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.]]

Hints are designed to guide the player towards advancing through the story. Some are about where to go next, some are about how to defeat [[boss]]es, and some are about various other things. Many hints have associated locations in a specific [[area]] that they refer to. Due to the linear structure of {{p3}}, there is a linear progression of story hints. Only one hint can be active at a time. Each new hint will appear in response to some threshold being reached, and when another hint threshold is reached, it will replace the current hint (even if the new threshold is not the intended next hint because a [[sequence break]] was performed).

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.

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || [[Distant Tundra]] || Start of the game. || Initially: The can with the [[Yellow Pikmin]].

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

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

| Tropical Wilds || Rescue the Red [[Onion]]. || Initially: The 2 brown fragment piles.

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || Tropical Wilds || Complete the brown bridge. || The [[KopPad]].

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

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

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

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || Tropical Wilds || Push the cardboard box. || The western exit of the cave. (Note: It is not possible to see if the arrows initially stop at the [[dirt wall]] before pointing to the exit of the cave.)

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

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

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || Garden of Hope || Complete the brown [[bridge]]. || Initially: None.

| [[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]]

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || Garden of Hope || Complete the blue bridge. || The Armored Mawdad arena.

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

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

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

| {{transcript|Done for the day? Skip ahead by selecting End Day in Options.}}

| Garden of Hope || Collect the [[Data Glutton]]. || None.

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || [[Distant Tundra]] || First landing in the Distant Tundra. || None.

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

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

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

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || Distant Tundra || Push the iron ball in the cave. || The door to the outside.

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

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

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

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

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || Distant Tundra || Push the iron ball outside. || Initially: The cave where the Vehemoth Phosbat is first seen.

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

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

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

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

| Distant Tundra || The Vehemoth Phosbat does its [[Phosbat Pod]] activation cutscene. || The 2 fragment piles in the Vehemoth Phosbat arena.

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

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

| {{transcript|Done for the day? Skip ahead by selecting End Day in Options.}}

| Distant Tundra || Defeat the Vehemoth Phosbat. || None.

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

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

| [[Tropical Wilds]] || Land in the Tropical Wilds after rescuing [[Charlie]]. || The 2 brown fragment piles.

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

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

| Tropical Wilds || Complete the brown bridge. || The [[paper bag]].

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || Tropical Wilds || Push the paper bag. || The Sandbelching Meerslug arena.

| [[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]]

| {{transcript|Done for the day? Skip ahead by selecting End Day in Options.}}

| Tropical Wilds || Collect the [[Folded Data Glutton]]. || None.

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || [[Twilight River]] || First landing in the Twilight River. || None.

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

| Twilight River || See the Winged [[Onion]]. || The 3 cyan fragment piles.

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || Twilight River || Complete the cyan bridge. || The Winged Onion.

| [[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]]

{{transcript|Toss allies onto a Bouncy Mushroom to bounce them to the opposite shore.}}

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || Twilight River || Complete the red bridge. || The Scornet Maestro arena.

| [[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]]

| {{transcript|Done for the day? Skip ahead by selecting End Day in Options.}}

| Twilight River || Collect the Hocotatian. || None.

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

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || Garden of Hope || Lift the [[Flukeweed]] with the Blue [[Onion]]. || None.

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

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

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

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || Garden of Hope || Complete the pot bridge. || The Quaggled Mireclops arena.

| [[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]]

| {{transcript|If you've done all your work for the day, skip ahead by selecting End Day from the Options menu.}}

| Garden of Hope || Collect [[Louie]]. || None.

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || [[Formidable Oak]] || Land in the Formidable Oak. || None.

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

| Formidable Oak || See [[Captain Olimar]] for the first time. || None.

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

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

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

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

| Formidable Oak || Enter the cave. || None.

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

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

| Formidable Oak || Walk through a trigger point at the entrance to the circular room near the [[Watery Blowhog]]. || The 2 red fragment piles.

| colspan="2" | Default hint, [[#Default hint|see below]] || Formidable Oak || Complete the red bridge. || The dark section of the cave.

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

| Formidable Oak || Walk through a trigger point just after the entrance of the dark section of the cave. || The 2 blue fragment piles.

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

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

| Formidable Oak || Complete the blue bridge. || The 3 [[electrode]]s.

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

| Formidable Oak || Turn on all 3 lights. || The exit of the cave.

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

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

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

| Formidable Oak || Carry Olimar out of the cave. || None.

====Default hint====

If no text or image is specified for a hint, this default set will be used instead. It is shown here to save space in the main table.

! Image !! Text

| [[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]]

| {{transcript|If you throw the other player, they will leave the squad. To reunite, select {{icon|flag|l=}} while you press and hold {{button|switch|y}}.}}

| 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'')]]