Shark Defending

Are you having trouble getting from your raft to islands or abandoned rafts without the shark taking a chunk out of you, and have too few resources to make Shark Bate?

Lucky for you, you are able to defend yourself against the shark while in the water, as long as you have a spear. I havent come across any mention of this, so I figured I'd write this up to let everyone known.

How to stay safe in the water

If you are in the water with the shark swimming about,
1. Locate which direction the shark will attack you from
2. Swim straight "AT" the shark (do not sit still, and definitely do not move backwards)
3. As soon as the shark opens its mouth when close enough to bite you, stab your spear into its mouth and it will deflect away from you without harming you



This is a very short term defense, as it will eventually loop back around to attempt another bite on the player. This can be repeated as many times as your spear has durability for. If you are quick enough, immediately after deflecting the shark with the first stab, you can consistantly turn and stab it a second time as it swims away.

Risks

Additionally, there is a high chance that the bite during the final killing blow, will still hit the player. It is recommeneded to only attempt this if you have enough health to survive at least 2-3 bites.

"Expert Shark Hunter!" Achievement

This can be another way to more quickly get the achievement for killing 50 sharks. I don't recommend attempting this with a wooden spear, as it takes a lot of time and more than 1 full spear to kill a single shark.

Bow Hunting (As of 1.02 update)

Further testing will need to be performed with the bow by me, but it's reported so far, if you shoot the shark with an arrow as it is lunging towards you, it still tries to attack you unlike defending with the spear. The bow may require alternate approaches, like swimming backwards or to the sides.

[I'm bob number 1]

WOW this help a lot

[Yirdfast]

░░░░█▐▓▓░████▄▄▄█▀▄▓▓▓▌█Help
░░░░░▄█▌▀▄▓▓▄▄▄▄▀▀▀▄▓▓▓▓▓▌█ Doge
░░░▄█▀▀▄▓█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▀░▓▌█ Take
░░█▀▄▓▓▓███▓▓▓███▓▓▓▄░░▄▓▐█▌ Over
░█▌▓▓▓▀▀▓▓▓▓███▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▄▀▓▓▐█ Steam
▐█▐██▐░▄▓▓▓▓▓▀▄░▀▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▌█▌ Copy
█▌███▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▐░░▄▓▓███▓▓▓▄▀▐█ And
█▐█▓▀░░▀▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓██████▓▓▓▓▐█ Paste
▌▓▄▌▀░▀░▐▀█▄▓▓██████████▓▓▓▌█▌
▌▓▓▓▄▄▀▀▓▓▓▀▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓█▓█▓█▓▓▌█▌ DO IT.
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[Scary Dragon Mom]

After killing more enemies, shark is less scary. Just a pest, now and not a complete terror.

[-shhfiftyfive]

sadly, if in co-op and not the host, this seems impossible, due to some desync / lag. no matter what you see or do client-side, you will get bit.

but i can definitely do it when i am host, with ease. i can even stab him like 4-5 times while he tries to flee if i'm wearing flippers.

not being host is extremely frustrating. i feel useless.

i wish the dev team would come back and work on a patch to solve this.

[Hacquer]

inaccurate

[Hacquer]

you can sit still and time it right just after the first hit you can look down and get a second hit

[1and_over]

just poke it

[chargerknite]

I hunt sharks with cheep wooden spear. Wooden spears are cheep to make. It's about patients and timing. As soon as it opens its mouth you attack. Easy you need 2 full spears and in normal you should have 3 full spears and usually only needs 2. Stay below the surf when lining up for the shot, for it will mess up your aim and timing. Bruce is always a guest of honor in my raft with a side of potato. Make sure you're well hydrated and satisfied too

[stalesandwich]

@Cinnamon_Bananas
This is no longer true! Shark attacks have been nerfed so that only the outer edge of the raft needs reinforcements; they can no longer attack inner pieces.

[Angel of RNGesus]

Important note, later on as you have metal stockpiled you can reinforce the outer edges of your raft, if you do this to every edge foundation your boat will no longer be attacked by the shark, tho they will still hunt you if you fall in the water