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While you go about your big mission to rescue Captain Olimar in Pikmin 4, there will be plenty of subtasks to keep you busy. You'll need to collect treasure for Sparklium, go on night expeditions to get Glow Sap, rescue castaways to find the rest of your crew, and collect Raw Materials as you explore.
Raw Materials will be especially important to find and keep in supply. This is what you'll exchange at Russ's Lab to buy gear improvements, new tools, and different items. You'll also need plenty of Raw Materials to build bridges and such in every level. Here are several ways you can get more Raw Material in Pikmin 4.
Collect Raw Material Piles
The most obvious suggestion to get Raw Material is to always collect the big piles of Raw Material you find during your adventure. These look like piles of blue crystals, and you will need one Pikmin per crystal to transport it back to your ship.
The Pikmin you command to transport Raw Material will automatically return to the pile if there is more to take. Use this to your advantage if you don't want to assign a fully equivalent amount of Pikmin to the amount available in a pile.
Raw Material piles can also be found in the various caves you will have to explore. Make sure to explore every corner of the environment so you don't miss any of these.
Defeat All Enemies
You will encounter many familiar and new enemies in Pikmin 4. Many of these enemies, especially the larger species, can drop a few Raw Material crystals once you defeat them.
Since defeating enemies can take time out of your day, make sure to fight with the appropriate Pikmin in your party. Ice Pikmin are especially useful in fights as they can freeze enemies, giving you a chance to defeat them faster.
Break Everything!
As you explore each of the areas in Pikmin 4, numerous breakable objects and barriers will be scattered throughout. These can look like a group of cracked vases or a decrepit dirt wall blocking your path.
You will automatically need to break some of these in order to progress through a level, but make sure to break all the ones you see anyway. Often, Raw Materials will fall out once you demolish objects and walls.
Revisit Maps
One of the best ways to find Raw Material is by digging up the dirt mounds that you will find all over the place. These look like raised piles of dirt that you can throw your Pikmin into. As the Pikmin dig in the tunnel of dirt, they will find Raw Material to transport back to your ship.
Luckily, these dirt mounds will reappear every day. Even if you've progressed all the way to the Primordial Thicket level, you can still find value in returning to a previous map to get more Raw Material.
Complete Side Missions
The final way to keep collecting Raw Material is by completing all the Side Missions that become available as you progress through the game.
As you rescue the members of your Rescue Corps and the numerous castaways, they begin filling up your base camp. Some of your newly rescued colleagues and castaways will give you a new Side Mission. For example, Patch gives you a quota of enemies he wants you to defeat, while Dingo wants you to complete areas to 100 percent.
You can get an enormous amount of Raw Material by completing Side Missions, so keep the mission requirements in mind as you continue along in the game. Two birds, one stone. Right?
A couple of Side Missions are even repeatable, rewarding you with Raw Material each time you meet the goal:
- Francois wants you to grow the Pikmin population, and rewards you for every 300 you grow.
- Kingsly loves flowers and wants you to bloom flowers on Pikmin, and he also rewards you after every 300 you bloom.