Calcified Crushblat

Calcified Crushblat
Appears in	Pikmin 3
Scientific name	Durotesta longuscrus
Family	Crushblat
Areas	Tropical Wilds
Mission Mode Collect Treasure! stages	Silver Lake Remix, Clockwork Chasm
Mission Mode Battle Enemies! stages	Twilight Hollow, Twilight River Remix, The Rustyard
Side Story days	Creature Hunting, Team Monster Hunt, Another Part Found, The Ship Restored
Bingo Battle stages	Twisted Cavern, Jigsaw Colosseum
Attacks	Crush, plant, and kick Pikmin

The Calcified Crushblat (ホシオトシ^?, lit.: "Star Dropper") is an enemy that makes its debut in Pikmin 3. It is a strange creature, apparently just a head with long, chicken-like legs. Its head is usually protected by a thick layer of silica which can only be broken off by Rock Pikmin and bomb rocks. It is a rare creature, appearing only once in one area in story mode, but appears quite often in Mission Mode and Bingo Battle, along with Side Stories in Pikmin 3 Deluxe. It has the qualifications of a mini-boss, but is not considered as one, as the mini-boss music does not play when fighting it.

Stats

Weight	Max. carriers	Seeds	Value	Health
12	25 (normally)	20	× 70 × 70	1000

Notes

Alph's comments

US version

“Structural flaw: breakable armor
Weight: 12

The solid crystal structure covering its torso is a formidable both defensive and offensive mechanism, capable of crushing Pikmin beneath its weight. A Bomb Rock or an assault with Rock Pikmin can easily shatter the crystalline armor, after which it has no ability to damage Pikmin and no way to keep them from striking its exposed flesh.”

European version

“Structural flaw: breakable armour
Weight: 12

The solid crystal structure covering its torso is both a formidable defensive and offensive mechanism, capable of crushing Pikmin beneath its weight. A bomb rock or an assault with Rock Pikmin can easily shatter the crystalline armour, after which it has no ability to damage Pikmin and no way to keep them from striking its exposed flesh.”

Brittany's comments

“I thought the stalks around their eyes were some kind of symbiotic plant, but nope. Just ordinary whiskers. What a letdown... I hate whiskers. Alph better never grow a mustache like the captain, or I'll be surrounded by them.”

Charlie's comments

“I bet you it feels pretty safe in there behind that thick crystal shell. But break that crystal and then watch as it goes berserk out of sheer desperation. It knows that when your time comes, you gotta go out fighting.”

Louie's comments

“This beast's bouncy texture is addictive, but it can be a choking hazard if overcooked. Sauté and drizzle with brown butter to draw out the nutty undertones.”

Olimar's comments

US version

“Calcified Crushblat
Durotesta longuscrus
Crushblat family

Originally, these creatures were water-based mollusks. Their hard shell let them live on the land by keeping its soft flesh from being exposed to predators. It absorbs nutrients from the water through its skin, which is a relatively inefficient way of feeding compared to hunting. As a result, it spends most of its time sedentary due to its low metabolism. The crystal shell on its back is made of silica that it absorbs. The shells shed by younger crushblats find use as projectiles used by skutterchucks.”

European version

“Calcified Crushblat
Durotesta longuscrus
Crushblat family

Originally, these creatures were water-based molluscs. Their hard shell let them live on the land by keeping its soft flesh from being exposed to predators. It absorbs nutrients from the water through its skin, which is a relatively inefficient way of feeding compared to hunting. As a result, it spends most of its time sedentary due to its low metabolism. The crystal shell on its back is made of silica that it absorbs. The shells shed by younger Crushblats find use as projectiles used by Skutterchucks.”

Pikmin 3 Prima Guide

“The Calcified Crushblat is a large amphibious creature. This well-armored enemy attacks by leaping into the air and crushing its victims.

When you encounter a Calcified Crushblat, toss Rock Pikmin at the creature's armor to expose the soft flesh beneath it. Once its armor is destroyed, this enemy inflates its body to knock back any attackers. Since the Calcified Crushblat tends to stick close to water, your Blue Pikmin are well suited to survive these knock-back attacks. Unlike the Rock Pikmin, however, your Blue Pikmin are vulnerable to the creature's crushing attacks.

Throw your Blue Pikmin onto the creature's exposed flesh, and recall any Pikmin that are knocked to the ground. As you continue to battle, keep your squad clear of the Calcified Crushblat's attacks.”

Behavior

This creature is passive, only waking from slumber if approached. The Calcified Crushblat starts out sitting on the ground with its legs folded underneath it. From a distance, it looks like a crystalline rock. Once a Pikmin or leader approaches it, it will stand up and walk around the area, attempting to sit on and crush the creatures. If its armor is on, it will crush all Pikmin except for Rock Pikmin and Winged Pikmin. If the armor is gone, it will only knock back Pikmin underneath it, but if Pikmin are directly underneath the Crushblat, they can be buried. The Crushblat moves rather fast despite its appearance.

Locations

In the main game one appears in the Tropical Wilds. It appears in a side area that is only accessible by Blue and Winged Pikmin. To reach this side area you have to go under the walkway to the Meerslug arena. It appears above land and holds the area's Searing Acidshock.

Collect Treasures

One appears in Silver Lake Remix in the north-east section of the map guarding some Yellow Pikmin sprouts.

In Clockwork Chasm one appears east resting in front of a conveyer belt on a large sqaure platform that has Blue Pikmin sprouts and a pile of nuggets.

Battle Enemies!

One appears in Twilight Hollow, directly left out of the area with the Rock Onion. A piece of tall grass has been placed so you can hide from it.

A Crushbalt appears in Twilight River Remix, partially submerged in water in the area with Blue Candypop Buds in the north-east corner of the map.

Another Crushbalt appears in The Rustyard in the south-west corner, on the side with Blue Pikmin. Rocks will have to be brought over from the other side of the map to fight it.

Side Stories

In Creature Hunting two Crushbalts appear side by side where the Master Onion is found during the main game. Two crystals walls can be broken to allow for easier access to them.

One appears in Team Monster Hunt where the Skutterchucks are found in Story Mode, which is behind where Olimar spawns.

Another one appears at the very end of the long hallway in Another Part Found serving as the last obstacle of the stage.

A Crushbalt also appears in the final side story misson, The Ship Restored holding a ship part thus being required to beat for the mission.

Bingo Batlle

One appears in Twisted Cavern layout A in the center of the north room.

In Jigsaw Colosseum layout C one appears in the dead-center of the map.

Strategy

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

As mentioned, this creature is covered with a crystal armor, making either Rock Pikmin or bomb rocks necessary to fight it conventionally. As Rock Pikmin will generally take a longer time, it is recommended to use bomb rocks. By using bomb rocks, a portion of its armor will be blown off (or all of it, if it is in the center of the blast), and damage equal to about 2/3 of its health will also be dealt to the creature, as opposed to using Rock Pikmin, which will break its armor more slowly. After its armor is removed, simply bombard it with Pikmin.

Should bomb rocks not be available, Rock Pikmin still prove useful. It is recommended to have a decent size group when fighting this creature, as the Pikmin may constantly end up planted in the ground. With its armor, the Crushblat deals more damage to leaders and can kill Pikmin, so it is advised to get rid of it. On the other hand, the Crushblat moves slower when without armor, so it is recommend to blow about half to two-thirds of its armor off.

Another possible strategy is to simply swarm its feet until it dies; however this is dangerous as it can easily crush the Pikmin. A very effective way of using this strategy is by using Winged Pikmin as they can easily swarm its under-section and are shaken away the moment it tries to squash them. This is a very useful time-saving strategy on Twilight Hollow, as you can get the Winged Pikmin to defeat the Calcified Crushblat without having to keep watch over them.

Upon its death, the crystal shell will always break, no matter how much you managed to destroy during the fight, and you may then collect its carcass.

Technical information

Pikmin 3 technical information (?)
Internal name	`crystal_frog`
HP	1000
Rock Pikmin throw hits to kill	100
White Pikmin ingestions to kill	0
Bomb rock explosions to kill	3
Bomb rock ingestions to kill	0
Number of direct hits on top to kill	0
Damage to leaders	20
Territory radius	250
Mission Mode value	70

Naming

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ホシオトシ^? Hoshi Otoshi	Star Dropper
Chinese (traditional)	墜星怪
French	Astéropode	Portmanteau of astéroïde (asteroid) and gastéropode (gastropod)
German	Panzerstelzer	Armor Stilter
Korean	별쿵쿵이
Portuguese	Sílica-esmagante	Crushing silica
Spanish (NoA)	Sapo patilargo	Long legged toad

Gallery

A sleeping Calcified Crushblat with its crystal shell completely intact.
A dormant Calcified Crushblat.
Closeup of a Calcified Crushblat with its shell intact.
A sleeping Calcified Crushblat with half its shell broken.
A sleeping Crushblat without its shell.
The Calcified Crushblat standing up.
A Calcified Crushblat attacking Rock Pikmin.
A Calcified Crushblat being scanned while it’s walking around in its crystal shell.
An armorless Crushblat stretching out as it lands.
The rear end of a Calcified Crushblat. It has a pronounced set of buttocks.
The Calcified Crushblat in its jumping animation.

Trivia

The Calcified Crushblat, when seen from behind a transparent object, has no visible shell.

Calcification usually takes around 3-4 years to take place, though the Calcified Crushblat seems to complete this process much faster.
The Crushblat's appearance when its armor is taken off somewhat resembles the Large-Mouth Wollywog from Pikmin Adventure.
Interestingly, the Crushblat's head still expands and retracts after its death.
The Calcified Crushblat is the third creature, and only non-boss enemy in Pikmin 3 that requires Rock Pikmin to expose its weak point, with the others being the Armored Mawdad and the Quaggled Mireclops. However, it can be defeated without them with the use of bomb rocks or by swarming at its legs.
The Calcified Crushblat will respawn after being killed, but it doesn't respawn with the shell until a certain amount of days have passed.
The Calcified Crushblat can kill enemies in the same manner as Yellow Wollyhops, with or without its shell.
If the enemy is seen from behind a transparent object, its shell will not be visible. This is a common problem with transparency in game development.
While the Calcified Crushblat does not appear in Pikmin 4, it is mentioned in Olimar's notes for the Skutterchuck.