Pikmin Monsters

On the Forest of Hope it is possible to just distract this monster, rather than killing him. However I recommend killing him. It is safer - much can go wrong when you try distracting him - and his carcass makes for good eating.

To kill him, stand in front of him and throw a Pikmin in his nose when he breathes in to toss a rock at you. Then run around behind him and toss lots of Pikmin on his tender exposed flesh. If you, like me, can't do C-stick throwing while chasing a moving target, concentrate on chasing him. I don't do C-stick throwing when attacking this monster and I can usually kill him in two passes - sometimes almost in one. The colour of Pikmin you attack him with does not seem to make any difference. When going around behind him to toss Pikmin on him, be sure to guide your Pikmin away from his legs or they will get distracted by uselessly beating their heads on his protected limbs.

If you want to distract him on the Forest of Hope, you can try faking him out and then running for the Radiation Canopy when he breathes in, or you can throw a Pikmin in his nose and get the part while he's opening up his shell. A useful tactic when trying to distract him is to destroy his rocks with Olimar's helmet. "All" you have to do is stand in the path of the rock and press "A" to head-butt it at just the right moment. Warning: this technique only works if you don't have any Pikmin following you. Dismiss them before trying to head-butt the rock, or you'll just throw a Pikmin at it - which isn't quite as effective.

I take sixty reds and ten yellows. I park the reds outside of Beady's lair, and when I go in I park the ten yellows just inside the entrance. That way when Olimar wakes up Beady, he doesn't randomly squash the guys that are with me.

Once Beady is awake I grab my guys and try to stand right underneath him. It's the safest place. Whenever my guys fall off his 'head' I whistle for them and throw them straight back up. It's a little bit random, but not too tricky. If you do it at the beginning of the day then you can afford to fail.

Once I kill Beady I dismiss the yellows at the edge of the compound and get the reds to grab the food and the Guard Satellite.

When you see him it is important to throw some Pikmin on his back to damage him. Then, when the Pikmin return him to the Onion, the damage he suffers there will kill him, expelling the Space Float. This is very important, since it means that it takes two Pikmin to take the Space Float to home base, instead of twenty five. The Space Float also gets to take a much shorter route when it is compressed inside of the Breadbug.

The other trick to fighting the Snagret that contains the Geiger Counter is getting your Pikmin safely past the other Snagrets. I have an easy way to do that.

Take your Pikmin to the base of the cliff near the rusty tin can near where the Eternal Fuel Dynamo used to be. Toss about eighty blue Pikmin up onto the cliff, right where the nectar grass is.

Take your other blues (at least ten) and yellows (at least three) around to where the yellow Onion was, and bomb rock down the wall to the left.

Leave the yellows there and take the blues through the gap, then use them to push aside the cardboard box. Leave them there - you don't need them, and it's dangerous to walk them across the field.

Go wake up the Snagret with the Geiger Counter, by yourself. Make sure you're not too close to your waiting blues when you do this. When he starts going down into the ground, whistle for your nearby blues, and wiggle them around where he went into the ground. This technique lets you get your Pikmin to his location when he's not coming out of the ground, which should stop him from getting an easy meal while your Pikmin are approaching.

When he comes up, your Pikmin will all attach to his head and neck. They will damage him, but he won't be able to reach them. If you repeat this a couple of times - staying near his spot - he'll die quite quickly. This is not a completely reliable method, but it is reliable enough, and happens early enough in the day, to not make it too frustrating.

The Snagret will sometimes manage to grab a few of your Pikmin, but that is not always a problem. They can survive in his beak quite nicely - they don't die until he starts going back into the ground. It makes for some nice drama if he chews on your Pikmin for a while but you manage to kill him before they die.

Seen in - Forest of Hope.

Now I go to his compound (you're on your own for the details of getting there, but if it takes much longer than three hours, keep practicing) with three yellows (no more are needed) and whatever number of blues and reds it took to get me there - usually 50 blues and forty seven reds. It is important for them to all be flowers, but I really don't care what colour they are.

After collecting three bomb rocks I wake up the emperor and retreat outside the compound. I throw a single yellow with a bomb rock just inside of the entrance - inside the compound, but just barely. Then I wait for the emperor to notice this tasty morsel and commit himself to taking a bite. By whistling at the right time - after he has committed to eating - my yellow guy has time to drop the bomb and run away. The bomb explodes before it gets inside the emperor, which seems to stun him for longer than if he swallows the Pikmin. Then I rush forward with 50 guys and throw them on his face.

Because of the extra stun time he can be killed a lot faster. If you throw fast it takes just three rounds of bomb attacks to kill him. This seems to give him little opportunity to get into a jumping mood.

Because I don't have to worry about his massive tongue swipes eating my Pikmin, and because I can whistle my yellow guy to safety before the emperor eats him or jumps on it (that's why it is important that the yellow guy you throw in be really close to the entrance) it is not necessary to lose any guys.

After sending all of the pellets back to the appropriate onions, and the part back to the ship, I usually have five to six hours left in the day. With this method I can kill the emperor with 100% reliability, and kill him with no deaths quite frequently.

Seen in - Final Trial.

For those Fiery Blowhogs that aren't near the water you can save time by just tossing a couple of Pikmin at them and then leaving - they'll eventually finish them off.

It is important to note that you can push Puffy around. Within the limits of his world, he always tries to back away from Olimar and Pikmin. Use this to keep him away from monsters, and in the right area to drop his part.

If you are near Puffy and he gets ready to blow, use the C-stick to push all of your Pikmin far underneath his body. When all is working well his hot air will be wasted and you can soon resume tossing your Pikmin on him.

Seen in - Distant Springs.

The trick seems to be to whistle for your Pikmin as soon as he flips over. Making sure that all of them come back to you is more important than getting an early start on tossing Pikmin on his legs. If you don't manage to kill him in one round, that's okay. But be sure to whistle your Pikmin back when he flips back onto his feet, before he drops his nasty spores.

The white Sheargrubs (females) are harmless, so when dealing with these monsters it is crucial that you identify the males, and kill them as quickly as possible. I like to switch to overhead view, medium magnification, so that I can see them easily. If you toss Pikmin on top of the males, they die quite quickly without hurting your Pikmin.

You can also use Olimar to kill these monsters, which is a completely safe way of getting rid of them - but potentially a bit slower.

Seen in - Forest of Hope and Forest Navel.

Experienced Pikmin players typically use C-stick rushing to attack a lot of monsters. This technique works badly on Shearwigs. C-stick rushing makes them fly out of reach, and occasionally gives them an opportunity to kill one of your Pikmin.

Instead you should throw Pikmin on them. This seems to be safer, and it allows a smooth transition to knocking them out of the sky.

With this technique you should be able to kill them quickly and reliably, without any losses.

Seen in - Forest Navel and Distant Springs.

One of the Spotty Bulbears in the Distant Springs has his back end against a wall. This makes an attack from behind difficult. If you have spare time you can use Olimar to wake him up and then run away. Wait for him to go to sleep again and he will now be facing outwards. Or you can try to get your Pikmin in behind him before attacking.

I just attack him from the side and cross my fingers, because I can't afford to waste time. By trying to kill him early in the day I ensure that it doesn't matter too much when I fail.

Seen in - Distant Springs.

Seen in - Forest of Hope.

Once the Snitchbug picks up one of your Pikmin he becomes easier prey - flying lower and slower. Hit him in the air.

Once his is on the ground, keep throwing Pikmin on him. You can also rush him, but that is not a replacement for throwing Pikmin on him. He will occasionally break free, and only a constant rain of Pikmin will ensure that he is instantly knocked back down to the ground. It is time consuming to knock him to the ground in the first place, so you don't ever want to lose him.

Luckily this antennae waggling nuisance doesn't kill your Pikmin, but he will occasionally drop them into danger, or grab a crucial bomb-rock carrying Pikmin.

While the planted Pikmin that he leaves behind don't technically count as killed or left behind, failing to pull them up before leaving for the day can hardly count as Perfect Pikmin.

Seen in - Distant Springs.

Luckily, you never need to kill this guy. Avoid him when possible. Lure him away from your Pikmin other times. And, when you need to send a part going right through his lair, make sure it's moving fast.

Seen in - Distant Springs.

So, use Olimar. Send him in early and he can headbutt one of the water dumples until it dies. That changes your odds of a death free fight from about 2% to about 98%. Beating up the water dumples doesn't take very long.

Seen in - Distant Springs.