--------------------------------------------------- P I K M I N --------------------------------------------------- 9-Day Challenges Guide For the Nintendo GameCube By Dragorn Dragorn@Hotmail.com 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. 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 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 Dragorn@Hotmail.com 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 Dragorn@Hotmail.com for permission. Pikmin is copyright Nintendo. ------------------------EOF------------------------