Mushroom battle

For Challenge Mode, see Challenge Mode (disambiguation).

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Challenges are a feature of Pikmin Bloom, unlocked at level 15. Mushrooms of various colors and sizes appear around the world, and the player can send a group of Pikmin to attack them. Multiple players can join, and participants will receive fruit and a postcard as a reward, and a score that measures how well they did.

The amount of Pikmin that can be sent on a challenge by a player will increase over time based on the player's level, starting at 10 Pikmin. The challenge selection screen lets the player choose which Pikmin to send, and the strength value of the selected Pikmin can be seen in the top left corner. The higher the strength, the faster the Pikmin will be at completing the challenge.

Only three challenges can be done by a player in a day. Up to five people are able to join in on a single challenge.

Mushrooms

A normal brown mushroom on the map screen. The red circle indicates its health.

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin Bloom. Particularly: What is the distribution of different mushroom types?

Mushrooms are the objects destroyed in challenges. Like big flowers, they grow at points of interest in the real world. They can only be seen and interacted with when they are less than 400 meters away from the player. After the challenge is complete, the mushroom is destroyed, and grows back in the same location 15 minutes later, without any input. The mushroom type that grows is randomized, but there seems to be a system where some mushrooms are removed from the selection if no players nearby have access to the corresponding Pikmin type.

Mushrooms come in various forms that differ in size and color. The hierarchy of the sizes are small, normal, large, and giant, with each size increasing in health. The larger the mushroom, the bigger the reward for destroying it. There are 8 colors of mushrooms for each size, except for giant mushrooms which only come in red. Some mushrooms have more or less health than other colors of the same size, such as gray or white mushrooms, being tied to the preferred Pikmin's attack power. The color of mushrooms can also determine the type of nectar players get as a reward.

Mushroom health

Color	Small	Normal	Large	Giant
Brown, red, yellow, and blue	4800	21,000	73,000	170,000
Purple and gray	6300	28,000	94,000	N/A
White and pink	3400	15,000	51,000	N/A

Process

This is relevant but will not seem so at first. Niantic is in charge of Pokemon GO and Pikmin Bloom. If you are friends before the challenge begins from Pokemon GO or Pikmin Bloom, you are friends in Pikmin Bloom.

When a mushroom is selected, either from the map screen or expedition list, the camera will focus on the mushroom, with a photograph of its corresponding real-world landmark behind it. The screen displays some basic information about challenges, as well as 5 circles that can be filled with icons of the Miis of the players who have joined the challenge. There is a Join button which progresses to the selection screen. Unless you are friends in Pikmin Bloom, you may not be invited.

In the selection screen, the player can choose which Pikmin to send. A list of all the player's Pikmin appears, and by tapping one, it can be added to or removed from the challenge group. Pikmin with an advantage against that mushroom type (see the next section) may jump in the list when selected for the challenge. Selected Pikmin also appear in front of the mushroom in the camera view. There is a GO button in the lower right corner; tapping it sends all the selected Pikmin on the challenge.

Once the Pikmin are sent on the challenge, they rush towards the mushrooms and start attacking them. Most Pikmin types latch on to a mushroom and start attacking it at a constant rate, with each attack doing some damage. Rock Pikmin instead jump towards a mushroom from a distance and roll back to jump again. From time to time, Pikmin get off the mushroom, walk back to their starting position, and walk back to the mushroom to start attacking again. Each hit decreases the health of the mushrooms, though not by a set amount; see the Time section for more details. From time to time, one of the mushrooms in the group will collapse, leaving the Pikmin attacking it to start attacking another one. The intervals at which mushrooms break depend on the number of the mushrooms in the cluster: 4 for small, 7 for normal, and 10 for large, such that mushrooms break at regular intervals. For example, in a large mushroom group, one of the mushrooms will break for each tenth of health depleted.

When the health is fully depleted, the challenge is cleared. The player is provided with their score, the time the challenge took, and a star rating, followed by the Pikmin bringing a postcard about their challenge and a small number of shiny fruits to be given to the player, providing them with nectar of an uncommon type. Each Pikmin that was sent on the challenge also gains some friendship (though this actually happens at the start of the challenge, not the end).

Attack power

When the player is selecting Pikmin for the challenge, a power value appears in the top left corner of the screen. This shows how strong the selected squad is against that mushroom. (Note that the value displayed is rounded from the actual value.) Adding a Pikmin will increase the value by some amount. The amount depends on 5 variables: the type of Pikmin, its friendship, its maturity, whether it is a Decor Pikmin, and the color of the mushroom being attacked. The equation below is the overall equation for calculating the power contributed by a single Pikmin; the paragraphs below explain what each variable means.

Each Pikmin type has a base attack power. Red Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin, and Blue Pikmin all have the standard base attack power. White Pikmin and Winged Pikmin are slightly weaker, while Purple Pikmin and Rock Pikmin are slightly stronger. The exact values used are in the table below.

Type	Base attack power
Red, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin	4
White and Winged Pikmin	2.8
Purple and Rock Pikmin	5.2

A Pikmin's maturity contributes to how strong it is. Leaf Pikmin have the standard attack power, and each maturity level above that increases the power slightly. Rare flowers, such as pansies and roses, are stronger than regular flowers. Bare Pikmin, obtained by feeding them too much nectar, are slightly weaker. The exact values used are in the table below.

Maturity	Attack power multiplier
Leaf	1
Bud	1.1
Normal flower	1.2
Rare flower	1.3
Bare	0.9

A Pikmin's friendship contributes to how strong it is. For the purposes of the formula, the value used is the number of completed hearts. The fractions of a heart between full hearts doesn't matter, so a Pikmin with 1.1 hearts of friendship and a Pikmin with 1.8 hearts of friendship have the same attack power of 1. The number of full hearts ranges from 0 to 4, so a value in this range is used in the formula.

If a Pikmin is a Decor Pikmin, 4 points will be added to its attack power. This variable in the equation can be either 0 (for non-Decor Pikmin) or 4 (for Decor Pikmin).

The final variable is the type of mushroom, and this is the last step in calculating attack power. If a Pikmin is the same color as the mushroom, its attack power will be multiplied by 2. In other cases, certain Pikmin types may have an advantage or disadvantage against certain mushroom types. The multipliers for each Pikmin-mushroom combination are in the table below.

Type matchup chart		Defending mushroom type
		Brown	Red	Yellow	Blue	Purple	White	Pink	Gray
Attacking Pikmin type	Red	1×	2×	0.9×	0.9×	1.1×	0.9×	1.1×	1×
	Yellow	1×	1×	2×	0.9×	1×	0.9×	0.9×	1×
	Blue	1×	0.9×	1×	2×	1.1×	0.9×	0.9×	1×
	Purple	1×	1.1×	1×	0.9×	2×	0.9×	1.1×	1×
	White	1×	0.9×	0.9×	0.9×	1×	2×	1×	1.1×
	Winged	1×	1×	0.9×	0.9×	1×	1×	2×	0.9×
	Rock	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1.1×	1×	2×

As an example, picture a standard Purple Pikmin with 2.5 hearts of friendship and a bud on its head, against a red mushroom. This gives it a base damage of 5.2, a maturity multiplier of 1.1, a friendship value of 2, a Decor bonus of 0, and a mushroom multiplier of 1.1. Putting these values in the formula gives (5.2 × 1.1 × (1 + 2/10) + 0) × 1.1, or 7.5504. The game would round this up to 8 for displaying to the player.

Time

The time a challenge takes depends on the attack power of the group and the health of the mushroom. The amount of time it takes to destroy all mushrooms (in seconds) is equal to the health of the mushrooms, divided by the total attack power of the Pikmin on the challenge, multiplied by 4. For example, a normal-size mushroom with 21,000 health, attacked by a group of Pikmin with 200 attack power, should take 420 seconds or 7 minutes to destroy. Although the game presents damage as something dealt by each individual attack, each Pikmin hit actually does as much damage as it needs to to keep the health of the mushrooms in line with what it should be given how much time has passed.

Scoring

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin Bloom. Particularly: Fully investigate how scoring works.

At the end of a challenge, the game gives the player a score and a star rating. Star ratings are presented as ranging from 1 to 3, but they actually range from 1 to 4. The score obtained on a challenge is entirely dependent on the attack power of the group sent on the challenge. The health of the mushroom has no effect, and there do not seem to be any hidden bonuses. (For example, attacking a small yellow mushroom with 323 attack power completes the challenge in 59 seconds, scoring 2158 points. Attacking a small white mushroom with the same 323 attack power completes the challenge in 42 seconds, but still scores 2158 points.) The exact system used to calculate scores is not fully understood.

The following table shows the approximate minimum total attack power to get a certain star rating on a certain size of challenge. The color of the mushroom does not have an effect. Values marked with * may not be exactly accurate.

Mushroom size	2 stars	3 stars	4 stars
Small	186	324	564
Normal	296	729	1954*
Large	835	1623*	3245*
Giant	1134*	2267*	4534*

It is not known how scores are calculated when multiple players join the same challenge. As completion time is easier to measure in this scenario, it's possible that it is the actual determining factor (although it varies with mushroom type). In this case, it would be reasonable to assume that the sum of all attack powers among the party needs to match the value in the table – provided that all players start at exactly the same time.

Rewards

Once a challenge is complete, a postcard and some fruits will appear, and the Pikmin on the challenge will collect them. If too few Pikmin were sent on the challenge to carry all the rewards, only some rewards will be collected; the postcard has the highest priority. The fruit rewards depend on the star rating for the challenge.

This table shows the nectar color for each mushroom type as it is currently. The distribution has changed over time, and past distributions can be seen in the History section.

Mushrooms	Nectar color
Brown mushroom	Cherry blossom nectar
Red mushroom
Yellow mushroom
Blue mushroom
Purple mushroom
White mushroom
Pink mushroom
Gray mushroom

This table shows the number and type of fruits given by a challenge depending on its star rating; see the Fruit (Pikmin Bloom) article for details on fruit sizes.

Size	1 star	2 star	3 star	4 star
Small	2 small fruits	4 small fruits	1 large fruit	2 large fruits
Normal	4 small fruits	1 large fruit	2 large fruits	1 giant fruit, 1 special nectar, 1 huge seedling
Large	1 large fruit	2 large fruits	1 giant fruit	2 giant fruits, 1 special nectar, 1 huge seedling
Giant	2 large fruits	1 giant fruit	2 giant fruits	?

Strategy

An infographic explaining the calculation of attack power.

The following article or section contains guides. The strategies shown are just suggestions.

When you first unlock challenges, you likely won't be able to get very high scores because of the limit on how many Pikmin you can send to a challenge. At this stage, focus on attacking larger mushrooms as they give more rewards for low star ratings, and send Pikmin you want to increase the friendship of, since challenges give a small amount of friendship to participating Pikmin.

After gaining a few levels and increasing your maximum challenge group size, you'll start being able to get higher scores. To optimally prepare a squad for challenges, select Pikmin that are the same color as the mushroom you'll be attacking, and Pikmin with higher friendship values (preferably Decor Pikmin). Feed them all a rare type of nectar (the type you get from completing challenges), and send them on the challenge. With a high enough level and enough Decor Pikmin, you should eventually be able to reach 4-star scores on small mushrooms.

Getting 4-star ratings on larger mushrooms requires multiple players, so if you have friends who play Pikmin Bloom, consider working together to complete a challenge as quickly as possible.

History

The following changes have been made to challenges over time:

Update or date	Changes
October 27th, 2021	At the time of Pikmin Bloom's launch, this was the distribution of nectar types for each mushroom type: brown, white, and gray mushrooms give white pansy nectar, red and purple mushrooms give red pansy nectar, blue and purple mushrooms give blue pansy nectar, and yellow mushrooms give yellow pansy nectar.
December 21st, 2021	Changed the nectar distribution: brown, yellow, blue, white, and gray mushrooms give white poinsettia nectar, and red, purple, and pink mushrooms give red poinsettia nectar.
January 22nd, 2022	Changed the nectar distribution: brown, yellow, blue, white, and gray mushrooms give white camellia nectar, and red, purple, and pink mushrooms give red camellia nectar.
February 14th, 2022	Changed the nectar distribution for the Valentine's Day event: brown, white, and gray mushrooms give white rose nectar, red and purple mushrooms give red rose nectar, blue and purple mushrooms give blue rose nectar, and yellow mushrooms give yellow rose nectar.
February 15th, 2022	Reverted to the previous camellia nectar rewards.
February 19th, 2022	Changed the nectar distribution: all mushroom types give red plum blossom nectar.
February 24th, 2022	Temporarily increased the number of challenges that can be done in a day from three to six, and doubled the friendship gain from challenges, for the Challenge Days event.
March 1st, 2022	Reverted to the standard amount of friendship gain, and returned the number of challenges that can be done in a day from six to three.
March 13th, 2022	Changed the nectar distribution: all mushroom types give white cherry blossom nectar.

Trivia

• The mushrooms look identical to Spotcaps and Kingcaps in Pikmin 3, though those names are not used in-game.

See also

• Challenge Mode
• Expedition
• Combat