How to Beat the Pufferfish Boss in How to Fish

Get the Carrot

On Desert Island, give the Tourist a catch marked Endangered Species to receive the Carrot that summons the Pufferfish.

1. Reach Desert Island through the Giant Piranha progression route.
2. Find the Tourist sitting beneath a palm tree and activate the request for an endangered creature.
3. Use the pink Standard Lure around Desert Island and inspect each catch for the Endangered Species tag.
4. Return a qualifying catch to the Tourist and receive the Carrot.
5. Do not cast the Carrot until your weapon, food, inventory space, difficulty, and movement route are ready.

Phase one: rolling charges

Keep moving, make the Pufferfish commit to a straight roll, and deal damage during the recovery instead of stopping in its path.

• Fight in an area where you can see the boss and the route behind you; palm trees can break a charge but can also trap your dodge.
• Run across the intended attack line before the roll reaches you, then turn and fire during the boss’s recovery.
• Do not stand still to empty a magazine unless the boss is clearly obstructed and you still have an exit.
• Watch the escape or pressure timer as well as health; surviving without steady damage can still lose the attempt.
• PC Gamer reports better results with an upgraded SMG than a shotgun, but weapon choice still depends on your ability to track while moving.

Phase two: size and purple poison

Around half health, the fight becomes a space-management problem as the Pufferfish grows and leaves purple poison behind it.

1. Move before the enlarged boss and poison trail close your current lane.
2. Circle around the outside of existing poison instead of crossing it to chase a short damage window.
3. Keep the next tree, shop edge, and shoreline in view so the chosen dodge does not end in a dead end.
4. Use recovery items while you still have distance; waiting for the next roll makes healing much harder.
5. Resume consistent ranged damage after each safe reposition and avoid changing strategy only because health is low.

Drop, hand-in, and retry

After the kill, pick up the distinctive Pufferfish trophy and follow the current quest text before leaving the island.

• Do not cook, sell, gamble, or drop the boss result while progression is unresolved.
• In co-op, identify which player picked it up and have that player remain present for the hand-in.
• Current guides disagree on whether the English item label should be summarized as a Fin or Tail. Trust the name shown in your inventory and active quest on patch 1.0.9.
• If the encounter escapes or the Carrot is gone, check the Tourist, current quest state, and save before assuming a universal free retry exists.
• Confirm the next-island coordinates or route signal before beginning an unrelated collection or money grind.