Quick answer: use the carrot to start the encounter, bring an SMG with magazine and recoil help, open with dynamite when the boss is committed, then circle the trees and fire from safe angles. Avoid the purple trail. After the kill, take the fin back to the tourist to unlock the Red island route.
Before the fight
| Checklist | What to do |
|---|---|
| Trigger | Bring the carrot bait and use it for the Pufferfish encounter. |
| Weapon | Use the SMG as the practical baseline; magazine and recoil help reduce exposed reloads and missed shots. |
| Burst | Keep dynamite available for a clean opening rather than throwing it while the target is moving unpredictably. |
| Arena | Identify the trees before committing. They are spacing tools, not just decoration. |
| Exit | Leave with the Pufferfish fin and deliver it to the tourist. |
Fight plan
- Start on the edge of the arena. Give yourself room to see the boss path and keep a tree between you and a bad approach.
- Take the first clean burst. If the Pufferfish commits to a predictable line, use dynamite and follow with SMG fire. Do not stand still to force every shot.
- Circle, do not corner yourself. Move around the trees in a wide loop. The goal is to keep an exit lane open when the boss changes direction.
- Respect the purple poison trail. Treat the trail as a temporary no-go zone. Cutting across it for one extra burst usually costs more health than it saves.
- Reload behind space. Break line of approach with terrain, reload, then re-enter on the next safe window.
- Pick up the fin and complete the handoff. The boss kill advances the route only after the required item reaches the tourist.
Why the fight goes wrong
| Problem | Correction |
|---|---|
| Running in a straight line | Use a wide circle around the trees so the boss cannot close the same angle every time. |
| Chasing through poison | Wait for the trail to clear and re-enter from a safe side. |
| Reloading in the open | Use terrain to create a reload window; magazine help is valuable because it reduces how often this happens. |
| Leaving without the fin | Check the pickup and inventory before sailing away, then visit the tourist. |
After Pufferfish
Return the fin to the tourist to receive the next route information and continue toward Red island. If the route does not update, check the NPC handoff first; do not assume the radar or save is broken until the quest state has been verified.
For the full sequence, open the islands-in-order guide. For the loadout decision behind this plan, see weapons and upgrades.
Evidence boundary: bait, boss order, fin handoff, and the core tactic are taken from the supplied community Steam guide. The guide is a strong practical reference, but these are not official boss-stat or universal-AI guarantees.
Primary boss referenceCommunity Steam guide supplied for this guide hub; Pufferfish bait, weapon, positioning, and handoff.Open the Steam guide →
Route cross-checkHow to Fish walkthrough used to compare the island sequence and ending handoffs.Read the walkthrough →