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Part of: Idle Obelisk Miner main guide — Obelisk progression, gift code timing, and prestige loops.

Idle Obelisk Miner Tributes Guide: Geoduck vs Laviathan, Cthulhu Gem Grind, and When Tributes End

Player question: In late World 3 Idle Obelisk Miner, how should I prioritize fishing Tributes — Geoduck or Laviathan at Tier 2, how punishing is the Cthulhu gem save, and does the tribute line actually end?

I like these games and play them myself. Complete guides are hard to find online, so while playing I collect community experience from Reddit, add a little of my own notes, and put this site together—hoping it helps. Thank you.

Quick answer

Community Knowledge Most players saving for Dock 2 Tier-2 Tributes pick Geoduck before Laviathan or other Dock 2 Tier-2 options. Replies stress faster gem payback, the golden gem bomb boost, and shorter ore prep versus Laviathan[1]. A smaller group notes you can unlock Tier-1 Laviathan first because Tier-2 Geoduck needs heavy bar stock, or that Laviathan mainly accelerates a few legendary infernals while basic infernal fish stay a long sushi project[1].

Community Knowledge Cthulhu Tier-2 gem hoards are widely reported as a late World 3 slowdown that outlasts the usual few-day upgrade rhythm. Players describe multi-day saves with little spending and mid-obelisk percentage bands where everything feels slower; the same threads also float an informal few-day gem-save heuristic that Cthulhu costs regularly overrun[2]. Community reports often pair Geoduck Tier-2 and the golden gem bomb with faster gem income before tackling that wall[2][1]. A minority view once ready is that Cthulhu Tier-2 can still clear in a short multi-day save that felt long but was manageable[2].

Community Knowledge Last tribute steps still eat weeks once you commit, and community chatter still expects more fishing tiers after the current late-game screen. Reports say final tribute chores take a couple of weeks from the moment you start them, with infernal fish shard work stretching across weeks or months[3]. A minority finds tributes among the more satisfying long grinds in the game[3].

What players report about Tier-2 tributes (Geoduck vs Laviathan / others)

Community Knowledge Geoduck is the default Tier-2 pick on Dock 2. When the choice is Geoduck versus another Dock 2 Tier-2 tribute, multiple replies name Geoduck outright, call it the better option, or say it should come before any other Dock 2 Tier-2 unlock[1]. Reasons repeat across the thread: gem income pays back sooner than routing through Laviathan first, ore costs for Laviathan run longer, and the golden gem bomb is an immediate progression bump (see the Bomb Cap & Workshop Guide for how gem bombs fit your loop)[1].

Community Knowledge Geoduck before Laviathan still leaves room for earlier Laviathan tiers. One reply recommends Tier-1 Laviathan before Tier-2 Geoduck because Tier-2 Geoduck demands a large bar investment up front, while still insisting Tier-2 Geoduck precede any other Dock 2 Tier-2 tribute[1]. Another notes Geoduck helps you farm gems for Laviathan faster once both are on the roadmap[1].

Community Knowledge Laviathan-first is usually about infernal legendaries, not a shortcut through the whole dock. A reply contrasts Laviathan Tier-2 helping only a handful of early legendary infernals if you already have sushi banked, while pushing Cthulhu-side infernal work would demand thousands of sushi on basic fish even with strong fish multi upgrades[1]. Related discussion treats basic infernal fish as a late tribute-side chore that can still be unfinished while players save for the last World 3 Tier-2 tribute[1][3].

What players report about the Cthulhu gem grind

Community Knowledge Late World 3 gem saves feel much slower than earlier tribute upgrades. Players around the mid-obelisk percentage band report that progression slows sharply, that bomb recharge and other goals drag, and that gem income at this stage comes mostly from indirect sources such as slug Tier-1 and obelisk mincer skills until bigger bomb tools arrive[2]. Multi-day Cthulhu Tier-2 hoards with little spending besides fuel show up repeatedly in the same discussion[2].

Community Knowledge Cthulhu gem saves commonly overrun the informal few-day upgrade pacing. The gem thread floats a heuristic that multi-day unlocks mean you should pivot elsewhere, and several accounts still describe Cthulhu Tier-2 as a multi-day wall inside that late-game slowdown[2]. A minority report that once they reached it, the save lasted a short multi-day stretch that felt long but was manageable[2].

Community Knowledge Geoduck Tier-2 and the golden gem bomb sit ahead of the Cthulhu gem wall in community order-of-ops talk. Discussion pairs Geoduck Tier-2 with faster gem payback, then points at the golden gem bomb as the next meaningful gem accelerator rather than brute-forcing Cthulhu immediately[2][1]. Drone and lootbug discussions in the same thread mention frogger and bear setups, bomb recharge purchases, and gift RNG as ways people cope, without turning this page into a bomb-cap walkthrough (see Bomb Cap & Workshop and Mega Bomb & Infinity Bomb for those systems)[2].

Version-sensitive Large gem totals in thread titles are player-reported, not verified official prices. The Cthulhu thread title mentions a six-figure gem target; only the original poster frames that number, so treat any exact total as a personal milestone rather than a confirmed game cost[2].

When tributes end

Community Knowledge Community chatter still expects more fishing tribute tiers after a late-game screenshot. Replies joke about more fish still coming and ask for additional fishing tribute phases, so treat end-of-tributes threads as unfinished community expectation rather than an official end-table[3].

Community Knowledge Even near the end, individual tribute steps stay slow once you start them. Veterans warn that the last tribute tasks take a couple of weeks not from today, but from when you decide to focus on them[3]. Infernal fish shard farming is described as a multi-week or month-scale project unless fishing enhancements and sushi stock are already deep[3]. Players also report alternating tribute progress with World 3 statue work rather than rushing one line to completion[3] (see World Statue Recommendations).

Community Knowledge Finishing the tribute track is possible, but it is a long tail. Some veterans report clearing all tributes months earlier and missing the structure those goals provided[3]. That coexists with active players still saving for the last World 3 Tier-2 tribute unlock while legendary infernals remain incomplete[3].

Scope and limits of this guide

Version-sensitive Synthesized from r/IdleObeliskMiner community discussions about the vanilla mobile game (no mods, no IGM+). Key limits:

← Back to Idle Obelisk Miner main guide · Related: Bomb Cap & Workshop · Mega Bomb & Infinity Bomb · World Statue Recommendations

Community sources

  1. Which tier 2 tribute is better? (opens Reddit) — Geoduck versus Laviathan Tier-2 priority, golden gem bomb payback, and infernal fish timing on Dock 2.

    u/selke-og: “The answer is definitely Geoduck. If the only thing you're missing ate the gems, you will get Laviathan back again faster than if you did the opposite order. The sooner you get Geoduck, the sooner it pays itself back” — comment phha4if

    u/MegaMugabe21: “Geoduck is definitely better. You can go for T1 Laviathan before T2 Geoduck as T2 Geoduck requires a lot of bars and is a struggle to get right away. Should always get T2 Geoduck before any other Dock 2 T2 though.” — comment phhc4ec

    u/Sarumanthewhte: “If there is a question between geoduck and something else…. The answer seems to almost always be geoduck.” — comment phh9z17

    u/lodgicalwill: “Farm for geoduck first - you’ll find it takes longer to get the ores for laviathan. Infernal (basic) fish won’t be done probably for a few more weeks - it’s pretty much the last thing you do before unlocking W4. Infernal leg fish will help to get D9 tributes so it’s nice to get started on them sooner than later. Golden gem is an immediate boost” — comment phhbbxx

    u/whispywhisp6: “Geoduck allows you to grind gems for Lavathian faster” — comment phhholk

    u/FunnyWalrus: “Lava t2 would only give you a few of the first legendaries infernals short term, if you have a good supply of sushi, but starting form Cthulhu - it would be literal thousands of sushi With the basic fish, you might even not bothering yourself unless 100+ on fish multi upgrade, the more the better, cause even with 110 I've sent too much sushi to farm all t1 fish, to the point that even with infernal cards gain I lost the infinite sushi loop already ” — comment phhelma

  2. Am I missing anything? Gems are taking forever (750k for Cthulhu) (opens Reddit) — Cthulhu Tier-2 gem-save pacing, the two-day heuristic, and mid-obelisk slowdown reports.

    u/3GreedyGremlins: “I've been saving gems for Cthulhu tribute 2 but I'm only at \~375k after 4ish days. Been buying fuel but otherwise spending nothing ” — original post 1x9954b

    u/A_Guy_Named_John: “Yeah Cthulu is the first upgrade that breaks the 2 days max rule” — comment phjb3be

    u/A_Guy_Named_John: “If you are trying to get any unlock/upgrade and it’s going to take more than 2 days, you should do something else.” — comment phl9cuc

    u/Extension_Judgment95: “yeah i definitely feel like the 45-55% mark is the point where the game slows down a ton ” — comment phjd7c5

    u/Deariusibt: “I'm just a few percentage ahead of you and yeah, it slows down a lot. At this point all of your gem increases are going to come indirectly through the slug t1 and the obelisk mincer skill. After that, the next big upgrade will be the golden gem bomb. You just kind of have to wait it out unfortunately and hope for good gift luck from freebies. ” — comment phkys2r

    u/AssistantMaterial387: “I went for it after geoduck t2” — comment phqls7p

    u/Sc00byUK: “Interesting, I just did the upgrade that was the least gems each time. Cthulhu 2 took me about 3 days to save for when I got to it (which felt like a long time, but wasn't)” — comment phlpecg

  3. This is the end of tributes, right? (opens Reddit) — Whether the fishing tribute track is finished, how long final infernal steps take, and mixing tributes with World 3 statues.

    u/whispywhisp6: “Surely this is the end of tributes with three more fish to come yes ” — comment pht9lh9

    u/indifferent_king: “I want more tributes, fishing p3 when” — comment phsh4kd

    u/NDrewww13: “Don't worry it'll only take a couple weeks to do the last ones; not from now, from the moment you decide you want to do them” — comment phrtunx

    u/EdgySadScientist: “It will take you several weeks probably” — comment phuchwe

    u/EdgySadScientist: “I finished all the tributes almost half a year ago and I miss them dearly...” — comment phuccpj

    u/McHiggo: “I’ve had it unlocked for probably about a month and don’t have any fully infernal fish yet. But I do have 3 legendaries infernalled. I figure I need to sink some gems into fishing gem upgrades to get them to unlock but I’ve been saving up for the last W3 T2 Tribute so haven’t been able to. Ive also not been rushing to get them all infernal though as it doesn’t add any major benefit (yet) whereas getting the Misc/Pets/Stars/Bars all infernal is more worthwhile right now” — comment phurbah

    u/Halfang: “You can do fishing whilst doing other stuff, depending on when you unlock the legendary. I was doing tributes whilst doing w3 statues and then plat stars alternating every couple of unlocks. ” — comment phs2a5y

    u/XanderFenikkusu: “Honestly I really like tributes. There are WAY more annoying tasks in this game. Tributes feel like useful, noticeable buff -- it's rewarding. ” — comment phs2e75

Classes used: Observed Game Fact, Community Knowledge, Recommendation, Version-sensitive.