Citadel of Spiders

The Citadel of Spiders is commonly the first cave found in the Perplexing Pool in Pikmin 2. It is just as simple as the White Flower Garden and Hole of Beasts in the Awakening Wood, with mild enemies and a mildly strong boss: the Beady Long Legs. The total value of all the treasure here is in the US version of the game, and  in the European version.

How to reach
Very little effort is required to reach the cave. By proceeding from the landing site and approaching the Yellow Wollywog (Shearwigs on later days), you will find it in plain sight.

This is most likely your first cave with the luxury of choosing an appropriate Pikmin squad. However, it is very likely that your numbers of Yellow Pikmin, White Pikmin and Purple Pikmin are low, requiring you to pad out the squad using Red Pikmin. The only source of electricity in the cave is in sublevel 3 in the form of Anode Beetles, so your squad of Yellow Pikmin will mainly be applied for the Beady Long Legs.

Your Yellow Pikmin squad should sit around 15-20 and you will likely use every White Pikmin and Purple Pikmin you have (around 15 White Pikmin and 20-25 Purple Pikmin) which leaves room for 30-50 Red Pikmin. There is a Queen Candypop Bud present, so some room may be left for the eight Pikmin to be collected from it.

Sublevel 1

 * Theme: Concrete
 * Music: Concrete 1
 * Treasures:
 * Enemies:
 * (group of 10) &times; indefinite amount (from eggs)
 * &times; 5
 * &times; 5
 * Obstacles:
 * None
 * Vegetation:
 * &times; 2
 * (small) &times; 6
 * Others:
 * &times; 1 or more
 * &times; 1 or more

The first sublevel of the Citadel of Spiders should be pretty easy. There are many maze-like pathways, and also other twig covered areas in the cave. The only enemies here are a few measly Shearwigs and harmless Skitter Leaves.

Take a squad of Purple Pikmin, and one throw should take out any one of them easily when aimed correctly. After you are sure there are no enemies left that can pose a threat, take some Pikmin in and have them transport the Love Nugget to the pod. After you have recovered it, you may move on.


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

Sublevel 2

 * Theme: Concrete
 * Music: Fire
 * Treasures:
 * (US) / (Europe) /  (Japan) (inside Yellow Wollywog in all regions)
 * (US/Europe) / (Japan)
 * (partially buried)
 * Enemies:
 * &times; 3
 * (group of 10) &times; indefinite amount (from eggs)
 * &times; 2
 * Obstacles:
 * &times; 5
 * Vegetation:
 * &times; 4
 * (small) &times; 4
 * &times; 1 (if max Pikmin requirement is met)
 * Others:
 * Gate with 4000 HP &times; 1
 * &times; 1 or more

The next level in this pest-filled cave is filled with many fiery hazards, and also some very pesky enemies. You will spawn in an enemy free area, so you can organize your Pikmin to clear the area. Take a squad of Red Pikmin and have them clear the area of fiery geysers, avoiding the jumps of Yellow Wollywogs. Then take your burly group of Purple Pikmin and have them defeat all of the Yellow Wollywogs and Fiery Dweevils, being wary if the Dweevils release fire.

After the area is clear of all the enemies, you should have cleared a path to the treasures, even if the Dweevils had stolen them. There are three treasures that you need to get here, the Creative Inspiration, held by one of the Yellow Wollywogs, the Lip Service, and the Paradoxical Enigma, which is in an alcove, partially buried. There are a few alcoves that may have eggs that fall, and a Violet Candypop Bud will appear if you have less than 20 Purple Pikmin. After clearing the area, it would be imminent for you to move on.


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

Sublevel 3

 * Theme: Concrete
 * Music: Concrete 3
 * Treasures:
 * (fully buried)
 * (US) / (partially buried) (Europe/Japan)
 * Enemies:
 * &times; 8
 * (group of 10) &times; indefinite amount (from eggs)
 * &times; 3
 * Obstacles:
 * None
 * Vegetation:
 * &times; 8
 * &times; 1
 * Others:
 * Gate with 4000 HP &times; 2
 * &times; 1 or more

The next floor of the cave is plenty different from the previous one. Instead of fire, the area is rigged by electricity producing Anode Beetles. Swooping Snitchbugs also fly above the ground to trouble your Pikmin in their actions. First take some Yellow Pikmin, or Purple Pikmin instead if you are experienced at dodging the strings of the electricity made by the Anode Beetles. Go in and defeat any of the ground crawling Beetles you see, make sure when using purples that you do not throw while the electricity is visible, otherwise, they will meet a shocking death.

If you see a Snitchbug, go and defeat it too, for they can taunt you while moving treasures, purples can come in handy when grounding them too. After the enemies are gone, take all of your Pikmin and destroy every wall and explore every alcove. The Patience Tester, a large can, should be in an alcove partially buried, and sometimes behind one of these walls. To find the other treasure, the Memorial Shell, take a group of White Pikmin, and use the Treasure Gauge, for it is buried completely underground.

After all the items are gathered, if you haven't already, you can use the Queen Candypop Bud that drops from the ceiling in an alcove to gain some Pikmin, especially if you're short in your total amount of Yellow Pikmin since you recently discovered them. After your other needs, such as recuperation via the nectar and sprays of eggs, you can progress to the next sublevel.


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

Sublevel 4

 * Theme: Concrete
 * Music: Concrete 2
 * Treasures:
 * (inside Hermit Crawmad)
 * Enemies:
 * &times; 2
 * (group of 10) &times; indefinite amount (from eggs)
 * &times; 3
 * Obstacles:
 * &times; 5
 * Vegetation:
 * &times; 4
 * &times; 1
 * Others:
 * Gate with 4000 HP &times; 3
 * &times; 1 or more
 * Gate with 4000 HP &times; 3
 * &times; 1 or more

The penultimate level of the cave is still mildly difficult; there are only two enemies found here, Water Dumples, and Hermit Crawmads, which may be new to you so far if you started to play. Take a squad of Purple Pikmin and Red Pikmin. Use the purples for defeating enemies, and reds for destroying fire-spouting geysers.

You can also use White Pikmin for quickly transporting treasures. Find the three treasures, the Flame of Tomorrow, the King of Sweets, and the Time Capsule. They switch locations but one is found in an alcove, another is found on specific ramps or an alcove, and the third is held by one of the Crawmads.

Once you have recovered all of the treasures, you can use a nearby Ivory Candypop Bud if you really need some White Pikmin. Eggs are also nearby for your use. After you are finished restoring the quality of your team if necessary, move on to the last area of this dungeon.

Note that due to the way sublevel generation works, it is possible for no Hermit Crawmad to appear, and as such, for you to miss out on the King of Sweets, as detailed here and here.


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

Sublevel 5



 * Theme: Concrete
 * Music: Boss (only when combating)
 * Treasures:
 * (fully buried)
 * (inside Beady Long Legs)
 * Enemies:
 * &times; 1
 * &times; 1
 * Obstacles:
 * None
 * Vegetation:
 * &times; 3
 * &times; 2
 * (small brown) &times; 5
 * Others:
 * None

The final floor of this cave is very big, and likewise, it has a considerably big enemy lurking in it, the infamous Beady Long Legs. This is its first appearance in Pikmin 2. You will be far from the boss, but you should get ready, take your Yellow Pikmin, or your Purple Pikmin, if you can handle them well, and move forward. You will be in another area where the Regal Diamond is buried, but ignore it for now.

Once you reach the large circular plain, dismiss your Pikmin and run forward to make the Beady Long Legs appear. Go back and call your Pikmin, and get ready to battle the creature. If you need to, you can hype up your Pikmin with ultra-spicy spray, and then fight it using the strategy linked to above.

It will release The Key from its spherical torso, and you can then take it back to the pod, once you do, you get a transmission saying that you can now access Challenge Mode from the title screen. If you still have some White Pikmin, take them and throw them onto the ledges you saw earlier so they can dig up the completely buried treasure, the Regal Diamond, the Treasure Gauge may come handy if you're having trouble finding it.

If you're interested, take a small group of Purple Pikmin and walk in front of one of the Common Glowcaps in the area, throw a Purple Pikmin on them and see if an Iridescent Flint Beetle comes out (only one can be found here per visit), fight it for nectar and one ultra-spicy spray; once you recover from your battle, you can finally exit the cave by using the geyser nearby in a narrow passageway.


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