Gear

The Exploration Kit, as seen in Pikmin 2's pause menu.

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"Upgrade" redirects here. For the updates to the games' software, see update.

This article is about gear as equipment and tools. For gears that are cogs, see Gear (disambiguation).

In most Pikmin games, players are able to obtain diverse pieces of gear that empower the main characters, typically by granting immunities to some hazards, increasing stats, or unlocking new abilities. The method by which they are obtained depends on the game, and some pieces of gear appear in multiple games. Before Pikmin 4 these upgrades were not given a name, but they are specifically referred to as "gear" in various places of Pikmin 4. Also unique to Pikmin 4 is the ability to enable or disable any upgrade (besides the Survey Drone, Idler's Alert and Homesick Signal) once obtained.

Obtaining

In Pikmin 2, the player needs to retrieve certain treasures, usually guarded by bosses. When the Hocotate ship takes the treasure in, it's able to make use of it to create an upgrade. The upgrades can be found on a checklist called the Exploration Kit on the pause menu, and there is a distinction between the treasure itself and the upgrade. If the player exits the cave from the pause menu after getting the treasure instead of using a geyser, the treasure will be left behind but the leaders will keep the upgrade.

In Pikmin 3, the two important pieces of gear that allow reaching new areas are cellphones that need to be retrieved to the S.S. Drake, while the optional spacesuit upgrades can be found buried or off the beaten path in the form of Gashapon capsules; these too need to be brought back to the S.S. Drake and there isn't much of a difference between the object and the upgrade proper.

In Pikmin 4, upgrades can be obtained by purchasing them from Russ's lab, or by completing certain missions. In the case of the lab, they will have an associated raw material cost, and some only become available in the shop when certain sparklium thresholds are met or when certain things happen in-game. In Olimar's Shipwreck Tale, upgrades are among the rewards that Olimar may receive for each ship part he recovered during a day.

List

Purpose	Gear	Pikmin 2	Pikmin 3	Pikmin 4
				Story Mode	Olimar's Shipwreck Tale
Stat improvement	Air Armor	See Metal Suit Z	See Metal Suit Z	Yes	No
Stat improvement	Pup Air Armor	No	No	Yes	No
Stat improvement	Air Armor+	No	No	Yes	Yes
Stat improvement	Pup Air Armor+	No	No	Yes	Yes
Stat improvement	Air Armor++	No	No	Yes	No
Stat improvement	Pup Air Armor++	No	No	Yes	No
Hazard immunity	Anti-Electrifier	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Hazard immunity	Pup Anti-Electrifier	No	No	Yes	No
Misc.	Brace Boots	See Rush Boots	No	Yes	No
New ability	Charging Horn	No	No	Yes	Yes
Discovering new areas	Data Glutton	No	Yes	No	No
New ability	Dodge Whistle	No	Yes	No	No
New ability	Extra Hand	No	No	Yes	No
Misc.	Field Camera	No	No	Yes	Yes
Discovering new areas	Folded Data Glutton	No	Yes	No	No
Misc.	Gunk Busters	No	No	Yes	No
Misc.	Headlamp	See Solar System	No	Yes	No
Misc.	Headlamp+	No	No	Yes	No
Misc.	Homesick Signal	No	No	Yes	Yes
Misc.	Idle Counter	No	No	Yes	Yes
Misc.	Idler's Alert	No	No	Yes	Yes
New ability	Lineup Trumpet	No	No	Yes	Yes
Stat improvement	Mega Tweeter	Yes	No	See Power Whistle	No
Stat improvement	Metal Suit Z	Yes	Yes	See Air Armor	See Air Armor+
New ability	Napsack	Yes	No	No	No
New ability	Pluckaphone	Yes	No	See Plucking Whistle	No
New ability	Plucking Whistle	See Pluckaphone	No	Yes	No
Stat improvement	Power Whistle	See Mega Tweeter	No	Yes	No
New ability	Rocket Fist	Yes	No	See Triple Threat	See Triple Threat
Stat improvement	Rush Boots	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Hazard immunity	Scorch Guard	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Hazard immunity	Pup Scorch Guard	No	No	Yes	No
Hazard immunity	Pup Sniff Saver	No	No	Yes	No
Misc.	Solar System	Yes	No	See Headlamp	No
Discovering new areas	Sphere Chart	Yes	No	No	No
Discovering new areas	Survey Chart	Yes	No	No	No
Misc.	Survey Drone	No	No	Yes	Yes
Hazard immunity	Thermal Defense	No	No	Yes	No
Hazard immunity	Pup Thermal Defense	No	No	Yes	No
Misc.	Treasure Gauge	Yes	No	Yes	Yes (as Parts Detector)
Misc.	Treasure Gauge+	No	No	Yes	No
New ability	Triple Threat	See Rocket Fist	No	Yes	Yes
Stat improvement	Tuff Stuff	No	No	Yes	No
Stat improvement	Pup Tuff Stuff	No	No	Yes	No
Stat improvement	Tuff Stuff+	No	No	Yes	Yes
Stat improvement	Pup Tuff Stuff+	No	No	Yes	Yes
Stat improvement	Tuff Stuff++	No	No	Yes	No
Stat improvement	Pup Tuff Stuff++	No	No	Yes	No

In addition, there is a list of upgrades in Hey! Pikmin.

Air Armor

The Air Armor is a upgrade in Pikmin 4 that reduces the Rookie Rescue Officer's taken damage by 25%.

Air Armor
The Air Armor's icon.
Games	Pikmin 4
Function	Increases defense, reducing the player's damage taken by 25%
How to obtain	Own Tuff Stuff, then buy for × 40

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	エアアーマー? Ea Āmā	Air Armor
Chinese (traditional)	空氣裝甲	air armor
Chinese (simplified)	空气装甲	air armor
Dutch	Atmosfeerpantser	Atmosphere Armor
French	Aéroblindage	Airshielding
German	Luftschild	Air Shield
Italian	Aeroarmatura	Air armor
Korean	에어 아머 Eeo Ameo	Air Armor
Portuguese	Eoliprotec	-
Spanish	Eoloscudo	Eolian Shield

Pup Air Armor

Pup Air Armor
The Pup Air Armor's icon.
Games	Pikmin 4
Function	Decreases Oatchi's damage taken by 25%
How to obtain	Own Pup Tuff Stuff, then buy for × 80

A decent if expensive strategy is to feed Oatchi 5 Scrummy Bones, nearly doubling his HP. All tiers of Air Armor also apply the damage reduction percentage to the temporary HP, making Oatchi much harder to knock down than he already is.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	エアアーマー Pup? Ea Āmā	Air Armor Pup
Chinese (traditional)	空氣裝甲 Pup	air armor Pup
Chinese (simplified)	空气装甲 Pup	air armor Pup
Dutch	Pup Atmosfeerpantser	Pup Atmosphere Armor
French	Aéroblindage Pup	Airshielding Pup
German	PupLuftschild	PupAir Shild
Italian	Pup Aeroarmatura	Pup Air armor
Korean	Pup 에어 아머 Pup Eeo Ameo	Pup Air Armor
Portuguese	Eoliprotec Pup	-
Spanish	Eoloscudo Pup	Eolian Shield Pup

Air Armor+

Air Armor+
The Air Armor+'s icon.
Games	Pikmin 4
Function	Decreases the rookie Rescue Officer's damage taken by 50%
How to obtain	Have Air Armor, have Tuff Stuff+, have reached  × 6000, then buy for × 80 Olimar's Shipwreck Tale: Retrieve 22 ship parts

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	エアアーマー＋? Ea Āmā +	Air Armor +
Chinese (traditional)	空氣裝甲＋
Chinese (simplified)	空气装甲＋
Dutch	Atmosfeerpantser 2.0	Atmosphere Armor 2.0
French	Aéroblindage +	Airshielding +
German	Luftschild+	Air Shild+
Italian	Aeroarmatura +	Air armor +
Korean	에어 아머+ Eeo Ameo +	Air Armor +
Portuguese	Eoliprotec +	-
Spanish	Eoloscudo +	Eolian Shield +

Pup Air Armor+

Pup Air Armor+
The Pup Air Armor+'s icon.
Games	Pikmin 4
Function	Decreases Oatchi's damage taken by 50%
How to obtain	Have Pup Air Armor, have Pup Tuff Stuff+, have reached  × 6000, then buy for × 120 Olimar's Shipwreck Tale: Have met Moss, retrieve 18 ship parts

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	エアアーマー＋ Pup? Ea Āmā +	Air Armor + Pup
Chinese (traditional)	空氣裝甲＋ Pup
Chinese (simplified)	空气装甲＋ Pup
Dutch	Pup Atmosfeerpantser 2.0	Pup Atmosphere Armor 2.0
French	Aéroblindage + Pup	Airshielding + Pup
German	PupLuftschild+	PupAir Shild+
Italian	Pup Aeroarmatura +	Pup Air armor +
Korean	Pup 에어 아머+ Pup Eeo Ameo +	Pup Air Armor +
Portuguese	Eoliprotec Pup +	-
Spanish	Eoloscudo Pup +	Eolian Shield Pup +

Air Armor++

Air Armor++
The Air Armor++'s icon.
Games	Pikmin 4
Function	Decreases the rookie Rescue Officer's damage taken by 75%
How to obtain	Buy for × 120, unlock Air Armor+, unlock Tuff Stuff++

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	エアアーマー＋＋? Ea Āmā ++	Air Armor ++
Chinese (traditional)	空氣裝甲＋＋
Chinese (simplified)	空气装甲＋＋
Dutch	Atmosfeerpantser 3.0	Atmosphere Armor 3.0
French	Aéroblindage ++	Airshielding ++
German	Luftschild++	Air Shild++
Italian	Aeroarmatura ++	Air armor ++
Korean	에어 아머++ Eeo Ameo ++	Air Armor ++
Portuguese	Eoliprotec ++	-
Spanish	Eoloscudo ++	Eolian Shield ++

Pup Air Armor++

Pup Air Armor++
The Pup Air Armor++'s icon.
Games	Pikmin 4
Function	Decreases Oatchi's damage taken by 75%
How to obtain	Buy for × 160, unlock Pup Air Armor+, unlock Pup Tuff Stuff++

Names in other languages