Defeating the How to Fish Pufferfish isn't that easy as this boss fish starts off small and agile but then balloons into a massive, poison-spewing monstrosity. Regardless of its form, it can kill you very quickly and is a quite a step up from the How to Fish Piranha boss. With that in mind, I've laid out the best strategy for killing this powerful pufferfish in How to Fish below.
How to Fish Pufferfish boss tips
The best method for killing the Pufferfish in How to Fish is to start by strafing backwards in small circles, shooting at the Pufferfish with a fully upgraded SMG. As with the How to Fish Shark miniboss that you can fight on this island, an SMG with an extended mag, compensator, and all the bullet upgrades is arguably the best option, though the shotgun is also a good choice given that the Pufferfish is almost always very close to you.
Strafing backwards in circles is also a bit awkward, but is a great way to keep out of the Pufferfish's way without it being able to properly catch up to you. It's a very fast fish when it rolls in a straight line, but is much slower when it must constantly turn. Also bear in mind that the Pufferfish expands the more you shoot it, so it'll get bigger and a bit less agile the longer the fight goes on.
Fill it with enough bullets to get it to half-health, and it'll start a second phase in which it starts spewing lingering poisonous purple clouds. Because of this, you need to change strategy and start running all over the island. Again, like the shark fight, you can now use the boss' size against it and run through the trees too, causing the pursuing Pufferfish to get stuck and giving you good opportunities to shoot it as much as possible until it eventually dies. Feed the Pufferfish Fin remnant to the tourist on the beach and you'll get the location of island 4!
You could also try luring the Pufferfish into a pile of dynamite, but given how aggressively it chases you, I think the chances of either the Pufferfish escaping the worst of the blast or you getting caught in it are too high for it to be worthwhile.
But if the Pufferfish does kill you (or you blow yourself up), remember that you'll need to get the carrot bait from the tourist to catch this boss again. That means you need to catch and feed the man another endangered fish using a Standard Lure, such as a Needlefish, Bowlfish, or Seahorse.
Once the pufferfish is dead, you can head to island 4 and fight a How to Fish Tuna which serves as bait for another boss. And if you get stuck on these later islands, make sure you check my How to Fish guide and walkthrough for pointers.
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