Armurk

The Armurk is the boss of the Sparkling Labyrinth sector, and it drops the Royal Suite when defeated. It is a large -like creature, with solid armor that cannot be damaged, no matter how many Pikmin are thrown at it. This armor covers almost all of its body, except for its tail – which is usually out of reach since the boss is constantly facing Olimar and the group – and its belly – which cannot be reached when the bug is crawling on the floor. Its main attack involves raising its body to stomp down Pikmin, but this attack also exposes the belly, giving the player an opportunity to cause damage. Even though the player has sturdy Rock Pikmin to combat the boss with, they are not resistant to the crushing attacks.

Behavior
The creature begins by idling in place. After a bit, it slowly creeps its way forward to the group. If it gets close, it will quickly rise up its upper body a bit and lower it, stomping the ground in front of it. Captain Olimar will take damage if he's in range, and will be knocked back, but the Pikmin will only be knocked back. The same also happens if Olimar or the Pikmin bump against it while it's moving. It will keep doing this until it traps its prey against a wall. When it does so, it will stomp a few more times as it gets near, before eventually raising up a lot, waiting a bit, and then falling on top of the group. This attack also kills 4 Pikmin at most, and hurts Olimar, and once it does this, it will turn around and move in the opposite direction, ignoring the group for a bit. This exposes its pink, unprotected tail.

While it's rising up in its corner attack – an attack so dangerous that it causes a dramatic zoom-in the closer the boss gets to stomping – it will expose its pink belly, which is vulnerable to thrown Pikmin. Each Pikmin will knock its upper body a bit further back, and if enough Pikmin are thrown, the creature will actually be tossed backward. When this happens, it will turn around in mid-air, and run away in the opposite direction. Once again, this exposes its tail. The difference now is that it will also climb up the wall when it reaches the corner, and from the wall, climb up to the ceiling. Once on the ceiling, it move just a bit forward, start shaking, fall off, and spin around in mid-air to land belly-first. Now that it's on the floor, the cycle restarts.

If its health is at two thirds or less, then before the state where it chases the group into a corner, it will spit out two of its scales into the air, which fall slowly, and can be destroyed with a thrown Pikmin. These scales hurt Olimar, but have no effect on the Pikmin. When its health is at one third, it will spit three scales instead of two.

The first time it climbs to the ceiling when its health has crossed the two thirds mark, or the first time it crossed the one third mark, it will change its fall attack: when it drops from the ceiling, it curls into a ball. In this form, it turns around, jumps up, and lands roughly midway through the starting point and the wall. With this landing, it bounces up, gets very close to the wall, uncurls and lands belly-first. If after landing, it has cornered Olimar, then it will turn around, go to the opposite end, turn around again, and spit the two scales to continue the cycle like normal.

Locations

 * Sparkling Labyrinth
 * Subterranean Tyrant: The only Armurk in the game is found here, where it serves as the boss of the area.

Strategy
When the fight begins, go right to corner yourself right away, since there is nothing else you could do. The creature will come close, stomp twice, and raise its upper body, exposing its pink belly. Throw a barrage of Rock Pikmin at the belly until the boss is thrown back. You can now chase its pink tail, throwing Pikmin at it while you move. Be careful not to be too fast, otherwise you can actually catch up with the tail and take damage. You can damage the tail even when the creature is climbing the wall, though this is tricky. Once it's out of reach, get away from where it will fall, but not too far away.

Depending on how much damage you caused, the boss will either fall flat and a new cycle will start, or it will switch to the next phase, by turning into a ball shape and falling. If its health drops to two thirds or less, it will fall as a ball, so wait until it lands, turns around, and jumps into the air. When it does so, walk under it to the opposite direction. It will bounce when it lands, and will stomp on the floor closest to the wall. Although its back will be facing you, don't bother trying to throw Pikmin at the tail, since it will not take damage. When the creature turns around, it will shoot two scales, which are easy to avoid. They only harm Olimar, so make sure to walk away while dodging them. The boss will eventually corner you, and the cycle will continue.

If its health drops to the last third, everything will be the same, except three scales will come out. They're still easy to avoid, but remember to throw Pikmin at them if you're feeling overwhelmed. Repeat until its health drops to zero.

A simple strategy is to, after the creature jumps away in ball form, walk to the opposite corner of the arena. The boss will finish its jumping attacks on the opposite side, and the scales it launches will not even reach you. You just have to stand there and wait for the cornering attack where it raises its upper body. Since there's nothing else you can do, it's a better alternative to staying in the middle of the arena.