Summary
There’s no denying that the allure of Nintendo’s strangest series,Pikmin, is in its namesake critters. They’re mysterious, achingly adorable, easily distracted, and just want to help you out in any way they can. What’s not to love?
Related:Every Pikmin Game Ranked
Naturally, Pikmin return inPikmin 4, and for the first time, you have access to every type of Pikmin that has appeared throughout the series, and are even introduced to a few new ones. And while every Pikmin type is unique, some tend to perform better than others. Given the gamerequires strategic planningand now constrains you to carry only three maximum different Pikmin types at once, it’s good to know which ones to bring with you and which ones to keep stored away.
9Blue Pikmin
Blue Pikmin are perhaps the most average Pikmin of the bunch. They aren’t particularly strong nor do they have any special abilities when it comes to finding and collecting treasure, but they do have an immunity to water.
Pikmin 4 is particularly rife with water. Moreso than any other game in the series, you’ll find water all across the terrains. This makes blue Pikmin great when you’re constantly forced to interact with streams, puddles, and pools, but outside of those forced moments, blue Pikmin aren’t anything special. Their otherwise uselessness puts them at the bottom of the totem pole.
8Ice Pikmin
New to the series, ice Pikmin are, unsurprisingly, immune to ice. They can use their frigid little bodies to freeze both enemies and bodies of water. However, they aren’t as helpful with treasure as you might expect.
Ice Pikmin can survive water, but they can’t carry anything through it, making them still rather useless in watery situations. Their ability to freeze water is a nice touch when you want non-water type Pikmin to move across water, but it usually requires more ice Pikmin than you want to carry in order to freeze anything. Ice Pikmin are most helpful in battle, being able to quickly freeze enemies for an extended amount of time, which then gives you a chance to go all-out in combat without fear of retribution. But the downside to freezing enemies is that they shatter when defeated, making it impossible to recover the enemy’s corpse which you often want to keep as an easy way to propagate more Pikmin.
7Winged Pikmin
The distinct characteristic of winged Pikmin is, of course, their wings. These are highly mobile Pikmin who can move across terrain efficiently and quickly. They are slower at carrying items than other Pikmin, but their ability to fly over obstacles and take shortcuts usually means they end up moving items faster over time.
Related:Pikmin 4: Enemies Ranked By How Insulting Their Names Are
Winged Pikmin are great to have in your back pocket when dealing with particularly winding and obtrusive terrain, but they don’t make for great fighters. While they do make it easier to target aerial enemies and certain enemy weak points, and they oddly can’t be crushed, they’re weaker than most Pikmin, making them a poor choice to deal damage. Winged Pikmin are a nicety to have, but rarely a necessity.
6Glow Pikmin
Another Pikmin new to the series, Glow Pikmin can do it all! They’re immune to all hazards, making them adaptable to any situation. The catch with glow Pikmin is that they can’t be used in daylight.
Glow Pikmin can only be obtainedduring night expeditions, where they’re the only Pikmin available, or taken into caves as seeds. If you manage to collect enough of them, they can be of great use in battle as they have the ability to collectively morph into a ball and stun enemies for a lengthy amount of time. Unfortunately, despite their incredible abilities, glow Pikmin are a little too situational, and their numbers too difficult to grow, to be as useful as you’d like them to be.
5Rock Pikmin
Rock Pikmin, naturally, have hard exteriors. Their hardened little bodies make them immune to getting crushed on soft surfaces or getting stabbed by enemies with sharp proboscises.
These heavy little guys really pack a punch. Throw several of them at an enemy in quick succession, and you’ll knock out anything in no time. They also have a high survival rate since they can take on attacks that other Pikmin can’t, making them the perfect little soldiers. However, keep in mind that rock Pikmin bounce off enemies when they attack, and if you let them repeatedly attack after being thrown, their need to recover means they do less damage over time despite their harder hitting attacks.
4Yellow Pikmin
Yellow Pikmin have an immunity to electricity. They can also be thrown higher than most Pikmin, reaching heights other Pikmin can’t, and they have a knack for digging quickly.
Related:Pikmin 4: Every New Enemy To The Series
Yellow Pikmin can make for great little treasure-hunting tools. The height at which they can be thrown is a useful asset not only for reaching treasure but also for dragging any aerial enemies down to the ground (although their prowess is nothing special). The speed at which they can dig is particularly helpful given that so many treasures are buried, and their ability to tackle electricity is a nice little bonus.
3Purple Pikmin
Purple Pikmin have the strength of ten Pikmin, and their heavy little bodies make them immune to wind. They also have the odd ability to emit gravitational waves when thrown, anchoring extra-dimensional enemies to reality.
These thicc little Pikmin can whallop most things, with a higher attack power equal to red Pikmin. When initially thrown, they perform a pounding attack which hits twice as hard as rock Pikmin. The purple Pikmin’s strength also means you can carry more items with less Pikmin.
It’s worth noting that purple Pikmin have been downgraded since their debut in Pikmin 2. They no longer stun enemies with their ground pound and they’re no longer immune to confusion. Their heft also has the drawback of making them pretty slow. They’re not quite as excellent as they once were, and they’re unfortunately not easy to find and obtain.
2White Pikmin
White Pikmin are tiny little fellows who are immune to poison. They can move faster than other Pikmin types and take on any poisonous fungal growths you might find across the environment or on top of enemies. They also have the ability to find hidden treasure on their own.
White Pikmin are weaker than all other Pikmin, but feed them to an enemy and their poisonous little bodies can do massive damage to a creature’s gastrointestinal tract. A small grouping can take downeven the largest of threats. It’s just unfortunate that you must send the little guys to their doom to make best use of them. And they’re not easy to come by either—they can’t propagated, and you’ll only find them sparsely in caves.
1Red Pikmin
Red Pikmin are the first Pikmin you’ll discover, but that doesn’t mean they’re the most generic. These Pikmin are stronger than most, immune to fire, and most importantly, easy to obtain.
The best thing about red Pikmin is their strength and ubiquity. Because they’re the first Pikmin you find, you can endlessy propagate them immediately, creating a small army. Unleash them upon an enemy, and they’re sure to dish out a fair amount of damage quickly due to their higher attack power. And because of their ubiquity, you don’t need to worry about their extinction. Enjoy sending these little guys to their doom as much as you like - you’ll never be rid of them.
Next:Every Type Of Pikmin And What They Do
