Guide:Duke Fishron strategies

Duke Fishron is a flying fish/pigron boss with very high movement speed and high damage, making it the most difficult boss in the game so far.

It is advised to use life-draining weapons on him and high movement speed.

Terrain preparation

 * Make an arena (like one for Dungeon Guardian). Asphalt blocks are highly recommended. But don't make the arena too high or long or Duke Fishron may disappear.
 * As he flies it is also useful to be able to fly too, the Hoverboard is extremely useful for dodging attacks. Also equip Lightning Boots to move even faster.
 * Teleporters may help you much if you have enough resources.

Fishron will follow you on land as well, so make 300-400 pieces long arena, then when you fight him, just run away with the lightning boots or similar and shoot back at him. Then at the end of the arena or if he catches you, you fly up with wings, hoverboard etc. and avoid him and start running back at the other end of the arena. When you use this correctly, sharknados will be left behind and they won't hit you at all and fishron only hits you in the end of the arena once if you are not able to avoid him.

Recommended for this fight are items that will increase your speed. The Hoverboard is quite useful for dodging his charging attack by simply moving sideways, then down, then the other way again and so forth. Never stop attacking the boss at any time to ensure that all of the bubbles he blows pop. This boss is easier to do with other people, as soloing Duke Fishron is not an easy challenge. However, the boss is a lot easier when you get his Flairon weapon. It is boosted by turtle/beetle armor, and this weapon has an extremely high dps against the boss. Combined with or without a Flask of Ichor, the player can kill this boss in less than 3 minutes

If you have difficulty dodging his charges and/or bubbles, invest some time in getting a Tabi or Master Ninja Gear.

Armor

 * For life-draining it is advisable equip the Spectre Armor with the Spectre Hood.
 * For dodging skills it is advisable equip the Titanium armor for Shadow dodge buff and Master Ninja Gear as optional.
 * For melee characters the Beetle Armor with Scale Mail are recommended as they give decent defense paired with attack buffs which stacks as they player damages the boss or the Sharknados.
 * For high defense the Beetle Armor (with Shell) or Turtle Armor are recommended.
 * For ranged characters the Shroomite Armor is highly recommended.

Weapons

 * For magic it's recommended use Homing weapons like Bat Scepter or Spectre Staff, or rapid weapons like Razorpine or Leaf Blower. They must be equipped with many increasing damage bonuses for fast healing. However, lots of Mana potions are required.
 * Avoid using magic weapons like Magnet Sphere, Wasp Gun, Rainbow Gun and Staff of the Frost Hydra as Duke Fishron's extreme speed will render these attacks nearly useless.
 * For melee oriented characters Vampire Knives are very useful for stealing life combined with decent damage, however the life steal effect seems to work better on his second stage.
 * Ranged characters can use the Snowman Cannon or the Chain Gun, or Megashark, paired with Chlorophyte Bullet; as these weapons have homing properties little aim will be required leaving the player to focus on dodging the boss.
 * The Golden Shower spell, Ichor Arrow or Ichor Bullet, and Flask of Ichor are useful to slightly lower Duke Fishron's defense.

Accessories

 * A must is Hoverboard and Lightning Boots or better as primary choice. Also a Shield to prevent knockback from tornados.
 * If you choose magic, equip a Mana Flower and magic or damage increasing items. All equipped items should have damage, crit, or Arcane modifiers.
 * If you choose melee, equip increasing melee damage items like Celestial Stone. All equipped items should have damage or crit modifiers.
 * 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.
 * Spectre Armor characters should consider using Magic Cuffs or Celestial Cuffs as the damage dealt by any of Duke Fishron's attacks will most of times completely restore their MP allowing to attack constantly while restoring HP; although care should be taken as the boss high attack may do a quick work of reckless players.
 * For players who already have defeated Duke Fishron, using the wings he provides will be useful as it will give enough speed to keep a safe distance while attacking.

Potions and Buffs
As with any other Hardmode boss, it would be useful to prepare the following potions:
 * Greater Healing Potions though not entirely necessary with life-draining weapons
 * Regeneration Potion and Ironskin Potion to survive. Two of each will last enough.
 * Endurance and Lifeforce potions for even greater survivability.
 * Pumpkin Pies will likely last the entire fight, and it's easy to craft.
 * Swiftness Potion helps you a lot to evade the Pigron and its attacks.
 * Wrath and/or Rage potions for a boost in damage output.
 * Magic Power Potion and the Crystal Ball's Clairvoyance buff for magic users

The battle
Basically, just shoot him while running around and jumping and go back to avoid getting hit. Duke Fishron has 50000 health, making it difficult to beat. When it uses detonating bubbles is not much of a problem if you run and dodge its attacks. Tornados may be painful obstacles, but you can recover your health quickly if given enough time, and Sharknados are not a problem as they are more likely to die very quickly. If you use the Titanium armor, the Shadow dodge buff will help you with tornados to avoid getting much damage. If you use Beetle armor with Vampire knives with very high damage bonuses, it can be less difficult to beat him and you are more likely to survive.

In its second form, you have to be more careful as detonating bubbles spray everywhere. Also beware of the blob as it's extremely fast and follows you. But the most important thing is to avoid bigger tornados because they can do massive damage up to 150 or more, even with better armor. On the other hand, you also have to fire more accurately because it moves and dodge faster than before and sometimes it can evade homing projectiles.

Tips
For AFK purposes (not tested yet):
 * Using Bat Specter and Cross Necklace with all damage and defense increase possible you gain more health than damage.
 * Also affects with the vampire knives but you have to aim well.

Strategy 2
Use Beetle Armor with Shell along with Vampire Knives, using a Flask of Ichor, and anything to give the Well-Fed and Tipsy buffs. Run away and throw Vampire Knives at him, and it will take about 2 minutes to defeat him.