How to Fish boss guides
Start with the boss you are fighting. The guides separate player-reported strategy from developer-confirmed changes.
Island bosses are started with a special bait you earn from a quest, not bought in a shop. The pufferfish needs a carrot, the giant piranha needs leech bait, and the new Manta mini-boss starts when you throw a special barrel into the sea.
Choose your fight
| Boss | How it is started (reported) | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Giant piranha | Leech bait: three leeches handed to a quest character on the second island | Giant piranha guide |
| Pufferfish | Carrot bait: given after you deliver an endangered fish on the third island | Pufferfish guide |
| Manta (mini-boss) | A darker oil barrel thrown into the sea at the oil-barrel islet (Islet Update) | Euros and the bow |
| Final boss | Not documented well enough for a guide yet. The developer fixed explosive damage on it in 1.0.12 | Achievements |
Check your settings first
Patch 1.0.9 added a difficulty setting you can change in the main menu or in game. Easy: all creatures have 25% less health and do 50% less damage. Hard: all creatures have 25% more health and do 25% more damage. The default is unchanged from launch. A strategy recorded on one difficulty or in a group may not transfer to your run, so check both before retrying.
Patch 1.0.11 also added toggle aim, toggle sprint and hold-to-attack options, which can help during long fights.
Developer: Developer announcements — patches 1.0.4–1.1.3 ↗After the kill
Players say killing the boss is not enough to open the next island: you need to pick up what it drops and finish the hand-in. See the map page if the radar does not update.