Pikmin Bloom

Mushroom battle

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Notes: Large parts of this article are now outdated since the change on December 14th.

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

A normal brown mushroom on the map screen, as seen in a tutorial image in Pikmin Bloom. (This is cropped from a texture used in-game.)
A normal brown mushroom on the map screen. The red circle indicates its health.

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.


The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin Bloom.
Particularly: Document the missing mushroom healths.

Mushroom health
Color Small Normal Large
Brown mushroom Brown 51,800 397,400 1,728,000
Red mushroom Red 87,400 670,600 2,916,000
Yellow mushroom Yellow 84,200 645,800 2,808,000
Blue mushroom Blue 84,200 645,800 2,808,000
Purple mushroom Purple 93,900 720,300 3,132,000
White mushroom White 81,000 621,000 2,700,000
Pink mushroom Pink 81,000 621,000 2,700,000
Gray mushroom Gray 90,700 695,500 3,024,000
Fire mushroom Fire N/A ? 13,662,000
Water mushroom Water N/A ? ?
Crystal mushroom 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 mushroom Brown -7
Red mushroom Red 4 Fire mushroom Fire 92
Yellow mushroom Yellow 3
Blue mushroom Blue 3 Water mushroom Water 91
Purple mushroom Purple 6
White mushroom White 2
Pink mushroom Pink 2
Gray mushroom Gray 5 Crystal mushroom Crystal 93


Mushroom healths on December 14th and 15th, 2022
Mushroom health
Color Small Normal Large
Brown mushroom Brown 207,300 1,589,700 3,455,000
Red mushroom Red 349,900 2,662,700 5,832,000
Yellow mushroom Yellow 336,900 2,583,300 5,616,000
Blue mushroom Blue 336,900 2,583,300 5,616,000
Purple mushroom Purple 375,800 2,881,400 6,264,000
White mushroom White 324,000 2,484,000 5,400,000
Pink mushroom Pink 324,000 2,484,000 5,400,000
Gray mushroom Gray 362,800 2,782,000 6,048,000
Fire mushroom Fire N/A 12,420,000 26,082,000
Water mushroom Water N/A 12,312,000 25,855,200
Crystal mushroom Crystal N/A 12,528,000 26,308,800
Mushroom healths before December 14th, 2022
Mushroom health
Color Small Normal Large Giant
Brown mushroom Red mushroom Yellow mushroom Blue mushroom Brown, red, yellow, and blue 4,800 21,000 73,000 170,000
Purple mushroom Gray mushroom Purple and gray 6,300 28,000 94,000 N/A
White mushroom Pink mushroom White and pink 3,400 15,000 51,000 N/A

Giant mushrooms only came in the red color, and were extremely rare.

Process

A group of Normal Blue Mushrooms in Pikmin Bloom.
The screen that appears when a mushroom is selected.
Selecting Pikmin to attack a large red mushroom in Pikmin Bloom. 40 Pikmin have been selected.
Selecting Pikmin for a mushroom battle.

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin Bloom.
Particularly: Explain how mushroom challenge multiplayer works.

This article or section needs to be updated.
Notes: Document the changes to the user interface on December 14th, particularly the way it is now possible to feed Pikmin from the selection screen.

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.

Winged Pikmin destroying part of a small pink mushroom.
Winged Pikmin destroying one part of a small pink 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

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin Bloom.
Particularly: Confirm the accuracy of the system described below.

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 Red Pikmin 4
Yellow Pikmin Yellow Pikmin 3
Blue Pikmin Blue Pikmin 3
Purple Pikmin Purple Pikmin 6
White Pikmin White Pikmin 2
Winged Pikmin Winged Pikmin 2
Rock Pikmin 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.

Type matchup chart Defending mushroom type
Brown mushroom Brown Red mushroom Red Yellow mushroom Yellow Blue mushroom Blue Purple mushroom Purple White mushroom White Pink mushroom Pink Gray mushroom Gray Fire mushroom Fire Water mushroom Water Crystal mushroom Crystal
Attacking
Pikmin
type
Red Pikmin Red 3 12 3 0 3 0 3 0 100 N/A N/A
Yellow Pikmin Yellow 3 3 12 0 3 0 3 3 N/A N/A N/A
Blue Pikmin Blue 3 0 3 12 3 0 3 3 N/A 100 N/A
Purple Pikmin Purple 3 3 3 0 12 0 3 3 N/A N/A N/A
White Pikmin White 3 3 3 0 3 12 3 0 N/A N/A N/A
Winged Pikmin Winged 3 3 3 3 3 0 12 0 N/A N/A N/A
Rock Pikmin Rock 3 3 3 0 3 0 3 12 N/A N/A 100

Note that the system is not fully understood and that there are likely errors in the description above.

How attack power was calculated before December 14th, 2022

The attack power of a Pikmin originally depended on 5 variables: the type of Pikmin, its friendship, its maturity, whether it was a Decor Pikmin, and the color of the mushroom being attacked. The equation below was the overall equation for calculating the power contributed by a single Pikmin; the paragraphs below explain what each variable means.

Formula for mushroom challenge attack power in Pikmin Bloom.

Each Pikmin type had a base attack power. Red Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin, and Blue Pikmin all had the standard base attack power. White Pikmin and Winged Pikmin were slightly weaker, while Purple Pikmin and Rock Pikmin were 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 contributed to how strong it was. Leaf Pikmin had the standard attack power, and each maturity level above that increased the power slightly. Rare flowers, such as pansies and roses, were stronger than regular flowers. Bare Pikmin, obtained by feeding them too much nectar, were 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 contributed to its strength. For the purposes of the formula, the value used was the number of completed hearts. The fractions of a heart between full hearts didn't matter, so a Pikmin with 1.1 hearts of friendship and a Pikmin with 1.8 hearts of friendship had the same attack power of 1. The number of full hearts ranged from 0 to 4, so a value in this range was used in the formula.

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

The final variable was the type of mushroom, and this was the last step in calculating attack power. If a Pikmin was the same color as the mushroom, its attack power was 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 mushroom Brown Red mushroom Red Yellow mushroom Yellow Blue mushroom Blue Purple mushroom Purple White mushroom White Pink mushroom Pink Gray mushroom Gray
Attacking
Pikmin
type
Red Pikmin Red 0.9× 0.9× 1.1× 0.9× 1.1×
Yellow Pikmin Yellow 0.9× 0.9× 0.9×
Blue Pikmin Blue 0.9× 1.1× 0.9× 0.9×
Purple Pikmin Purple 1.1× 0.9× 0.9× 1.1×
White Pikmin White 0.9× 0.9× 0.9× 1.1×
Winged Pikmin Winged 0.9× 0.9× 0.9×
Rock Pikmin Rock 1.1×

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 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.

How time was calculated before December 14th, 2022

Originally, the amount of time it took to destroy a mushroom (in seconds) was 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 4. Battles would also automatically end after exactly 2 days if they were not done by then.

Scoring

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.

Time bonus intervals are determined by the duration each of a mushroom's star rating attack requirements would take to clear the battle.

Star Equivalent Bonus
5%
☆☆ 10%
☆☆☆ 15%
☆☆☆☆ 20%

When a battle has finished, the bonus is determined by the closest equivalent longer than the actual time taken to complete the battle.

For example, a small purple mushroom's breakpoints would be:

Stars Attack Required Maximum Time Bonus
0 >4:32:10 5%
☆☆ 575 4:32:10 10%
☆☆☆ 1160 2:14:54 15%
☆☆☆☆ 2380 1:05:45 20%

To demonstrate: three players begin a small purple mushroom together, clearing the battle in less than 1 hour, 5 minutes and 45 seconds. As a result, they will also be granted a 20% bonus to their score. But if one of the players joins right before the end of the battle instead, the battle now taking 1 hour, 44 minutes and 20 seconds, only a 15% time bonus will be awarded.

How scoring worked before December 14th, 2022

At the end of a mushroom battle, the game gave the player a score and a star rating. Star ratings were presented as ranging from 1 to 3, but they actually ranged from 1 to 4. The score obtained was dependent on the attack power of the Pikmin group and the size of the mushroom, and the star rating was dependent on the score.

The exact formula for calculating scores was never worked out before the scoring system changed. However, it was clear that it was based around thresholds for each star rating. For small mushrooms, the minimum scores for each star rating were multiples of 720 – 1440 for 2 stars, 2160 for 3 stars, and 2880 for 4 stars (the maximum score). These thresholds were doubled for normal-sized mushrooms, doubled again for large mushrooms, and doubled again for giant mushrooms. Score was calculated according to the time taken to defeat a mushroom, relative to its size and color. This was especially apparent when multiple players joined at different times, as the delay would result in a decline in score, compared to a scenario where the same players joined in unison. Because time requirements were scaled based on mushroom health, attack requirements for a certain score were the same across all mushroom colors, so long as the size was the same. However, this scaling did not factor the matching Pikmin color's base attack. As an example, higher scores could be achieved on purple and grey mushrooms with less Pikmin, as Rock and Purple Pikmin naturally possess the highest base attack of all Pikmin species.

The following table shows the approximate minimum total attack power for each star rating and mushroom size, based on experimental data. Note that results when teaming up for mushroom battles may vary due to differences in joining times. The values for giant mushrooms are not exact and are based on rough calculations.

Mushroom size ☆☆ ☆☆☆ ☆☆☆☆
Small 185 326 565
Normal 296 731 2,000
Large 832 1,623 2,963
Giant 1,134 2,194 4,534

Rewards

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin Bloom.
Particularly: Check the accuracy of fruit rewards and score thresholds.

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.

Mushroom type 1 star 2 stars 3 stars 4 stars
Score Rewards Score Rewards Score Rewards Score Rewards
Brown mushroom Brown Small 0 Lime Lime 250 Lime Lime Lime 640 Lime Lime Lime Lime Lime 1470 Green Apple
Normal 0 Green Apple 900 Muscat grapes 1920 Green Apple Green Apple 2940 Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple
Large 0 Green Apple Green Apple 1200 Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple 2400 Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple 3675 Muscat grapes Muscat grapes Melon Green Apple Special fruit
Red mushroom Red Small 0 Cherry Strawberry 525 Cherry Cherry Strawberry 1080 Cherry Cherry Cherry Strawberry Strawberry 2240 Apple
Normal 0 Apple 1890 Watermelon 3240 Apple Peach 4480 Apple Apple Peach
Large 0 Apple Peach 2520 Apple Apple Peach 4050 Apple Apple Peach Peach 5600 Watermelon Watermelon Watermelon Apple Special fruit
Yellow mushroom Yellow Small 0 Kumquat Kumquat 500 Kumquat Kumquat Kumquat 1040 Kumquat Kumquat Kumquat Kumquat Kumquat 2170 Lemon
Normal 0 Lemon 1800 Grapefruit 3120 Lemon Orange 4340 Lemon Lemon Orange
Large 0 Lemon Orange 2400 Lemon Lemon Orange 3900 Lemon Lemon Orange Orange 5425 Grapefruit Grapefruit Grapefruit Lemon Special fruit
Blue mushroom Blue Small 0 Blueberry Blueberry 500 Blueberry Blueberry Blueberry 1040 Blueberry Blueberry Blueberry Blueberry Blueberry 2170 Plum
Normal 0 Plum 1800 Grapes 3120 Plum Plum 4340 Plum Plum Plum
Large 0 Plum Plum 2400 Plum Plum Plum 3900 Plum Plum Plum Plum 5425 Grapes Grapes Grapes Plum Special fruit
Purple mushroom Purple Small 0 Blueberry Blueberry 575 Blueberry Blueberry Blueberry 1160 Blueberry Blueberry Blueberry Blueberry Blueberry 2380 Plum
Normal 0 Plum 2070 Grapes 3480 Plum Plum 4760 Plum Plum Plum
Large 0 Plum Plum 2760 Plum Plum Plum 4350 Plum Plum Plum Plum 5950 Grapes Grapes Grapes Plum Special fruit
White mushroom White Small 0 Lime Lime 475 Lime Lime Lime 1000 Lime Lime Lime Lime Lime 2100 Green Apple
Normal 0 Green Apple 1710 Muscat grapes 3000 Green Apple Green Apple 4200 Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple
Large 0 Green Apple Green Apple 2280 Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple 3750 Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple 5250 Muscat grapes Muscat grapes Melon Special fruit
Pink mushroom Pink Small 0 Cherry Strawberry 475 Cherry Cherry Strawberry 1000 Cherry Cherry Cherry Strawberry Strawberry 2100 Apple
Normal 0 Apple 1710 Watermelon 3000 Apple Peach 4200 Apple Apple Peach
Large 0 Apple Peach 2280 Apple Apple Peach 3650 Apple Apple Peach Peach 5250 Watermelon Watermelon Watermelon Apple Special fruit
Gray mushroom Gray Small 0 Lime Lime 550 Lime Lime Lime 1120 Lime Lime Lime Lime Lime 2310 Green Apple
Normal 0 Green Apple 1980 Muscat grapes 3360 Green Apple Green Apple 4620 Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple
Large 0 Green Apple Green Apple 2640 Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple 4200 Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple 5425 Muscat grapes Muscat grapes Melon Special fruit
Fire mushroom Fire Normal 0 Apple 9810 Watermelon 13800 Apple Peach 16800 Watermelon Apple Special fruit
Large 0 Apple Peach 13080 Apple Apple Peach 17250 Apple Apple Peach Peach 21000 Watermelon Watermelon Watermelon Special fruit Special fruit
Water mushroom Water Normal 0 Plum 9720 Grapes 13680 Plum Plum 16660 Grapes Plum Special fruit
Large 0 Plum Plum 12960 Plum Plum Plum 17100 Plum Plum Plum Plum 20875 Grapes Grapes Grapes Special fruit Special fruit
Crystal mushroom Crystal Normal 0 Green Apple 9900 Muscat grapes 13920 Green Apple Green Apple 16940 Muscat grapes Green Apple Special fruit
Large 0 Green Apple Green Apple 13200 Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple 17400 Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple Green Apple 21175 Muscat grapes Muscat grapes Melon Special fruit Special fruit

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.

The mushroom rewards before December 14th, 2022

The following table shows the original rewards provided by each size of mushroom for each star rating. See the Fruit (Pikmin Bloom) article for details on fruit sizes. If a Huge Seedling was given, its location type would be based on the mushroom's location.

Size ☆☆ ☆☆☆ ☆☆☆☆
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 fruit, 1 huge seedling
Large 1 large fruit 2 large fruits 1 giant fruit 2 giant fruits, 1 special fruit, 1 huge seedling
Giant 2 large fruits 1 giant fruit 2 giant fruits Unknown (impossible to reach)

Halloween mushrooms

Icon of the Halloween event Halloween mushrooms in Pikmin Bloom.
A Halloween mushroom.

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

Infographic to explain the original process of calculating a Pikmin's attack power on mushroom challenges in Pikmin Bloom. This is no longer accurate since the changes on December 14th, 2022; an updated infographic can be found at File:PB Attack Power Infographic 2.png.
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 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:
  • Increased the health of all mushroom types.
  • Added Fire Mushrooms, Water Mushrooms, and Crystal Mushrooms.
  • Changed the attack power calculation and score calculation systems.
  • Changed the rewards for each type of mushroom.
  • Added Mushroom Recharge Tickets.
  • Various changes to the user interface surrounding mushrooms.
  • Changed the nectar distribution: the flower types available now are regular and cyclamen.
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