Quicksand Temple

The Mark of Progress
This is the first dungeon in the brand-new Ancient Wetland area, which you will have unlocked after finding the Dark Spores in both the Dark Field Cave and the Dark Desert Cave. To reach this dungeon, you'll just have to journey inland, navigating through the perilous sands and ferocious wildlife that guards the way to the temple. Getting through the temple is much like getting to it: work smartly in the quicksand and don't let it hinder your fighting. You'll find this place to be a little easier than the Dark Caves, but that's meant to show how far you've come from your beginning exploits in the Magenta Den! Either way, puzzles here still require plenty of thought- quicksand certainly puts a different twist on old challenges. It also makes for an obnoxious final-floor boss! Bring lots of sprays!

Floor 1

 * Dwarf Red Bulborb x 10
 * Red Bulborb x 3
 * Yellow Wollywog x 2
 * Treasure x 2

There are few foes on this floor, and they are all basic foes you should know how to deal with by now. This floor just serves as an introduction to the quicksand hazard of the dungeon. Quicksand is basic terrain made of sand that shifts slowly at an angle towards a small crevasse of sorts in the ground. But if a Pikmin walks on this shifting sand, it will be harder for them to move efficiently in any direction, and if they take too long to run out of it, they may disappear after being dragged into the sink point. Falling into a sinkpoint immediately defeats even a captain, so watch yourself carefully! In addition, smaller enemies may get sucked into a sink point, along with treasures or other objects. If this happens, then you'll have to return to the dungeon a second time once the items have respawned. This floor's treasure is located in an alcove, but the room containing that alcove is a massive sand sinkhole. Trying to grab the treasure and carrying it through the room won't work, because the Pikmin carrying it will be dragged towards the center due to the object's weight. To solve this puzzle, check out the other room on this floor. There are various puddles of water and enemies in here, and while it is indeed dangerous to just rush into battle carelessly, taking on each enemy individually is the trick to success. The one catch is that if a Dwarf Red Bulborb screams, you'll have to deal with all three Red Bulborbs at once. There are two important things in this room: a treasure that is visibly in a puddle waiting to be collected, and a raised switch. At first, the switch will appear to be jammed, because Pikmin thrown on top of it will not push it down. The Research Pod mentions this as well. Throw the weight of 200 or more Pikmin on it, and it will press into the floor. Turns out that its counterpart was located in the quicksand chamber, in the center of the room! That's why so much pressure was required to raise it. Once it is raised, it plugs the center of the sinkhole and the room becomes flat terrain for you to carry the treasure back through. The way down is located in the room with the enemies and first switch.

Floor 2

 * Dwarf Bulbear x 15
 * Mamuta x 1
 * Volatile Dweevil x 10
 * Fire Vent x 15
 * Web x 1
 * Treasure x 2

The Research Pod lands by the edge of a large, circular room on this floor with a strange metal structure in the center. There are a few Dwarf Bulbears around here that must be defeated, and they don't put up much of a fight. The metal structure has some small ramps around it that lead up to its top in a symmetrical pattern. Fire Vents litter these ramps, so bringing Red Pikmin up to the top is ideal. That's where the floor's first treasure is. To find the second one, walk through the hallway that leads out of this room and it will eventually turn out to be the entrance to another hallway that runs perpendicular to it. However, this next hallway is tilted on a slope so that sand tumbles down from the right side to an eventual abyss on the left. It is a steep path upwards on the right side, and if you take a captain up that way, you'll find that at a certain point a web completely blocks you from continuing. Bring some Black Pikmin with flowers from the Mamuta that sits by itself in a side chamber from the first room. When they have flowers, Pikmin are less hindered by shifting sand. However, five Volatile Dweevils will drop one by one when you attempt to climb. Trigger their appearances with a single Pikmin, then bring the whole group of Black Pikmin up to take out the web. Then keep going up until the side alcove with the treasure is apparent. Take it back to the Research Pod. The question now is where the floor's exit is located. There is a special way to get there. Remember the strange metal structure in the first room? It had some sort of weird dial underneath. If enough Pikmin (at least 50) push the dial from its initial position to the opposite end, then there will be a loud "click" sound followed by a quake. To find out what it did, return to the sliding quicksand hallway. Now the sand is sliding from a point somewhere on the left end of the hallway to an abyss on the right end. Climb up the sand to the left (if you bring Pikmin along then 5 more Volatile Dweevils will drop) and in an alcove on the side, you'll find the way down.

Floor 3

 * Anode Beetle x 8
 * Beady Long Legs x 1
 * Treasure x 1

This is a sandy chamber with the way down in plain sight. Walking into the room's center triggers a Beady Long Legs's appearance. In combination with Anode Beetles, this battle is slightly more dangerous than usual. But there is one other thing you must watch out for- and this is a big problem- the sand in this room is very unstable. Every time the monster takes a heavy and powerful step, it creates a small sinkhole where its foot just was. These sinkholes last for about 5 seconds each before filling up. This means a lot of trouble for Pikmin. Definitely attack with a small group of 5 or so Yellow Pikmin and keep the rest of the party by the edge of the circular chamber back at the Research Pod. Once the boss is defeated, it drops the floor's treasure. As long as you have kept all the other Pikmin out of the way, the Anode Beetles shouldn't do any harm.

Floor 4

 * Bulbmin x 1
 * Carnivorous Candypop Bud x 2
 * Ivory Candypop Bud x 2
 * Mamuta x 2
 * Violet Candypop Bud x 1

There is a bit of a rest on this floor, and a chance to get some extra Pikmin for your team. The Mamuta aren't dangerous foes, but there are a pair of hidden predators disguised as candypop buds. They will eat any Pikmin thrown inside of them, with no seeds in return! To ensure that you don't fall into this trap, swarm each candypop bud for a brief moment. That will immediately flush the fakers out, giving you a chance to defeat them. While exposed, they can't fight, they just flop about helplessly. A Bulbmin also appears on this floor, so you can change the small ones into normal Pikmin to join your group. Once you've finished all your business on this floor, continue on to the second half of the dungeon.

Floor 5

 * Anode Beetle x 10
 * Burrowing Snagret x 2
 * Key x 1
 * Treasure x 1

The Research Pod lands in a small chamber with two other rooms to the the left and the right. The left room is a hallway with quicksand that drifts into long abysses on the left and right sides of the room. The center of the path is very small, but fortunately it goes in a straight line up the center of the room to the other end. If you stray slightly from the center, then you will feel a slight pull from the sand. Just try to stay on track. The other notable thing about this room is that there are 10 raised turrets arranged symmetrically so that they are in five rows of two each, with the center trail leading through the middle of each pair. On top of the turrets are Anode Beetles, held directly in place by tight barriers placed around each turret's edge. This means that they will steadily and consistently emit jolting connections of electricity that can shock you if you try to pass through the center path, so carefully time your movements forwards. Bringing along Yellow Pikmin makes it easier to forget about the potential shock hazard. On the other end of the room is a raised altar with the Key, so toss Yellow Pikmin up to it so they can carry it back down. There must be as many flower Pikmin carrying it as possible so that it can be swiftly carried across the center of the room without it drifting and subsequently sinking into either the left or right abyss. If this happens, it will fall back into place on the altar. Once you have the key, the way down to the next floor will open in the starting chamber. The floor's treasure is located in the second chamber, which is very large instead of just being symmetrical and rectangular like the other. On the left side of this huge chamber, there are a couple of Burrowing Snagret, one of which holds the treasure, but the room is filled with quicksand that slopes at too steep an angle towards a central sink point to have any luck with fighting the creature. The solution is on the right side of the room. From the entrance of this room to the right side, there is fortunately solid ground. On the right side, there are four switches in a row next to eachother, and they are coordinated exactly like the ones in Pikmin 2's Perplexing Pool. That is, every OTHER switch is a proper pair. Get a captain to walk with at least 5 Purple Pikmin onto the lowest switch, and then have the other toss more than 5 Purple Pikmin onto the third switch to lower it and raise the first one. Repeat the pattern to get the first captain with the 5 Purple Pikmin to the raised edge at the end of the line. Once he gets there, take the group through the secret raised path until it comes to a boulder at a dead end. Have the Purple Pikmin heave the boulder out of the way, and it will fall from a socket in the wall down into the middle of the quicksand chamber with the Snagrets, plugging the hole and changing the room into standard terrain. Now just defeat the snagrets and take the treasure after one of them drops it.

Floor 6

 * Male Sheargrub x 20
 * Mamuta x 1
 * Volatile Dweevil x 10
 * Gas Pipe x 15
 * Web x 1
 * Treasure x 2

Upon arriving in this chamber, you'll notice another metal structure like the one back on Floor 2, but instead of Fire Geysers, there are Gas Pipes all over it. In addition, there are two hallways leading out of this room- one on the left and another on the right. The one on the right clearly has large gears turning on either side of the hallway's entrance, and they appear to be some sort of mechanism that keeps the hallway's ceiling constantly pressing down to flatten anything that tries to pass through it. The left hallway is a sandy river full of sheargrubs that turns a gigantic gear by pushing its paddles. The first thing to do is climb the metal structure's ramps, using White Pikmin to deactivate the Gas Pipes. From here, there is actually a stick bridge that can be built to a raised alcove where a switch is located. At least 200 Pikmin must press it down in order for it to successfully lower. Once that happens, it will raise another switch in the sand river hallway, blocking the flow of sand and stopping the gigantic gear in its place. This lets you run through the previously deadly crushing hallway and take the treasure without worrying about traps. Afterwards, you'll have to toss a single Pikmin on top of the switch in the river of sand to open up the flow again, because you need the gear to be turning in order to move further down the hall- otherwise, one of the paddles will completely block the way. Take some Black Pikmin in that direction past the gear, and eventually you'll come to a sort of crossroads where if you keep going straight, the sand will take the entire group into an abyss. The right side path leads out of a slightly raised alcove that goes back to the first room with the metal tower, and the left side path leads to another one of those sliding sand hallways like the one on Floor 2. The same traps and obstacles are there, in the same amounts. Dodge the dweevils, cut the web, and take the treasure back. Afterwards, push the dial underneath the metal tower into the opposite direction like you did last time to trigger the "click" and cause the sandy hallway to change in order to find the exit. But this time, once you climb up the left side instead of finding an exit, there is a Mamuta randomly sitting by itself in an alcove! The real way down is to instead head down the right slope again, and when you almost reach the abyss there is another alcove with the exit hidden there instead. When you're ready, take that exit to the final floor boss.

Floor 7 (Final Floor)

 * Pileated Snagret BOSS
 * Treasure x 1

The Research Pod hovers by the edge of a wide area filled with various sinkholes. The only way through them and across to the geyser on the other side is by deftly navigating the edges of the pits where the sand doesn't drift to a sink point. These paths are visible on the map if you pause. But to make matters worse, there is a Pileated Snagret lose on this floor, and due to its quick tunneling ability, it can pop up to attack you at any point. Plus, this enemy has more endurance than most creatures you'll meet. Of course, it also holds the cave's last treasure, so you have to fight it anyways to have a successful escape. To fight it without losing a ton of Pikmin to quicksand, the key is to swarm your Pikmin and constantly keep the whole team in motion- otherwise some may drift without your attention and by the time you try to save them, you'll simultaneously be attacked by the boss! After the boss is defeated, the sinkholes will mysteriously fill up with extra sand, making the area safe to carry the treasure back.

Wildlife

 * Anode Beetle
 * Beady Long Legs
 * Bulbmin
 * Burrowing Snagret
 * Carnivorous Candypop Bud
 * Creeping Chrysanthemum
 * Dwarf Bulbear
 * Dwarf Red Bulborb
 * Ivory Candypop Bud
 * Male Sheargrub
 * Mamuta
 * Red Bulborb
 * Volatile Dweevil
 * Violet Candypop Bud
 * Yellow Wollywog
 * Pileated Snagret BOSS