---------------------------------------------------
P I K M I N
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9-Day Challenges Guide
For the Nintendo GameCube
By Dragorn
[email protected]
Version 1.01 --- Last Revised October 29, 2009
The most recent version of this document can always be found at:
http://sites.google.com/site/dragorn/pikmin_9_day.txt
===============================================================================
Table of Contents
===============================================================================
1 Introduction
1.1 Author's Note
1.2 How to Use This Guide
2 Strategies
2.1 General
2.1.1 C-Stick Throwing
2.1.2 Advanced C-Stick Throwing
2.1.3 Advanced Bombing
2.1.4 Mysterious Death Avoidance
2.1.5 Long Distance Throwing
2.1.6 Nectar Swarming
2.1.7 Narrow Bridge Crossings
2.1.8 Straggler Prevention
2.1.9 Effective Radar Use
2.2 Combat
2.2.1 Armored Cannon Beetle
2.2.2 Beady Long Legs
2.2.3 Breadbug
2.2.4 Burrowing Snagret
2.2.5 Dwarf Bulbear
2.2.6 Dwarf Bulborb
2.2.7 Emperor Bulblax
2.2.8 Fiery Blowhog
2.2.9 Goolix
2.2.10 Honeywisp
2.2.11 Iridescent Flint Beetle
2.2.12 Mamuta
2.2.13 Pearly Clamclamp
2.2.14 Pellet Posy
2.2.15 Puffstool
2.2.16 Puffy Blowhog
2.2.17 Sheargrub (Female)
2.2.18 Sheargrub (Male)
2.2.19 Shearwig
2.2.20 Smoky Progg
2.2.21 Spotty Bulbear
2.2.22 Spotty Bulborb
2.2.23 Swooping Snitchbug
2.2.24 Water Dumple
2.2.25 Wogpole
2.2.26 Wollywog
2.2.27 Yellow Wollywog
2.3 Parts List
3 Any% Walkthrough
3.1 Day 1: The Impact Site
3.2 Day 2: The Forest of Hope
3.3 Day 3: The Forest Navel
3.4 Day 4: The Impact Site
3.5 Day 5: The Forest of Hope
3.6 Day 6: The Forest Navel
3.7 Day 7: The Distant Spring
3.8 Day 8: The Distant Spring
3.9 Day 9: The Final Trial
4 Low% Walkthrough
4.1 Day 1: The Impact Site
4.2 Day 2: The Forest of Hope
4.3 Day 3: The Forest Navel
4.4 Day 4: The Forest of Hope
4.5 Day 5: The Distant Spring
4.6 Day 6: The Impact Site
4.7 Day 7: The Distant Spring
4.8 Day 8: The Forest Navel
4.9 Day 9: The Final Trial
5 Frequently Asked Questions
5.1 Where can I find Pikmin gameplay videos?
5.2 Will we ever see an 8-Day Challenge?
5.3 What are some other Pikmin challenges?
6 Contact
7 Revision History
8 Credits
9 Legal Information
===============================================================================
1 Introduction
===============================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 Author's Note
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pikmin's an incredible game, but there's no denying that its Story Mode is
rather short; when the game was first released, some people suggested that
it wasn't even worth buying because you could finish it in a single
rental. This guide presents different challenges that greatly boost Story
Mode's replay value.
This is not a normal Pikmin walkthrough; if you just want to know how to
collect the Chronos Reactor or beat Smoky Progg, there are other FAQs for
that. (Although, Smoky Progg is covered in S:2.2.20.) This guide discusses
Pikmin's various 9-Day Challenges.
The original challenge, proposed by SnapDragon, is to collect all 30 of
the Dolphin's rocket parts in nine days. Many other people completed the
challenge after him; when I did it, I submitted the original version of
this guide (based on a series of posts on the GameFAQs Pikmin Board by
blueviper192) to GameFAQs. Eventually, Bruce Dawson
(
http://www.cygnus-software.com/papers/pikmin/) was crazy enough to do it
without any pikmin deaths.
Ahlyis later proposed a Low% challenge: beating the game with only 50
pikmin grown. (50 is the minimum number of pikmin required to carry the
Gluon Drive, the heaviest rocket part.) Ahlyis originally did it in 11
days, using an extra day each for the Forest Navel and the Distant Spring.
By formulating improved Forest Navel strategies, I reduced this to ten
days. Incredibly, Sess from Speed Demos Archive
(
http://speeddemosarchive.com/) brought the challenge down to nine days
when he discovered that you could complete Distant Spring in two days by
using bomb rocks to destroy the water-surrounded, white, wooden wall by
the Zirconium Rotor.
So, if you've completed Pikmin's Story Mode and yearn for more, this
should keep you busy for a while. Good luck!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2 How to Use This Guide
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note that this guide is written for the original, GameCube version
of Pikmin. I haven't played the Wii version; I assume that most of the
guide is still applicable, but be forewarned that they changed some stuff,
like bomb-rock mechanics.
Chris writes:
"C-stick throwing is no longer possible in the Wii version because the swarm
movement has been replaced with holding a button while pointing at where you
want your Pikmin to move, which of course would mess up your aiming. However,
there is a new alternative I discovered. Since the Wii version lets you move
Olimar and aim seperately (GCN version aimed in whatever direction Olimar was
facing, Wii version lets you point anywhere on screen), you can move Olimar in
small circles with the nunchuk's control stick (make very fast rotations of
the control stick) and your Pikmin will swirl around you and stay close,
allowing you to throw them just as quickly as the C-stick throwing technique
of the GCN version."
Various parts of this guide contain cross-references to other sections;
for example, right now you're reading S:1.2.
The most recent version of this guide is available in plain text and pdf
formats at
http://dragorn.freezoka.com/pikminfaq.html .
===============================================================================
2 Strategies
===============================================================================
Please read this section before you hit the walkthroughs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1 General
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.1.1 C-Stick Throwing
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If you learn only one thing from this guide, make it C-Stick throwing; I
cannot overstate how useful it is. It's a reasonably simple technique, but
it will improve your efficiency dramatically. All you do is use the
c-stick to steer your group of pikmin around Olimar when you need to throw
some of them; this will allow you to throw them about as quickly as you
can tap the "A" button. Practice this; it should be second nature.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.1.2 Advanced C-Stick Throwing
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
C-stick throwing is trickier if you've got multiple colors of pikmin with
you, but only want to throw one. In this case, grab one pikmin of the
desired color (by holding down the "A" button); all the other pikmin of
that same color will automatically move up next to Olimar. Now perform
c-stick throwing, pushing the c-stick lightly so that only the nearby
pikmin, of the right color, swirl around Olimar. (This is particularly
useful in Challenge Mode, which is heavier on mobilizing pellets than the
9-Day Challenges.)
The only problem with c-stick throwing is that you can't move while doing
it. (Unless you hold the GameCube controller in a bizarre way, your left
thumb will be on the c-stick while you right thumb will be hitting "A"
button.) The next best thing is to rapidly alternate between moving short
distances and c-stick throwing small groups of pikmin; this will allow you
to employ c-stick throwing against moving targets such as armored cannon
beetles or puffy blowhogs.
It's also worth mentioning that the rapid speed at which you can throw
pikmin with the c-stick technique makes it more difficult to keep an
accurate count of how many pikmin you've thrown; rather than trying to
count button presses or the "whee!" sound of each pikmin, I just use the
bottom left counter. (Check it before you start throwing, subtract the
number you want to throw from that value, and then throw until the counter
has been reduced to the desired amount.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.1.3 Advanced Bombing
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Being able to expertly manipulate bombs is another important skill. Using
c-stick throwing, hurl several bomb-laden yellow pikmin at your target.
(You should be comfortable with at least three; with practice, you can go
as high as six.) Shortly before the first one lands, press and hold down
the whistle button. Ideally, all the pikmin should drop their bombs as
soon as they touch down and then come running back to you. C-stick
throwing is critical here because the last pikmin you throw needs to be
out of range of all the bombs when the first one explodes. With this
strategy, you should be able to destroy any wall in two passes, max. This
technique is also handy for employing bombs against stationary enemies
like sleeping bulborbs and bulbears: just position the cursor near the
enemy, then throw and recall the pikmin the same way.
Warning: I'm not sure how much of this advice is applicable in the "New
Play Control" Pikmin version for the Wii, because in that game, yellow
pikmin no longer drop their bomb rocks when you whistle them.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.1.4 Mysterious Death Avoidance
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The "Mysterious Death" is, bar none, the most aggravating glitch in this
game. Swarming large numbers of pikmin around certain enemies (wollywogs,
puffstools, and adult bulborbs and bulbears are the most notorious
offenders) may cause some of your pikmin to spontaneously disappear if
they are crushed by the enemy. (In most cases, this happens when the enemy
dies; in Puffstool's case, its when he does his somersault.) There are no
ghosts or any other indications of losses, but you will see your pikmin
counters along the bottom decrease "mysteriously". Usually, only one or
two pikmin are lost at a time, but, in rare instances, it might be five or
more. This glitch is extremely infuriating when you're trying to complete
a challenge without any deaths, and the only surefire way to avoid it is
to kill your enemies with techniques that don't involve swarming.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.1.5 Long Distance Throwing
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Protip: if you hold down the "A" button when you've got pikmin behind
Olimar, one of them will move up very close to him. If you depress the
button while moving, the pikmin will be thrown in the direction of
movement, much farther than usual. I refer to this as "flinging" in the
walkthroughs. You don't really need it for the standard 9-Day Challenge,
but it's necessary for the Low% Challenge.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.1.6 Nectar Swarming
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
When you're swarming your pikmin over a grass or rock patch, waiting for
nectar to crop up, keep rotating the c-stick to keep them in as tightly
knit a group as possible. This will maximize the number of pikmin who
benefit from a nectar blob when it appears. You can "flowerize" 100
pikmin with only one or two globs of nectar if you use it efficiently.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.1.7 Narrow Bridge Crossings
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There are a few parts of the game, such as the ramp in the Impact Site, or
the land bridge by the Snagrets in the Forest of Hope, where you need to
move a large number of pikmin through a narrow region without walls on
either side. The key to doing this effectively is the c-stick; stand at
the entrance to the narrow region, twirl the c-stick, and keep rapidly
twirling it as you move through. Your pikmin should follow you in a very
long, thin group. Keep up the twirling until all of the pikmin have made
it through.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.1.8 Straggler Prevention
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Another annoying thing that can crop up during challenges is when not all
your pikmin latch on to something like they're supposed to; you'll find
yourself wondering "Where is that part? Those pikmin were supposed to be
back by now", before finding it with 29 pikmin struggling hopelessly
around it, and one other guy standing idle an inch away. I've found that
the best way to deal with this problem is to make sure you swarm all your
pikmin onto an item instead of just dismissing them nearby. Push against
the item with Olimar, keeping the c-stick pointed in this direction, and
don't let go of it until the bottom left counter has dropped all the way
to zero. All your pikmin should latch on to the item now, so you can
leave; as you're heading away, hit the dismiss button a few times, just in
case any pikmin try to rejoin you.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.1.9 Effective Radar Use
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Pikmin trip a lot, and you're not always going to notice. This can lead to
pikmin getting stuck behind obstacles, and separated from your party. If
you're just doing the regular 9-Day Challenge, this may not be a big deal;
but, if you're shooting for zero deaths or are in a more advanced
challenge where every soldier counts, this might necessitate a restart, or
cause you to accidentally leave pikmin behind at the end of a day. So, I
suggest a "defensive" playing style: if you get in the habit of
periodically checking the radar for any stray colored dots, you'll more
often be able to recover in these situations.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.2 Combat
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In general, I don't go in to detail about how to kill different in the
walkthroughs. If you have questions, check this section.
Killing an enemy is usually a choice between swarming (using the c-stick
to surround it with pikmin) or raining (throwing pikmin on top of it).
Raining is a good choice for avoiding mysterious deaths on enemies like
bulborbs or wollywogs, and it can also give you one-hit kills on smaller
enemies like sheargrubs or dwarf bulborbs. (Raining on small enemies
requires practice though. I find it considerably easier with the overhead
camera angle.)
In addition to the two main techniques, don't forget that certain enemies
can also be killed with bomb rocks, or Olimar's headbutt. Bomb rocks are
most effective against stationary enemies like sleeping bulborbs, or
pearly clamclamps. Olimar's headbutt works well against sheargrubs and
dwarf bulborbs.
Also remember that red pikmin are better fighters than yellows or blues;
this doesn't always matter, but it makes a significant difference against
high-health enemies like bulbears.
Enemy descriptions are formatted like so:
Sample Creature
Carry Minimum pikmin required to carry the carcass
Seeds Number of seeds the carcass is worth
Nutrition Ratio of seeds to weight
Areas Levels in which this creature appears
Notes about the creature.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.1 Armored Cannon Beetle
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 30
Seeds 50
Nutrition 1.67
Areas The Forest of Hope, The Distant Spring
He might look intimidating, but this guy's a pushover. Approach him with a
group of at least 30 pikmin, preferably reds; make sure he's not pointed
right at you while you're getting into position. Once you're nearby, get
in his face and wait for him to attack; when he starts to inhale,
immediately c-stick throw pikmin toward his nose; one of them should get
lodged in there. Now quickly run around behind him; when he opens up his
armor and exposes his the orange flesh on his back, start raining pikmin
on it. If you're using reds, you can kill him in one pass. (You need to be
comfortable using c-stick throwing while chasing after him, though.) If he
survives, just repeat the process a second time to finish him off.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.2 Beady Long Legs
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry N/A
Seeds N/A
Nutrition N/A
Areas The Forest Navel
This is one of the most frustrating boss fights in the game. Keep the
following points in mind:
* Fight him using only about 10 to 15 yellows. Any more than that, and
it becomes unnecessarily difficult to control your pikmin.
* His stomping is very dangerous, so try to stay under his body at all
times.
* When he shakes some pikmin off, it's usually difficult to whistle them
back without also recalling the pikmin who are still attacking him. If
you've still got some pikmin attacking him, wait a second before you
recall the ones who were knocked off; they'll be briefly stunned from
the fall, so you can squeeze out a little more damage before they go
running after his feet.
* If any pikmin get away from you, they will go after his feet
automatically. They can die very easily doing this, so you must be
extremely vigilant about recalling them when they get knocked off his
body.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.3 Breadbug
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 3
Seeds 3
Nutrition 1.00
Areas The Forest Navel
The breadbug is immune to swarming; you can kill him by raining pikmin on
him repeatedly, but this takes a while. A better solution is to hit him at
least once, and then put two pikmin on whatever item he latches onto. They
will drag him back to an Onion, and the force of hitting the onion will
finish him off. (Since the breadbug in Story Mode is carrying the Space
Float, you get the added bonus of returning the Space Float to the Rocket
area with only two pikmin.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.4 Burrowing Snagret
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry N/A
Seeds N/A
Nutrition N/A
Areas The Forest of Hope
There is no 100% reliable technique for killing snagrets. However, there
is one thing that can tip the scales in your favor: when he retreats into
the ground, swarm all your pikmin over the exact spot where he was, using
the c-stick to keep them in a tightly knit group. He should come back up
at the same spot, and all your pikmin should latch on to him quickly. If
he comes up slowly, he should die in one pass, assuming you're using at
least 40 pikmin. If he comes up fast, all the pikmin on his body should
stun him long enough for you to move Olimar behind him before calling the
pikmin off, so that they all run out of the snagret's field of view. (This
technique does not apply to all snagrets, but it seems to always work on
the one holding the Geiger Counter, and he's the only one you really need
to worry about.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.5 Dwarf Bulbear
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 3
Seeds 5
Nutrition 1.67
Areas The Distant Spring
You shouldn't actually have to engage any dwarf bulbears during the 9-Day
Challenges. If you do, keep in mind that, because of their additional
health, swarming these guys is riskier than swarming their weaker
counterparts, the dwarf bulborbs. Raining on them is generally the way to
go. Each one requires two hits.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.6 Dwarf Bulborb
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 3
Seeds 4
Nutrition 1.33
Areas The Forest of Hope
Dwarf bulborbs are a staple enemy in the Forest of Hope. If you're facing
only one, and have got at least 15 or so pikmin, you can just swarm it. If
you're facing more than one, I would rain on them instead; they only
require a single direct hit. You can also kill them pretty efficiently
with Olimar's headbutt, if necessary.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.7 Emperor Bulblax
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry N/A
Seeds N/A
Nutrition N/A
Areas The Final Trial
I defer to Bruce Dawson's strategy, which is practically foolproof:
1. Enter the arena with 3 yellows and 97 reds. (You don't need that many
reds, but it doesn't hurt.) Take your pikmin through the other white
gate, to the bombs area. Get bombs with the yellows. Leave your pikmin
here and go wake up Bulblax with just Olimar. Go back and grab a
single yellow. Stand in the entrance to the arena and throw him in.
2. Grab all the reds and wait. Eventually, Bulblax will saunter over.
When he gets close to the yellow, he'll start to inhale; this is your
cue to whistle the yellow guy back. The bomb should explode shortly
after Bulblax grabs it with his tongue, stunning him. Run forward and
throw reds on his face.
3. When the effects of the bomb wear off, he'll shake off the pikmin.
Whistle for them and retreat back to the bombs arena. Grab another
bomb-laden yellow. Bulblax will wander off; when he heads back toward
you, throw the yellow in and repeat the previous step. Bulblax should
go down in two or three passes, depending on how quickly you throw the
reds on his face.
The other popular Bulblax strategy of which I'm aware follows the same
pattern, but uses ten bombs per pass instead of one. If one bomb doesn't
seem to stun Bulblax long enough for you, you could try this.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.8 Fiery Blowhog
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 7
Seeds 8
Nutrition 1.14
Areas The Forest Navel
Because they can't defend themselves against red pikmin, fiery blowhogs
are very easy to handle. Swarm them with a large number of reds; they'll
go down fast. They're also one of the few enemies that your pikmin can
handle unsupervised; throw five or ten reds next to one and then come back
later to collect them.
However, it is worth noting that the fiery blowhog's lunge attack can be
problematic if he's positioned near water, which several of the ones in
the Forest Navel are. In this case, you need to get his attention and
point him away from the water before you attack; otherwise, some of your
reds might drown.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.9 Goolix
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry N/A
Seeds N/A
Nutrition N/A
Areas The Impact Site (Odd-numbered days after Day 7)
Like Mamuta, Goolix is a "novelty" enemy who only appears in the Impact
Site later in the game; you won't encounter him during a 9-Day Challenge.
He's very easy to kill, although it takes a while: just dismiss blue
pikmin near him, and they'll take care of the rest.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.10 Honeywisp
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry N/A
Seeds N/A
Nutrition N/A
Areas The Forest of Hope, The Forest Navel
The honeywisp drops nectar. That's pretty much it.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.11 Iridescent Flint Beetle
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry N/A
Seeds N/A
Nutrition N/A
Areas The Impact Site, The Forest of Hope, The Forest Navel
You don't need to be too concerned with flint beetles during the 9-Day
Challenges, although one in the Forest Navel is used as a source for
nectar in the Low% Challenge.
The flint beetle will be the bane of the existence if you try to get a
perfect score on the Impact Site in Challenge Mode, though. The prizes
dropped by the flint beetle follow this pattern:
1. *1* pellet
2. Nectar
3. Nectar
4. *5* pellet
The next four hits also follow this same pattern. Supposedly, all
subsequent hits just produce more nectar. That's certainly what we hope,
since getting just eight hits on one beetle is very difficult. I remember
reading in one of the Challenge Mode topics on the GameFAQs Pikmin board
that someone had gotten around eleven hits on a beetle, and he confirmed
that the last three hits only provided more nectar. Of course, none of
this is relevant to the 9-Day Challenges, so I'll stop rambling.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.12 Mamuta
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 8
Seeds 15
Nutrition 1.88
Areas The Impact Site (Even-numbered days after day 7)
Mamuta only appears in the Impact Site later in the game, so you won't
encounter this guy in a 9-Day Challenge. Swarm all your pikmin on to him,
then run off to the side. Hopefully, he'll try to hit Olimar instead of
the pikmin, which should minimize the number of guys who wind up in the
ground.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.13 Pearly Clamclamp
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 3
Seeds 50
Nutrition 16.67
Areas The Impact Site
Taking down a pearly clamclamp is all about the position of the cursor:
you need to position it such that it just barely touches the clam's pink
interior. (The other side of the cursor should just barely touch the edge
of the clamshell.) This will allow your pikmin to start attacking as soon
as they land. You can kill a clamclamp in two passes with only ten pikmin
if the cursor is positioned correctly.
You can also kill clamclamps very easily bomb rocks; just throw a
bomb-laden yellow near it, and he'll take care of the rest. It takes two
bombs.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.14 Pellet Posy
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry N/A
Seeds N/A
Nutrition N/A
Areas The Impact Site, The Forest of Hope, The Forest Navel
Okay, this section is probably unnecessary :-P. But note that the quickest
way to destroy a pellet posy is to throw a pikmin such that he grabs on to
the top of the flower; he'll knock it down in one blow.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.15 Puffstool
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 10
Seeds 30
Nutrition 3.00
Areas The Forest Navel
Puffstool isn't hard to kill, but his somersault can cause mysterious
deaths if you're not careful. (Pikmin tend to die mysteriously if they are
crushed under his head.) To minimize the risks:
* Don't use too many pikmin to knock him over; it only takes 10 to 20.
* Try to get him running, then move in behind him and swarm the pikmin
on; when he does his somersault, his head should come down away from
your pikmin; this should give you a chance to recall them before they
get crushed.
* If you've got good timing, you can swarm your pikmin on him, and then
call them back after a second or so; he should still fall over.
Once he's on his head, the rest is easy; just throw pikmin on him. He
should go down in one pass easily as long as you've got at least 20
pikmin.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.16 Puffy Blowhog
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry N/A
Seeds N/A
Nutrition N/A
Areas The Distant Spring
Like the Swooping Snitchbug, this guy doesn't have any attacks; he's just
annoying. Rain pikmin on him until he falls down, then swarm. Note that
puffy will retreat from you if chase after him; this is a good way to
distract him (if you're just passing through an area and don't want him to
attack), or to make him die in a specific location (useful for recovering
the Interstellar Radio in the Distant Spring).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.17 Sheargrub (Female)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 1
Seeds 2
Nutrition 2.00
Areas The Forest of Hope
Female sheargrubs are the white version of this enemy. Since they don't
have any attacks, you don't need to worry about them. (They can still tear
down bridges though, so you need to kill them in certain circumstances.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.18 Sheargrub (Male)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 1
Seeds 3
Nutrition 3.00
Areas The Forest of Hope, The Forest Navel
Male sheargrubs would be as trivial as their female mates were it not for
their "death grip": if a sheargrub manages to snare a pikmin in his
jaws, that pikmin is doomed unless you quickly break the sheargrub's grip
by raining pikmin down on him. For this reason, swarming is NOT
recommended. Just rain on them instead; like dwarf bulborbs, they only
require one hit each, and you'll be in a better position for recovery if
one of your pikmin gets caught in the death grip.
Although it takes longer, a simple, death-proof method for dispatching
sheargrubs is to just use Olimar's headbutt.
Also note that sheargrubs and shearwigs only come up out of the ground
when Olimar is around; pikmin can carry items over them without incident.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.19 Shearwig
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 1
Seeds 4
Nutrition 4.00
Areas The Forest Navel, The Distant Spring
Shearwigs have the same "death grip" as male sheargrubs, so the same
advice applies: rain, don't swarm. Additionally, shearwigs take flight
when they lose half their health, so killing them with Olimar's headbutt
isn't an option; you have to knock them out of the sky with pikmin to
finish them off.
You can make things easier by taking advantage of nearby bodies of water,
if available; if you lure shearwigs into water, it'll damage them for you;
you can finish them off once they've taken flight. There are a couple
different places to apply this in the Distant Spring.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.20 Smoky Progg
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 3
Seeds 100
Nutrition 33.33
Areas The Distant Spring
Smoky Progg isn't a factor in the 9-Day Challenges, or Challenge Mode, but
I'll cover him anyway. Trying to kill him with bomb rocks isn't
recommended; he rarely stands still, and each bomb only drains 1/8 of his
health. The best way I know of is to stand by with 100 reds and keep your
distance until he approaches one of the Onions and uses his uprooting
attack; while he's standing still, rapidly throw reds on his face. He
might periodically shake them off, and a few of them may die, but he
should remain stationary and die quickly if you keep up the barrage.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.21 Spotty Bulbear
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 10
Seeds 15
Nutrition 1.50
Areas The Distant Spring
A bulbear is basically a bulborb with more health, so the same strategies
apply (S:2.2.22). However, there are a couple caveats: because of their
increased health, swarming is riskier, and not recommended; raining pikmin
on them, or using bomb-rocks (it takes three), is the way to go.
Regardless of whether you're swarming or raining, use reds; the difference
is noticeable here.
There is one bulbear in the Distant Spring who has his back to an
obstruction. In this case, you must use bombs, or just swarm him from the
side and hope for the best.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.22 Spotty Bulborb
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 10
Seeds 12
Nutrition 1.20
Areas The Forest of Hope
The most common technique for dispatching one of these monsters is
swarming it from behind. This is quick, but it requires a large group of
pikmin and is prone to mysterious deaths. (If you do swarm one, here's a
tip: when you push the c-stick into position to start swarming the
creature, hold it down until the job is done; this ensures that any pikmin
who get knocked away will run back to finish the job.)
I prefer to approach a bulborb from behind and rain pikmin on its back
until it's dead. (If you run out of pikmin, whistle some of the ones that
the beast shakes off, and then throw them on again.) This technique is
slower than swarming, but it bears no risk of mysterious deaths, and, with
practice, you can use it effectively with even small groups of pikmin. If
you don't even have enough pikmin to rain on one effectively, you should
avoid engaging it directly and try distracting it with Olimar, while your
pikmin are going by. You can also dispatch bulborbs with 2 bomb rocks
each.
Note that due to a glitch, if you wake up a bulborb or bulbear and then
leave the area, it will remain awake until you focus the camera back on
it. This could be problematic if pikmin are entering the area later, when
you expect the creature to be asleep again.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.23 Swooping Snitchbug
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 3
Seeds 4
Nutrition 1.33
Areas The Forest of Hope(After Day 15), The Distant Spring
For an enemy who doesn't have any attacks, the Snitchbug sure manages to
cause a lot of trouble. He is the king of randomness; no matter what
Distant Spring strategy you concoct, you will be restarting a lot on his
account. If you see a snitchbug, wait for him to notice you, and grab one
or two of your pikmin, before you try to engage; he'll be flying lower, so
you can hit him without yellows. When he falls to the ground, swarm him
with pikmin, and then throw some on him, to prevent him from flying away.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.24 Water Dumple
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 5
Seeds 5
Nutrition 1.00
Areas The Distant Spring
If you're only dealing with only one or two water dumples, you can usually
just swarm them and escape unscathed. But most dumples come in groups of
three, which is trickier:
* The ideal scenario: approach the group slowly, until you get the
attention of just one dumple. Give him a couple seconds to peel away
from his buddies, then move forward and swarm him. While he's dying,
you should have moved close enough to the remaining two to get the
attention of one of them. Wait a beat, then move forward and swarm
him. The third guy should be heading your way as you kill the second
one, so you can take him out right after the second one is done.
* The ideal case doesn't always work out: when you approach the group,
you might attract the attention of two dumples. In this case, keep
slowly backing away from them as they come towards you. Keep backing
up and luring them away; eventually, they should both turn around at
the same time and start retreating. Now swoop forward and swarm your
pikmin over both of them; since you're attacking from behind, both of
them should go down with no deaths. Then the last one should be no
problem.
* A third option is to dismiss your pikmin away from the group and
approach as just Olimar. Kill one dumple using Olimar's Headbutt, then
go get your pikmin and swarm the other two.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.25 Wogpole
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 1
Seeds 1
Nutrition 1.00
Areas The Forest of Hope, The Distant Spring?
Wogpoles have a very low nutritional value, no offensive attacks, and flee
when you try to go near them. There's no reason to bother with them. (I
believe that wogpoles were intended to grow into wollywogs after several
days, in the same way that dwarf bulborbs eventually become adults. This
would give you some incentive to deal with them. I don't think the
programmers actually implemented this functionality, though.)
(Many different guides say that wogpoles are found in the Distant Spring.
I've only encountered them in the Forest of Hope. Since they're pointless
enemies, it's not really important.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.26 Wollywog
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 7
Seeds 8
Nutrition 1.14
Areas The Forest Navel
This is the Yellow Wollywog's rarer, subterranean cousin. The same advice
applies (S:2.2.27).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.2.27 Yellow Wollywog
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carry 7
Seeds 8
Nutrition 1.14
Areas The Distant Spring
Aside from a few bosses, wollywogs are the most dangerous enemy in the
game. They can kill tons of pikmin with a single jump, and the easiest way
to kill them (swarming) is ill-advised, because of the very high
probability of mysterious deaths.
The best way to deal with wollywogs... is to not fight them at all. You
can usually get away with luring wollywogs one or two jumps away from
wherever you need your pikmin to be. Also, pikmin who are carrying an item
at full speed usually move fast enough to avoid the wollywog's jumps.
If you must kill one, there are a couple options:
* You can kill a wollywog quickly by swarming it with a large number of
pikmin and then recalling them when it has just a sliver of health
left. Then finish him off by raining pikmin on him. In fact, if you
time it right, the wollywog will actually die as your pikmin return to
you, giving you the speed of swarming without the risk of mysterious
deaths. (You don't have to worry about mysterious deaths as long as
you don't have all those pikmin grouped around him when he dies.) This
looks pretty badass when you manage to pull it off, but it's tricky,
and by no means risk-free: the wollywog might pull off a jump while
you're swarming him, which could cause some regular, non-mysterious
deaths.
* A slow but safe method is to approach the beast and get its attention;
after it jumps, quickly throw 5 to 10 pikmin on top of it. It will
jump straight up, and the pikmin will be knocked off when it comes
back down; quickly throw another small group on him, then whistle the
pikmin who were knocked off before they try to go attack his sides.
Keep this up, and the wollywog should go down safely in a few passes.
* If you're fighting the wollywog on land, you have the option of using
bomb rocks. Throw a bomb-laden yellow within the wollywogs jumping
radius, but not so close that the yellow tries to throw the bomb rock
himself. When the wollywog jumps, call back the yellow; he should drop
his bomb, and the wollywog should land on it shortly before it
explodes. This will drain half his health. Repeat with a second bomb.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.3 Parts List
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a list of the rocket parts and their weights; it should be helpful
if you want to try developing your own strategies.
o--------------------------o
|Part |Weight|
|-------------------+------|
|Engine | 20|
|Positron Generator | 20|
|Eternal Fuel Dynamo| 40|
|Extraordinary Bolt | 30|
|Geiger Counter | 15|
|Nova Blaster | 30|
|Radiation Canopy | 30|
|Sagittarius | 20|
|Shock Absorber | 30|
|Whimsical Radar | 20|
|#1 Ionium Jet | 15|
|Analog Computer | 20|
|Anti-Dioxin Filter | 40|
|Automatic Gear | 15|
|Gravity Jumper | 25|
|Guard Satellite | 20|
|Libra | 15|
|Omega Stabilizer | 30|
|Space Float | 25|
|#2 Ionium Jet | 15|
|Bowsprit | 30|
|Chronos Reactor | 20|
|Gluon Drive | 50|
|Interstellar Radio | 20|
|Massage Machine | 30|
|Pilot's Seat | 25|
|Repair-Type Bolt | 20|
|UV Lamp | 10|
|Zirconium Rotor | 30|
|Secret Safe | 40|
o--------------------------o
The maximum number of pikmin you can put on a rocket part is usually 20
more than its weight:
o-------o
|Min|Max|
|---+---|
|10 | 25|
|15 | 25|
|20 | 40|
|25 | 45|
|30 | 50|
|40 | 60|
|50 | 70|
o-------o
(The maximum number of pikmin you can put on the Secret Safe is 95.)
===============================================================================
3 Any% Walkthrough
===============================================================================
You've read S:2, right? You're an expert on c-stick throwing and raining
down hell on bulborbs? Then we're ready to begin. This section covers the
9-Day Challenge and the 9-Day, 0-Deaths Challenge. (If you're doing this
for the first time, stick with the easier one.)
Many different strategies are possible; outside of Days 1, 4 and 9 (where
you only collect one part), you have a lot of leeway in your decisions. As
far as deaths are concerned, I tried to build flexibility into these
strats; you should be able to afford a few deaths here or there. You
should probably restart and try again in the case of major catastrophes,
though.
Overall difficulty depends greatly on how many pikmin you want to grow;
growing very few will make the challenge considerably more difficult
(S:4), as will growing very many (S:5.3). This walkthrough tries to strike
the right balance between the two extremes. Days 2 and 4 are the only
major growth days. (You need to greatly bolster your pikmin count to
complete Day 2, and Day 4 is the second visit to the Impact Site, in which
you can grow all the pikmin you need for the rest of the challenge.)
Finally, if you're more of a visual learner, you might want to check out
Ahlyis's 9-Day-0-Deaths video (S:5.1). He uses different strategies than
what I describe here, though.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.1 Day 1: The Impact Site
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Grow 25 Reds, all flowers
* Collect:
* Engine
This day is your freebie. You have to grow 25 reds and collect the Engine.
Since there's no time limit, wait for your pikmin to fully develop into
flowers before you pluck them. (It's boring and tedious, but you're gonna
need every advantage you can get for Day 2.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.2 Day 2: The Forest of Hope
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Grow 60 to 65 Reds
* Grow at least 15 Yellows
* Collect:
* Eternal Fuel Dynamo
* Extraordinary Bolt
* Shock Absorber
* Whimsical Radar
This is one of the most difficult days. You have to collect four parts
despite starting with only 25 pikmin.
Excluding crazy Low% business, there are basically three ways to go about
completing this day, based on two key decisions:
* Whether to collect the Nova Blaster or the Shock Absorber as your
fourth part. (The first three are the Eternal Fuel Dynamo, Whimsical
Radar, and Extraordinary Bolt.) In my original strategy for this Day,
I collected the Nova Blaster. This time, I recommend the Shock
Absorber instead; it's less guarded, weighs less, and is closer to the
Rocket.
* Whether to access the Extraordinary Bolt and Whimsical Radar by
destroying the gray stone wall by the Yellow Onion, or by the Red
Onion. In my original strategy, I destroyed the wall by the Red Onion;
in the context of the whole level, this is the logical choice; if you
don't destroy that wall on Day 2, you'll have to do it on your second
visit instead. Also, you must destroy this wall if you want to collect
the Nova Blaster as your fourth part. However, in updating this guide,
I play-tested the level extensively, trying both walls, and I always
finished earlier when I went for the Yellow Onion wall. So that's what
we're gonna do. It means more work on Day 5, but that's okay.
Here we go...
1. Withdraw all the reds. Toss two next to the nearby pellet posy and
swarm the others onto the white wall. The two you tossed aside should
knock down the posy in seconds, so use them to collect the resulting
pellet. Next, have them both harvest the other nearby posy. Put them
on the wall when they're finished, and pluck the new pikmin when
they're ready and put them on the wall too. Wait for everyone to
finish the wall.
2. Head through the gate and towards the bridge. Swarm your pikmin onto
the closest dwarf bulborb, and then swarm them onto the four nearby
pellet posies. Then swarm them onto the other dwarf bulborb, and
finally swarm the posies by him. Swarm over these pellets to get them
moving. Throw three or four pikmin on the carcass of the dwarf borb
you just killed, and then three or four on the carcass of the other
one, too. (Try to put only three on one of them.) Swarm your pikmin
over the first group of pellets. You should have five or six pikmin
left; put them on the nearby *5* pellet.
3. Return to the Red Onion and call whatever pikmin are idling under it.
Have them speed up the items that are still in transit. Pluck a couple
sprouts while you wait for everything to arrive.
4. Head back out into the field with about 30 Reds. Kill the two dwarf
bulborbs by the Eternal Fuel Dynamo. (If they're very close together,
it's probably better to rain on them instead of swarming.) Throw about
four pikmin on one of the carcasses. Throw about 10 pikmin on the
nearby *10* pellet. Throw about four pikmin on the other carcass. Now
go knock down the three posies by the Eternal Fuel Dynamo. Swarm these
pellets. You should have a few pikmin left; put two each on the red
and yellow *1* pellets by the sleeping adult bulborb.
5. Return to the Red Onion. Start plucking sprouts. Pikmin who are
returning items should rejoin your party automatically once they're
made their drops. Continue plucking until you have 50 to 55 pikmin on
hand.
</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
6. Head for the Shock Absorber. If the first bell goes off around now,
you're doing well. When you get to the ledge where the *5* pellet
pellet was, throw all your pikmin up there. (C-stick throwing comes in
pretty handy here.) Once they're all up there, head across the small
pond and run around to meet up with them. Head behind the sleeping
bulborb. Kill him. Swarm the carcass. Swarm the rest onto the Shock
Absorber. If there are any idle pikmin around who didn't latch on to
the carcass, put them on the part too.
7. Return to the Red Onion. Pluck sprouts while you wait for both items
to arrive. When the bulborb carcass is delivered, take your pikmin and
go max out the carriers on the Shock Absorber. Go back and pluck more
sprouts. Once the part is delivered, grab those pikmin. You should
have about 80. Flowerize them in the nearby grass patch.
8. Head for the Eternal Fuel Dynamo; dismiss all your pikmin by it, then
run back to the Red Onion while hitting the dismiss button repeatedly.
Pluck all the remaining sprouts. You should have them all out of the
ground before the Eternal Fuel Dynamo gets back. (If no pikmin have
died, you should have 90 in the field. If you have a little less,
that's okay. If, for some reason, you have more than 90, put pikmin in
the Red Onion to reduce the total to 90.)
9. Grab the pikmin from the rocket, and go get all the pikmin who were
left out by the Eternal Fuel Dynamo. You should have all the pikmin in
the field with you. Kill the nearby sleeping bulborb, then put all of
them on the white wooden wall by the Yellow Onion. Take a breather
while they destroy it. If the noon bell goes off while you're waiting
for the wall to come down, you're doing good.
10. Head through the gate and swarm the dwarf bulborb. Then swarm both
sets of posies. Leave the carcass and pellets. Carefully move past the
sleeping bulborb and activate the Yellow Onion. Dismiss all your reds
near the tin can.
11. Head back to the Yellow Onion and pluck the single yellow pikmin.
Throw him on one of the nearby pellets. Use Olimar's headbutt to
destroy the pellet posy by the Onion. When the pikmin returns his
first pellet, throw him on a second one. When he returns it, throw him
on a third. When he returns that one, throw him on the last one in the
immediate area.
12. While you're waiting for the yellow sprouts to develop, grab the reds
and use them to kill the bulborb. Then dismiss the reds and return to
the Yellow Onion.
13. Pluck all the yellow sprouts. Use these guys to mobilize the four
yellow pellets you knocked down earlier, as well as the dwarf bulborb
carcass. Once some of the yellows make their deliveries, get the three
bombs in front of the gray stone wall. Use these bombs to destroy this
wall.
14. Pluck any remaining yellow sprouts. Take all your yellows to get bombs
from the nearby tin can. Then go get more bombs from the tin can by
the Eternal Fuel Dynamo's initial position. You should have 10 yellows
and at least nine bombs.
15. Head back to the gray wall you destroyed earlier. Dismiss your yellows
around here, safely away from all the enemies in the next section.
16. The next task is to kill all the dangerous enemies by the
Extraordinary Bolt and Whimsical Radar. (That's four male sheargrubs,
two by each part, and the two dwarf bulborbs.) There are basically
three ways to handle this:
* The simplest method is to just sweep all your reds through the
area in one massive wave of red death. This is quick and
effective, but will almost certainly result in some deaths.
* You can also take you reds in and slowly advance on the enemies,
taking them out one-by-one using raining. This is a good way to
clear the area semi-quickly with a much-reduced risk of deaths.
* You can also head in with just Olimar and use his headbutt. This
is the slowest, safest method.
17. So, kill the dangerous enemies however you like. I recommend the
Olimar-only option; you should have enough time for it. The third bell
should go off while you're clearing the area.
18. Go get the 9 yellows with bombs. Now take them to destroy the black
wall. This isn't hard, as long as you keep one thing in mind: when you
throw a bomb-laden yellow, it goes into "guard mode" when it lands;
if there are any targets around, like the female sheargrubs in this
area, the pikmin will deploy his bomb. This will probably detonate all
the other bombs, kill all your yellows, and mandate a restart. So do
NOT throw your bomb-laden yellows unless you're deploying them against
the wall. I find the easiest way to do this is to hit the wall with a
few bombs, then dismiss your pikmin. Carefully touch a few more of the
bomb-carrying yellows, and hit the wall again. Then dismiss those,
whistle the last group, and finish off the wall.
19. Take your yellows back to the Yellow Onion and put them on the nearby
bulborb carcass. Now gather up the reds and take them back through the
gray gate. Throw pikmin up on the Whimsical Radar; swarm it when it
comes down. Take the 50 leftover reds and put them on all on the
Extraordinary Bolt. (You don't have to max out both parts; if you feel
you've got the time, you could put some of the extra reds on the
various carcasses strewn throughout this area. However, you only need
about 70 reds for Day 3, so any additional growing is superfluous. If
you do collect extra items, make sure they're moving fast; it's a long
trek back to the Red Onion.)
20. Return to the Yellow Onion and grab the idle yellows; then return to
the Red Onion and wait for everything to arrive. Both parts should
both be delivered shortly before the "Hurry Up!" warning.
21. All the essential work is now done. If you have time, gather up all
100 pikmin and flowerize them in the other grass patch in this area.
If you've still got time to burn, go put 20 on the adult bulborb
carcass near the white gate near the Yellow Onion.
22. You should have at least 69 Reds and 15 Yellows for Day 3.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.3 Day 3: The Forest Navel
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Grow at least 15 blues
* Collect:
* #1 Ionium Jet
* Automatic Gear
* Gravity Jumper
* Omega Stabilizer
* Space Float
Compared to Day 2, this isn't bad at all. There are three big hurdles that
might trip you up; I tried to put them all early in the strategy. You can
finish this day before the third bell rings.
1. Withdraw 69 Reds and 15 Yellows. Wait a bit for all the reds to
emerge. Head for Blue Onion. Swarm the three blue pellet posies on the
shore. Head up the nearby slope (where the ground changes from gray to
light brown) and dismiss all your pikmin, away from the three pellets.
2. Activate the Blue Onion. Knock down the two nearby posies with
Olimar's headbutt while you wait for the sprout to develop. Pluck the
single blue and throw him on one of the three blue pellets on shore.
3. The breadbug should be arriving right now. If you don't see him, check
the map. If he's not nearby, just restart and try again. Otherwise,
whistle some reds and use them to hit the breadbug at least once. Then
put two reds on his pellet. One hurdle down!
4. Dismiss your reds. (Avoid the one remaining blue pellet.) Grab your
lone blue from under the onion and put him on this pellet.
5. Gather up your reds. Head for the group of four shearwigs, near the
base of the Automatic Gear's pedestal. Kill all of them. Approach
slowly; when you see one emerge from the ground, rain on it. You
shouldn't have to take on all four simultaneously. However, if
multiple ones emerge at the same time, you should try to rain on them
all at once. This is tricky, but it gets easier with practice. Try to
take out all four with no more than two deaths. As I note in S:2.2.19,
I find that the overhead camera view makes this much easier. That was
the second hurdle.
6. Gather up all your reds and yellows. You should have 81 or 82. Head
for the Gravity Jumper. Dismiss your pikmin near the incomplete ramp
in front of this part. Whistle for a group of about 35 to 50 reds; it
doesn't have to exact. Throw them up next to the Gravity Jumper ramp,
and then use the geyser to go up there. Whistle these reds and put
them all on the ramp. If any fell down back into the sand, just ignore
them.
7. Grab your 15 yellows and throw them up on the cliff too, away from the
ramp. Take the geyser up again and grab the yellows. Take them to get
all 15 bombs from the pipe on the other side of the Gravity Jumper.
(After you think you've collected all the bombs, dismiss your yellows.
Any who aren't holding bombs will separate themselves out from the
group.)
8. Throw your 15 bomb-laden yellows back up onto the platform with the
Gravity Jumper. As Olimar, run around, take the geyser up again, and
grab them. Take your bombers down to the other side and dismiss them
near your idle reds. The ramp should be done, or almost done, by now.
Grab some idle reds and start throwing them up onto the ramp to finish
it, if necessary. Once the ramp is done, put 25 reds on the Gravity
Jumper.
9. Leave your yellows where they are, and take all your other reds (you
should have 41 or 42) toward the wollywog near puffstool. Lure him off
the path that the Omega Stabilizer is going to take back to the Onion.
Two jumps should do it.
10. Final hurdle: take your reds and go kill Puffstool as described in
S:2.2.15. Put 10 to 12 on his carcass and the remaining 30 on the
Omega Stabilizer. If you have less than 40 pikmin, just put them all
on the Omega Stabilizer. The rest of the day should be pretty easy
from this point forward.
11. Head back to the Gravity Jumper ramp. Don't worry about all the
sheargrubs and shearwigs you pass on the way there; they won't bother
your pikmin after they retreat into the ground. Grab your 15 bombers
and head for the group of shearwigs you killed earlier. There's a
black stone wall here. Dismiss your bombers (not close to the nearby
fiery blowhog!), then grab nine. Knock down this wall in two or three
passes. Take all your yellows through the gate and use your remaining
six bombs to destroy the nearby gray stone wall.
12. Swarm your 15 yellows next to the nearby pile of sticks that leads to
the Automatic Gear. Drop down and grab the lone blue pikmin under the
Blue Onion. Throw him on one of the nearby blue pellets. Pluck two
blue sprouts from the ground and put them on the other nearby blue
pellet. Pluck the other two blue sprouts. After the two items are
returned, put all five blues on the nearby blue *5* pellet.
13. While you're waiting for the blues to return that pellet, check the
radar; the yellows should have brought the Automatic Gear down from
its perch by now; if any of them fell off the part and latched onto
other nearby material, go whistle them off and put them back on it. If
they're already out of reach, use some of your blues to get the
Automatic Gear moving, and pluck replacement sprouts from under the
Blue Onion. Have your blues mobilize all four shearwig carcasses.
14. Return to the Blue Onion. Pluck all the sprouts. Once everything gets
back and all the sprouts are plucked, you should have 15 blues.
15. Head for the Onions. Call the idle pikmin here and have them speed up
the Omega Stabilizer, puffstool carcass, or whatever needs help. Throw
a few reds on the breadbug carcass if that's still under the Red
Onion. The noon bell should go off around now.
16. Once everything is returned, gather up all 100 pikmin. Go flowerize
them in the rock patch near the nearby wooden white wall.
17. Dismiss your pikmin. Put the reds and yellows on the white wall. Take
your blues and go put them on the #1 Ionium Jet.
18. Return to the white wall and wait for your pikmin to finish destroying
it. Take your pikmin back to the Onions and swarm the Space Float. Now
take your remaining pikmin and have some of them speed up the #1
Ionium Jet. (It should be past the water by now.)
19. You're finished once both parts are returned. You should have plenty
of time to spare. You can do what you want with your extra time: "Go
to Sunset", or grow additional pikmin. (We'll be growing all the
extra pikmin we need on Day 4, though.) Note that you should have 30
blues for the next day; if you missed one of the shearwig carcasses
earlier and have less than 30, try to harvest some blue pellets with
the remaining time.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.4 Day 4: The Impact Site
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Grow lots of pikmin, especially blues
* Collect:
* Positron Generator
It's most important to collect the rocket part, and send both pearls back
to the Blue Onion. You should also be able to collect the three *20*
pellets. The other growing is optional. You've got more than enough time
to collect all the pellets though.
1. Withdraw 30 blues, 40 reds, and 30 yellows. While you're waiting for
all the pikmin to group up, swarm the two posies next to the Yellow
Onion. Leave the pellets for now.
2. Take all your pikmin towards the Engine's old location. As you're
moving through the narrow canyon, c-stick your pikmin to the side, to
avoid activating the Flint Beetle. (It's not a big deal if he shows
up, though.)
3. Collect all six bombs under the ramp. Take all your pikmin up the ramp
with you as described in S:2.1.7.
4. Dismiss your pikmin in the center of the tree stump. If any pikmin
fell off the ramp earlier, go back and get them. Grab three yellows
with bombs. Use them to destroy the gray stone wall.
5. Grab your empty-handed yellows, and throw 20 of them on the Yellow
*20* pellet. Gather up all the rest of your pikmin. You should have
80. Throw 20 reds on the Red *20* pellet.
6. Head left and dismiss your pikmin. Grab the 3 remaining bomb-laden
yellows and use them to destroy the white wooden wall. Dismiss the
yellows and grab the blues. Use the blues to kill all three Pearly
Clamclamps in the area. (If you suffer any losses against the
clamclamps, they will probably be substantial. You should probably
restart and try again.)
7. Put all the blues on the Positron Generator. Head back onto shore and
wait. When the blues have carried the part out of the water, call them
off and then dismiss them to the side. Gather up the remaining red and
yellow pikmin and put them on the part. Put about 20 of the remaining
blues on the Blue *20* pellet. Put the remaining eight to ten on the
two pearls.
8. Head out through the white gate and back to the Onions. Call all the
idle pikmin, and the ones in front of the rocket when they're ready.
Swarm the posies by the Blue Onion. Leave the pellets. Take all your
pikmin and have them speed up the three items that are still in
transit. Gather up all 100 pikmin once everything's delivered.
9. Swarm the two posies next to the Red Onion, by the pile of sticks. Put
one or two pikmin of the correct color on the pellets. Now swarm most
of the remaining pikmin onto pile of sticks. Throw 3 or 4 onto the
nearby geyser, in the bushes. Once they're opened it, throw them up on
the nearby ledge, then ride the geyser up and whistle for them. Call
the pikmin in this area who came up via the stick they just built.
10. Mobilize the three *10* pellets here with with correct colors. Then
swarm the posies behind them, and get those moving too.
11. Return to the Onions. We've accomplished most of the important work
for the day. However, you should still have plenty of time left, so
feel free to work around the Onions in a circle, collecting the
various remaining *1* pellets. There are also two batches of posies in
the rocky areas to the left and right of the Ship.
12. Before you end the day, put all the reds and yellows back in their
onions, and withdraw blues so you have 100. Flowerize these guys in
one of the grass nectar patches in the area. Then put the blues away,
withdraw the reds, and flowerize them in the other patch. If you have
nectar left, and are so inclined, you can put away the reds, withdraw
all your yellows (you probably have less than 100; it's okay, you
don't need many), and flowerize them too.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.5 Day 5: The Forest of Hope
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Collect:
* Geiger Counter
* Nova Blaster
* Radiation Canopy
* Sagittarius
The only real hurdle today is killing the Burrowing Snagret, so we get
that out of the way at the beginning.
1. Withdraw 93 blues and 7 yellows. Once all the blues are out of the
onion, head for the bridge that leads to the Sagittarius. Kill the
five sheargrubs by this bridge. Only two of them are male, so you
should be able to rain on them without incident. But, you can also
dismiss your pikmin off to the side and use just Olimar to kill the
males, if you want. You've got a fair amount of buffer time today.
2. Gather up your 93 blues. Put two to work on this short bridge. Put
nine on the other bridge. Return to shore and call your yellows. Take
all your pikmin and go get bombs from the nearby tin can. Then head
for the old location of the Yellow Onion. Dismiss your pikmin here and
destroy the nearby stone wall with 3 bombs.
3. Dismiss your yellows and grab your 82 blues. Head through the
demolished wall, past the bulborbs, and put lots of blues on the
cardboard box. Once the box is moved, gather up all your blues and
head across the narrow land bridge toward the snagrets, as described
in S:2.1.7. If a few blues fall off, just leave them for now.
4. Head across this field, keeping to the left. Use the c-stick to keep
your pikmin to the left as well; most of them should be flush along
the rock wall. You have to pass by one snagret before you get to the
one you want to kill. As long as none of your pikmin have any
ill-timed tripping, you should get by without difficulty.
5. Kill the snagret at the far end of this area, as described in S:2.2.4.
Swarm your blues over all the pellets the Snagret leaves behind, and
the Geiger Counter. Take any remaining blues back across this field;
watch out for the Snagret you passed on your way in. Whistle any blues
who fell off the land bridge earlier, then head back to the yellows.
6. Dismiss your blues, grab your empty-handed yellows, and have them get
bombs from the nearby tin can. Then gather up all your pikmin and head
back to the Onions. Bomb down the gray stone wall at the Onions with
three bombs. The Geiger Counter and all the pellets should have been
delivered by now. If there are any sprouts under the Blue Onion, pluck
those. Head through the recently-opened gate with all 89 pikmin.
7. Head along this path and swarm the dwarf bulborb. Then head past the
sleeping bulborb and swarm the two posies behind him, as a bomb-safety
precaution. Dismiss your pikmin. Grab your remaining four bombs and
destroy the black wall. Hang on to these four yellows, and grab all
the blues. Kill the bulborb.
8. Take your pikmin through the black gate. Swarm the dwarf bulborb. Head
past the sleeping bulborb and swarm the other dwarf too. Then turn
around and kill the adult bulborb. Dismiss your pikmin near the tin
can. Grab the blues and swarm them onto the Nova Blaster. Have the
yellows get bombs from the tin can. Whistle up all the idle blues.
9. Head back along the path and dismiss your pikmin near the small pond.
Take the blues and put them on the white wall in this pond. Take the
yellows back through the black gate and throw them up on to the nearby
ledge. Whistle for the few idle yellows you left here earlier, and
then return to the Onions.
10. The Nova Blaster should be delivered as you arrive. Dismiss the
yellows here. (You won't need them anymore today.) Grab the idle blues
by the rocket and return to the wall in the pond. Put them all to work
on it. Wait for the wall to come down. Head through the gate, leaving
the blues alone for now. Touch the four yellows you threw up here
earlier and use their bombs on the black wall. While the wall is
coming down, grab all the blues.
11. Head through the black gate. Kill the Armored Cannon Beetle as
described in S:2.2.1. Put about 40 pikmin each on his carcass and the
Radiation Canopy. (Collecting this carcass is purely optional. You
have more than enough blues to last you the rest of the challenge, so
you can just swarm all your pikmin onto the Radiation Canopy if you
want. On the other hand, this carcass is worth 50 pikmin, and you
should have time to collect it, so, why not?)
12. Return to the Onions and wait for both items to be delivered, then
gather up the pikmin and head towards the Sagittarius with just your
blues. Swarm your blues over the sheargrub carcasses, if you want.
Swarm your blues on to the short bridge and wait for them to finish
it, then take them across it. The long bridge should be complete, or
nearly so. You can have your blues help finish it off if you want.
Once it's done, gather up all the blues and go swarm the Sagittarius.
13. Take your remaining blues and return to base, swarming the few pellet
posies on the way there, if you want. Once everything's back, gather
up all 100 pikmin and flowerize them in one of the nearby nectar
patches. End the day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.6 Day 6: The Forest Navel
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Collect:
* Analog Computer
* Anti-Dioxin Filter
* Guard Satellite
* Libra
The only real hurdle this day is defeating Beady Long Legs. If you're
going for the no-deaths challenge, he'll definitely be a problem.
1. Withdraw 80 reds and 20 yellows. Once the pikmin have gathered, head
out through the nearby gray gate, and then though the black gate.
Dismiss your pikmin to the right of this small ramp, and grab the
reds.
2. Throw about 8 reds on the nearby fiery blowhog, then head for the
fiery blowhog between that one, and the shore; if he's facing toward
the water, get his attention, either by throwing a couple reds on him
and then calling them off, or just standing by him and waiting for him
to turn around. Once he's in a safe position, throw about 8 reds on
him. Head for the black wall that leads to the Libra and Analog
Computer, and throw about 8 on the fiery blowhog over there as well.
(Once again, point him away from the water, if necessary.)
3. Take you remaining reds and go collect your yellows. Head for the
Gravity Jumper's old location. Dismiss your pikmin, grab at least 15
yellows, and have them get bombs from the nearby pipe, using the same
strategy as on Day 3. Keep an eye on your Pikmin-in-the-field counter
while you're doing this; you should be able to tell if the blowhogs
drown any red pikmin. If that happens, you can restart if you're going
for no deaths, or keep going if you want to.
4. Gather up all your pikmin and head past the nearby grass patch. After
you drop off the ledge, grab one bomb-laden yellow. Throw him in the
middle of the huge patch of nearby sheargrubs and shearwigs. You don't
have to kill all of them; you just want to thin the herd.
5. Carefully avoid the wollywog and any remaining enemies and head for
the Beady Long Legs Arena. Dismiss your pikmin, and grab some with
bombs. Knock down the gray stone wall (6 bombs) and the black wooden
wall (4 bombs). Dismiss your pikmin and grab the 16 empty-handed
yellows.
6. Kill Beady Long Legs as described in S:2.2.2. Take your yellows
outside the arena, dismiss them, and grab the reds. Swarm the Guard
Satellite and get it moving with about 40 pikmin.
7. Exit the arena, grab all the idle pikmin, and check the radar; if
there are any idle reds over by those blowhogs you were attacking
earlier, go collect them, and then return to the Onions; if not, just
go straight back to the Onions. (In either case, use the path on which
you killed sheargrubs earlier; don't use the path you opened up, that
the Guard Satellite is going to take.)
8. Put 23 Reds back in the Red Onion and withdraw 23 blues. Also, if you
lost more than 5 yellows against Beady Long Legs, withdraw yellows so
that you have at least 15. Wait for the Guard Satellite to be
delivered, and then gather up all the pikmin and head for black wall
that blocks the way to the Analog Computer and Libra. Destroy it with
your last four bombs.
9. Gather up all your pikmin and head for Libra bridge. Use the c-stick
to keep your pikmin flush against the wall, away from the flame jets.
Dismiss your pikmin by the bridge. Put all the yellows on the bridge.
Whistle your reds and put about 15 on the bridge. (You should have
about 40 reds left.) Take the rest of the blues and reds and head for
the Analog Computer.
10. Dismiss your pikmin near the shore. Put all the blues on the Analog
Computer. After they carry it out of the water, call the blues off and
put all the reds on it. Take the blues back to the bridge and put them
to work on it. When the Analog Computer reaches the bridge, call the
reds off it and put them on the bridge too.
11. When the bridge is complete, call all your pikmin, dismiss them, and
grab the reds. Swarm the Analog Computer. You should have a little
more than 15 reds left. Dismiss them, grab the blues, and throw a
couple on the nearby geyser. Dismiss the other blues, grab the
yellows, and throw them up. Use the geyser to rejoin those yellows,
and put them on the Libra.
12. While you're waiting for the Libra to come down, gather up the blues
and dismiss them in the small pond, out of the Libra's path. When the
part is down, call the yellows off and dismiss them away from it. Grab
the reds and put them on the Libra. Then grab all the yellows and
blues.
13. Return to the Onions. Call the idle reds from in front of the rocket.
Put them all back in the Red Onion. Withdraw an equal number of blues
from the Blue Onion. You should have a little more than 60 blues.
Throw a couple off to the side so you have exactly 60. Take them to
the Anti-Dioxin Filter. Notice the bottle in front of it. Lure both
nearby wollywogs toward this bottle. Then lure them each another jump
in this general direction, away from the part. Put all the blues on
the part. As just Olimar, go back to the wollywogs and distract them
until the part is safely on land.
14. Return to the Onions and wait for both parts to arrive. After that,
you're done. If you have time, put all the blues back in their onion
and withdraw an equal number of reds. Flowerize all these reds and
yellows in one of the nearby rock patches. End the day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.7 Day 7: The Distant Spring
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Kill at least one swooping snitchbug
* Collect:
* Gluon Drive
* Interstellar Radio
* Massage Machine
* Repair-Type Bolt
* UV Lamp
1. Withdraw 20 blues. Head toward the bridge by the Massage Machine. On
the way there, lure the nearby Wollywog one jump into the water, away
from the Massage Machine's route to the Onions. Kill the three
shearwigs by the bridge. (This is easier if you lure them into the
water to drain their health.)
2. Return to the Onions; on your way there, lure the wollywog another
jump farther into the water. Withdraw 4 yellows, 64 reds, and 12
blues. (At any time during the next few steps, a snitchbug might show
up; if it does, kill it.) Head for the nearby puffy blowhog and kill
him. Then gather up your pikmin and go kill the nearby bulbear. (I
recommend raining on his back with your reds.)
3. Gather up all the pikmin and head for the other nearby bulbear;
dismiss your pikmin (not to close!) and grab just the reds. Kill this
bulbear. (Because of the obstruction behind him, you can't rain on him
properly; you're forced to use the swarming method. You might lose
some pikmin; this doesn't necessitate a restart unless you're going
for no-deaths.)
4. Gather up all the pikmin. Hopefully, a snitchbug has shown up by now;
if not, zoom the camera out and look around; there might be one
hovering behind the nearby gray stone wall. Lure him out and kill him
if that's the case. You aren't required to kill either of the
snitchbugs today, but it will simplify Day 8 if you can dispatch one
now.
5. Take your pikmin toward the gray stone wall and dismiss them, not too
close to the shore. As just Olimar, go lure the nearby wollywog two
jumps away from the Gluon Drive, toward the Zirconium Rotor. Return to
your pikmin and gather up the blues. Go kill the shearwigs by the
Gluon Drive. (Lure them into the water first, as you did earlier.) Put
the blues to work on this bridge.
6. Get the idle reds and put them to work on the nearby short bridge.
With the yellows, go collect the four bombs behind the second bulbear
you killed. Use all four bombs on the nearby gray stone wall. Take the
yellows to the short bridge; it should be done, or nearly done. If
necessary, wait for it to finish, then call the pikmin off the bridge
and return to Onions with all your reds and yellows in tow.
7. Put all the reds away. Withdraw 6 yellows, and then as many blues as
possible. (Should be 61.) Gather up all the pikmin and head back
towards the Massage Machine bridge; on the way there, keep to the
right, to avoid attracting attention form the wollywog you lured away
earlier. The bridge should be complete, or nearly so. Put your blues
on it if necessary. Gather up the pikmin who were building the bridge,
and head across it. Dismiss your pikmin on the shore, away from any
shearwig carcasses. Grab the yellows and dismiss them some place where
they won't latch on to the Massage Machine when it comes by later.
(Near the bridge, there's a piece of wall that juts into the beach,
like a wedge; the left side of this is a good spot.)
8. Put 30 blues on the Massage Machine. Take the remaining blues and head
for the puffy blowhog holding the Interstellar Radio. Shortly before
you reach him, you'll find a group of three water dumples; kill them.
9. Kill the puffy blowhog; push him to the left as you're fighting him,
to ensure that the Interstellar Radio will take the correct path back
to the Onions. (That's "left", assuming that you're approaching the
blowhog with your back to the dumples you just killed.) Swarm the
Interstellar Radio to get it moving with 40 blues. (If this part takes
the wrong path back to the Onions, you'll probably a lose a few blues
to a second group of water dumples; but even if that happens, the part
should still be moving quickly enough to get by any wollywogs without
incident, so you don't have to restart unless you're going for zero
deaths.)
10. Take your remaining blues and return to the yellows you dismissed
earlier; get at least 9 bombs from the two nearby skulls. (There are
10 bombs available. I don't know if there's five in each skull, or if
they're randomly distributed between the two skulls every time the
level loads. Also note that there's something funky about these
skulls; pikmin have more trouble than usual detecting bombs within
them. If you're having trouble, dismiss the pikmin several times after
you swarm them into each one.)
11. Take your yellows and blues back to Onions. Destroy the nearby black
stone wall with all the bombs. Take the 10 yellows and go put them on
the UV Lamp. (You probably won't run in to the other Snitchbug. If you
do, you can either try to avoid him, or lure him into the Onions area
and kill him with your yellows and idle blues.)
12. Return to Onions. Get about 25 blues from in front of the Rocket. Put
them on the Repair-Type Bolt. Once they're on it, go check on the
nearby wollywog; if he's still in the water, lure him one jump back
toward the shore. Then zoom the camera out and check to make sure that
your blues brought the Repair-Type Bolt down without complications; if
they didn't, go back and help them.
13. Return to the Onions and get all the remaining blues. (The yellows
should have returned the UV Lamp by now, but leave them here; we're
going to go get the Gluon Drive, and because that part is so wide, it
occasionally pushes pikmin carrying it through the sides of the bridge
it passes over; this is pretty rare, but if you've made it this far,
why risk it?)
14. Head back toward the Gluon Drive with your blues; the long bridge
should be finished by now. Grab the idle blues from the bridge and put
all your current pikmin on the part; it should be mobilized with about
65 pikmin.
15. Return to Onions and gather up all pikmin. Have them get the Gluon
Drive moving at full speed, or use them to mobilize some of the nearby
pellets and carcasses, if you want. Or you can do both; you're
basically done at this point, and you should have a fair amount of
time left. (You could do more work today, but let's not risk
everything we've accomplished so far; you can get the remaining parts
tomorrow with time to spare.)
16. Pluck any sprouts from the ground, if necessary. Gather up all the
pikmin and flowerize them in one of the nearby grass patches. If you
have time, put the blues and yellows away and withdraw 100 reds;
flowerize them too. End the day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.8 Day 8: The Distant Spring
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Collect:
* #2 Ionium Jet
* Bowsprit
* Chronos Reactor
* Pilot's Seat
* Zirconium Rotor
1. Withdraw 92 blues and 8 yellows. Take all the pikmin through the
nearby black gate, and head for the Pilot's Seat; zoom the camera out
and look for the second snitchbug. You should probably encounter him
on your way to the Pilot's Seat. Once you find him, kill him. If he's
not around, or any complications arise while you're taking care of
him, just restart.
2. There are two shearwigs that block the path to the Pilot's Seat; rain
on both of them to eliminate them. Take your pikmin past them; there
are two large, empty tree stumps here; one has the Pilot's Seat, and
one is empty. Dismiss your pikmin inside the empty one.
3. Whistle for about 25 blues (blues only!), and put them on the Pilot's
Seat. Then take all the other blues and move into the nearby water;
there's a wollywog nearby, between you and the Zirconium Rotor; lure
him about two jumps away from that part. (Make sure he isn't too close
to the Pilot's Seat area, either.)
4. Take your blues towards the Zirconium Rotor and dismiss them shortly
before you reach the white wall in front of it. Now we need to take
care of the wollywog on the other side of the white wall. You've got a
couple options:
* You can approach him as just Olimar and lure him away from the
wall; however, this is tricky, because you also have to make sure
that he's not too close to the shore (the Zirconium Rotor is
going to be carried along that path later), and also not too
close to the Zirconium Rotor itself (because your pikmin haven't
picked it up yet). Stand in the water, with the white wall to
your immediate right, and the wollywog's default position in
front of you. Now move forward through the water until you hit a
barrier; the Gluon Drive area should be on the other side of it.
This is basically where you want the wollywog: up against this
barrier, roughly equidistant from the nearby shore and the other
barrier, that separates the water and the Zirconium Rotor. If
this description isn't clear, you can see a demonstration of this
in Day 7 of the 9-Day 50-Pikmin Video in S:5.1.
* The other option is to just kill him with your blues. You've got
enough extra time today that you can afford to do it slowly
(throwing them on him in small batches instead of swarming), so
that there's no risk of mysterious deaths.
5. Put all the blues to work on the white wall. Return to your yellows
and go get eight bombs from the skull behind the Pilot's Seat. Destroy
the black wooden wall near the Zirconium Rotor with four bombs; then
destroy the white wooden wall by the Armored Cannon Beetle with two
bombs. (Approach it from the back, passing through the nectar patch,
to avoid waking up the shearwigs.) Use the last two bombs to finish
off the gray stone wall between the Zirconium Rotor and Gluon Drive.
6. Dismiss your yellows by the gray gate and return to the blues; the
white wall they were working on should be destroyed by now. Swarm the
Zirconium Rotor and get it moving with 50 blues. Take any remaining
blues with you and return to the Onions; grab the yellows on your way
there.
7. Put the yellows back in the Yellow Onion. Gather up all the blues and
head towards the skull with four bombs in it. The Zirconium Rotor
should be in this area, reasonably close to the Onions. Call all the
pikmin off it. Swarm most of them onto the nearby pile of sticks.
Throw a couple on the geyser behind the skull with four bombs in it.
After they unblock the geyser, throw them on the pole with the other
pikmin, then ride the geyser up and run around and collect them.
8. Maneuver carefully past the flame jets and briefly swarm the nearby
ramp; exact counts aren't important, just leave about 50 to 70 pikmin
on hand. Take these pikmin and go kill the Armored Cannon Beetle as
described in S:2.2.1. Put 30 pikmin on the Bowsprit.
9. Call the idle blues from the ramp; you should have about 60. Head for
the Chronos Reactor; on your way there, you'll encounter a group of
three water dumples. Kill them. Throw at least 20 blues up on to the
nearby platform, then ride the geyser up, and throw 20 blues into the
yellow candypop bud. (The bud automatically spits out seeds after 10
pikmin go in, so don't worry about counting; just throw blues in until
it spits them out, then do it one more time.) Take these 20 yellows
down to the small sandbar, and throw them up on to the Chronos
Reactor. Go call the other blues and bring them over to the sandbar
too.
10. When the part comes down, call the yellows off it. If you feel you're
running short on time, just dismiss the yellows near the blue candypop
bud, away from the part; otherwise, throw all of them in the candypop
bud. Call your blues and put 20 on the Chronos Reactor; you should
have about 20 left. Take the remaining blues and put all of them on
the #2 Ionium Jet.
11. If you threw the yellows into the candypop bud, go back there and
pluck up all the sprouts; use these pikmin to speed up the two parts
that are on their way back, and then return to the Onions. If you
didn't convert the yellows, just head straight back to the Onions.
Call the idle blues here and put them on the Zirconium Rotor. You're
done once all 3 parts get back. You can nectarize your blues in one of
the nearby grass patches, if you want.
12. If you abandoned the 20 yellows, go back to the sandbar and whistle
for all of them before you end the day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.9 Day 9: The Final Trial
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Collect:
* Secret Safe
1. Withdraw 87 blues, 10 reds, and 3 yellows. Take your pikmin toward the
shoreline and dismiss them. Whistle the blues and head for the bridge
farthest from the Onions; throw blues up next to it until you have
about 50 left. Swarm them onto the other bridge.
2. Return to shore and whistle the reds; throw them on the fire jets, and
then take them around to move the cardboard box.
3. Return to shore grab the three yellows; go get three bombs from the
pipe in the area. Bring your yellows back to the shore and wait for
the closest bridge to finish, if it's not already done. Take your
yellows over the bridge and use the three bombs to destroy the gray
stone wall.
4. The other bridge should also be finished by now, so gather up the
blues from both bridges and return to the Onions. Deposit all the
blues. Withdraw 87 reds. (This assumes you're going to fight Bulblax
with the three-bomb-rock strategy described in S:2.2.7. If you're
going to do something else, adjust your withdrawals accordingly.)
5. Gather up all your reds and yellows; go retrieve the 10 reds who moved
the box earlier. You should have all 100 pikmin on hand now. Use all
your pikmin to tear down the white wooden wall. The first bell should
go off around now.
6. Kill Emperor Bulblax. Send the Secret Safe back to the Onion. You can
finish by midday.
7. You've completed the 9-Day Challenge! Hooray! Now kick back and enjoy
that killer Creature Montage music.
===============================================================================
4 Low% Walkthrough
===============================================================================
This is much more difficult than the regular 9-Day Challenge. I strongly
recommend you complete that challenge, without deaths, before you attempt
this one, because you cannot afford any deaths here. (Okay, technically
you can afford a few deaths after you collect the Gluon Drive; that part
isn't collected until Day 7, though, and if you've made it that far
without deaths, you shouldn't have any problems going all the way without
deaths.)
This section is basically a play-by-play transcription of my Low% Run
Videos (S:5.1). Like I said at the beginning of the Any% Walkthrough: if
you're more of a visual learner, you can just watch the videos instead.
And if anything in the walkthrough is unclear, checking the corresponding
video might help.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1 Day 1: The Impact Site
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Grow 25 Reds, all flowers
* Collect:
* Engine
Still a freebie. 25 reds, flowers, Engine, etc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.2 Day 2: The Forest of Hope
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Grow 9 yellows
* Destroy the gray stone wall that leads to the Snagrets' Area
* Collect:
* Extraordinary Bolt
* Nova Blaster
* Shock Absorber
* Whimsical Radar
1. Withdraw all the reds and put them on the white wooden wall. Amuse
yourself until they've knocked it down. Head for the Yellow Onion. Put
all 25 reds on the white wooden wall that bars the way. As just
Olimar, go kill the four dwarf bulborbs in the area. Return to your
reds and wait for them to finish destroying the wall.
2. Head through the gate and swarm the dwarf bulborb. Dismiss your reds
near the tin can and activate the Yellow Onion. Pluck the yellow
sprout once it's ready and use this lone yellow to collect the four
yellow *1* pellets closest to the Yellow Onion. The first bell should
go off while you're doing this.
3. Collect the three bombs in front of the nearby gray stone wall, and
then the six from the nearby tin can. Grab your reds and return to the
Red Onion.
4. Flowerize your pikmin in one of the grass patches. Destroy the nearby
gray stone wall with three bombs. Head through the gate. Kill the
dwarf bulborb. Head past the sleeping bulborb and swarm the two pellet
posies as a bomb safety precaution. Destroy the black wooden wall with
four bombs. Kill the bulborb with your remaining two bombs.
5. Head through black gate with all the pikmin. Kill the dwarf bulborb.
Head past the adult and kill the other dwarf. Throw one yellow off to
the side. Get bombs with the other eight. Kill the adult bulborb with
two bombs. Throw four bomb-laden yellows off to the side. Throw the
other 30 pikmin up on the nearby ledge. As just Olimar, run back to
the Onions, out the other side, through the pond, etc., to meet up
with them.
6. Kill the adult bulborb with the two bombs you threw up. The noon bell
should go off around now. Put all 30 pikmin on the Shock Absorber.
7. Drop off the ledge and grab the four bomb-laden yellows you left
behind. Go deploy these four bombs against the black stone wall by the
Extraordinary Bolt. Dismiss the yellows in the small canyon. Kill the
two male sheargrubs near the wall with Olimar's headbutt. Grab the
yellows and return to the Red Onion.
8. Have the four yellows help the Shock Absorber. Wait for it to be
delivered, then take all 34 pikmin back to the Nova Blaster. Throw
four yellows at the can to get bombs, and put the rest on the part.
9. Take the four yellows to go bomb the Extraordinary Bolt wall again,
then head back to the Nova Blaster's old location; on your way there,
throw 3 yellows on the Nova Blaster. Get another bomb with your lone
yellow.
10. Head back to the Red Onion and wait for Nova Blaster to be delivered.
Head back to Extraordinary Bolt with all 34 pikmin. Destroy the wall
with last bomb. Put all 34 pikmin on the Extraordinary Bolt. As just
Olimar, go kill the remaining dangerous enemies in the area. (That's
the two dwarfs and the two male sheargrubs by the Whimsical Radar.)
11. Return to the Red Onion and wait for the Extraordinary Bolt to be
delivered. The third bell should go off shortly before it arrives.
Take the 34 pikmin and go put 31 on the Whimsical Radar. (Save three
yellows.)
12. Take the three yellows and go get three bombs from the can by the
Eternal Fuel Dynamo; use two to kill the nearby adult bulborb. Collect
the remaining two bombs from the can. Use these three bombs to destroy
the gray stone wall that leads to the Snagrets' Area. The Whimsical
Radar should be back by now, so end the day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.3 Day 3: The Forest Navel
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Kill Beady Long Legs
* Kill Puffstool
* Build the Libra Bridge
* Destroy the black and gray stone walls near the Automatic Gear
* Collect:
* #1 Ionium Jet
* Automatic Gear
* Gravity Jumper
* Space Float
This day is a real doozy. We grow 15 blues and 1 yellow today, bringing us
up to 50. It's all candypop buds after that. In addition to collecting
four parts, we're going to do a lot of prep work for the second visit to
this level on Day 8.
1. Withdraw all the reds. Put five on the nearby white wooden wall, on
the side closest to the Blue Onion. Withdraw all the yellows. Head for
the Automatic Gear. Put all 25 reds on the nearby pile of sticks.
2. With the yellows, drop down towards the Blue Onion. Use the yellows to
knock down the three nearby blue pellet posies, then dismiss the
yellows away from the pellets. Activate the Blue Onion and pluck the
blue when he's ready; throw him on one of the pellets on shore.
3. The breadbug should be arriving right now. If he's not around,
restart. Grab the yellows and hit the breadbug once, then put two
yellows on his pellet. Dismiss the rest. Return to the Blue Onion and</pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
grab the lone blue. Have him collect the other two nearby blue
pellets, then fling him at the last one on shore. Pluck the four blue
sprouts. When the original blue is ready, put all five blues on the
blue *5* pellet. Pluck all the blue sprouts. You should have 14 blues.
4. Grab the idle yellows. Return to the Onions via the little ramp left
of the gray stone wall. (Many of your pikmin won't be able to follow
you up this ramp. That's okay.) The Automatic Gear should be delivered
as you arrive. Grab all the idle pikmin and put them on the Space
Float. Pluck the single yellow sprout. When the Space Float is back,
gather up all the pikmin and go flowerize them in the rock patch near
the white wall your five reds are working on.
5. Call the reds off the wall. Head for the Gravity Jumper with all 49
pikmin. Put all of the reds to work on the Gravity Jumper's ramp. The
first bell should go off around now.
6. Get ten bombs from the can behind the Gravity Jumper with the yellows.
Take the yellows and blues toward the black wooden wall that leads to
the Analog Computer and Libra. Destroy this wall with four bombs. (To
avoid problems with the nearby fiery blowhog, dismiss all your pikmin
near the shore and approach the wall with just four yellows.)
7. Put your blues on the bridge that leads to the Libra. Take the yellows
back to to the Gravity Jumper ramp. It should be finished. Put all the
reds on the Gravity Jumper.
8. Head for Beady Long Legs with all your yellows. Open the gate to his
arena with the remaining six bombs. Enter the arena and kill him with
your 10 yellows.
9. Exit the arena and drop down off the ledge to your immediate left.
Kill puffstool with your 10 yellows. (It should take two passes.) The
noon bell should go off while you're fighting him. (This step may be
nonessential. You're going to revisit this area on Day 8 with 30 reds
to collect the Omega Stabilizer; you could probably just kill
puffstool then. If you don't kill him though, you'll wind up wasting a
fair amount of time waiting for the Libra bridge to finish. Your
choice.)
10. The most difficult tasks are now complete. Don't screw up now!
11. Take the yellows back to Gravity Jumper's original location and get
the remaining five bombs. (Leave the others in the nearby grass patch
while you're getting the bombs.) Grab all the yellows. Use the five
bombs on the black stone wall near the Automatic Gear's original
location.
12. Take your yellows to the Libra bridge. Have them help finish it, then
take the blues and yellows to the Automatic Gear's pole. Tear down one
of the nearby posies as a yellow or red pellet, and put two blues on
it. The third bell should go off about now. Dismiss your blues and
yellows here and return to the Onions. Grab the idle pikmin at the
rocket and put them on the white wooden wall near the Red Onion.
13. Return to the Blue Onion and pluck the blue sprout. Go get the blues
and yellows you dismissed earlier. Take all of them down to the #1
Ionium Jet. Put the blues on the part, and get ten bombs with the
yellows.
14. Throw the yellows up to the next level, run around and grab them, then
do it once more. Use four of these bombs to finish off the black stone
wall you damaged earlier. Use the last six bombs to knock down the
gray stone wall near the black one you just destroyed. The "Hurry
Up!" warning should go off about now.
15. After the #1 Ionium Jet is delivered, gather up all 50 pikmin and
flowerize them in one of the nearby rock patches. End the day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.4 Day 4: The Forest of Hope
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Collect:
* Eternal Fuel Dynamo
* Geiger Counter
* Radiation Canopy
* Sagittarius
As with the Any% challenge, the Snagret is the only hurdle on this day.
1. Withdraw all of the pikmin. Take them towards the Eternal Fuel Dynamo.
Throw 10 blues off to the side, and put the remaining 40 on the part.
Grab those 10 blues. Put five on the long bridge by the Sagittarius,
and then put the other five blues on the submerged, white wooden wall
near the Radiation Canopy.
2. Return to the Onions. You should get back just as the part is
arriving. Take the 40 pikmin and go get four bombs from the can near
the Yellow Onion's old location. Head through the gray gate. There are
two adult bulborbs here, and one dwarf. Kill the closer adult with two
bombs, then kill the other adult with the other two bombs. The dwarf
tends to hang out close to one of the adults; he should also die in
the explosion. If he doesn't, kill him normally.
3. Put the five blues on the cardboard box. Fling at least five yellows
over the box to get it moving. Have all your other pikmin help the box
when they can. When the box is completely moved, take everyone over
the land bridge and towards the snagret with the Geiger Counter. Kill
him. Since you only have 40 pikmin, this might take two passes.
Mobilize the Geiger Counter with your 25 reds. It should be moving
fast enough to avoid the other snagrets on its way back. The first
bell should go off about now.
4. Drop down off the ledge with your remaining pikmin. Get four bombs
from the can. Return to the submerged white wooden wall; on your way
there, destroy the two posies in front of the ledge near the Armored
Cannon Beetle arena, as a bomb safety precaution. Put your five blues
on the white wall. Throw all the yellows up on the aforementioned
ledge.
5. Return to the Onions. The Geiger counter should be close by; call the
reds off it. Take them and throw them up on the ledge too. Wait for
the blues to finish destroying the wall.
6. Head through the gate and grab the four bomb-laden yellows; use them
to destroy the black wooden wall. Gather up all your pikmin and enter
the arena. Kill the Armored Cannon Beetle. Mobilize the Radiation
Canopy with your reds and yellows.
7. Go put the blues on the long Sagittarius bridge. Return to the Onions
and wait for the Radiation Canopy to be delivered. When they're ready,
put those pikmin on the shorter Sagittarius Bridge. Now you have to
wait for both bridges to finish. You've got a lot of downtime, so go
chase wogpoles or something equally amusing. (If you're feeling
daring, you can fling your yellows one-by-one onto the longer bridge
after the short one is finished. It's not a necessary risk, though.)
8. Mobilize the Sagittarius at full speed with 30 pikmin. Return to the
Onions and have your remaining 20 finish hauling in the Geiger
Counter.
9. Once both parts are back, gather up all 50 pikmin and flowerize them
in one of the Onions' grass patches. (Make sure they're all flowered,
because Day 5 is really tough.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.5 Day 5: The Distant Spring
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Kill both Swooping Snitchbugs
* Kill the Armored Cannon Beetle
* Kill the wollywog near the Gluon Drive
* Destroy the gray stone wall near the Gluon Drive
* Destroy the black wooden wall near the Zirconium Rotor
* Destroy the white wooden wall near the Armored Cannon Beetle
* Build the ramp near the Armored Cannon Beetle
* Collect:
* #2 Ionium Jet
* Chronos Reactor
* Massage Machine
* Repair-Type Bolt
* UV Lamp
This is the hardest day of the challenge. Brace yourself.
1. Withdraw all the blues. Take them to the bridge by the Massage
Machine. Lure the nearby wollywog one jump into the water on your way
there. Kill the three shearwigs. Put all the blues to work on the
bridge.
2. Return to the Onions; lure the wollywog another jump farther into the
water on your way back. Withdraw all the yellows and reds. Throw five
yellows into the tree stump containing the skull with four bombs.
(Don't throw them near the mouth of the skull; we don't want to
collect any bombs yet.)
3. At this point, you're on "Snitchbug Alert". We have to kill both
snitchbugs in the early stages of this day; however, they could show
up at any time, so we have to be flexible. One is usually found
hanging out in the Gluon Drive/Zirconium Rotor area early in the day;
if you can take him out there, it'll improve your chances of success.
The other snitchbug is a wildcard.
4. Take your pikmin past the sleeping bulbear, toward the gray stone
wall. Hopefully, there's a snitchbug around; if so, kill him, luring
him out from behind the wall first, if necessary. If he's not around,
or he runs away, press on and hope for the best.
5. Put all the pikmin on the nearby pile of sticks. Grab the yellows you
threw into the tree stump earlier (don't wake the bulbear), and have
them unplug the geyser. Throw the yellows up on to the ledge, then
ride the geyser up and grab them.
6. Circle around past the flame jets and grab all the pikmin who rode up
on the wooden pole. Zoom the camera out and look around for the second
snitchbug; if he's nearby, try to lure him into this big tree stump
and take him out; if he's not, press on.
7. The second snitchbug might show up while you're near the Armored
Cannon Beetle's ramp. If that's the case, do NOT fall off this ledge
while fighting him.
8. Go kill the Armored Cannon Beetle with all the pikmin. If the second
snitchbug is still active, zoom the camera out and look for him again.
If he's nearby, lure him into the Armored Cannon Beetle's arena and
kill him.
9. Go back to the Armored Cannon Beetle's ramp. This is your last chance
to dispatch the second snitchbug. (It's okay if you have to drop off
the ledge now to get his attention.)
10. Put all the reds on the Armored Cannon Beetle's ramp. We're leaving
the reds behind now, so both snitchbugs MUST be dead at this point. If
they were uncooperative, you have to restart now. Sorry.
11. Take the ten yellows and go get ten bombs from the skull near the
Pilot's Seat. Toss one bomb at the white wooden gate near the Armored
Cannon Beetle's ramp. Return to the Onions. (There's a shortcut you
can take via a path by the red candypop bud. The first bell should
ring on your way there.)
12. When you drop off the ledge into the Onions Area, your single bombless
yellow should automatically get caught in the grass patch. Destroy the
nearby black stone wall with the remaining nine bombs. Go put the ten
yellows on the UV Lamp.
13. Return to the Armored Cannon Beetle's ramp. It should be complete now,
so grab the idle reds and return to the Onions. (It's quickest to go
through the opening by the pole they built earlier. Make sure none of
them get caught on the pole.)
14. Put one red pikmin back in the Red Onion. The UV Lamp should be
nearby. Swarm the reds on to it to speed it up. Once it's back, call
the idle pikmin in front of the rocket.
15. Head toward the Massage Machine bridge. If you were fast, it's not
finished yet. If you want, fling the yellows on to it to speed up.
When the bridge is complete, grab the idle pikmin and head for the
blue candypop bud with all 50. Toss five blues and one yellow into it.
Then dismiss the pikmin, grab all 24 reds, and throw them all in. Grab
your remaining blues. Pluck all the blue sprouts. Put all 40 blues on
the Massage Machine. The noon bell should go off around now.
16. Take the nine yellows and get nine bombs from the two nearby skulls.
Run all the way back to the Gluon Drive area. Lure the wollywog near
the two bridges onto land and kill him with two bombs as described in
S:2.2.27. Destroy the gray stone wall with six bombs. Take your
yellows into the small tree stump containing four bombs. (Once again,
don't wake the bulbear.) Swarm your yellows into the skull. Dismiss
them. Run back to the Onions, rapidly hitting the dismiss button on
your way there, to ensure that none of the yellows try to follow you.
17. The Massage Machine should be delivered shortly before you arrive.
Grab the 40 blues. If your single yellow uncovered any nectar in the
nearby grass patch earlier, swarm your blues over it. If there isn't
any, don't worry about it.
18. Head through the black gate and toward the yellow candypop bud; cut
through the two ponds on your way there to minimize your chances of
disturbing any bulbears. Kill the three water dumples. Throw at least
20 blues up by the candypop bud. Convert 20 blues to yellows. Pluck
all the yellow sprouts. Put them on the Chronos Reactor.
19. Go back and grab your 20 idle blues. Dismiss them near the blue
candypop bud. Call the yellows off the Chronos Reactor once it's down.
Throw them into the blue candypop bud. Put the idle blues on the
Chronos Reactor. The third bell should go off around now.
20. Pluck all the blue sprouts. Put these 20 blues on the #2 Ionium Jet.
21. Return to the yellow pikmin you dismissed earlier, in the small tree
stump. As you did with your reds earlier, cut through the opening by
the wooden pole. Your yellows should have five bombs. Carefully remove
them from the stump, without waking the bulbear. Go deploy four bombs
against the black wooden wall near the Zirconium Rotor. Use the last
bomb to finish off the white wooden wall by the Armored Cannon
Beetle's ramp. (It's okay if you misplaced a bomb somewhere; you can
finish off this white wall on Day 7 instead.)
22. Return to the Onions, cutting through the pole opening again. Put the
yellows back in their Onion. (You don't have to do this, but there's a
puffy blowhog nearby who might bother the yellows if you leave them
out; no sense in taking unnecessary risks at this point.)
23. If the Chronos Reactor has been delivered, call the idle pikmin from
the rocket; otherwise, it should be very close by, so just call the
pikmin off it. Take these 20 blues and go put them on the Repair-Type
Bolt. The "Hurry Up!" warning should go off while you're doing this.
Babysit these blues for a moment just to make sure they bring the part
down okay.
24. Go check on the wollywog you distracted at the beginning of the day.
If he's still in the water, lure him back onto land, to make sure he
won't bother the Repair-Type Bolt.
25. Run back to the Onions and take a few yellows out of the Yellow Onion.
Have them help the #2 Ionium Jet. Now we're just waiting for the #2
Ionium Jet and Repair-Type Bolt to arrive. There are three ways the
end of this day might go down:
1. Both parts make it back in time. In this case, you're the friggin
man.
2. The Ionium Jet makes it back, but the Repair-Type Bolt doesn't.
In this case, grab the idle blues who were carrying the Ionium
Jet and have them finish off the Chronos Reactor, if that wasn't
fully delivered earlier. Then have them help the Repair-Type
Bolt. Be ready to whistle all your pikmin off it if it doesn't
make it into the Onions area in time.
3. Neither part makes it back. In this case, the Ionium Jet should
at least be within the Onions area, so you shouldn't have to
worry about the pikmin carrying it being left behind. The
Repair-Type Bolt probably won't even make it back to the Onions,
though, so babysit that part and be prepared to call the pikmin
off it right before the day ends.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.6 Day 6: The Impact Site
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Collect:
* Positron Generator
Get the Positron Generator and flower up all your pikmin for the next day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.7 Day 7: The Distant Spring
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Collect:
* Bowsprit
* Gluon Drive
* Interstellar Radio
* Pilot's Seat
* Zirconium Rotor
1. Withdraw all the blues. If the Repair-Type Bolt didn't make it all the
way home on Day 5, swarm it while you're waiting for all the pikmin to
come out of the Onion. Call them off the part when it just touches the
rainbow circle in front of the rocket.
2. Head for the Interstellar Radio. On the way there, you should pass
between two wollywogs, situated between the Massage Machine wollywog
you were luring around on Day 5, and Smoky Progg. As you pass between
these two wollywogs, they should both jump towards you. Now press on
and kill the three water dumples near the Interstellar Radio. Then
kill the puffy blowhog, keeping him to the left to ensure the part
will take the correct route home. Put 30 blues on the part.
3. Return to the Onions. Withdraw three yellows and the only red. Take
these, along with your ten blues, to the Gluon Drive area. Take the
blues across the water and kill the shearwigs by the long bridge. Put
the blues to work on the bridge. Put the red and yellows to work on
the short bridge.
4. Return to the Onions. The Interstellar Radio should be delivered
before you arrive. Those pikmin should also take care of the
Repair-Type Bolt too, if necessary. Grab the idle blues from the
rocket and withdraw the remaining six yellows. Head for the pile of
sticks near the bomb-containing tree stump; flower up in the rock
patch on the way there.
5. If you misplaced a bomb yesterday and didn't destroy the white wooden
wall near the Armored Cannon Beetle, throw one yellow into the small
tree stump to get a bomb. Now take him with you in the next step, and
use his bomb to finish off that wall before you collect all the pikmin
from the stick.
6. Put all the pikmin on this pile of sticks. (The first bell should go
off around now.) Run around, past the Zirconium Rotor, up the Armored
Cannon Beetle's ramp, and so on to meet up with them. On your way
there, lure the closest wollywog away from the Zirconium Rotor's white
wall, making sure he also isn't too close to the shore, or the
Zirconium Rotor itself. (You should remember how to do this from the
walkthrough of Day 8 of the Any% Challenge, myRefanyPercentDay8.)
7. Take the pikmin from the stick to the Armored Cannon Beetle's arena.
Put the blues on the Bowsprit. Take the yellows and head for the skull
by the Pilot's Seat; avoid activating the shearwigs in front of the
Armored Cannon Beetle's white gate on the way there, so they won't eat
the pikmin carrying the Bowsprit.
8. Swarm the yellows inside the skull. Dismiss them. Loop around through
the water so you're running back toward the Zirconium Rotor. (Keep
hitting the dismiss button to keep any yellows from following you,
like you did in S:4.5.)
9. On your way to the Zirconium Rotor, you'll encounter another wollywog.
Lure him one jump away from that part. Also make sure he's not too
close to the Pilot's Seat either.
10. Return to the yellows. Use two bombs to destroy the white wooden wall
by the Zirconium Rotor. (It's okay if you screw up and waste a bomb
here. We've got one or two bombs to spare, depending on whether or not
you had to finish off the Cannon Beetle's wall earlier.) Note that
this wall is located on dry land; it's not actually submerged, like
the Armored Cannon Beetle's white wall in the Forest of Hope. The
trick here is to fling a bomb-laden yellow over the river, such that
he hits the wall and falls down onto the tiny sliver of land between
the wall and river; he should then automatically lay his bomb on the
sliver and throw himself into the river. (lol that rhymes.) If you
accidentally fling him over the wall, use the c-stick to steer him
away from the bomb-rock after he drops it, so that he doesn't die in
the explosion. After he throws himself in the river, whistle him back.
Do not try to whistle him back as soon as he lands, like you would
when bombing a wall normally. Don't worry about him being hurt by the
explosion; he'll be protected from it once he's in the river. This is
tricky, so practice this on its own a few times before trying the
whole day again. You can see a demonstration of this in Day 7 of the
9-Day 50-Pikmin video in S:5.1.
11. Go kill the bulbear by the bomb-containing tree stump with three
bombs. Collect the four bombs from the stump. Return to the Onions.
The Bowsprit should be back by now. Grab the pikmin from the rocket
and head toward the Pilot's Seat. Kill the two shearwigs that bar the
way to that part. (You can use a bomb on them if you've got extras.
Just make sure you leave three for the bulbear near the Onions.) Swarm
the Pilot's Seat, leaving you with just the bomb-laden yellows.
12. Go kill the bulbear near the Onions with three bombs. (The noon bell
should go off on your way there.) If you have any leftover bombs, get
rid of them. Take all these yellows and have them help the Pilot's
Seat. The nearby wollywog shouldn't cause problems if you lured him to
the correct spot, but you can go distract him with Olimar now, if you
want. Kill time until the part is delivered.
13. Take the idle pikmin from the Rocket and head for the Zirconium Rotor.
Put the blues on it. Put the yellows on it too after the blues carry
it through the river. Distract the wollywog again, if you want. Kill
time until this part is delivered. (The short bridge to the Gluon
Drive may be completed while the Zirconium Rotor is in transit; in
that case, grab those pikmin and have them help the part too.)
14. Only the Gluon Drive remains now. Those two bridges might not be quite
finished yet, so if there are any other parts in the Onions area that
didn't make it home on Day 5, take care of them now.
15. Take the pikmin over to the Gluon Drive, grab the idle pikmin off the
bridges, and put all 50 on that part. (The third bell should go off
around now.) You're done once it gets back. Flowerize the pikmin if
you want, and end the day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.8 Day 8: The Forest Navel
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Collect:
* Analog Computer
* Anti-Dioxin Filter
* Guard Satellite
* Libra
* Omega Stabilizer
1. Withdraw all the pikmin and head for the Gravity Jumper ramp. Take
four yellows and all the blues up the ramp and off the ledge on the
other side. Get 4 bombs with the yellows. Throw them back up onto the
platform. Take the blues towards the Anti-Dioxin Filter. Lure the two
wollywogs here toward the nearby bottle, then quickly swarm all the
blues onto the part. Distract the wollywogs briefly with Olimar while
the part moves away.
2. Retrieve the four bomb-laden yellows. Use two bombs each to kill the
two blowhogs that the Omega Stabilizer and Guard Satellite will pass
by on their way back to the Onions. (This is not essential. When those
two parts are carried in today, there will only be two not-red pikmin
involved. They can frequently make it past these blowhogs without
incident, but, since you've got time to take them out, I think you
should.)
3. Head for shore. Call the blues off the Anti-Dioxin Filter once it's
completely out of the water. Head for the Yellow Candypop Bud; throw
six blues and the four yellows you have on hand into it. Pluck the
sprouts. Return to the sandy area and gather up the idle pikmin so you
have all 50.
4. Go to the Libra. Use blues on the geyser, and bring the part down with
the yellows. Swarm the part once it's all the way down. After your
pikmin have carried it over the bridge, call them off. Take 48 pikmin
toward the Analog Computer, leaving one yellow and one blue behind.
5. Put the blues on the Analog Computer. As you did earlier, call them
off it once it's on dry land. Head for the red candypop bud; on your
way there, keep right to avoid activating the Flint Beetle. Throw all
48 pikmin into the red candypop bud. Then pluck 2 red sprouts and
throw them in too. Pluck all the sprouts.
6. Go activate the flint beetle you avoided. Hit him twice. Try to
flowerize most of your reds on his two globs of nectar; don't worry
about it if it doesn't work out, though. Throw reds on the Analog Comp
until you have about 20 left. Put them on the Libra. Grab the single
blue and yellow you left here and go kill time while you wait for both
parts to be delivered. The Libra should make it back first; have those
pikmin help the Analog Computer. Gather up all 50 pikmin once both
parts are back.
7. Flowerize all the pikmin in the grass patch by the nearby pair of
ramps. Head for the Guard Satellite, luring the nearby wollywog off
the path on your way there. Put all your reds on the Guard Satellite,
and then call them off it once they've carried it over the
flamethrower outside the Beady Long Legs arena. Mobilize the part with
18 reds and your single blue and yellow. Drop off the ledge and put
the remaining 30 reds on the Omega Stabilizer. (If you chose not to
kill the puffstool on Day 3, take care of that now.) To avoid any
sheargrub incidents, give both parts a chance to clear the area before
you leave.
8. Kill time until both parts are delivered, then put all the reds on the
Anti-Dioxin Filter. Once it's delivered, end the day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.9 Day 9: The Final Trial
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals:
* Collect:
* Secret Safe
1. Withdraw the all the reds, and the single blue. Throw two reds into
the yellow candypop bud. (As with the Any% Challenge, this strategy
assumes that you're going to dispatch Bulblax using the thee-bomb
strategy. If you plan on using more bombs, convert more reds to
yellows accordingly.)
2. Take your pikmin to the shore; throw 10 reds off to the side, and then
do this twice more, creating three separate groups of ten reds each.
Dismiss the remaining pikmin.
3. Grab one of the red groups and the single blue; we're going to put
them to work on the closest bridge. To do this, take them over to the
area with the bombs, and then drop off close to the bridge. Quickly
run onto the land by the bridge and whistle the pikmin out of the
water before they drown. (Getting them to the intermediate island is
easy: you can just whistle them out of the water. To get from the
intermediate island to the bombs area, you have to fling the reds
one-by-one.)
4. Return to shore and grab another group of 10 reds; put them to work on
the bridge too via the same process.
5. Return to shore and grab the last group of 10 reds; use them to move
the cardboard box.
6. Return to the Onions and pluck the two yellow sprouts by the candypop
bud. Withdraw the single yellow. Go get bombs with these three pikmin.
Take them back to shore and fling them onto the bridge; run around,
grab them, and destroy the gray stone wall with their bombs. The first
bridge should finish around now, so put all 40 accessible pikmin on
the second bridge.
7. The rest is pretty straightforward: finish the bridge, grab the other
10 reds, and go kill Bulblax. Since you've only got 46 reds, it should
take three passes.
8. That's it. You've completed a seriously difficult pikmin challenge!
Congratulations!
===============================================================================
5 Frequently Asked Questions
===============================================================================
(This is a glorified "Miscellaneous" section.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.1 Where can I find Pikmin gameplay videos?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main Mode:
* 9 Days, 0 Deaths by Ahlyis
http://www.archive.org/details/Pikmin_9days0deaths
* 9 Days with 50 Pikmin by Dragorn
http://speeddemosarchive.com/Pikmin.html
Challenge Mode:
* Impact Site 278 by Dragorn
http://www.archive.org/details/Pikmin_ImpactSite_278
* Forest of Hope 569 by SnapDragon
http://www.archive.org/details/Pikmin_ForestOfHope_569
* Forest Navel 482 by Dragorn
http://www.archive.org/details/Pikmin_ForestNavel_482
* Final Trial 299 by SnapDragon
http://www.archive.org/details/Pikmin_FinalTrial_299
Unfortunately, there is no permanently-hosted Distant Spring Challenge
Mode video of which I am aware.
For the cost of shipping, you can request a Challenge Mode DVD from
TomatoMan:
http://tomatoman.net/pikmin/dvd.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2 Will we ever see an 8-Day Challenge?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's extremely unlikely. It might be possible to complete Forest Navel or
Distant Spring in a day, but nobody's come close yet.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.3 What are some other Pikmin challenges?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you've mastered the 9-Day Challenges and still yearn for more, here a
few other ideas:
1. No Restarts Challenge
Complete the 9-Day Challenge without any "do overs".
2. Pacifist Challenge
Complete the 9-Day Challenge while killing only the enemies that have
swallowed rocket parts. (Emperor Bulblax, the breadbug, etc.)
3. Blueless Challenge
Collect as many rocket parts as possible without activating the Blue
Onion. This challenge is covered in another guide:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/516498/19626
4. Distant Spring on Day 4 Challenge
Visit the Distant Spring on Day 4. (It takes 12 rocket parts to unlock
the Distant Spring, so you need to collect five on Day 2 and seven on
Day 3.)
5. Maximum Pikmin Challenge
Beat the game with all 30 rocket parts while growing as many pikmin as
possible. This builds off of the 9-Day Challenge: you spend 9 days
collecting parts while growing many additional pikmin on the side, and
then you spend the other 21 days revisiting the Impact Site to grow
very many additional pikmin. To do this perfectly is an insane
proposition: there are multiple flint beetles in the Impact Site, and
you have to hit all of them eight times each. (And then do that 20
more times!) I believe you can find further discussion about this in
the Challenge Mode Topic Archives if you're willing to dig:
http://tomatoman.net/pikmin/gamefaqs.html
6. All Distant Spring Parts in One Day Challenge
Collect all ten parts in the Distant Spring in one day. No, it's not
impossible, because you get one set-up day, in which you may do
anything in the level that doesn't involve moving any rocket parts.
===============================================================================
6 Contact
===============================================================================
Feel free to email me at
[email protected] with questions, comments, or
to point out errors. Please make sure your question isn't already covered
in this guide, though, and put "Pikmin" in the email's subject line. (I
have a filter set-up to catch these emails. Otherwise, your email might be
marked as junk, which severely reduces the chance of me ever seeing it.)
===============================================================================
7 Revision History
===============================================================================
Version 1.01 - October 29, 2009
Updated url for my website. Unfortunately, Freezoka went belly up. Apologies
to anyone who tried to access it during the past month. Also added note from
reader Chris about c-stick throwing with new play control.
Version 1.0 - June 5, 2009
Been a while, hasn't it? The announcement of Pikmin's release on the Wii
motivated me to finally update this relic. The new guide is virtually
unrecognizable from the old version; I completely rewrote the original
walkthrough, added one for the Low% challenge, and added sections on
combat tactics, other challenges, and various other things. Of course,
none of this information is new or groundbreaking, but it still makes this
guide much more complete and comprehensive than the previous version.
Enjoy!
Version 0.4 - March 29, 2002
Corrected some errors in the Day 7 and Day 8 strats and made a few minor
changes.
Version 0.3 - March 10, 2002
Fixed a mistake in the Day 2 section, and a few other assorted errors.
Nothing big.
Version 0.2 - March 04, 2002
Finished typing up the rest of the days; that's way too much typing.
Version 0.1 - March 03, 2002
Yay, I finally finished the 9-day challenge today. So, I made the FAQ
outline and typed up the first 3 days.
===============================================================================
8 Credits
===============================================================================
Special thanks to:
* Ahlyis, for conceiving the 50-Pikmin Challenge. My Low% strategies for
the Forest of Hope are based heavily on his.
* Bruce Dawson, for providing strategies for the 9-Day 0-Deaths
challenge, and an excellent strategy for Emperor Bulblax.
* Radix, of Speed Demos Archive, for capturing and hosting my Low%
Challenge videos.
* Nick Ringer, for pointing out a few things about the old version of
the guide.
* Sess, of Speed Demos Archive, for bringing the Low% challenge down to
nine days. My Low% strategies for the Distant Spring are based heavily
on his.
* SnapDragon, for conceiving the 9-Day Challenge.
===============================================================================
9 Legal Information
===============================================================================
This document is copyright 2002-2009 by Peter "Dragorn" Branam-Lefkove.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial
3.0 Unported License. (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
This means you may reproduce or adapt this document for noncommercial
purposes, as long as you give me proper credit.
If you wish to use this this document for commercial purposes, you must
contact me at
[email protected] for permission.
Pikmin is copyright Nintendo.
------------------------EOF------------------------
