When I got close to completing all of the challenges in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and looked at what I had left to do, I thought unlocking all of the Mii Hats would not be a problem at all. Boy was I seriously wrong… looking around the Internet, it quickly became apparent that I was not the only one and that nobody knows for sure just how getting custom headgear works. So though this is not a definitive guide and filled with a “this may or may not work” type of attitude, I wanted to put all of my observations, things I could remember and ideas I saw online that I agreed with in one place about how to unlock custom headgear in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (I don’t have Super Smash Bros. for 3DS but from what I can tell most of this is applicable for both versions of the game).

If you don’t mind using Golden Hammers to unlock challenges, this is definitely one challenge you want to use a hammer on. But, if you have used all of your hammers (as I had), really want those hats or just want to fully complete the game all yourself (which is fair enough) then I hope this blog post is of use to you in some way. If you are incredibly bored reading this already – here are the main things I believe:

It is random… possibly with some bias.
Characters could make a difference.
Repetition is not helpful – change up your game modes and characters frequently.
Keep the focus on fun.

IT’S RANDOM… POSSIBLY WITH SOME BIAS

Unlocking the hats is mostly random, which is part of why it is so frustrating to attain all of them, it’s largely out of your hands. Though a few hats do have a specific unlock method such as beating a certain challenge, you will find a lot of the hats you unlock will be as random rewards in Classic Mode, All Star Mode, Master Orders, Crazy Orders, Smash Tour, Trophy Rush, Amiibo and Target Smash (and the 3DS mode Smash Run). You will probably also find that you get the same hats over and over again (I am looking at you Barbara the Bat Wig) and that to get all of the hats you probably will have to grind in some way at some point for the main purpose of getting hats, as I and many others had to.

Some hats certainly seemed more elusive than others; the Captain Falcon Helmet, the Mini Top Hat and the Dragon Helmet for instance, seem to be hats a lot of people need towards the end and for me they certainly were hats I got later on. It could also be possible that on some games a particular hat is rare but on another person’s game the hat is not rare. Another idea I believe is…

CHARACTERS MAY MAKE A DIFFERENCE

I personally feel that different characters could affect what kind of hats you get and even actually just getting hats. A large part of this belief is the result of what as a Mathematics graduate I know could just have been an incredible coincidence – with 7 hats remaining, days going by without unlocking a new hat and after playing a lot of Crazy Orders, I switched to Trophy Rush (a mode I hadn't really played much for a number of days) as Zelda and on my first go I unlocked the Princess Zelda Wig. At this point I had already unlocked the destroy 50,000 blocks challenge (meaning I had played Trophy Rush a lot in the past) and played Trophy Rush with every character at least once in the past but had focused on it with some characters more than others. So I believe that this was more than a coincidence.

One idea I saw online that may have some truth to it is that each character has about 20 or so hats that a large majority of the time will be ones you get when you get a hat with that character. When I had 6 hats remaining I really started to particularly hunt them down, I did a lot of Trophy Rush with Donkey Kong towards the end, yet I can’t remember getting a new hat and if I did, it was definitely no more than one.

However, I found playing as Kirby – a character I had not used much outside of regular Smash, Classic and All-Star – I seemed to get a lot of hats in general and I got 3 of my 6 final hats with him, two in Crazy Orders and one in Trophy Rush. In fact, the first time I ever played Crazy Orders as Kirby, I got a new hat. Plus, you have to understand that I did these modes far more with other characters and got nothing, yet with Kirby it happened relatively quickly.

But before you start playing every single mode as Kirby, one thing I must add is that if characters do make a difference, these characters may also potentially vary from game to game. For example I read for a few people that Greninja unlocked hats towards the end for them, hats I needed, but for me it did not get me a single one of the final seven I collected. The problem is that this could be explained by randomness – it is incredibly logical that a person could unlock more new hats in a particular mode or with a particular character than another person.

What I recommend is trying different game modes as different characters, trying each a few times with each character. If you unlock a hat: note the character and game mode (and if you can the hat too). You may then want to try using that character in that mode again in future. But don’t get too addicted to one character in the same mode, as there may be another reason switching your character and the game mode works well…

REPETITION MAY REDUCE THE CHANCE OF GETTING NEW HATS

I personally found – as well as others online – that if you play one mode over and over and over, you don’t seem to get new hats. Remember the Zelda story? I hadn't been playing Trophy Rush and then when I started I got my first new hat in days? Other Trophy Rush hats I got nearer the end of my hunt seemed to happen within my first few tries of doing that mode on that session/day. When I got my first hat as Kirby in Crazy Orders, it happened after I had been doing another mode for a while (can’t remember if it was Classic or Crazy).

If you have been playing the game for a few hours, turn it off and go outside and play or something; then come back to it again once you have had a few hours off. I read about people online saying they had been trying a particular mode as the same character for days and gotten nothing, it is my belief I didn't struggle this badly because I was switching modes every once in a while and switching characters often. Do play a mode a few times with one character, then as another, but don’t keep doing it all over and over too much; regardless of whether it actually increases your odds of getting a hat or not, do this for your sanity and to keep having fun.

WHAT IS THE BEST MODE TO UNLOCK MII CUSTOM HEADGEAR?

I am not sure if the modes make a difference to unlocking new hats, asides from switching between them frequently. However, I personally think Trophy Rush is the best mode to unlock Mii Custom Headgear. The mode is very fun, quick to play, you can challenge yourself to get high scores and though you will get a lot of trophies, you will get to hit a lot of those green wrench icons too, which could potentially lead to lots of hats. Essentially it’s a very fast way of getting rewards. Sometimes you just won’t get as many wrenches drop, even if you play quite well and sometimes your time will be cut short by an awkward sequence of falling blocks but that is merely luck of the draw. Trophy Rush is where I found and unlocked a lot of hats, particularly at the end when I needed just a few. It of course will unlock many trophies for you and get you a good number of custom moves as well. Plus one challenge requires you to break 50,000 blocks, so you may as well get two birds with one stone.

Though I encourage you to switch up your characters, Donkey Kong is a great character to use in Trophy Rush, his Hand Slap move (B + Down) will destroy many blocks and his regular attacks are powerful too. Be aware that if you stay in (roughly) the same place for too long, electricity will fall down and force you to move (unless you want to get hurt, which will just move you anyway), so I suggest moving side to side constantly. If you are using a strategy such as B and Down with DK, try forming a rhythm, noting when you have been attacking in the same place for a few seconds and then rolling to the left or right and often you will move as the warning sign flashes or at least before the electricity is particularly close to you (I find this prediction method works better than watching out for the warning sign and then moving once it appears). I will say this again later, but having a character customised to hold a Home Run Bat is fantastic for this mode. As I have said, switching game modes is best, so don't just invest all of your time in Trophy Rush, try everything.

Classic Mode is quite good, before each battle you can potentially choose a red wrench icon in the reward spinning wheel and you can pick fights with opponents that have that emblem on their trophy. I found that I had quite a good rhythm and could get a red wrench icon (if present) on most of my fights and if I didn't, I would be one icon out. I understand this might not be the case for everyone; you can use the Home Button to bring up the Home Menu and effectively pause the game to help you but I think this takes a lot of fun out of the game and can slow things down. I think because of this, if you have a lot of hats remaining (10 or higher) do Classic but afterwards move onto the other modes more. If you’re good with the wheel, keep Classic in mind as an alternative and if you are not, focus much more on the other modes. Classic and regular Smash are good ways of generating money (which you need for Trophy Rush, Master Orders and sometimes Crazy Orders).

Smash Tour is alright for rewards but it’s not a great game mode. It is worth trying every now and then and definitely if you have challenges to unlock relating to it. Amiibo can get hats and I think I got one new one early on but when you are going for those last few, it may not be the way go. Target Smash is one that apparently has worked for some people but in large part because they will reset the mode again and again until they get wrenches. Try it if you want, but it can take out a lot of fun and you don’t want to lose that. All-Star can potentially get you some rewards and there is no risk of losing them but it’s a bit slow compared to other methods and not the most fun to do over and over. With all of these modes, if you have challenges to unlock by playing them, then of course hope for the best and hope they nab you some hats as well!

Master Orders is good fun and something you can dip in and out of nicely. You can also see before a fight what the prize type could be. If you pick the Smash emblem, you may get a hat (but it could be a Mii Custom Outfit or some Equipment). What is also cool is that in this mode you can go back to the character selection screen, change your character and the Master Orders ticket selection will have the same challenges listed as before (whether changing to a different character affects the type of prize you ultimately get… I can’t be sure).

Crazy Orders is a brilliant mode for getting stuff, be it Mii Custom Outfits, Headgear, Equipment, Custom Moves and even Gold. Try to use a Crazy Orders Pass if you have one (they can also be unlocked frequently on Classic, Smash Tour and Master Orders), otherwise you have to spend 5000G, which is a hefty amount of money – though you can stand to win a lot more. This is a great mode to get hats but be aware that you may see a lot of old hats. On my greatest run of Crazy Orders – 45 Turns – as the Mii Gunner I acquired 14 hats, none of which were new. Though this may have been down to general randomness, playing the mode too much or my choice of character (Oh don’t start all that again!)

I found that as I unlocked more custom moves, they will appear less in the Master and Crazy Modes and that money or Smash emblem prizes start appearing more frequently in the ticket selection. One thing you will notice in these modes is…

A HARDER DIFFICULTY GETS YOU MORE REWARDS BUT NOT NECESSARILY BETTER ONES

If you choose a higher difficulty (or progress through more turns of Crazy Orders), you will get many more rewards, this is most evident in All-Star and Classic mode and you will notice it in Master Orders too. However, just because you are on a harder mode, it doesn't necessarily mean you will be more likely to get rewards you haven’t unlocked yet. You will tend to get better equipment and higher prize money on a higher difficulty. In particular as you progress further and further through Crazy Orders you notice you will get very large amounts of Gold if you choose the coin prizes on higher turns. Statistically speaking you would be more likely to acquire a new hat if you earned 3 of them instead of just 1; but the type of hat I got on Lv9 Classic didn't seem to be any different compared to other difficulties and I saw others online found that too. 3 of my final 6 hats I remember earning from Crazy Orders but the highest score out of those was 14 turns. In fact my final hat, The Mini Top Hat, I got with Kirby on the 8th turn of Crazy Orders, so I immediately fought Crazy Hand. After all the times I played Trophy Rush and the high scores I got in Crazy Orders, I got my final piece of headgear in a 9 Turn triumph of the mode. This brings me nicely onto a more definitive piece of advice.

IF YOU GET A NEW HAT – QUIT WHILE YOU ARE AHEAD

If you are playing Crazy Orders and you acquire a new hat, fight Crazy Hand the very next turn. Seriously, don’t push your luck, just beat him, take your prizes and celebrate, regardless of how few turns you may have done. If you lose in Crazy Orders, you do retain about half of your prizes, but there’s no guarantee of which ones will ‘survive’ and you could potentially lose a new hat. From 14 turns onward, you have to fight both Master Hand and Crazy Hand and basically, the more turns you have completed, the harder this fight gets. Just don’t risk it. Since the difficulty of the mode doesn't seem to have an impact on getting new hats, I recommend fighting Classic on a mode you are absolutely comfortable with. If you can consistently beat Classic on Lv7 with the character you choose, then go for it but I would only do Lv9 if I felt absolutely sure my success was guaranteed with that character. It’s not worth getting more rewards if you just lose most of them straight afterwards.

I have another definitive tip for all of these modes. No “may” or “potentially” about it…

CUSTOMISATION IS YOUR FRIEND

When I first got this game, I was determined to not use these. I didn't want overpowered characters with different moves blah, blah… yeah I changed my mind when I realised I couldn't complete this game without them, such as defeating Classic on Lv9 without losing a single life. This game can be seriously challenging and to be able to have the best success with these modes and in beating a bunch of the challenges, you want to utilise customisation. Naturally you have to have played the game a lot to get good equipment but hopefully by the point you have done a bulk of the challenges and gotten quite a lot of hats etc you will have a good haul of equipment and custom moves to help you finish everything else off.

Some pieces of equipment are more general in their use but some can only be used by specific characters, plus some characters have their own version of a piece of equipment that has the same effect as another piece of equipment. As such, you may not have these equipment types for all the characters you want but just try your best and keep checking, if you keep doing Crazy Orders, Master Orders, Classic and Trophy Rush you may get them along the way.

I recommend in most modes having some kind of Home Run Bat badge, where you start each fight with a home run bat. A great piece of equipment to go with this is some form of Quick Batter badge, where your Home Run Bat swings are faster (a Quick Smasher badge will only work for regular smash attacks and not home run swings). A third fantastic piece of equipment is First Striker, where you will be granted with 10 seconds of invincibility if you get the first strike. A fourth wonderful piece of equipment is the Vampire Brawn Badge or some other form of “heal when you hit” equipment.

If you use the first three pieces of equipment listed in the above paragraph with a character who has a fast projectile, you can clear Master Orders and Crazy Orders tickets in seconds. Great examples are Fox or a Mii Gunner with Laser Blaze as the Neutral Special move, even Mario with the move Fast Fireball is good (allowing you to beat Crazy Orders with Mario with at least 20 turns, one of the challenges). This tactic can lead to being able to beat Crazy Orders with tens of turns completed (you can see videos on YouTube with 60 and 80 or more turns completed using this strategy). Just blast the character with the B button and then smash them out of the park when you are invincible. It works great on Metal and Giant characters. Make sure you can still defeat Crazy Hand (and Master Hand) though (hopefully you can get rid of any computer players with quick smashes and hit Master or Crazy once or twice with those swings). If you can’t use this combo, a Vampire badge is good as it replenishes health as you go along. This allows you to survive longer in Classic mode (particularly against Master Core) and Crazy Orders (though remember if you have less damage when you go into the fight with Crazy Hand, you won’t be given as much HP for this battle, making it harder). Be aware of characters with a counter move if you smash them with a home run bat without being invincible; and any characters with reflect moves or a Franklin Badge if you are firing a projectile move or throwing the bat at them. Even if the other pieces of equipment aren't especially useful for Trophy Rush, one of the Home Run Bat pieces of equipment still is. Holding a bat can make Trophy Rush a lot easier for any character (even Donkey Kong), a single Neutral Swing will destroy Wooden Blocks and Stone Blocks, whilst a Tilt Swing will destroy Gold Blocks and Blast Blocks and can push Bomb Blocks quite far away.

IN CONCLUSION

Who knows how much of this actually works and what is actually just superstition. Yes, I wanted to get all of those hats but I didn't want to never play the game again once I had. So if at the very least this makes getting those last few hats more bearable then I have done my job. I think I was fortunate in that I didn't have to grind too much compared to some people I saw online but at the same time, I think using some of these ideas helped me as well in both unlocking custom headgear and keeping my sanity.

Keep the focus on fun and don’t let your grinding get too… grindy.
Switch up game modes. Don’t play the same mode over and over. If you have been playing for hours, shut down and try again later.
Switch up characters. Keep changing characters when using different modes. If a character is successful in getting you a new hat, use that character in future. If you haven't used a character much in a particular mode, try them out a few times.
Customization is your friend.
Trophy Rush and Crazy Orders are great for unlocking headgear.
Be patient, keep slugging away and it will happen, but don’t expect it to happen in an afternoon, it takes days not hours.

LIST OF HATS

Here is a list of the hats, with their UK/European English names and the American English names. You start off with 7 hats and have to unlock 48 hats, with a total of 55 pieces of Mii Custom Headgear. I have them listed in alphabetical order; next to each hat is a number relating to when I got the hat, for example number 55 refers to the 55th and final hat I acquired. Hats in with a * next to them are default hats and thus have a number between 1 and 7 next to them. Hats in italics are unlocked by completing a challenge instead of being unlocked randomly, thus their number is somewhat irrelevant; these are the Chomp Hat, Peach's Crown and the Regal Crown in the Wii U version. The 3DS version has many more challenge-related hats, at the bottom of this post I have put a link to an awesome page that lists all of the hats, shows you what they look like and tells you how to unlock them on both the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game. I have also put some links to the forums and websites I looked at and have been referring to when hunting for my last few hats.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions please feel free to contact me. I hope this helps and good luck! When you succeed in getting ALL the hats, Tweet me at @BeauVO to let me know and a massive congratulations to you! Thank you so much for reading.

1-Up Mushroom Hat (27)
American Football Helmet (16)
Barbara the Bat Wig (25)
Bear Hat (26)
Beehive Wig (42)
Bovine Skull Hat (Cow Skull Hat) (54)
Captain Falcon’s Helmet (48)
Cat Ears * (2)
Chef Hat (13)
Chicken Hat (12)
Chomp Hat (11)
Cowboy Hat * (3)
Daisy’s Crown (17)
Devil Horns * (4)
Dog Ears (51)
Dragon Helmet (53)
Fancy Pirate Hat (52)
Floral Hat (15)
Frog Hat (28)
Hibiscus * (6)
Ice Hockey Mask (21)
Lacy Headband (24)
Lion Hat (33)
Luigi’s Cap (18)
Magic Hat (29)
Mario’s Cap (45)
Master Gardener’s Crown (40)
Meta Knight’s Mask (32)
Mii Force Helmet (23)
Mini Top Hat (55)
Ninja Headband * (5)
Panda Hat (47)
Peach’s Crown (9)
Pirate Hat (35)
Prince’s Crown (20)
Princess Zelda Wig (49)
Princess’s Crown (46)
Red Ribbon (41)
Red Shell Hat (43)
Regal Crown (22)
Samurai Helmet (30)
Samus’s Helmet (31)
Santa Hat (44)
Sheik Mask (14)
Shy Guy Mask (36)
Spartan Helmet (10)
Spiny Hat (19)
Straw Hat * (7)
Super Mushroom Hat (50)
Swimming Cap (37)
Top Hat (8)
Waluigi’s Cap (39)
Wario’s Cap (38)
Wedding Veil (34)
Wild West Hat (Western Hat) * (1)

ADDITIONAL LINKS

http://smashbros-miiverse.com/unlockables/hats
http://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/2kpr3d/guide_to_mii_hats/
http://smashboards.com/threads/fastest-way-to-get-mii-hats.372880/
http://www.smashdomain.net/index.php?topic=19487.0

A Sort of Guide to Unlocking Mii Custom Headgear in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U