Guide:Duke Fishron strategies

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"The mutant terror of the sea..."

Duke Fishron is a tough Hardmode Boss and one of the final Bosses in  Old-gen console and DS versions of Terraria. With very high movement speed, high damage and deadly sharknadoes, it is one of the most difficult bosses in the game.

Duke FishronFirst Form

Statistics

Type	Boss
Environment	Ocean
AI Type	Duke Fishron AI
Damage	100 / 140 (melee) 90 / 100 (Sharknado) 100 / 140 (detonating bubble)
Max Life	50000 / 60000
Defense	50 (100 when enraged)
KB Resist	100%
Inflicts debuff	Bleeding 33% chance
Debuff duration	6 - 20 seconds
Debuff tooltip	Cannot regenerate life
Inflicts debuff	Feral Bite   33% chance
Debuff duration	3 - 10 seconds
Debuff tooltip	Increased damage, Decreased life regen, Causes status effects
Immune to

Drops

Coins	1

Map Icon

• Internal NPC ID: 370

Duke FishronSecond Form

Statistics

Type	Boss
Environment	Ocean
AI Type	Duke Fishron AI
Damage	150 / 201 (melee) 160 / 200 (Cthulhunado)
Max Life	25000/50000 / 30000/60000
Defense	40 (80 when enraged)
KB Resist	100%
Inflicts debuff	Bleeding 33% chance
Debuff duration	3 - 10 seconds / 6 - 20 seconds
Debuff tooltip	Cannot regenerate life
Inflicts debuff	Feral Bite   33% chance
Debuff duration	3 - 10 seconds
Debuff tooltip	Increased damage, Decreased life regen, Causes status effects
Immune to

Drops

Coins	1  10

• Item (Quantity)Rate
• Fishron Wings
  6.66%
• One of the following 5 items will be dropped
• Bubble Gun
  20%
• Flairon
  20%
• Razorblade Typhoon
  20%
• Tempest Staff
  20%
• Tsunami
  20%
• Greater Healing Potion (5-15)
  100%
     
• Lesser Healing Potion (5-15)
  100%
  
• Duke Fishron Mask
  14.29%
• Duke Fishron Trophy
  10%
• Treasure Bag  (Duke Fishron)

  • Shrimpy Truffle  

  100%

Map Icon

• Internal NPC ID: 370

Spawn Condition

Duke Fishron can be spawned by using your Fishing Pole with Truffle Worm as Bait.

It must then be defeated within the Ocean.

The Fight

Duke Fishron has two phases, with one additional phase in Expert Mode  .

First Phase

Duke Fishron will attack in three different ways during the first phase. The first thing Fishron will do is begin his charging flurry. He will charge towards the player exactly five times, with a short pause between each charge.

After each charge, he will execute one of the two Projectile attacks:

• The First attack fires around 20 Detonating Bubbles;
• The Second attack will create two small Bubbles on either side of where he is located that will each generate a Sharknado. The Sharknadoes are tall and do damage, but they also fire Sharkrons towards the player.

Second Phase

When Duke falls below 25,000 health, he will stay stationary for a second, then his eyes will glow as he enters his second stage. His damage and speed increase significantly. However, his defense drops to 40.

His charge flurry only has 3 charges, but they are a bit faster than before. He still has two kinds of projectile attacks, but their patterns change:

• The Detonating Bubble attack now causes him to move around in a circle, dropping the bubbles in a circle around his original location. This spreads out the bubbles, making it more difficult to hit them all.
• His Sharknado attack upgrades to summon a Cthulhunado. He will fire a special bubble at you that is quite fast. When it hits you, it will spawn a Cthulhunado, a very tall tornado that does lots of damage and fires large quantities of Sharkrons. It also lasts much longer.

Note that, after the battle is over, care should still be taken. If he has launched a Cthulhunado, it may still fire Sharkrons. He may also have died in the Cthulhunado, so don't charge into it to collect his drops until it dissipates.

Duke Fishron's charging attack is his primary attack, and one of the most difficult to dodge.

The key to dodging it is to try to move perpendicularly to where he is aimed, right before he makes his charge. For example, if you are horizontal with him when he is about to charge, you need to quickly up (or down, if you're already flying). If he is right above/below you, then you need to quickly move left or right.

One important element of the Sharknado attack is that they will spawn in the location where Duke Fishron was when he fired the attack. And they will despawn almost exactly when he is ready to drop another pair of Sharknadoes.

As long as the player keeps in mind what attack Duke Fishron will do next, the player can put him in a position that makes it hard for the player to hit the Sharknadoes themselves. For example, during the charging flurry before the Sharknado attack, the player can move towards the edge of the screen, horizontally. That way, the player can run the other way knowing that they will not encounter Sharkrons from that direction. This also means that attacks towards Duke Fishron will also be towards the direction of incoming Sharkrons.

Also, note that Duke Fishron's first attack will always be bubbles.

Sharknadoes are quite tall; getting over them will require fast Wings or a Cosmic Car Key  .

The upgraded Sharknado attack is a bit more difficult to deal with. It's taller, and it does more damage than the original, plus it fires more Sharkrons.

However, there is one thing that makes it a bit easier to deal with: the Cthulhunado will spawn in the location where you were when the bubble hit you. This gives you a bit more control over where the tornado spawns, so you have more of a chance (if you are fast) to make sure it doesn't spawn in an inconvenient place. You likely do not have the speed to outrun the attack, but you can help get it out of the way.

The downside of course is that, once the bubble hits you, you need to quickly move, lest it spawn on top of you.

Another important factor to note is that by no means necessary should you attempt to cross a Cthulhunado. They deal about 100 damage, which will turn the fight in Duke Fishron's favor. Always use Wings to fly over them. Alternatively, use the Rod of Discord to teleport to the other side.

Expert Mode

When Duke Fishron drops below 9000 health, he will transform again and the background will notably darken, while making himself invisible except for his glowing eyes.

He will only be able to use his charge attacks in this stage, but he will gain the ability to teleport behind the player before attacking. The charges will come in a set pattern: After teleporting, he will successively charge once, then twice, and finally three times before the pattern resets.

While his contact damage is reduced, the high speed of his charges can cause you to get hit many times in a quick succession. Pay attention to his attack pattern, and make sure to not stand still during the fight. You should also try to get away from any Cthulhunadoes left from the second stage.

Due to the frequency of his teleportation, you may prefer homing or high velocity weapons during this stage.

General Strategies

General Tips

This content is transcluded from Guide:Practical Tips § Combat.

• Starting the battle just after the sun sets (7:30 PM) will provide the maximum amount of time to defeat nocturnal bosses. (Do pause a moment to make sure the night won't be a Blood Moon, or feature another boss spawning.) In Hardmode, the Moon Charm and/or Moon Stone are also useful at night.
• Prepare your Boss-fighting arena with adequate lighting, Campfires and Heart Lanterns for health regeneration, and Stars in Bottles for mana regeneration if you use magic.
•    Sunflowers provide the Happy! buff to players within a 50-tile radius, which grants a +10% movement speed bonus and 17% reduction in enemy spawn rate.
• Always carry at least one stack of the highest-tier healing potion available (Lesser, Normal, Greater, or Super Healing Potions  ). Relying only on natural Health Regeneration is not a good idea.
  • The same goes for Lesser, Normal, Greater, or Super Mana Potions   , if you use Magic. The Strange Brew   could also be used.
• It is suggested to build houses for the Dryad and the Nurse NPCs in your arena. The former casts the Dryad's Blessing   buff, which increases your defense and provides you with a thorns-like effect, while the latter can heal and remove debuffs instantly, at the cost of some coins.
• Bosses are displayed on the Minimap: Follow the boss's icon to track it when you're struggling to find it. You can identify the boss icons by checking their respective wiki pages.
• Once you have freed the Mechanic in the Dungeon, you can use Wire to enhance your arena with Traps and helpful Heart and Star Statues. The former help to damage the enemies, though be careful to set them up correctly in order not to hurt yourself during the battle. The latter will spawn heart and star pickups, respectively. Connect these devices to timers.
• It may be useful to summon and kill the Eye of Cthulhu or King Slime before summoning any harder boss in order to spawn an extra one-use pool of hearts.
• Remember to use the Sharpening Station  , Ammo Box   , Crystal Ball, and Bewitching Table   before you go to explore or battle bosses/invasions. These will give class-specific boosts that are useful to take. They give Sharpened  , Ammo Box   , Clairvoyance, and Bewitched  , respectively.

Terrain Preparation

The Arena must be located in the Ocean, unless you're very confident that you can beat an enraged Fishron, which is usually not recommended.

• Make an arena out of Asphalt Blocks. It should stretch at least across the ocean. Make it 3-5 platforms high; each row should be at least 20 blocks away from each other. Leave a gap at either side for maneuver, however.
• The Arena must be very tall: the Tornadoes are very tall, and thus, it requires significant amount of flight time to go to the other side of it.

Gearing up

It's highly recommended to defeat Golem first if you haven't already, as these tips will take that into account. If you have no idea how to reach Golem, check this Walkthrough section.

By this point, you should have 500 Health. If not, it's recommended you use as many Life Fruits as possible. You need to beat at least one of the Mechanical Bosses in order to spawn Life Fruits.

Armor

• For Melee characters, the Beetle armor is the best available. The Beetle Scale Mail is better for offensive bonuses, while the Beetle Shell is better for those that can avoid taking hits frequently.
• For Ranged characters, the Shroomite armor is the strongest available.
• The Spectre armor is the strongest for a Mage. The Spectre Hood should be used only when at low health to maximize damage output..
• A Summoner should summon their minions while wearing Spooky armor and then equip Tiki armor for an extra, although weaker minion and slightly higher defense.

Weapons

For Melee users:

• The Influx Waver   is a very powerful choice if you have defeated the Martian Madness already.
• The Terra Blade also performs well, though not as well as the Influx Waver.
  • The Horseman's Blade is also a good choice as its pumpkins can break the bubbles.
• Constantly throwing the Paladin's Hammer or Possessed Hatchet while flying around can defeat him quickly.
• The Eye of Cthulhu   is the best Yo-yo that can be used at this point.
• Vampire Knives are very useful for stealing life combined with decent damage. Also, the life steal works better on his second phase.
• Flask of Ichor is useful to significantly lower Duke Fishron's defense.
• The Scourge of the Corruptor is somewhat low in damage, but it makes up for this by homing in on Fishron during the fight.

For Ranged users:

• If you have defeated the Martian Madness event, the Xenopopper  , is an extremely powerful choice when used with Crystal Bullets.
• The Chain Gun is decent, but requires you to be close to Fishron or use Chlorophyte Bullets to reach its full potential.
• The Aerial Bane is very useful with its extremely high DPS and splitting arrows, dealing damage to the Sharknadoes as well.
• Ichor Arrows or Bullets will reduce his defense.
• The Snowman Cannon is powerful against him, if you have defeated the Frost Moon.
• The Chlorophyte Shotbow with Ichor or Holy Arrows can perform excellently against him.
• The Stynger is very effective.
• The Tactical Shotgun is very effective with Chlorophyte Bullets.

For Magic users:

• The Razorpine is a very strong due to its excellent DPS, alhough it requires you to get closer than with other weapons.
• The Golden Shower spell is helpful as it reduces his defense.
• The Inferno Fork does a lot of damage and is also a good choice.
• The Blizzard Staff is very good for attacking while he is stationary.
• The Laser Machinegun can be used if the player has already defeated the Martian Madness.
• The Magnet Sphere can deal a lot of damage and only needs to be casted once in a while.

For Summoners:

• The Optic Staff, Xeno Staff, and especially the Deadly Sphere Staff are the best choices.

Accessories

• Wings are a must-have for the fight. The Frog Leg can make them significantly faster, making it easier to get over the Cthulhunadoes and dodging his attacks while flying.
• The Master Ninja Gear, Shield of Cthulhu, or Tabi are incredibly useful for dodging its attacks with their dashing capabilities.
• Accessories that increase damage are a must have for ending the battle sooner. The best choices include the Celestial Shell or Stone, Destroyer Emblem, Mechanical Glove, and Sniper Scope.
• Cross Necklace or Star Veil is recommended as the boss speed might cause several heavy hits on characters should the boss catch the player. The Sharknados may also flank the player hitting them consecutively especially on Duke Fishron's second phase.
• Characters with Spectre Armor should consider using Magic Cuffs or Celestial Cuffs, as the damage dealt by Duke Fishron's attacks will often times completely restore their MP, allowing them to attack constantly while restoring HP. Care should be taken as the boss' high attack can make quick work of reckless players.
• If you are using The Eye of Cthulhu or another yoyo, use a Yoyo Bag.
• Charm of Myths will both allow for increased regen and reduced time for the Potion Sickness debuff.
• The Cosmic Car Key   mount is a good replacement for Wings and can be better as it provides infinite air time. Unlike Wings, however, it's much slower and can't be used with a dash.

Potions and Buffs

As with any other Hardmode boss, it would be useful to prepare the following potions:

• Inferno Potion is highly recommended as it will destroy the Detonating Bubbles Fishron spawns before they reach the player..
• Regeneration Potion and Ironskin Potion to survive. Two of each will last enough.
• Endurance and Lifeforce potions for even greater survivability.
• Any food item that can provide the Well Fed buff is very welcome.
• Swiftness Potion helps you a lot to evade the Duke and its attacks.
• Wrath and/or Rage Potions for a boost in damage output.
• Magic Power and Mana Regeneration potions are a must for Magic users.
• If a player has no arena, they can just use Water Walking Potions.
• Gravitation Potions can free up an accessory slot, but it's recommended to use Featherfall Potions with them.
• Melee characters should use the Tipsy debuff and the Flask of Ichor if available.
• If you are facing him at night, a Shine Potion, Night Owl Potion, and Hunter Potion will help a lot so that you don't have to worry about visibility.

More In-Depth Strategies

Minecart Strategy

This strategy differs from others in that it doesn't use skybridge, replacing it with looped minecart track above the ocean, so the player won't have to deal with his enraged behavior. It does, however, need some more work than other ones, especially when building the arena.

Materials

• 600-1200 normal minecart tracks for building loop + 2 booster tracks
• Any kind of hammer

Arena Preparation

The essence is to make looped minecart track approx. 60 tiles above Ocean itself. It should consist of at least 600 tiles; while shape is pretty loose, it should have at least two places in which player drastically changes altitude, as well as at least 100 tiles long flats.

One should also make a "Starter" - a short molo with boosters, from which player will summon Duke Fishron and quickly escape to the loop.

It should be noted also that arena shouldn't exceed Ocean biome.

Execution

When everything's done, player should sit in a minecart on "Starter" and summon the Fishron. As soon as it's done, one should quickly go to loop (boosters will help). At this point, everything that remains is to shoot Fishron while maintaining speed on track, healing a/o replenishing mana when needed. Some tips:

• Use a homing weapon, especially if your arena is pretty large. Fishron will spend most time off-screen, and high speed will often change directions you're facing.
• Though stock minecart shouldn't be used, Mechanical Cart is not a good choice. Even though with it provides defense bonus, as well as speed to avoid Fishron's charges, it can easily outrun him causing Fishron to despawn, which is possible on larger arenas. Higher speed means also that you will more often run into Sharknados.
• Try to make arena consisting of approx. 800 tiles, but don't make it horizontally-long. If you do so, Fishron will frequently run into you, and Cthulunados in his second stage will quickly kill you as there won't be any way to dodge them.

Spike Strategy

This strategy exploits invincibility frames obtained with the Cross Necklace by standing on a Spike. The Spike will do very little damage to a player with high enough defense, while the Cross Necklace will make it so the player is invincible for most of the fight. This strategy doesn't work in 1.3 or higher.

Enraged Anti-Gravity Hook Strategy

When Enraged, Duke Fishron is much faster and does much more damage. But with this stategy, this strength can be turned into a weakness. What you must do is get an Anti-Gravity Hook and place one or more platforms in the air. After Duke Fishron becomes enraged, you use your Anti-Gravity Hook in the platform and start using it to spin in a circle. This makes it possible to dodge all attacks. Keep in mind that this strategy only works with enraged Duke Fishron, because in his enraged behavior he will do nothing but attempt to ram you. Then you use the hook on the platform, start spinning and dodge his charges.