Pikmin 4 Guide to being the best scout in the Rescue Corps

The trilogy of Shigeru Miyamoto’s last big idea ended ten years ago with what was a cherry on top for the series. So we were very pleasantly surprised to see that Pikmin 4 is even better than its predecessors.

More beautiful, more complete, more varied, more fun? Your adventures exploring small natural plots and even human interiors on Earth with your personal astronaut are one of the most fun and relaxing experiences of the summer, but that doesn’t mean they’re a cakewalk.

If you want to be the best scout in the Rescue Squad to find Olimar and complete the game 100% (be warned that there is a lot of extra content after the first ending and credits), you must not only employ the best strategies using the mantra of Dandori, but you should also understand all the new features that Pikmin 4 brings to the series: new controls, using Oatchi, shortcuts and more.

Miyamoto-san himself defined the term as follows: Dandori:

“We call it ‘Dandori’ in Japanese: strategically planning, deploying and commanding pikmin.”

And this is how they explain it in the game:

“Dandori is the process of planning things in advance and working efficiently to execute the plans.”

GUIDE: The best Dandori tips and tricks for Pikmin 4

Have you already put on your helmet and cleaned your whistle of drool? Then get to work!

Don’t get hung up on new onions: there are more ways to get new Pikmins.

“Where is the onion from the icy Pikmins?” “How do I get the blue onion?” “Where are the white and purple Pikmins?”

It is very, very likely that you will ask yourself these three questions in the middle of the game, but don’t worry, because the game offers several answers.

For example, the first blue onion you encounter looks like it’s an egg in Sun-Speckled Terrace, but since you can’t take Oatchi with you thanks to certain obstacles in the road, you may not have the 20 blue Pikmins to transport it to the main dui to merge.

Actually, in a later area (in Serene Shores, in that area practically covered with water) there is a second blue onion that is more within reach (for example, there are also two yellow onions if you miss the first one), but if you want to take it in Sun-Speckled Terrace, you can get more blue Pikmins without having their onion in the caves. There are always extra options in the tunnels for Pikmin if you miss their onion. This is the trick for those types of Pikmins you don’t have onions for yet (mostly blue and icy ones). You probably only get these in the caves until you see the first end. , such as white (poison), winged (flying), purple (strength of 10) or stony (rock).

There are two or three spots in certain areas where you can really, really use lots of icy Pikmins to freeze large pools of water, either to carry things with Oatchi and non-blue Pikmins across the icy surface, or to easily kill a bunch of water enemies. Either way, apply the above advice and get a good population of icy Pikmins in the caves, because only in the area Hero’s Hideaway (in the freezer, of course) you can make the Icy Onion and thus can generate many icy Pikmins by absorbing petals and fallen enemies.

In general: take the opportunity to recruit all wild Pikmins from the caves, use anygerminating flower to turn the more common Pikmins into the rarer varieties and don’t get hung up on getting “the next onion” on the first try.

Once you watch the credits, find the missing onions in the additional areas. Namely:

The black onion for the stone Pikmins can be found at Giant’s Hearth, the first level after rescuing Olimar and looking for Luis after the first ending and credits.

Every time you see a patchic, get it!

Those kinds of pale onions are called flardics. Unlike the colored onions, they do not allow you to germinate new Pikmin varieties, but they increase the total capacity of your onion by 10, not for storage, which is infinite, but for delivery. In other words, they are extremely important because they increase the maximum number of Pikmins you can extract from the onion and carry with you, up to a maximum of 100.

And what happens when you reach 100? Well, just like the onions, there are more patches than you need to give you freedom in the order of progression through the game. Once you’ve increased to 100 Pikmins, the next few patches you absorb will cause the onion to produce nectar to make your Pikmins bloom (or heal Oatchi) and also red nectar to create spicy spray.

Oatchi can carry Pikmins alone

If you have only been playing with Oatchi for a short time and you learn the “Alternate Pikmin/Oatchi” command, you might think that the Pikmins will always stay with your character and that Oatchi can act alone. Nothing could be further from the truth: Oatchi has his own whistle (well, bark it seems) and can carry Pikmin on his back to throw them, and with an upgrade pick them off the ground. To facilitate the sharing of Pikmins between Oatchi and your character in the tasks they have to perform in parallel, we recommend using the following item …

Remember the advanced controls for Scatter and Form Line

If you hold Y and move the left stick up, you can use Scatter The Pikmins to separate them by color. Since the maximum you can carry is three different types, the equipped color stays with you and the other two form neat groups left and right. This is great for doing a task on foot with a specific type to avoid danger (for example, if you want to go into the water without swimming with Oatchi) and so the dog can carry a pair of specific Pikmins.

On the other hand Form line also very useful: once you have the Russ’ R&D objects training trumpet, hold down ZL and move the right stick to move an entire platoon of Pikmins. Thought this command was removed from the game! Of course, this is essential for absorbing nectar or dodging some enemies and hazards.

Improve Oatchi’s Charge sharply and expand his health bar

In order to survive in some caves, you will need to join Russ gadgets need to buy specific items such as the head torch (to see better in the dark) or the various elemental resistances to fire, cold, electricity or poison, both for Oatchi and your character. But unless you only need these gadgets for your next goal, don’t buy them for yourself first and concentrate on improving Oatchi instead.

You can give resources to Russ himself to expand the two-footed dog’s health bar, and we recommend you do this as soon as possible, because he is exposed to more enemy bites and picks than your character, and you don’t want him to pass out. As you earn XP points for Oatchi by rescuing more castaways, talk to Captain Shepherd and select “Training” to invest them in different skills. We recommend you start training by upgrading Oatchi’s Strength (so you don’t need as many Pikmins carrying items) and, more importantly, Charge, which is a great move that allows you to take out smaller enemies and then hit the big ones and make all the Pikmins jump off his back to attack. What a treat!

From there, you need to improve the bite when you start leaving Ochin alone to protect zones or Lumiknolls and depending on your order of exploration of different destinations, you might be interested in speeding up swimming or the speed at which he pulls up planted Pikmin.

Clear map first and unlock points to move base

There is little point in getting very far in Zone Exploration if you do not leave all possible paths back to the base clear of enemies. This is important because it may seem to you that the Pikmins will go back the way you came, but they may, depending on their type, decide to take a shortcut or a different path, and along the way they will likely be attacked by enemies you haven’t eliminated. It is best to guide them to the Beagle or Onion the first few times when they are carrying the first treasures and prey, so you can call them back if danger threatens.

Needless to say, they are much more exposed when they only go back and forth to the base to take resources and turn them into clay to bring back and build.

It is also very useful, if you have enough of the right kind of Pikmins, to clear the areas where you have the base can move around. This is a great new feature of this game and the change is almost instantaneous, both in main areas and caves, and allows you many more strategic options. Moreover, all Pikmins who were in the base travel with it immediately, while those who were on the move will change their destination immediately. But as we said, be careful if you haven’t cleared the map of bugs first.

Talk to all the characters in the camp and pick up side missions to get resources.

When you have just rescued a castaway, they appear in your base camp. Captain Shepherd tells you that your mission does not end when you rescue them: they must be welcomed and listened to, and this is exactly what you must not overlook. The first time you talk to an NPC, even if they have an admiration icon, they will simply introduce themselves and thank you for your work. You will have to talk to them again to make sure they give you their missions, and they will probably reward you with valuable resources as you complete their missions.

Customize your quick actions

Quick actions are shortcuts to use skills or items without having to search for them in the corresponding menu. They are extremely useful and intuitive in some stressful situations, so we recommend going to the pause menu (“-“) and then to “Quick Actions.”

For example, we have the Loose call antenna Assigned to pressing the left stick (once we unlock and acquire this R &D item from Russ, of course), because it’s one of the actions you’ll perform the most in your game: calling all the Pikmins left without task on the onion to your position, just lying around there.

There are other useful ones like the Super Spicy Spray to give you a boost against tougher bosses or slower tasks, and there is also the Base Call Antenna, which can send scattered Pikmins to the onion in the last moments of the day or come in handy when you move the base in the level.

It goes without saying, of course, that planners need to use the Drone scout want to keep on hand, a great new feature to get a bird’s eye view before calculating a route through a new scenario. Beware of hidden enemies, either because they are buried or because they blend into the environment.

Types of Pikmins in each zone and number of saves, treasures and onions

We started this guide by recommending that you don’t get obsessed with getting the next onion, right? Well, if you want to know what kind of Pikmins you can find on each map and in their caves, as well as what you need to collect to do 100% of the zones and eventually the game, check out this list. By the way, don’t forget that the patches you collect are counted as onions.

Sunlit terrace

• Native Pikmins: red, yellow, frosty
• Rescuers: 7
• Estates: 34
• Onions: 4

Flowering Arcadia

• Native Pikmins: red, yellow, blue, icy, stony
• Saviors: 9
• Estimates: 60
• Onions: 3

Serene Shores

• Native Pikmins: red, blue, icy, winged, purple, white
• Saviors: 10
• Treasures: 86 (Look underground or use a treasure meter to find lots of them)
• Onions: 3

Hero’s Hideaway

• Native Pikmins: icy, stony, purple, white
• Saviors: 6
• Estates: 86
• Onions: 3

Giant’s Hearth

• Native Pikmins: red, stony, winged, purple, white
• Saviors: 8
• Estimates: 55
• Onions: 3

Primordial shrubbery

• Native Pikmins: red, yellow, blue, icy, winged, purple, violet, white
• Saviors: 8
• Estates: 589
• Onions: 3