Opinion and advice on Pre-Plantera Duke Fishron?

[YeetYeetGW2]

Currently I'm on my first (full) expert mode playthrough and have defeated the mechanical bosses, but wanted to take out Duke Fishron before Plantera for the fun of it. Have yet to beat him, but do any of you guys see this as a cheese to Plantera, or perhaps a natural part of the average playthrough?
And if anyone had any advice to share, that'd be cool as well, as I have been severely struggling with him for the past couple of months despite using gear recommended to me through YouTube videos, and I've constructed and altered my arena multiple times.
Any disscussion would be cool to hear!

 

[Aurora3500]

Considering that Duke Fishron isn't restricted to be post-Plantera similar to the Empress of Light, it is fair game to defeat Duke Fishron before Plantera and use its more powerful weapons to make the Plantera fight easier and be part of your playthrough.

I have defeated Duke Fishron on Master Mode using Pre-Plantera gear. Similar tactics can apply to Expert Mode since Fishron's moveset is still the same. The main strategy I used is the Shield of Cthulhu with the Hallowed Repeater + Ichor Arrows being my choice for the weapon. For the Arena, I usually use a set of platforms over the ocean and build a large wall to prevent myself from leaving the ocean.

Having buff potions is also recommended if you don't use them in general, namely the swiftness, regeneration, ironskin, and lifeforce potions.

It is easier to show what the arena looks like in this video than explain it so I'll share that here to give an idea for a potential strategy you could use against Duke Fishron. All the equipment I used in this video is obtainable before defeating Plantera and was done on the PC version.

Spoiler: My video

I'm not sure what platform you are attempting this on. Based on your profile info, it appears Mobile and Playstation 4 are your main platforms. For Mobile and Console I would be unable to replicate the Shield of Cthulhu + Hallowed Repeater strategy from the video since I am not nearly as proficient using Mobile or Console controls compared to PC ones. So it is difficult to say if this can be done as well on Mobile or Console.

There are several things that can be done naturally. Hopefully this helps give an idea for a strategy to use against Fishron for Expert Mode.

 

[Mille Marteaux]

do any of you guys see this as a cheese to Plantera

You worry too much about what somebody else thinks about your single-player experience! Never focus on what somebody else will call "cheese" as long as it is a normally accessible mechanic in the game. After all, somebody could see you parrying an attack then say you don't own a sturdy shield.

Defeating Dude Fishman with weaker gear is much more difficult than just bowling over it with Celestial gear, and some loadouts really enjoy Fishman weapons, so if you're up to the task, your reward for a much more difficult boss battle than usual is a few easier boss battles down the road. There isn't that much content between Plantera and Duke, and you can pretty quickly hit a set of Celestial gear after Plantera anyway, so don't worry about it!

I'll second Aurora's suggested core items of Shield and Repeater - but the reasoning behind these as your core is just so that you have high mobility. Mobility is key in this encounter, so the number one rule is to never stop moving but also to make sure you understand where and why you're moving.

If you watch a Dude Fishman video or battle him enough, you'll notice something important - his attack pattern is on a static loop. Once you understand and respect his attack range and frequency, you can battle him at any point of Hardmode you wish, including before battling any Mechs at all.

 

[YeetYeetGW2]

Considering that Duke Fishron isn't restricted to be post-Plantera similar to the Empress of Light, it is fair game to defeat Duke Fishron before Plantera and use its more powerful weapons to make the Plantera fight easier and be part of your playthrough.

I have defeated Duke Fishron on Master Mode using Pre-Plantera gear. Similar tactics can apply to Expert Mode since Fishron's moveset is still the same. The main strategy I used is the Shield of Cthulhu with the Hallowed Repeater + Ichor Arrows being my choice for the weapon. For the Arena, I usually use a set of platforms over the ocean and build a large wall to prevent myself from leaving the ocean.

Having buff potions is also recommended if you don't use them in general, namely the swiftness, regeneration, ironskin, and lifeforce potions.

It is easier to show what the arena looks like in this video than explain it so I'll share that here to give an idea for a potential strategy you could use against Duke Fishron. All the equipment I used in this video is obtainable before defeating Plantera and was done on the PC version.

Spoiler: My video

I'm not sure what platform you are attempting this on. Based on your profile info, it appears Mobile and Playstation 4 are your main platforms. For Mobile and Console I would be unable to replicate the Shield of Cthulhu + Hallowed Repeater strategy from the video since I am not nearly as proficient using Mobile or Console controls compared to PC ones. So it is difficult to say if this can be done as well on Mobile or Console.

There are several things that can be done naturally. Hopefully this helps give an idea for a strategy to use against Fishron for Expert Mode.

Thanks, helped a lot. I'm attempting this on 1.3 on Console (PS4), so dodging is a bit more tedious but still is doable. I've been able to get Fishron consistently into his second form and I have often made it to the final form, though I've yet to beat him. I think using more buffs and potions may be the key to succeeding, just I really don't like going out to craft them

 

[Picklenugget8]

If you are on console use titanium armor and Daedalus Stormbow, in the 3rd phase keep the bow aiming at yourself