Pikmin elemental attributes experimentation

[WeltallZero]

After reading that blue pikmin didn't drown while the rest did, I went and made some testing. Here's what I found.

1) Most testing was done with Olimar's fsmash, as it throws pikmin and it's easy to spam it with one hand while controlling the other character. Remember that pikmin aren't vulnerable while following Olimar, only when they're on their own after being thrown.

2) Blue pikmin do survive in water, while the rest die almost instantly.

3) Blue pikmin are also immune to water attacks. Tested with Squirtle, whick killed most pikmin in one hit with his up smash while it didn't even affect (went through) blue pikmin. Interestingly, I didn't manage to kill purple pikmin with this move, but at least they were knocked upwards.

4) Yellow pikmin are indeed immune to electricity-based attacks. Pikachu's B kills most pikmin in two hits (whites in one, purples take more but do die), but again ill go through yellows.

5) You're probably not going to be surprised by this at this point, but Bowser's breath went through the reds without affecting them. On the others it did more knockback than damage, taking two hits to kill a white and five to off a blue. This incidentally confirms that pikmin have their own individual HP which persist through getting back into the queue.

6) I couldn't think of poison-elemental attacks to test white pikmin. I tried the Wario Waft ^^ but it did kill the white pikmin (in one hit as per usual with whites).

 

[ShumPenPo]

Thats interesting that the pikmin go through elemental based smash attacks and not just B attacks. How does a yellow pikmin fend against a samus charged shot, i mean its kinda electricity .

 

[Rhyme]

Thats interesting that the pikmin go through elemental based smash attacks and not just B attacks. How does a yellow pikmin fend against a samus charged shot, i mean its kinda electricity .

Oh wow, I never even considered that one.

Hey, while you're at it, test some other things for me?

-FLUDD is supposed to 'push', in Pikmin, the purples were supposed to be immune to 'push' effects of wind. Test to see if FLUDD fails to push them or if it counts as a water attack.

-The Dojo said at one point to avoid Wario's 'nasty garlic breath' associated with his bite attack, could you test to see if that one's a poison-based?

-For the Pikmin that can take more than one hit without dying, does taking that hit cause them to lose their flower/bud like in the Pikmin game?

-In Pikmin, when a flower Pikmin died, it would drop a seed to be plucked the following day. Have you seen any throw-backs to this?

-One last question, is the elemental thing for energy AND physical attacks? For example, Falcon's Fsmash has the fire element, so are red Pikmin immune to it? What about yellows and Pikachu's Fsmash?

Anything you have time to answer would be great. Thankies!

 

[Xdrows]

Great find! Olimar really interests me. I agree with Rhyme, what are the buds for?

 

[WeltallZero]

OK, Testing time! I love Olimar, so I don't have any problem with testing stuff.

Thats interesting that the pikmin go through elemental based smash attacks and not just B attacks. How does a yellow pikmin fend against a samus charged shot, i mean its kinda electricity .

I must confess that when I read this it sounded a bit farfetched, but I tested it, and whaddaya know, Yellow Pikmin ARE completely immune to Samus's shots! Not only that, I assumed they'd travel past them and hit Olimar, but the yellow Pikmin made the shot dissappear as if it had hit something, while receiving zero damage and knockback itself. Looks rather funny with a charged shot actually ^^

-FLUDD is supposed to 'push', in Pikmin, the purples were supposed to be immune to 'push' effects of wind. Test to see if FLUDD fails to push them or if it counts as a water attack.

Actually, you're right on both accounts! Let me explain:
Blue Pikmin are totally immune to Fludd, as it counts as a water attack.
Purple Pikmin are pushed back by Fludd somewhat: on a fsmash, they'll land right at Olimar's feet (this is with an uncharged Fludd BTW). Why is this special? Because normal pikmin are knocked to hell and back, upwards and offscreen. They take a pretty long time to come back to earth actually, but don't seem to be knocked off-stage like a character would. Anyway, they're sent flying while purples are just pushed, like a character would.

-The Dojo said at one point to avoid Wario's 'nasty garlic breath' associated with his bite attack, could you test to see if that one's a poison-based?

I just had to try this, if only to see Wario chomp on a poor little Pikmin ^^ Sadly, he can't. The bite won't register Pikmin as an edible object. For the record, I don't have a clue what that "garlic" effect does, if anything. Biting a character doesn't add any noticeable effect, visually nor in gameplay. I think it was just Colonel Campbell pulling Snake's leg ^^

-For the Pikmin that can take more than one hit without dying, does taking that hit cause them to lose their flower/bud like in the Pikmin game?

Actually, no. They keep their flower/bud until they die. By the way, I STILL don't know what the flowers do! They don't do more damage, they don't make them faster like in the games (as they always follow Olimar at his speed), they don't make them fly farther when thrown... and I don't think they make them take more hits to kill, either, though I should test more.

-In Pikmin, when a flower Pikmin died, it would drop a seed to be plucked the following day. Have you seen any throw-backs to this?

Nope. And I didn't even know about that bit about the flower Pikmin, though I've played both games. ^^

-One last question, is the elemental thing for energy AND physical attacks? For example, Falcon's Fsmash has the fire element, so are red Pikmin immune to it? What about yellows and Pikachu's Fsmash?

Yes and yes, respectively. I didn't even known about Falcon's fsmash (sure as heck doesn't look firey ^^), but reds are immune to it (and Falcon Punch too). Pika's fsmash is kind of a lightning bolt itself so that was more expected.

Anything you have time to answer would be great. Thankies!

Sure thing, and keep them coming. It was fun to test those. If you can think of any others that aren't immediately obvious, or anything else you want me to test, don't be shy!

 

[Mattnumbers]

Maybe whites are immune to darkness effects, they look the same as poison effects. Test with ganondorf's punch.

 

[Rhyme]

Great find! Olimar really interests me. I agree with Rhyme, what are the buds for?

In Pikmin 1 and 2, the higher the evolution (leaf < bud < flower), the faster they were supposed to do damage and the faster they were supposed to run. I'd have imagined that at least the first would be true of Brawl, but it doesn't make much of a difference.

OK, Testing time! I love Olimar, so I don't have any problem with testing stuff.

M'good. : )

I must confess that when I read this it sounded a bit farfetched, but I tested it, and whaddaya know, Yellow Pikmin ARE completely immune to Samus's shots! Not only that, I assumed they'd travel past them and hit Olimar, but the yellow Pikmin made the shot dissappear as if it had hit something, while receiving zero damage and knockback itself. Looks rather funny with a charged shot actually ^^

That's crazyness. So it's like...Nana's meatshield v2.0

Actually, you're right on both accounts! Let me explain:
Blue Pikmin are totally immune to Fludd, as it counts as a water attack.
Purple Pikmin are pushed back by Fludd somewhat: on a fsmash, they'll land right at Olimar's feet (this is with an uncharged Fludd BTW). Why is this special? Because normal pikmin are knocked to hell and back, upwards and offscreen. They take a pretty long time to come back to earth actually, but don't seem to be knocked off-stage like a character would. Anyway, they're sent flying while purples are just pushed, like a character would.

That's pretty nifty. Not sure why you'd use FLUDD to attack a blue pikmin when you could just Ftilt or something, but it's good to know. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the gale boomerang has the same effect.

I just had to try this, if only to see Wario chomp on a poor little Pikmin ^^ Sadly, he can't. The bite won't register Pikmin as an edible object. For the record, I don't have a clue what that "garlic" effect does, if anything. Biting a character doesn't add any noticeable effect, visually nor in gameplay. I think it was just Colonel Campbell pulling Snake's leg ^^

Huh...so Wario's bite cannot remove pikmin...

Actually, no. They keep their flower/bud until they die. By the way, I STILL don't know what the flowers do! They don't do more damage, they don't make them faster like in the games (as they always follow Olimar at his speed), they don't make them fly farther when thrown... and I don't think they make them take more hits to kill, either, though I should test more.

I'd think the flowered pikmin would deal increased latch-on damage, so if they don't...maybe they do more damage when used for tilts/aerials/smashes/grabs? Or possibly it increases the attack/grab speed? If you're gonna test the latch-on one flowered vs leafed, I'd do it with a white since it will be most noticable.

Nope. And I didn't even know about that bit about the flower Pikmin, though I've played both games. ^^

I didn't know about it first or second play through Pikmin, but one time I was walking by somewhere that a bulborb had taken my first casualty and Olimar jotted down in his journal something to the effect of "I noticed that flower pikmin who fall in battle sometimes drop seeds of new life which can be harvested the next day". Don't remember exactly what was said, but it was clear enough where the little guy came from. ((Or maybe pikmin are female if they produce buds when dying in battle? Though I was pretty sure that the males of plant species were the ones to carry on future generations...maybe they're asexual...))

Yes and yes, respectively. I didn't even known about Falcon's fsmash (sure as heck doesn't look firey ^^), but reds are immune to it (and Falcon Punch too). Pika's fsmash is kind of a lightning bolt itself so that was more expected.

Hm...alright, what does Ganon's upB and tapA count as (since they have electrical effects when used). What about the evil fire (Ganon) and evil energy (Lucario), do they have specific elements?

Sure thing, and keep them coming. It was fun to test those. If you can think of any others that aren't immediately obvious, or anything else you want me to test, don't be shy!

Haha, trust me, shyness does not exist in my vocabulary. That's right, I'm prejudice against it. >.>

 

[Banjodorf]

Amazing!!

Yellow Pikmin can absorb samus's shots? Red Pikmin can most likely absorb her missles too, like red Pikmin absorb the blast and take no knockback from Snake's Nakita or grenades.

Samus beware. You wil be hunted by Pikmin.

Also, blue Pikmin being the anti squirtle is awesome, yet expected.

Whites are NOT immune to wario waft huh? disappointing, but I dont think we'll see many warios on Wifi, he doesnt seem that popular.

I'd like for them to be immune to the bite, but theyre like projectiles, he'd just eat them.... wait a minute.

Someone test this if it hasnt been mentioned already. If Wario can eat the Pikmin, and eats a White Pikmin, does he take Damage? Thats how you killed the hermit lobsters in Pikmin 2, among other things.

 

[WeltallZero]

Maybe whites are immune to darkness effects, they look the same as poison effects. Test with ganondorf's punch.

Just tested, not immune. ^^

That's pretty nifty. Not sure why you'd use FLUDD to attack a blue pikmin when you could just Ftilt or something, but it's good to know. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the gale boomerang has the same effect.

I had a hard time connecting pikmin with the gale boomerang, as being a side B, I'd need more hands or dexterity ^^ (it also flies higher than the little guys). I managed to hit a yellow on the way back and it did send him flying, so it seems you're right.

Huh...so Wario's bite cannot remove pikmin...

Indeed.

I'd think the flowered pikmin would deal increased latch-on damage, so if they don't...maybe they do more damage when used for tilts/aerials/smashes/grabs? Or possibly it increases the attack/grab speed? If you're gonna test the latch-on one flowered vs leafed, I'd do it with a white since it will be most noticable.

Just tested. Leafed white: 54 damage (!). Flower white: 54 damage (both on 0% damaged character). Speed seems the same too.

I didn't know about it first or second play through Pikmin, but one time I was walking by somewhere that a bulborb had taken my first casualty and Olimar jotted down in his journal something to the effect of "I noticed that flower pikmin who fall in battle sometimes drop seeds of new life which can be harvested the next day". Don't remember exactly what was said, but it was clear enough where the little guy came from. ((Or maybe pikmin are female if they produce buds when dying in battle? Though I was pretty sure that the males of plant species were the ones to carry on future generations...maybe they're asexual...))

Technically Pikmin are sterile, as it's the onions which produce seeds. Kinda like a vegetable ant colony.

Hm...alright, what does Ganon's upB and tapA count as (since they have electrical effects when used).

I couldn't connect with Ganon's up B with a Pikmin, both because I need more hands and also because of how the move hits. But Ganon's A indeed did not affect yellows. Good find.

What about the evil fire (Ganon) and evil energy (Lucario), do they have specific elements?

I tried Warlock kick and it killed both reds and yellows, so it's an element of its own (darkness probably, which though as noted before graphically resembles poison, seems to be considered different, as Warlock punch killed whites).
Lucarios' Aura Ball or whatever it's called also killed reds and yellows, so again, not fire or electricity-based.

And with this, I'm off to sleep, as it's almost 4 AM here in Spain. G'night gentlemen!

 

[Flame 326]

wow pikmin wont be able to all be killed at once so thats beast

 

[Rhyme]

I managed to hit a yellow on the way back and it did send him flying, so it seems you're right.

Technically Pikmin are sterile, as it's the onions which produce seeds. Kinda like a vegetable ant colony.

But Ganon's A indeed did not affect yellows. Good find.

(darkness probably, which though as noted before graphically resembles poison, seems to be considered different, as Warlock punch killed whites).
as it's almost 4 AM here in Spain. G'night gentlemen!

Yay, I was right about something obvious. Though I was more interested in the affect (or lack thereof) that the boomerang'd have on purples, not yellows.

Oh really? Poor little dudes can't reproduce. -cries for them-

Again, obvious? Sometimes it's good to test the obvious, but I'm still just waiting for someone to come in here and yell at me for it.

Hm...so evil fire =/= fire. -sigh- Oh well.

Sleep well, gentleman. Nice..."working" with ya'. You're in Europe and you have the game before the states?! -cries for self-

 

[Oceanborn]

Okay I didn't read some of the questions asked or comments, but I wonder how the Red Pikmin will fair out to Mario's final smash, because it's a fire haduken. Someone should test that out. And if they are as immune as I've percieved from this test, I can't wait to start strategically cancelling attacks of others, assuming alot of attacks can be categorized as such. Like what if they don't consider Ness' PK Thunder as electricity because it's PSI? Or Samus' charge shot because it's some other form of matter? Not really saying that's the case, but I was just wondering what the exceptions were or if they made any. Also, I noticed that one if not some of the stages have somewhat flooded areas where the other Pikmin besides the Blue dies. I wonder how easy it will be to pluck an ALL Blue Pikmin platoon from that situation? At least I'm pretty sure I saw a flooded (part of a) stage. I think it was the iceburg one and part of the stage was submerged. There's still land to pluck from, but it's definitely underwater for most of the Pikmin did die (and quick!).

Edit: Thanks for the info btw Zero.

 

[yoshi_fan]

Wow, so you are spain, just like me :O

Well, it seems like throwing pikmin is going to be a great mindgame, because they stop a lot of attacks and are really quick while throwing... mmm

 

[Mattnumbers]

Hey, I have an idea, maybe blue pikmin are immune to ice effects too, check with IC downspecial.

 

[Proven]

Really great info. Seriously, I was canceling attacks today and having to deal with the pikmin loss. Good to know there's a way to keep them alive (too bad I was fighting against a Lucario user).

I second looking through ice effects. It would actually be through our best interests to look through just about every other character's attacks as well, like Rob's laser and Fox/Falco/Wolf's shines.

 

[ss118]

nice find, now we need to find which stages bring up which pikmin

 

[icy_icicle]

That's strange...I definitely blocked fully charged Lucario shots with Pikmin without them dying...

 

[snowbonez]

Okay I didn't read some of the questions asked or comments, but I wonder how the Red Pikmin will fair out to Mario's final smash, because it's a fire haduken. Someone should test that out. And if they are as immune as I've percieved from this test, I can't wait to start strategically cancelling attacks of others, assuming alot of attacks can be categorized as such. Like what if they don't consider Ness' PK Thunder as electricity because it's PSI? Or Samus' charge shot because it's some other form of matter? Not really saying that's the case, but I was just wondering what the exceptions were or if they made any. Also, I noticed that one if not some of the stages have somewhat flooded areas where the other Pikmin besides the Blue dies. I wonder how easy it will be to pluck an ALL Blue Pikmin platoon from that situation? At least I'm pretty sure I saw a flooded (part of a) stage. I think it was the iceburg one and part of the stage was submerged. There's still land to pluck from, but it's definitely underwater for most of the Pikmin did die (and quick!).

Edit: Thanks for the info btw Zero.

It's not necessarily just fire, water and electricity. The Pikmin's immunities are Fire-BASED, water-BASED, and electricity-BASED. Let's say that Samus's attack hits an opponent. It has electrical properties, even though it may not be electricity. Also, I don't want to be racist, but the blue Pikmin are the worst. How often will we get to face Squirtle, or get attacked with Mario's FLUDD, or fight on the Summit?

 

[IllidR]

It's not necessarily just fire, water and electricity. The Pikmin's immunities are Fire-BASED, water-BASED, and electricity-BASED. Let's say that Samus's attack hits an opponent. It has electrical properties, even though it may not be electricity. Also, I don't want to be racist, but the blue Pikmin are the worst. How often will we get to face Squirtle, or get attacked with Mario's FLUDD, or fight on the Summit?

Well it's very possible that blue may turn out to be the MOST useful to competitive Olimar players. Because stages with water (The Summit, Toon Link's Stage, and there's one other i think) will most likely become counter-pick stages intended to hurt Olimar since he will have most of his Pikmin dying once they touch water. Sure all of the other Pikmin have certain attacks that they won't die against, but what are the chances you'll be throwing them into that attack?

 

[Rorus Raz]

The Dojo stated that certain ground increases the probability for plucking certain colors, so that's probably worth testing.

 

[snowbonez]

The Dojo stated that certain ground increases the probability for plucking certain colors, so that's probably worth testing.

This is a great post for your first one! We've certaintly quit looking at the Dojo sonce some of us have the game...

 

[icy_icicle]

I'm curious as to exactly how relevant the differences in color percentage based on stage will vary. Someone should find out and abate my curiosity.

 

[Ryan-K]

Blue pikmin have the best range though so you should stop thinking just in terms of elements considering alot of characters don't have elements >_>

 

[snowbonez]

Blue pikmin have the best range though so you should stop thinking just in terms of elements considering alot of characters don't have elements >_>

To me, actually, I just care about knockback, and the damage rate. So, of course I have to say that Purple and White are my favorites. I suppose the other colors come in handy, but they help unintentionally. I just spam pikmin when I'm far away enough, and hit em with a grab when Im close. This is because it takes too long to get the color you want, if it comes out at all.

 

[Proven]

That's strange...I definitely blocked fully charged Lucario shots with Pikmin without them dying...

It's because pikmin have health. White pikmin have the lowest and blue or purple have the highest.

 

[icy_icicle]

Blue pikmin have the best range though so you should stop thinking just in terms of elements considering alot of characters don't have elements >_>

They have the same range as red and yellow (yellow arcs though) and both have less range than white.

 

[WeltallZero]

I discovered a way to test more efficiently. Throwing pikmin from high up, on a custom stage, they try to jump back to Olimar but can't (unless you use the whistle). They're totally vulnerable in that state and can be experimented upon (poor things ^^). Only bad thing is that after 15 seconds, the y start blinking white, and 5 seconds later, they die.

Anyhow, I noticed the following immunities:
Toon (and pressumably regular) Link's bombs -> Reds are immune.
Lucas and Ness' PK Thunder, Ness PK Flash -> Yellows are immune.
Lucas' PK Freeze -> No immunities.

Anything else you want me to try?

Edit: More testing. It turns out no high altitude is needed, if Pikmin get into a recess, the ceiling will prevent them from reaching Olimar as well.

Samus' Missiles -> Reds are immune.
Samus' Bombs -> Reds are immune.
Samus' Screw Attack -> No immunities (I suspected yellows would be, but no).
Zelda's Din's Fire -> Reds are immune (obviously)
Zelda's Nayru's Love -> No immunities (for a while I wondered if that was ice or what. Seems not to be).
Zelda's Farore's Wind -> No immunities.
Fox's Firefox -> Reds are immune.
Fox's Blaster -> No immunities (kills yellows, unlike Samus's shot).
Snake's Nikita, Grenade, C4, and all three smash attacks (mine, rocket launcher and that upwards grenade launcher thing) -> Reds are immune to ALL of them.

And for the finale, I tested... Olimar VS Olimar! ^^

A pikmin throw can't hit other pikmin, as they'll only attach to characters.
A smash attack performed with a red pikmin counts as a fire attack, and will kill any pikmin but reds, which are immune. Same deal with yellows. However, a blue pikmin smash attack is a non-elemental attack, and WILL kill blue pikmin. All other pikmin will behave as expected, killing any other pikmin.

Edit: I was wrong about Lucas' PK Freeze, it does kill blues.

 

[icy_icicle]

Ice climbers attacks v. blue pikmin?

Also, if you use the whistle, do they just teleport back to you regardless of the obstacles? I can't remember testing that.

 

[WeltallZero]

Ice climbers attacks v. blue pikmin?

Also, if you use the whistle, do they just teleport back to you regardless of the obstacles? I can't remember testing that.

Whoa, I just tested Ice climbers' ice attacks and to my surprise, they killed blues no problem! I went back to Lucas to ckeck back on PK Freeze, and it turns out I made a mistake: they are NOT immune. Sorry about that, I hope I didn't mess up anything else. Er, which means that Zelda's Nayru's Love could still be ice, heh.

The whistle makes them jump right back at you, ignoring anything in between, including solid rock. They go through anything and any distance.

 

[kafke]

hmmm thats some good info.... It seems like olimar players need to know alot about other characters too. Element wise. I'm sure we will all get used to it though

 

[Captain Brawlimar]

Reds definitely seem to be the most likely to survive in regard to their resistances, even if they don't have the most health. It's interesting that reds are immune to almost all of Snake's arsenal, heh.

 

[WCEFan]

Great thread, with the various Pikmin resistances it adds even more strategy to Olimar users.