How to Get Purple Pikmin in Pikmin 4

Like the Rock Pikmin, Purple Pikmin are pretty rare in Pikmin 4! They’re basically only in one area for the most part. You need to rely on finding wild ones in caverns, then keeping them alive during your dungeon dive until you get home. Which is something of a shame, because they can be pretty handy in the right circumstances.

How to get Purple Pikmin in Pikmin 4

Editor’s Note: To avoid spoilers immediately after launch, this guide will only cover their locations in the first four areas.

The Purple Pikmin are the third kind of “special” Pikmin you can’t get from Onions and will encounter. It will take a while before you start seeing them, though! These don’t show up at all until you reach the Serene Shores area.

Like all other types of Pikmin, after finding them once you will see icons showing wild versions of them are present in a map while on the Explore selection screen. When you’re in the map itself, you can also direct Oatchi to sniff them out and take you to the cavern where they reside.

Spoilers aside, there’s only the one dungeon where Purple Pikmin reside for much of the game. You’ll need to venture into Engulfed Castle, avoid the unbeatable enemy for many floors, then finally pick some up at the end. It’s only later another option opens up. However, after the first four locations, more opportunities show up. But for the first four areas, you’ll only see them in two spots:

• Serene Shores: Engulfed Castle
• Hero’s Hideaway: Plunder Palace

Spoilers aside, after finishing Olimar’s Shipwrecked Tale, a Purple Pikmin Onion can be found after finishing the base’s Trial of the Sage Leaf Final Story.

Why do you want Purple Pikmin in Pikmin 4?

Okay. The big reason is because Purple Pikmin is because they are heavy. One is equal to 10 normal Pikmin. This means they can carry more and, if left on a switch or environmental object that needs 10 to do something, you only need one of them.

They are also good for fighting enemies. Notably, bosses. This is because the Engulfed Castle boss can only be damaged by Purple Pikmin being tossed at it.

Pikmin 4 is available for the Nintendo Switch.