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Pikmin 4 has catapulted itself into the hearts of newcomers and long-time veterans alike. Despite taking 10 years to materialise, the general consensus is that it was well worth the wait. There is something undeniably moreish about running around gathering bits-and-bobs using teeny-tiny carrot people.
Of course, that’s not all you will do as there are dastardly enemies seeking your demise. It is rare that a treasure is undefended, and if you want to complete your mission and get out alive, you are going to need to do battle. This guide will give you a rundown on how you can best tackle the myriad problems that await you.
More Pikmin 4 content:
Blue Pikmin | Beginners Guide | Every Pikmin Type | Shortcuts | Oatchi Upgrade Guide | Swim Guide | Foolix Guide | Hectic Hollows
Aim True
At the start of the game you will have a very limited set of tools when it comes to slaying your foes. In fact, you only have one option – throwing. Throwing your Pikmin, whilst basic, never stops being an effective strategy. This allows you to launch your rainbow-buddies onto the backs of just about anything, allowing them to safely deal damage.
Not only that, some enemies are flying or have hard to reach weakpoints. Throwing gets around this in most cases. The games does have a fairly generous ‘Target Lock’ (ZR) system, but you still need to aim properly. Pikmin that miss their mark will be left stranded in the open and this can lead to a very quick death. Nobody wants that on their conscious.
Oatchie Rush
After a short while you will unlock the ability to mount your trusted companion, Oatchie. Oatchie is a very powerful asset in combat, and one of his first abilities is to Rush. This causes damage, of course, but more importantly, it can quickly dispense Pikmin onto your enemies.
Whilst you are mounted, all Pikmin under your control will also mount Oatchie. When Oatchie lands a Rush in this state, your Pikmin are flung onto the enemy you hit. This is amazingly powerful at all stages of the game, but only gets more powerful as your squad increases in size. Very few enemies can survive a 100-Pikmin coordinated assault.
Charge Horn
Sometimes you don’t have time to mount Oatchie, or maybe you don’t have access to Oatchie for whatever reason. This would normally leave you stranded without your best offensive tool, however, there is a solution. If you go to Russ and buy the Charge Horn, you unlock a very powerful new ability.
The Charge Horn lets you command all Pikmin of a single colour to charge in the selected direction. Blow that horn multiple times, and you can quickly get all of your Pikmin into combat. Unlike Rush, however, your Pikmin won’t climb enemies. This makes them more vulnerable to attack, but the trade off is a much faster offensive.
Oatchie Chomps
Oatchie might be the ultimate dispenser of Pikmin, but he has other uses too. In combat, he just so happens to be a very powerful weapon. Like with your Pikmin, you can command Oatchie to charge into combat. Whilst there, he will lend a hand by biting enemies.
In the early game, Oatchie’s Chomp isn’t that powerful. You can upgrade it, however, and in doing so, Oatchie becomes a force of nature. With enough time dedicated to training Oatchie, you can have your space-faring pup going toe-to-toe with some of the strongest enemies in the game.
Right Pikmin For The Job
Having access to all of these tools is all well and good, but a lot of your success will come from using the right Pikmin for the job. On a very basic level, Red Pikmin are your mostly powerful combat troops and should be used often. Red Pikmin can’t fight everything, however, and utilising your specialised Pikmin is essential.
Enemies in and around water should always be tackled with Blue Pikmin. Flying enemies are weak to both Yellow and the exceptionally rare Winged Pikmin. Enemies that appear to be tough can be broken with Rock Pikmin. Throw in elements like Fire, Poison, and Electric, and you will be cycling your Pikmin often to take on each new challenge. Failure to do so will lead to…well…failure.
Ice Pikmin
A special note goes to the new-carrots on the block, Ice Pikmin. These guys are incredibly powerful and can turn the tide of just about any encounter. They don’t do much damage, but they do slowly freeze enemies. Once fully frozen, enemies can no longer attack making them far easier to defeat.
This could be considered a cheap way to get around enemies, but rest assured, there are downsides. The biggest is the lack of a body. When you defeat enemies in this manner, they don’t leave a body to harvest at an Onion. The immediate ramifications of that are the lack of new Pikmin. On the plus side, you do get lovely Sap to power up your troops.
Using Ice Pikmin should be a strategic choice and not the default response to combat.
Recalling
Some enemies are tough enough to survive a bum-rush by your Pikmin, and these guys are the most dangerous as a result. They will often shake your Pikmin off, scattering them to the wind. This leaves them susceptible to death, and you want to avoid that whenever you can – especially when using rare breeds of Pikmin.
To do this, Recalling is a thing. Blow your whistle with the ‘B’ button and watch as your hordes of dudes return to you. One thing to remember is that it’s nearly always better to recall early than late. If you are concerned your Pikmin are about to be yeeted, call them back to you to keep them safe.
That’s all we have on Pikmin 4 for now. Be sure to check out our other Guides and Lists for more Pikmin content.
