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Mushroom 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 a challenge, 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 mushroom challenge by a player will increase over time based on the player's level, starting at 10 Pikmin. The mushroom 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 mushroom challenges can be done by a player in a day. Up to five people are able to join in on a single mushroom challenge.
Mushrooms
Mushrooms grow at points of interest in the real world, similar to Big Flowers. They can only be seen and interacted with when they are less than 600 meters away from the player. After the mushroom is destroyed, it grows back in the same location 5 minutes later, without any input. The mushroom type that grows is randomized.
Mushrooms come in various types that differ in size and color. The hierarchy of the sizes are small, normal, and large, with each size increasing in health. The larger the mushroom, the bigger the reward for destroying it. There are 11 colors of mushrooms – 8 regular colors, and 3 elemental types. Fire Mushrooms can only be fought by Red Pikmin, Water Mushrooms can only be fought by Blue Pikmin, and Crystal Mushrooms can only be fought by Rock Pikmin, while all other types can be fought by Pikmin of any type. The color of mushrooms determines the type of nectar players can get as a reward.
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Color | Small | Normal | Large |
---|---|---|---|
Brown | 51,800 | 397,400 | 1,728,000 |
Red | 87,400 | 670,600 | 2,916,000 |
Yellow | 84,200 | 645,800 | 2,808,000 |
Blue | 84,200 | 645,800 | 2,808,000 |
Purple | 93,900 | 720,300 | 3,132,000 |
White | 81,000 | 621,000 | 2,700,000 |
Pink | 81,000 | 621,000 | 2,700,000 |
Gray | 90,700 | 695,500 | 3,024,000 |
Fire | N/A | ? | 13,662,000 |
Water | N/A | ? | ? |
Crystal | N/A | ? | 13,780,800 |
Mushroom health appears to be computed by the formula 100 × RoundDown(1080 × scale × (23 + type)), where scale and type are given by the following tables.
Scale | Small | Normal | Large |
---|---|---|---|
Color | 3% | 23% | 100% |
Elemental | N/A | ? | 110% |
Color | type | Elemental | type |
---|---|---|---|
Brown | -7 | ||
Red | 4 | Fire | 92 |
Yellow | 3 | ||
Blue | 3 | Water | 91 |
Purple | 6 | ||
White | 2 | ||
Pink | 2 | ||
Gray | 5 | Crystal | 93 |
Process
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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 mushroom 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.
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 mushroom attacking group. The maximum size of the group depends on the player's level. 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 to attack the mushroom.
Once the Pikmin are sent on the mushroom 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 mushroom challenge is cleared. The player is provided with their score, the time it took to destroy the mushrooms, 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 mushroom challenge also gains some friendship (though this actually happens at the start of the challenge, not the end).
Attack power
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When the player is selecting Pikmin for the mushroom challenge, a power value appears in the top left corner of the screen. This shows how strong the selected squad is against that mushroom. Adding a Pikmin will increase the value by some amount. This amount depends on the type of Pikmin, whether it is a Decor Pikmin, its maturity, its friendship, and the color of the mushroom being attacked.
Each Pikmin type has a base attack power. These attack powers are shown in the table below.
Type | Base attack power |
---|---|
Red Pikmin | 4 |
Yellow Pikmin | 3 |
Blue Pikmin | 3 |
Purple Pikmin | 6 |
White Pikmin | 2 |
Winged Pikmin | 2 |
Rock Pikmin | 5 |
Added to the base attack power is a value for whether the Pikmin is a Decor Pikmin or not.
Decor | Added attack power |
---|---|
Yes | 4 |
No | 0 |
Added to the total so far is a value for the Pikmin's maturity.
Maturity | Added attack power |
---|---|
Leaf | 1 |
Bud | 2 |
Regular flower | 3 |
Rare flower | 4 |
Bare | 0 |
Added to the total so far is a value for the Pikmin's friendship.
Friendship | Added attack power |
---|---|
0-1 hearts | 0 |
1-2 hearts | 1 |
2-3 hearts | 2 |
3-4 hearts | 3 |
4 hearts to 1 golden heart | 4 |
1-2 golden hearts | 8 |
2-3 golden hearts | 12 |
3-4 golden hearts | 16 |
4 golden hearts | 20 |
Finally, added to the total so far is a value to represent the Pikmin type's strength against the type of mushroom being fought.
Note that the system is not fully understood and that there are likely errors in the description above.
Time
The amount of time it takes to destroy a mushroom (in seconds) is calculated by taking the health of the mushroom, dividing it by the total attack power of the Pikmin attacking the mushroom, and multiplying it by 100. For example, a normal-size mushroom with 397,400 health, attacked by a group of Pikmin with 450 attack power, should take 88,311 seconds to destroy, or 1 day, 31 minutes and 51 seconds.
When another player joins the mushroom, the remaining time is recalculated based on the current health remaining on the mushroom and the total attack power of all Pikmin of all players attacking the mushroom. Using the previous example, if another player joins the mushroom after 1 hour, the mushroom will have 381,200 health left. If they join with 500 power (giving a total of 950 power), the remaining time will become 40,126 seconds, or 11 hours, 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
Although the game presents damage as something dealt by each individual attack, each Pikmin hit actually does as much damage as it needs to decrease the health of the mushrooms at a linear rate such that they are fully destroyed at the calculated time.
Scoring
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At the end of a mushroom battle, the game gives the participants a score and a star rating. The score is equal to the total strength of all Pikmin in the battle, plus a time bonus. Star ratings range from 1 star to 4 stars, and depend on the final score. The score required for each star rating depends on the type of mushroom, and is displayed before joining the battle and after the battle ends.
Rewards
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Once a mushroom battle is complete, a postcard and some fruits will appear, and the Pikmin the player sent will collect them. Each participant receives the full reward (rewards are not split between participants). If too few Pikmin were sent on the mushroom challenge to carry all the rewards, only some rewards will be collected; the postcard has the highest priority. The fruits received depend on the type of mushroom and the star rating. The following table shows the minimum score for each star rating and the fruits received by reaching that star rating. See the Fruit (Pikmin Bloom) article for information on the amount of nectar each fruit type can provide.
Each fruit has a chance of giving either regular nectar or cyclamen nectar. Fruits giving cyclamen nectar will glow while fruits giving regular nectar will not. The types of nectar provided by mushrooms has changed over time, and past distributions can be seen in the History section.
Halloween mushrooms
During the Halloween event, from October 24th to October 31st, 2022, all mushrooms became Halloween mushrooms. These mushrooms functioned mostly the same way as normal mushrooms, but had a number of differences:
- Visually, they had orange tops with purple spots.
- They came only in the "Large" size, and functioned as large brown mushrooms for Pikmin type strength matchup and score threshold purposes.
- They had a set amount of 9,273,600 health.
- Pikmin with Jack-o'-lantern Decor were very strong against these mushrooms, being 100 times as strong as they normally would be (a 100× attack power multiplier), while other Pikmin had their normal strength.
- The score thresholds were different from regular large mushrooms, making it easier to get higher star ratings. The minimum attack power to get a 3-star rating was 8640, and getting a 4-star rating required multiple players.
- The fruits received as rewards for destroying these mushrooms either give white or red types of nectar, and were the same sizes as regular large mushrooms for the same star rating.
- A different music track played during battles against these mushrooms.
Strategy
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When you first unlock mushroom 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 types 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 mushroom challenges over time:
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 pink 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 pink 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. |
March 22nd, 2022 (Update 41.0) |
Increased the mushroom interaction radius from 400 to 600 meters. |
April 23rd, 2022 | Changed the nectar distribution: brown, white, and gray mushrooms give white tulip nectar, red and pink mushrooms give red tulip nectar, blue and purple mushrooms give blue tulip nectar, and yellow mushrooms give yellow tulip nectar. |
April 27th, 2022 (Update 44.0) |
Renamed challenges to mushrooms in the user interface, corresponding with the introduction of a new weekly challenge feature. |
May 21st, 2022 | Changed the nectar distribution: brown, white, and gray mushrooms give white rose nectar, red and pink mushrooms give red rose nectar, blue and purple mushrooms give blue rose nectar, and yellow mushrooms give yellow rose nectar. |
June 1st, 2022 | Changed the nectar distribution: brown, white, and gray mushrooms give white, white carnation, white rose, or white hydrangea nectar, red and pink mushrooms give red, red rose, red carnation, or red hydrangea nectar, blue and purple mushrooms give blue, blue rose, blue carnation, or blue hydrangea nectar, and yellow mushrooms give yellow or yellow rose nectar. |
July 1st, 2022 | Changed the nectar distribution: brown, white, and gray mushrooms give white, white rose, white hydrangea, or white lily nectar, red and pink mushrooms give red, red rose, red hydrangea, or red lily nectar, blue and purple mushrooms give blue, blue rose, or blue hydrangea nectar, and yellow mushrooms give yellow, yellow rose, or yellow lily nectar. |
July 4th, 2022 (Update 48.0) |
Added the display of each individual Pikmin's attack power when selecting Pikmin for a mushroom challenge. This implementation had an issue where every Pikmin's displayed power was rounded up to the next integer, and the total attack power at the top of the screen was the sum of all the displayed attack powers for the selected Pikmin rather than the true values, resulting in the displayed total being higher than the true total (which was still used for calculating score and time). |
July 12th, 2022 (Update 49.0) |
Fixed the rounding issue in the previous update. |
July 30th, 2022 (Update 50.0/50.1) |
Significantly changed the displayed attack power values, but made no change to the internal calculation of attack power used for calculating score and time. |
August 1st, 2022 | Changed the nectar distribution: brown, white, and gray mushrooms give white, white rose, or white lily nectar, red and pink mushrooms give red, red rose, or red lily nectar, blue and purple mushrooms give blue or blue rose nectar, and yellow mushrooms give yellow, yellow rose, yellow lily, or yellow sunflower nectar. |
August 10th, 2022 (Update 51.1) |
Reverted the changes the previous update made to the calculation of displayed attack power, making it accurate again. |
September 1st, 2022 | Changed the nectar distribution: brown, white, and gray mushrooms give white, white rose, or white spider lily nectar, red and pink mushrooms give red, red rose, or red spider lily nectar, blue and purple mushrooms give blue or blue rose nectar, and yellow mushrooms give yellow, yellow rose, yellow spider lily, or yellow sunflower nectar. |
October 1st, 2022 | Changed the nectar distribution: the flower types available this month are regular, pansy, rose, carnation, spider lily, and cosmos. |
October 24th, 2022 | Added Halloween mushrooms, and converted all mushrooms to the Halloween type. |
November 1st, 2022 | Reverted all mushrooms to normal mushrooms, though not of the same type they were before the event. Flower types available are the same as in October. |
December 1st, 2022 | Changed the nectar distribution: the flower types available this month are regular, pansy, poinsettia, camellia, and cyclamen. |
December 14th, 2022 | Major changes to mushroom battles:
|
December 16th, 2022 | In response to player feedback, reduced the health of all mushroom types, and reduced the amount of time it takes mushrooms to respawn from 15 minutes to 5 minutes. |
Trivia
- The mushrooms look identical to Spotcaps and Kingcaps in Pikmin 3, though those names are not used in-game.
- The stopwatch icon next to the timer is very similar to the one in Pikmin 3's Mission Mode.
See also
Pikmin Bloom articles | |
---|---|
Pikmin | Decor Pikmin • Special Decor Pikmin • Friendship • Maturity • Seedling • Squad |
Items | Badge • Coin • Fruit • Nectar • Petal • Postcard |
Activities | Expedition • Flower planting • Party Walk • Weekly challenge |
Places | Big Flower • Mushroom • Special Spot |
Game mechanics | Detector • Event • Friend • Level • Lifelog • Mii • Planter Pack |
Miscellaneous | Shop • Soundtrack • User interface • Loading screen • Version history |
Website | Flower Personality Quiz • Master Quiz • Web store |