After you complete your primary mission inPikmin 4to rescue Olimar, more opportunities await you on the planet PNF-404. You’ll be able to continue exploring new areas as you seek to rescue more people trapped on the planet, starting with one called Giant’s Hearth.

RELATED:Pikmin 4: Primordial Thicket Treasure Guide

You’ll find the Cradle of the Beast cave at the southern end of the Giant’s Hearth map. You’ll need to burn away some straw bundles to access it. Hop inside and prepare to face the mother monster…Empress Bulblax.

Cradle Of The Beast - Sublevel 1

Thesuggested Pikminfor Cradle of the Beast arePurple, Red, and Rock Pikmin. Out of these, you’ll definitely want tohave plenty of Rock Pikmin.Rock Pikmin areimmune to being crushed, and there are numerous enemies in this cave that are more than happy to squash your little allies.

If you’re low on Purple Pikmin, don’t worry. There areplenty of Candypop Bulbs through this cavethat you may utilize.

You look on at a group of Purple Pikmin sprouts in the ground.

Once you enter the cave, there will be an area immediately to your left with aWaddlequaff. It will try to blow you away, but you canjust chuck a few Rock Pikmin at itand finish it off with Oatchi or your other Pikmin. You can thenpick up the puzzle piece treasurehere, theMemory Fragment (Bottom-ish).

In this hallway is one of the firstCandypop Bulbswhere you canthrow some Pikmin into to change them to Purple Pikmin.

While riding Oatchi the space dog, you see a purple flower called a Candypop Bulb.

Continue to the main area on the left side and you’ll encounter aFiery Bulblax. You’ll need todefeat it to get the treasure inside, theDelectable Bouquet.

UseRed Pikmin to fight against the Fiery Bulblax. If Oatchi has theScorch Guardgear, you can command him to also attack. Otherwise,guide the Fiery Bulblax into the water geysersnearby to extinguish its flames.

A floating balloon-like enemy with spikes on its back is in the air.

Nearby is apaper bag you’ll need to crushusing 30 Pikmin in order to reach aflaming pine cone. You can use this toburn down the bundle of hayon this sublevel, and light the bed of coals near your ship.

As you make your way through each sublevel, make sure tograb all the Raw Material you come across,as you’ll need to have some in hand for later.Breaking down the dirt wallon this sublevel will also give you a few more Raw Material.

You prepare to throw some Pikmin up onto a ledge, using a nail as an anchor point.

In this southeast room you’ll see aScorchcakeand aPuffy Blowhog. As long as you have some Red Pikmin, the Scorchcake shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Purple Pikmin, with their heaviness,can quickly bring down the Puffy Blowhog, where the rest of your squad can gang up on it.

After clearing the enemies in the room, you’ll want topick up the 15 gold nuggets. The last treasure on this sublevel, theCitrus Lamp, is also here behind another crushable bag.

A smashed group of pots reveal another room, with a couple frog-like Wollyhop enemies.

Cradle Of The Beast - Sublevel 2

Once you land, you’ll see atunnel to your immediate right that only Oatchi can access. Send him through, and switch over to control him.

You’ll want tosend some Pikmin with Oatchi, and you’ll see a ledge you’re able to throw them onto.Target the nail in the ground, and toss some Pikmin up to join Oatchi.

Numerous Pikmin and your space dog carry a massive ham treasure called the King of Meats.

With Oatchi, you’ll want tofight the Armored Cannon Larvaethat is terrorizing some Rock Pikmin.Avoid the boulders it spits out at youas you fight it.

There is aramphere that you willneed to build using 25 Raw Material, but you’ll need to find a way for Pikmin to transport it up first.Rush through the cracked potteryto get into the west room, and defeat a coupleWollyhops, taking care not to let them crush any of your Pikmin. Make sure tograb the Raw Material in this roomas well.

You and your squad are falling down into the final sublevel of Cradle of the Beast.

Direct your Pikmin topush down the paper bagto create a ramp down into the southwest room. Here, you can fight off a fewSkutterchucks, break some small crystals, andpull down the Mouth of Lies treasurehanging from cobwebs.

Your next goal should be tobuild that ramp to the north roomusing clay converted from Raw Materials.

You look on at the huge Empress Bulblax, which spawns more and more larvae onto the ground.

There is also a western hallway that leads around to the north room. There is aCandypop Bulb if you need more Purple Pikmin. Be careful though, anArmored Cannon Larvae shoots out bouldersthat roll down the hallway.

One ofPikmin 4’s new enemies, aPorquillion,lurks in the north room, so prepare to fight. For these baddies, make sure tokeep moving and circle it as it tries to shoot its quills at your location. Attack on its barren sides, butcall your Pikmin back when it’s about to grow back its quills.

Screen showing you rescued a castaway with green hair and a mustache.

The defeated Porquillion will drop a massive ham, theKing of Meatstreasure, whichrequires 300 strength to move. Luckily,Purple Pikmin each have a strength of 10, and you should have several at this point in the cave. If you’veupgraded Oatchi’s Buff ability,his increased strength can help as well.

Don’t forget tosnatch up the pile of golden nuggets in this roombefore continuing to the final sublevel.

Cradle Of The Beast - Sublevel 3

Upon landing, you’ll seea hallway that loops around to the northeast room. To the west side of the hallway,a gate is blocking the cave’s exit, meaning you’ll need to defeat the boss on this level to get out.

Defeat some Bulborb Larvae and break down a dirt wallin the hallway, and you’ll soon reach the room where theEmpress Bulblaxlurks.

Defeat The Empress Bulblax

The Empress Bulblaxcontinuously births Bulborb Larvae into the room, and you’ll want totake out as many of these as you canbefore starting your fight against the Empress. Purple Pikmin are great to throw around, as theycrash down with a shockwave that can kill multiple Larvae at once.

Once you engage the Empress Bulblax, she will havetwo main attack patternsin Cradle of the Beast:

Theeasiest way to take out Empress Bulblaxis by facing her head on, out of the range of her rolls back and forth.Only use Rock Pikmin to attack her, since they won’t be killed if she rolls on top of them. They will be squished into the dirt, butyou can whistle to call them back to you.

If a sizable chunk of your non-Rock Pikmin get crushed by Empress Bulblax, you canrewind time and start from the beginning of this sublevel to try again.

Be patient,keep throwing Rock Pikmin at her, and you’ll soon defeat herwithout risking your more fragile Pikmin. The Empress Bulblaxdrops five Stately Rubber Cuties, the last treasures in the cave. Defeating her will also drop the locked gate for the exit.

Cradle Of The Beast Rewards

Getting all the way to the end of the Cradle of the Beast willlead you to another castaway. This one isburied in a mound of dirt, so dig the castaway up so you may rescue him. You’ll get anotherPup Drive for Oatchifor the rescue, who is the treasure hunterDon Bergman, one ofthe Koppaite castaways.

There are12 total treasures you can obtain throughout Cradle of the Beast, with two of those being the gold nugget piles. If you want to double-check to verify you retrieved all treasures in this cave, you can referencethis treasure guide for the Giant’s Hearth map.