Overview
Sir Catfish is a boss in Crimson Desert who terrorizes the fishing village of Vellua. He is encountered as part of the Vellua Fishermen's Guild faction questline, specifically during the "Vellua in Peril" and "Shadows in the Mist" quests. Sir Catfish is a large, aggressive aquatic creature that has taken over the local fishing grounds, threatening the livelihood of Vellua's residents. Players must liberate the village by defeating him in a multi-stage encounter.
The quest to confront Sir Catfish begins with the "Rumor-ridden Fishing Village" quest, which becomes available northwest of Vellua. However, reaching this questline requires significant story progression: players must first defeat the Queen Spider boss, which in turn unlocks the liberation of Fort Hellwood and Senia. Only after Senia is liberated does the Vellua fishermen's questline become accessible.
Detail | Information |
|---|---|
Boss Name | Sir Catfish |
Type | Faction quest boss |
Location | Vellua fishing village (northwest of Vellua) |
Questline | |
Rumor-ridden Fishing Village, Vellua in Peril, Shadows in the Mist | |
Prerequisites | Defeat Queen Spider; liberate Fort Hellwood and Senia |
Learnable Skill | Body Slam (observe during fight) |
Rewards |
Combat Stats
The following stats are Sir Catfish's base values as recorded in the game's enemy data. He is classified as an Elite Boss, which places him above standard named enemies in terms of durability and aggression. His Knockout threshold is notably high at 750, meaning stagger-locking strategies that work on lesser bosses are far less effective here.
Stat | Value |
|---|---|
Type | Elite Boss (Faction Quest Boss) |
Weapon | One-Hand Dagger |
736 | |
Attack | 73 |
20 | |
100 | |
Knockout | 750 |
With 73 Attack and only 20 Defense, Sir Catfish deals considerable damage while being relatively soft to incoming hits. Players who can land consistent high-damage bursts during his recovery windows will find that his health pool depletes faster than his Elite classification might suggest. His low Defense also means armor penetration builds and heavy weapons have an easier time staggering him in shorter windows even though his Knockout value is high.
Passive Skill
Boss Large Human is Sir Catfish's only passive skill. This passive is shared by most large humanoid bosses in Crimson Desert and adjusts his collision physics, hitbox scaling, and resistance to crowd-control effects so that moves that reliably stun regular human-sized enemies are less effective against him. It also means that grabs and throws performed by Kliff behave differently than they do against smaller targets.
Prerequisites
Sir Catfish is not available from the start of the game. To unlock this boss encounter, players need to complete a chain of prerequisite objectives:
Defeat the Queen Spider - This major boss must be taken down before any further progress can be made in the Vellua region.
Liberate Fort Hellwood - After the Queen Spider falls, the liberation of Fort Hellwood becomes available. Fort Hellwood is a fortified position near Senia that must be cleared of hostile forces.
Liberate Senia - With Fort Hellwood secured, the village of Senia can be freed. Senia is a settlement built around a cathedral perched atop a cliff.
Accept the Rumor-ridden Fishing Village quest - Once Senia is liberated, the fishermen's faction quests unlock. Travel northwest of Vellua to pick up this quest and begin the Sir Catfish questline.
Encounter Structure
The Sir Catfish questline involves multiple encounters before the full boss fight. During the liberation of Vellua's fishing grounds, players will face Sir Catfish twice in smaller skirmishes as part of the "Vellua in Peril" and "Shadows in the Mist" quests. These initial encounters serve as introductions to the boss's moveset and give players the opportunity to study his attacks. The third and final confrontation is the real boss fight, where Sir Catfish must be defeated to complete the questline.
One of the most notable aspects of these early encounters is the opportunity to learn the Body Slam skill. By carefully observing Sir Catfish perform his signature body slam attack during either the "Vellua in Peril" or "Shadows in the Mist" missions, Kliff can learn this skill through the game's Watch and Learn system. Body Slam is a Stamina skill that costs 60 Stamina and allows the player to slam their full weight down on an enemy while airborne.
Arena
The final boss arena is set in a waterlogged environment fitting Sir Catfish's aquatic nature. The arena features water spouts that periodically erupt from the ground, launching players high into the air. While being launched can be disorienting at first, skilled players can turn this mechanic to their advantage by combining the airborne height with the Body Slam skill for devastating overhead strikes. Learning to anticipate the water spout timing is key to controlling the flow of the fight.
Attack Patterns
Sir Catfish is a large, aggressive boss with a set of powerful attacks that can catch unprepared players off guard. His movements are somewhat unpredictable due to his aquatic nature, making spacing and timing especially important.
Attack | Description |
|---|---|
Sir Catfish launches himself into the air and crashes down with his full weight. This attack hits a wide area and deals heavy damage. Players can learn this skill by observing it. | |
Tail Swipe | A sweeping tail attack with wide horizontal range. Roll away or jump over it to avoid damage. |
Sir Catfish charges forward in a straight line. Side-dodging at the right moment is the safest counter. | |
Water Spout Combo | Sir Catfish uses the arena's water spouts in combination with his attacks, making positioning more chaotic during certain phases. |
Combat Strategy
Sir Catfish rewards patient, methodical play. Rushing in aggressively will get players caught by his wide-reaching attacks. The following strategies are effective against this boss.
Tactic | Details |
|---|---|
Use Focus Mode | Activating Focus Mode slows time briefly, giving you the opportunity to set up perfect parries against Sir Catfish's attacks. This is especially useful during his faster combo sequences. |
Roll through attacks | Many of Sir Catfish's attacks have wide hitboxes but can be avoided entirely with well-timed rolls. Rolling through rather than away from attacks keeps you in range to counterattack. |
Punish Body Slam recovery | After Sir Catfish performs his Body Slam, there is a noticeable recovery window where he is vulnerable. Space out your positioning so you are not hit by the slam, then close in to deal damage during his recovery. |
Exploit water spouts | Rather than avoiding the water spouts entirely, use them to gain aerial height and follow up with your own Body Slam or aerial attacks for bonus damage. |
Parry with precision | Perfect parries deplete Sir Catfish's guard more efficiently than standard blocking. Focus Mode makes landing these parries considerably easier. |
Rewards
Defeating Sir Catfish grants two major rewards that make this fight well worth the effort.
Catfish Plate Helm
The Catfish Plate Helm is a unique headgear piece with 4 Defense. This helmet is distinctive for several reasons. It provides days of immunity when worn, functions as a pirate disguise that changes how certain NPCs react to the player, and grants the Remove Heat skill. The Remove Heat skill is an area-of-effect ability that extinguishes all bonfires within a set radius around the player. While situational, Remove Heat can be useful for puzzle-solving and environmental manipulation in specific areas of the world.
Stat | Value |
|---|---|
Item | |
Type | |
4 | |
Special Effect | Remove Heat (extinguishes bonfires in radius) |
Passive | Pirate disguise; days of immunity |
Voyages of Sir Catfish
The Voyages of Sir Catfish is a key item obtained after defeating the boss. This document reveals the locations of several shipwrecks scattered across the coastal waters of the world. The three shipwreck locations revealed are:
Velia Coast Shipwreck - Located along the Velia coastline, accessible by boat.
Waterfall Shipwreck - Hidden behind or near a waterfall, requiring exploration to find.
Sea Hay Shipwreck - Another coastal wreck that can be reached by rowing out from the shore.
Each shipwreck contains loot, treasure chests, and potentially memory fragments that contribute to world-building and additional rewards. The Voyages of Sir Catfish effectively opens up a series of post-boss exploration opportunities that reward players who take the time to visit each location.
Connection to the Singing Catfish
Separate from the Sir Catfish boss fight, Vellua is also home to the Singing Catfish, a pirate ship anchored in the cove. The Singing Catfish ship is a separate encounter involving pirates and their vice captain. Players can reach the ship by finding a small rowboat on the east side of the cove and rowing out while avoiding sea mines. The ship's cabins contain loot including the Pirate King Hat, a unique headgear piece with a Detect Treasure passive that causes its feather to glow when a treasure chest is nearby.
Tips
Make sure you have defeated the Queen Spider and liberated Senia before trying to access this questline.
Bring healing items and food to the fight. The water spout arena can be disorienting, and Sir Catfish hits hard.
Observe the Body Slam attack carefully during the early encounters to learn the skill. You can also unlock Body Slam by spending 1 Abyss Artifact, but learning it for free by watching is the better option.
After obtaining the Voyages of Sir Catfish, make sure to visit all three shipwreck locations for additional loot and exploration content.
The Catfish Plate Helm's pirate disguise can be useful in other areas of the game where pirates are present.
Hernand Faction Gating for Velia Takeover
Sir Catfish's occupation of Velia is not a fixed world state. The town remains peaceful until the Hernand faction storylines advance far enough to change the map. Clearing House Roberts, House Alfonso, and House Circus is what flips the Velia Fisherman's Guild into an occupied state. Players who reach the village before this progress arrives will find no boss marker and no Shadows in the Mist quest, which can cause confusion when following guides. The fix is simply to keep pushing the Hernand house questlines until the map updates.
Defeating Sir Catfish during Shadows in the Mist delivers three rewards together: his helm, the Voyages of Sir Catfish book that reveals all Hernand shipwrecks, and the Body Slam skill learned through Watch and Learn when he uses it against the player. Staying alive long enough to see Body Slam get used is worth the effort because observing it during this fight removes the need to spend an Abyss Artifact unlocking the skill elsewhere.