dart (sleep in 0.1 s; large fish with two shots) |
| Grenade Launcher | 30 / 10 / 6 | 3 pickups. 3 Iron Ore, 3 Lead Ore, 100 gold | II (42) → III (60) |
| Sticky Bomb Gun | 30 / 7 / 6 | Crates in the Glacial Area or Hydrothermal Vents only | II (45) → III (60) |
| Ice Gun | No damage; 6 hits freeze for 10 s and deal 80 | 1 Ice Diamond, 3 Aquamarine, 500 gold | Enhanced → Ultra Ice Gun (3 hits, 170) |
Instant-kill chances on the Death Rifle and Death Sniper Rifle do not apply to bosses. For boss fights, see the Boss and Creature Guide.
Elemental versions
The rifle, sniper and Triple Axel each branch into elemental versions built from the base gun, three creature parts, 15 Fragments and 150 to 300 gold. The one worth making first is the Tranquilizer Rifle (3 Cuttlefish Skin Fragments, 200 gold: 30 damage and a 40% chance of instant sleep), or the Tranquilizer Mosin-Nagant on the sniper (40 damage, 50%). Tranquilized creatures are high grade. The others are Shock (60% chance to paralyze for 10 s), Flame (extra fire damage, from Whitetip Reefshark Teeth), Poison (damage over 8 s) and Lightning (chains to nearby fish); Lightning and Shock later combine into Thunderbolt versions. The top tier of each line needs a late-game part such as an Opal Tube, Divine Tree Fruit Fragment or Lava Disc plus 5,500 gold.
Melee weapons
The Dive Knife (3 damage) is your permanent melee weapon. Everything else is found in yellow supply crates, cannot be crafted, and breaks when you surface. Picking one up does not throw the knife away: drop the found weapon from the menu and you have the knife back.
| Weapon | Damage | Why pick it up |
|---|---|---|
| Sharp Japanese Sword | 10 (32 charged) | Strong charged hit |
| Shovel | 16 | Downward strike, mostly for Spider Crabs |
| Pickaxe | 3 | Mines higher-grade ore and doubles copper, lead and iron. Found from the Depths onward |
| Shock Bangstick | 5 | Paralysis for 10 s and slow |
| Hero's Bat | 8 (25 charged) | Always paralyzes for 10 s |
| Mjölnir | 20 (30 charged) | Chains to nearby targets. A random spawn in the Glacial Area |
Melee is mostly for slow fish and Spider Crabs. The real upgrade is the Dive Knife in Chapter 6, which also makes the Pickaxe unnecessary.
Kill or catch alive: fish grade decides your sushi
How you catch a fish sets its star grade, and the grade decides how many ingredients it gives:
- One star: the fish is dead.
- Two stars: caught alive with the harpoon.
- Three stars: caught alive without the harpoon, which normally means a net or a tranquilizer. Bug-net catches such as seahorses are always three-star.
| Fish | Weight | ★ ingredients | ★★ | ★★★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Tang | 0.5 kg | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Redtoothed Triggerfish | 1 kg | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Atlantic Mackerel | 3.5 kg | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Blobfish | 7.5 kg | 1 | 3 | 5 |
The weight in your Cargo Box is the same whatever the grade, so a three-star catch means three to five times the ingredients per kilogram carried. Since recipe enhancement eats ingredients (23 pieces to take a one-fish recipe to level 5), this is the cheapest way to grow income. The Sushi Restaurant Guide shows which recipes to feed.
-
1
Small fish in schools: Net Gun
The net takes about a second to close and holds up to 7 fish at base (more with upgrades). Fire it into a school and collect several three-star fish at once. Large creatures break it, and even the Steel Net Gun cannot hold big sharks or Dunkleosteus.
-
2
Single medium fish: Hush Dart or Tranquilizer Rifle
Sleeping fish can simply be picked up. The Hush Dart works on most creatures; some heavily armored crustaceans resist darts but can be knocked out by other weapons with a sleep chance.
-
3
Large fish: Salvage Drone
Sharks and rays cannot be picked up even asleep. Before the Modified Hush Dart they also wake after about 6 seconds. A large fish sent up alive by the drone is three-star; dead and drone-collected or cut up with the knife is two-star.
-
4
Kill when it is fighting you
Aggressive sharks cost you air with every hit. If you need only one of that fish, or it is a threat, kill it and move on.
Depth zones and what each needs
The Blue Hole is randomly generated on every dive, though the Depths keep roughly the same paths. Your Diving Suit sets the hard depth limit.
| Zone | Depth | Opens | What your gear needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shallows | 0–50 m | Start | Starting suit. Whitetip Reef Sharks appear after Weaponsmith Duff, so get the rifle |
| Medium Depth | 50–130 m | Chapter 1 | Suit Lv3 (150 m). The deepest zone you can dive at night |
| Depths | 130–250 m | Chapter 2 (Deep Sea Headlamp) | Suit Lv4 (230 m) for the upper part, Lv5 (375 m) for the bottom. No night dives |
| Glacier Passage | Not listed in game | Chapter 5, via the Sea People Village | Reached through the village only. Home to the Giant Gadon |
| Glacial Area | Not listed in game | Chapter 6 (Explore the Glacial Area) | Cold-resistant Diving Suit (free on arrival). Dive Knife upgrades open here |
| Hydrothermal Vents | Not listed in game | End of Chapter 6 | Under the Glacial Area. Sticky Bomb Gun blueprints drop here and in the Glacial Area |
The game does not give depths for the last three areas. The wiki notes that the Fish Farm lists them at roughly 420 m (Glacier Passage) and 540 m (Glacial Area), so the Lv6 suit (540 m) is the natural target before Chapter 5.
Best loadout by stage
The Drain Gun from the free DREDGE update restores air as it deals damage, but costs 5,000 gold once you find its blueprint at an aberrant-fish spot.
Common mistakes
- Buying suit depth early. The 1,000-gold Lv4 suit does nothing until a mission goes below 150 m. Air and cargo help every dive.
- Expecting crate weapons to stay. Guns, melee weapons and harpoon tips from crates all break at the surface. Get the permanent version from Duff.
- Killing every fish you plan to serve. A dead fish gives as little as a fifth of the ingredients of a three-star one in the same cargo weight.
- Tranquilizing sharks with the base Hush Dart. They cannot be picked up and wake up after about 6 seconds. Use the drone or kill them.
- Netting big fish. The net breaks on large creatures. Save nets for schools.
- Ignoring spare crate guns. From Chapter 2, dismantle them for Fragments; the full upgrade tree needs 1,840.
- Counting on instant kills against bosses. The Death rifles' instant-kill chance does not work on bosses.
- Diving deep at night. The Medium Depth is as far as night dives go.
Related guides
For the day loop and your first purchases, start with the Beginner Guide. For what to cook with your three-star fish, read the Sushi Restaurant Guide. Boss strategies are in the Boss and Creature Guide, and if you are deciding whether to buy, see the Honest Review.
★Honest Take: the best weapon is the one that keeps fish alive
Dave the Diver's weapon system looks like a shooter's, with sniper rifles, shotguns and elemental trees, but its economy rewards the opposite instinct. Damage only gets you through a fight; the net gun and tranquilizers raise the money you make every night, because grade multiplies ingredients. The weak spots are real, though: blueprints depend on random crate drops, so the gun you want can take several dives to unlock, and the top upgrades need specific creature parts that send you hunting one species. The iDiver side is the opposite, simple and predictable. Spend gold on air and cargo early, let Duff's guns follow the materials you happen to find, and never pass up a Hush Dart blueprint.
