Editing Difficulty

Upon creating a save file on the [[Menu/Saved game selection|file selection screen]], the player will be prompted to choose a difficulty. There are 3 options: '''Normal''' ({{j|ふつう|Futsū}}), '''Hard''' ({{j|むずかしい|Muzukashī}}), and '''Ultra-Spicy''' ({{j|ゲキカラ|Gekikara}}), in increasing order of difficulty. The lattermost can only be unlocked once the player has completed the story mode in Hard difficulty, or completed the [[Pikmin 3 Deluxe#Demo|demo]].

At any point in the saved game selection screen, the player can press {{button|switch|zr}} to change a file's difficulty, but doing so prevents the player from earning any [[badge (Pikmin 3 Deluxe)|badge]] related to completing [[Story Mode]] in a given difficulty, in that file. If the player uses this option to change to the same difficulty the file is already at, nothing will happen.

The following is a list of known differences between difficulty modes. The Wii U version of ''Pikmin 3'', which is most similar to ''Pikmin 3 Deluxe'''s Hard difficulty, is included for comparison's sake.

! Subject || style="width:20%" | Normal || style="width:20%" | Hard || style="width:20%" | Ultra-Spicy || style="width:20%" | Wii U

|-

| [[Fruit#Juice|Fruit juice]] || 100% || 100% || 50% || 100%

| Enemy [[health]] || Enemies usually have lower health than on the Wii U{{cite web|https://www.reddit.com/r/Pikmin/comments/jf1lf9/enemy_hp_comparison_how_to_test_it/|Enemy HP Comparison + How to test it.|reddit|published={{date|21|October|2020}}|retrieved={{date|14|October|2020}}|rname=health_research}} || Most enemies have twice as much health than on Normal difficulty{{cite web|rname=health_research}} || Enemies have either the same or higher health than on Hard difficulty || N/A

| [[Nectar egg]]s in the [[Garden of Hope]] || Many || Several || None || None

| [[Pikmin limit]] || 100 || 100 || 60 || 100

| Pikmin [[Water|drowning]] time || ≈11 seconds || ≈6 seconds || ≈3 seconds || ≈6 seconds

| [[Ultra-spicy spray|Sprayed]] Pikmin drowning time || ≈5 seconds || ≈2 seconds || ≈1 second || ≈2 seconds

| Leader health || ≈1.5 times the usual || Same as on the Wii U || Same as on the Wii U || N/A

| [[Data file]]s || All opened when collected || Only some opened when collected || Only some opened when collected || All opened when collected

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There are three [[badge (Pikmin 3 Deluxe)|badges]] the player can gain from completing [[Story Mode]] on any given difficulty, without changing it at any point.

* '''Pikmin Challenger''': Obtained by beating Story Mode on Normal, Hard, or Ultra-Spicy difficulty.

* '''Pikmin Professional''': Obtained by beating Story Mode on Hard or Ultra-Spicy difficulty.