Sandbelching Meerslug
| Sandbelching Meerslug | |
|---|---|
| |
| Appears in | Pikmin 3 |
| Scientific name | Unknown |
| Family | Unknown |
| Areas | Tropical Wilds |
| Mission Mode Collect Treasure! stages | None |
| Mission Mode Battle Enemies! stages | None |
| Side Story days | None |
| Bingo Battle stages | None |
| Attacks | Shoots clumps of sand
Eats Pikmin Buries Pikmin |
The Sandbelching Meerslug is a boss in Pikmin 3 and the third major boss encountered in Story Mode. It is a light brown, amphibian-like creature resembling that of a lamprey eel, with very small eyes, thick purple lips and two rows of large, sharp teeth. Further down its body, it gets wider and harbors spike-like protrusions.
Battle Strategy
Template:Subjective Upon attempting to dig up the cell phone in the middle of the arena, the Meerslug appears from beneath the sand to attack the captains and the Pikmin. It tunnels beneath the side, causing waves of sand to appear across the surface which signifies its location. It will try to trap and eat Pikmin by creating a vortex in the sand that sucks in Pikmin.
When it emerges from the ground, it attacks by spitting large clumps of sand to attack its prey, hence its name. If Pikmin are hit by the clumps of sand, they will be buried back in the ground. Beware, as this enemy is exceptional in that not only can it bury your Pikmin, but it can kill them while they are underground too as sprouts that get sucked in are devoured as if they were free running Pikmin. It behaves very much like a real-life Ant Lion, as it can create a pit of sand that's used to trap nearby prey with its mouth at the very center of the pit.
After removing half of its HP, it will move quick in a circling fashion before creating a sinkhole that affects the whole arena, so it is highly recommended to retreat to the stone area where you enter. After this, it will return to normal speed, but the holes it creates will have walls, meaning the Pikmin can no longer escape. It will also begin shooting sandballs in rapid fire. However, when it does this, it needs a bit more time than normal to lump up the sand, leaving an optimal time swarm it.
It is possible to immobilize the enemy by overwhelming it with Pikmin. This causes it to shoot out of the ground and lie on the floor for short while, leaving it vulnerable to further assaults. The best way to perform this is to use the swarm control that has the Pikmin rush towards the enemy once locked on (Throwing Pikmin doesn't work well here; if you can't get enough Pikmin to attack it at once, it will simply shake them off). Be sure to get very close to it before doing this. Otherwise, the shifting sand will make the Pikmin lose their target and stop halfway towards it, leaving them under idle status and highly vulnerable to getting buried under sandballs.
Bomb Rocks can also be thrown into the creatures mouth whilst it is creating a vortex to cause damage. This also causes it to jump out of the sand.
Upon defeat, it expels another cellphone, abeing more modern in appearance than the one dropped by the Armored Mawdad, and a relatively small watermelon, which bursts into smaller pieces after being expelled.
Gallery
The Sandbelching Meerslug being scanned while shooting rocks.
- Dead SandBelching Meerslug.jpg
A deceased Sandbelching Meerslug.
- 00SlugSpoils.PNG
The spoils of defeating the Sandbelching Meerslug:The Crimson Banquet broken into pieces and the Folded Data Glutton.
The Sandbelching Meerslug seen from a different angle.
- ZlCfzREQQDEyNgDBPm.jpg
The Sanbelching Meerslug forced above ground and immobilized
- ZlCfzREQRbICT8Sb-Z.jpg
A close up of the Sandbelching Meerslug's face.
- FerretPhone.jpg
The phone the Meerslug drops being analyzed by the SS Drake. Notice the ferret wallpaper.
The Sandbelching Meerslug upon first appearing.
Comes out
Trivia
- This creature is the only enemy in the series that can kill Pikmin sprouts.
- If uprooted while in the sand trap phase, it glitches the camera.
- In addition to most of the bosses, the Sandbelching Meerslug's corpse is so massive that it has to be dragged back to the Onion by Pikmin instead of being carried above the ground, and thus takes longer than other bodies to carry back.
- The Sandbelching Meerslug attacks very similar to a real life creature called the Antlion. The Antlion creates pits in sand. When an ant falls in the pit, the Antlion eats it, similarly to the Sandbelching Meerslug.