Editing Hint

[[File:P3D Menu Default Hint.jpg|thumb|250px|The default hint, telling the player to keep moving ahead.]]

{{for|hints on loading screens|Loading screen#Tip}}

[[File:HUD Hints button P3D.jpg|thumb|The "Hints" button in the [[HUD]] sparkling.]]

The way hints are shown depends on a setting in the [[pause menu]], called "Hint Display". If it is on (which is the default setting), a bubble with the text "Hints" will appear in the [[HUD]], and if it is off, this bubble will not appear. In both cases, a Hint bubble will be present in the pause menu. During gameplay, pressing {{button|switch|padu}} will show the current hint (even if Hint Display is off). Selecting the bubble in the pause menu will also show the current hint. If a new hint becomes available, both bubbles will sparkle, and an exclamation mark icon will appear over the HUD bubble, indicating a new hint is available. Once the new hint has been viewed, the bubbles will no longer sparkle until another new hint is available.

When a hint is shown, the game is paused and a hint window takes up most of the screen. It contains an image, which may be a screenshot or a map, and some text below. There may be multiple pages in a hint, and if there are, these can be advanced to the right with {{button|switch|zr}}, {{button|switch|padr}}, or right on {{button|switch|lstick}}, and to the left with {{button|switch|zl}}, {{button|switch|padl}}, or left on {{button|switch|lstick}}. (The face buttons or the stick can be held to quickly advance through pages in a loop, but the same does not happen for {{button|switch|zr}} or {{button|switch|zl}}.) {{button|switch|b}} can be pressed to close the hint window and return to gameplay (or the pause menu, if the hint was opened from there).

[[File:P3DX Prerelease Twilight River Arrows 2.jpg|thumb|250px|A trail of arrows in the Twilight River.]]

If Hint Display is on, hints will not only consist of pages of information, but of arrows on the ground. These large blue arrows will point toward that hint's associated location, forming a path in front of the player using the same waypoint system as [[Go Here!]]. Since not all hints have an associated location, not all hints have arrows. The arrows will only appear near the active leader, and up to 5 arrows can be on the ground at a time. Arrows are 3D objects and can illuminate their surroundings, but they do not have any collision. They do not appear on the [[radar]] or the [[KopPad#Camera|KopPad camera]] view. After appearing, arrows will not stop pointing towards their associated location until the player reaches that location, though they will briefly disappear and reappear again after the [[Onion menu]] or [[KopPad]] (except the camera app) is closed. Arrows can be made to disappear by turning Hint Display off; after turning it back on the arrows will not reappear unless the hint is opened again.

The associated locations of hints can vary in type. For some hints, the arrows point to a certain point in 3D space, and once the player gets near enough to it, the arrows will disappear. They will not reappear unless the player walks away and opens the hint again. For some hints, the arrows point to a specific [[segment]], and once the segment is entered, they will turn off. (Opening the hint again while in the segment will show no arrows, but opening it from another segment will point towards the destination again.) When the associated location is a [[fragment]] pile, the arrows can disappear either when the player gets close or when all the fragments have been taken from the pile. However, if fragments return to a pile (because the Pikmin carrying them were [[whistle]]d) and this causes it to reappear, then the arrows immediately reappear and point towards the pile again.

Hints can sometimes have multiple associated locations. For some hints, these are in a set order, and reaching the first location will change the destination to the next location. For hints about building a [[bridge]] or turning on lights, the associated locations are the fragment piles or [[electrode]]s, and these can be visited in any order. The arrows will point toward the location closest to the player (in travel distance). When all fragments are taken from a pile or an electrode is turned on, the arrows will not point to another location unless the hint is opened again, and the Hint bubbles will not sparkle.

These hints are directly related to the game's [[Story Mode|story]]. They are listed in the order they are intended to be seen. Some hints appear multiple times in the story and are listed in the [[#Default hints|Default hints]] section below. The "Area" column states the [[area]] that the trigger condition and the associated location(s) are found in, but the hint will still be the current hint if viewed in another area.

| [[File:Hint TW1 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TW2 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TW3 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint TW3 P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TW4 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint GH1 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint GH2 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint GH3 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint GH4 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint GH4 P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint GH5 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint GH5 P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint GH6 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint GH7 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint GH End Day 1 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint DT2 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint DT3 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint DT4 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint DT5 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint DT5 P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint DT6 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint DT6 P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint DT7 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint DT7 P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint DT8 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint DT8 P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint DT9 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint DT End Day P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TW5 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint TW5 P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TW6 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint TW6 P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TW7 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TW8 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint TW8 P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TW9 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TW End Day P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TR1 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TR2 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint TR2 P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TR3 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TR4 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint TR4 P2.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint TR4 P3.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint TR4 P4.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TR5 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint TR5 P2.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint TR5 P3.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TR6 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint TR End Day P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint GH8 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint GH9 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint GH9 P2.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint GH9 P3.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint GH10 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint GH10 P2.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint GH10 P3.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint GH11 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint GH End Day 2 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint FO1 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint FO2 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint FO2 P2.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint FO2 P3.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint FO2 P4.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint FO3 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint FO3 P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint FO4 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint FO5 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint FO5 P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint FO6 P1.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint FO7 P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint FO7 P2.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint FO7 P3.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint Default P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint Default P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint Start P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint Start P2.png|200px]]

| {{transcript|If you get stuck in Story mode, press {{button|switch|padu}} to view a strategy hint. You can hide them by going to More in Other Settings and setting Hint Display to Off.}}

| [[File:Hint Lost Pikmin P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint Lost Pikmin P2.png|200px]]

| [[File:Hint 2-Player P1.png|200px]]

[[File:Hint 2-Player P2.png|200px]]

| This hint appears instantly the first time 2-player gameplay is activated in Story Mode, without the player having to press {{button|switch|padu}}. After closing it, a record of seeing it is [[Saved game|saved]] permanently, and it can never be seen again, even in a different playthrough.

*[[Badge (Pikmin 3 Deluxe)|Badge (''Pikmin 3 Deluxe'')]]