Cave of Pain

Cave of Pain
Sublevels	1	Ultra-bitter sprays	1
Red Pikmin	50	Ultra-spicy sprays	1
Yellow Pikmin	0
Blue Pikmin	0
White Pikmin	0
Purple Pikmin	0
Bulbmin	0

The following article or section contains guides. The strategies shown are just suggestions.

The Cave of Pain is the twenty-seventh level in Pikmin 2's Challenge Mode. This challenge is filled to the brim with dangerous enemies that will often drop directly on top of your squad – you'll need to remain extremely alert at all times to react to them, especially if you're aiming for a pink flower.

Sublevel 1

• Theme: Snow
• Music: Emergence Cave 1
• Time: 160 (320 seconds)
• Starting Pikmin:
  •  Red Pikmin × 50 (flower)
• Treasures:
  •  Arboreal Frippery × 2 (inside Anode Dweevils)
  •  Combustion Berry × 1 (inside Hairy Bulborb)
  •  Crystallized Clairvoyance × 1
  •  Crystallized Telepathy × 1
  •  Gyroid Bust × 1
  •  Omniscient Sphere × 1 (inside Dwarf Red Bulborb)
  •  Seed of Greed × 1 (inside Fiery Bulblax)
  •  The Key × 1
• Enemies:
  •  Anode Dweevil × 2
  •  Dwarf Red Bulborb × 1
  •  Fiery Bulblax × 1
  •  Hairy Bulborb × 1
  •  Volatile Dweevil × 6
• Obstacles:
  •  Bomb-rock × 3
  •  Boulder × 8
• Vegetation:
  • None
• Others:
  • None

This challenge is very difficult. If you're aiming for a pink flower, it may take several tries; if you get a particularly bad layout, quitting and reentering the challenge to get a new one is entirely valid.

You'll likely want to send a lone leader out to trigger as many of the traps as possible. A Fiery Bulblax may drop from the sky – this is the sublevel's biggest threat, so you may wish to use the Volatile Dweevils to weaken or kill it. Otherwise, use your sprays on it; a petrified Fiery Bulblax is no match for 50 Red Pikmin.

The Key is out in the open, seemingly unguarded, but your ordeal won't end there, as Anode Dweevils and a few more Volatile Dweevils will drop from the sky as the Pikmin attempt to carry it back. Punching the Anode Dweevils to death to avoid any Pikmin causalities is recommended. If you still have your ultra-spicy spray, spraying the Pikmin that are carrying The Key back will potentially let them outpace some of them, but be cautious, nonetheless.

You're probably better off ignoring the treasures altogether, but if you want a high score, you'll need to run around and kill every enemy that drops from the ceiling, as all of them besides the Volatile Dweevils will drop treasure.

Generate sample map →

Technical sublevel information
Internal cave name			ch_MAT_flier
"Main" object maximum (?)			22
"Treasure" object maximum (?)			4
"Gate" object maximum (?)			0
Dead end unit probability (?)			0
Number of rooms (?)			3
Corridor-to-room ratio (?)			0
Escape geyser (?)			No (despite having one, in reality)
Clogged hole (?)			No
Cave units file (?)			2_MAT_sak1_sak2_snow.txt
Lighting file (?)			normal_light_cha.ini
Background (?)			None
Cave units (?)
Dead end with item	Three-way crossing	Four-way crossing	Turning corridor	Corridor	Long corridor
Room with trunk in center	Room with large trunk

Detailed object list
The game spawns these "main" objects:
ID	Object	Amount	Fall method	Spawn location
1	Hairy Bulborb	1	Falls from the sky	Cave unit seams
-	Combustion Berry	Carried inside entry with ID 1
2	Dwarf Red Bulborb	1	Falls from the sky	"Special" enemy spots
-	Omniscient Sphere	Carried inside entry with ID 2
3	Fiery Bulblax	1	Falls from the sky	"Special" enemy spots
-	Seed of Greed	Carried inside entry with ID 3
4	Anode Dweevil	1	Falls when Pikmin are carrying nearby	"Hard" enemy spots
-	Arboreal Frippery	Carried inside entry with ID 4
5	Anode Dweevil	1	Falls when Pikmin are carrying nearby	Cave unit seams
-	Arboreal Frippery	Carried inside entry with ID 5
6	Volatile Dweevil	3	Falls from the sky	"Hard" enemy spots
7	Volatile Dweevil	3	Falls when Pikmin are carrying nearby	"Hard" enemy spots
8	Bomb-rock	3	Falls from the sky	"Hard" enemy spots
9	Boulder	4	None	"Easy" enemy spots
10	Boulder	4	None	"Easy" enemy spots
Then it spawns these "treasure" objects:
ID	Object	Amount	Fall method	Spawn location
11	The Key	1	None	Treasure spots
12	Crystallized Telepathy	1	None	Treasure spots
13	Crystallized Clairvoyance	1	None	Treasure spots
14	Gyroid Bust	1	None	Treasure spots

For details on how objects are spawned, and how some may fail to spawn, see here.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	天罰の穴?	Divine Punishment Den
French (NoA)	Grotte du martyre	Martyrdom cave
French (NoE)	Grotte du Martyre	Martyrdom Cave
German	Höhle des Schmerzes	Cave of Pain
Italian	Covo del dolore	Den of pain
Spanish (NoA)	Cueva del Dolor	Cave of Pain