Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Guides

The best gear to buy in Pikmin 4

By

After surviving your crash landing, which itself was a mission to rescue other crashed explorers, you will need to use anything and everything you find in your environment to survive in Pikmin 4. The titular Pikmin, and your new pup Oatchi, will do the bulk of your work for you, but it will be up to you to craft your own gear to create in The Lab. There are dozens of gear items you can get, but all of them have a cost so you will want to prioritize getting the strongest ones first. This will make your early days trying to survive in this mysterious land that much easier. Gather up your Pikmin and do some research on the best gear you should buy in Pikmin 4.

How to buy gear

A description of what raw materials are in Pikmin 4.
Nintendo

Before you can start buying gear, you need to unlock The Lab where it is sold. This will happen very early on after you rescue the castaway named Russ in a cave in the Sun-Speckled Terrace. Once he’s back at your base, you can interact with him to spend any raw materials you collect around the map. Some gear items won’t be available right away, requiring you to either do specific things or accumulate enough Sparklium first.

Recommended Videos

Best gear to buy

Charging Horn

Looking at the Charging Horn in the shop in Pikmin 4.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Charging Horn is great for rushing down your targets. When you have it equipped, if you hold the X button down you can direct all your Pikmin (and Oatchi) toward an enemy or object you want them to interact with and send them rushing towards it. If it is an enemy, they will swarm it all at once for massive damage.

Related

This piece of gear requires you to get 450 Sparklium to unlock and then costs 20 raw materials to purchase.

Treasure Gauge

A description of the Treasure Tracker in Pikmin 4.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Pikmin 4 is all about collecting things, with the most important of them being treasures and other castaways. The Treasure Gauge makes finding both of these easier by adding a little meter on your screen. The closer you are to either of these things, the more the meter will fill up, helping you track down any pesky treasure or castaway you’ve been looking for.

The Treasure Gauge unlocks when you reach 1,000 Sparklium and will cost 40 raw materials.

Survey Drone

A description of the Survey Drone in Pikmin 4.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Never get caught off guard again with the Survey Drone. Your default view in Pikmin 4 is fairly limited, making it hard to really scout out what’s ahead of you until you’re basically on top of it. With the Survey Drone, you can take full control of the camera and take a look at what enemies, items, and more await ahead, even beyond obstacles you can’t cross. What’s better is that, if you spot something interesting or worth taking note of, you can drop a pin on it to mark it on your map as a reminder.

You can unlock the Survey Drone by collecting a total of 600 Sparklium and then purchasing it for a mere 10 raw materials.

Rush Boots

Looking at the Rush Boots in The Lab in Pikmin 4.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

There are a few different boot options to pick from in The Lab, but we found Rush Boots to be the most useful to keep on. As you may have guessed, Rush Boots increase your normal movement speed. You’re doing a lot of running around in Pikmin 4, especially in these larger zones, so getting where you need to fast helps you get more done before nightfall.

By collecting 5,100 Sparklium the Rush Boots will become available in The Lab for 120 raw materials.

Homesick Signal

Purchasing the Homesick Signal in Pikmin 4.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Finally, grab yourself a Homesick Signal to make managing all your wayward Pikmin that much easier. With this piece of gear, any lost Pikmin not in your squad will be called back to return to the S.S. Beagle. This is perfect for regrouping before you take on a big fight, or to try and save as many Pikmin as you can before nightfall without having to try and rush around finding them all yourself.

The Homesick Signal unlocks at 4,500 Sparklium and costs 80 raw materials.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox has been a writer at Digital Trends for over four years and has no plans of stopping. He covers all things…
The best Augments in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
A screenshot from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's zombies mode.

Longtime fans of the Zombies mode in past Call of Duty games are no doubt loving the return to the round-based structure Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has taken. Between the Perks, Pack-A-Punch machines, and Easter eggs, there's already a ton of content to explore in the first two maps. Whether you're new to the mode or know all the tips and tricks from past games, there's one element that has most players scratching their heads. Augments are hardly explained in Black Ops 6 and are largely ignored because of this. However, ignoring this mechanic will only make life harder for you and your team. We've done all the research required to tell you how Augments work and which ones you should try to get first in Black Ops 6.
How Augments work in Black Ops 6

In short, Augments are equippable passive perks that add an additional minor or major effect to either a Perk, field upgrade, or ammo mod. Each one of these has six possible augments -- three minor and three major -- that each give a different buff. But there are two things you need to do before you can even begin tinkering with these Augments.

Read more
Best gaming console deals: cheapest prices on PS5, Xbox S and X and Switch
father and son playing video games

While gaming PCs are great, if you're the type of person who wants a more plug and play experience and to sit at the TV, then a PS5 or Xbox makes a lot of sense. That said, there aren't a ton of great deals on the consoles themselves right now, although there are still quite a few good bundle deals that are worth grabbing. To that end, we've gone out and collected our favorite Series S and X deals, PlayStation 5 deals, and Nintendo Switch deals, so you can pick whichever one sparks your fancy.
Xbox Series S 1TB + 1TB Storage Expansion Card -- $450 $500 10% off

The Xbox Series S is the less powerful but cheaper option out of the newest generation Xbox line. When comparing the Xbox Series S versus the Xbox Series X, the Series S takes a hit in all the component categories. That means it's not quite as fast. But if you're not hung up on getting the optimal performance out of your system, you'll actually notice very few differences. The two biggest ones are the Series S's inability to play in 8K, and its lack of a disc drive. Most people don't even have 8K TVs, so that shouldn't be an issue. If you're alright with downloading all of your games straight to the console's memory (and you have a separate DVD or Blu-Ray player), the Series S will work fine. It's quite a bit smaller anyway, and easier to fit on a shelf.

Read more
The best Wildcards in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Kill Order gameplay in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

The concept of a Wildcard might sound like a risky endeavor in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, but this part of your loadout isn't random at all. We haven't seen this system since Cold War, and even those who remember it from that game will need to learn all the new cards there are in Black Ops 6. You can only equip a single Wildcard on your loadout, but they are powerful enough to completely redefine your playstyle. So far, there are only six to unlock while grinding through the levels with your friends, but picking just one is still a tough choice, especially if you want to use a permanent unlock on one after hitting Prestige. We've ranked all the Wildcards in Black Ops 6 so you can always have the winning hand.
All Black Ops 6 Wildcards, ranked

There is a level of personal preference in which Wildcard you will find better than others, but in most cases, the ones we've ranked as the best will help every player gain an edge in online matches. Here's our ranking of each Wildcard from best to worst, along with what level you unlock them at.
Perk Greed - Level 54
The last Wildcard you unlock is easily the most powerful. Perk Greed lets you unlock a fourth Perk to your loadout instead of being limited to three, which can borderline break the game if you choose the right set of Perks. It is also the most versatile of the Wildcards since it gives you the most options to play with instead of a specific bonus you may not find useful. It can also more easily unlock the special bonus buff you get for equipping three Perks from the same category.
Gunfighter - Level 33
Right in the middle of the unlock list, Gunfighter is one Wildcard you could easily make a case for over Perk Greed in some situations. This one increases your attachment points for your primary weapon by three. If you're rocking a top-tier weapon already, this Wildcard can let you tweak its stats even higher. We rank it second because it only applies to one weapon and thus is a bit more limiting.
Overkill - Level 24
For such an early Wildcard, Overkill is quite a powerful choice. This card lets you equip any weapon (except melee weapons) in your Primary and Secondary slots instead of the ones typically reserved for each. That means you can build a loadout with two Primary weapons and be far more versatile on the battlefield. Instead of having to trade off range, damage, rate of fire, mobility, or any other aspect of your game, you can cover almost all your bases by picking two Primary weapons that cover each other's weaknesses.
Prepper - Level 45
Field upgrades are powerful, don't get us wrong, but having two instead of one isn't always that much of a game-changer. It's a bit less useful than Gunfighter only because field upgrades are more situational and require more attention to use to their full potential. If that's you, then this is a great choice.
Danger Close - Level 38
Who doesn't want another grenade, Molotov, or combat axe? Is getting a second Lethal worth the Wildcard slot, though? Not in our opinion. Most of the time, Lethals are used in desperation or as a way to deny enemy movement for a time, and even then, they are risky because of how vulnerable you are while using them.
Tactical Expert - Level 15
The first Wildcard you get is better than nothing, but only just. It's exactly like Danger Close, only you can hold two Tacticals instead of Lethals. This is, by nature, a little worse since Tacticals don't have the ability to kill an enemy (unless you get super lucky and you directly hit an enemy with one who is on low HP). You can get some use out of them, but you're better off upgrading as soon as you have another option.

Read more