Pikmin 3 Deluxe – How to Switch Characters

While Pikmin 3 Deluxe has a light and colorful aesthetic, at its most basic it’s a pretty hardcore real-time strategy game. And like any good RTS, players will need to multitask to get through the game in the most efficient way. Thankfully you have a lot of options for how to handle this. But by far the most important way to multitask is to manage all your leaders well, spreading them out and keeping them with a set of Pikmin to accomplish various objectives. But you can’t really do this if you only control one. Here’s how to switch characters in Pikmin 3 Deluxe.

How to Switch Characters

Switching characters or leaders in Pikmin 3 Deluxe is as easy as a quick press of the Y button, but a few things get in the way and often cause confusion. For one, you can’t switch to leaders that are in your currently controlled group. This is to avoid having to press Y over and over to get to the leader you want, which is usually the one that isn’t a part of your group. You want to switch characters when you decide that something halfway across the map is more important than what’s right in front of you.

So when switching characters always make sure that they’re separated from you and your current group of leaders and Pikmin. To make this happen you just need to select a leader with L and throw them so they are separated from you. You can then hit Y to control them, either grabbing a group of their own Pikmin or walking off to find their own.

And that’s how to switch characters in Pikmin 3 Deluxe. There are three total leaders at any one time, so this is a huge part of getting through the game in the best way possible.