Palworld Beginner Guide: Early Game Progression & Tips

Introduction

New to Palworld or returning after a break? Whether you’re just starting out or need a refresher, this guide covers everything you need to know about the early game (Levels 1-20). From base progression to resource management and early boss strategies, we’ll help you set up your world efficiently and avoid common mistakes.

1. Setting Up Your World – Difficulty & Custom Settings

Before jumping in, take a moment to customize your world settings. Adjusting the difficulty and resource rates can make progression smoother.

Recommended Custom Settings:

• Gatherable Items Multiplier: Set to 3x for faster resource collection.
• Gatherable Object Health Multiplier: Lower to 0.5x for quicker mining and logging.
• Dropped Items Multiplier: Set to 2x to get better loot from defeated Pals and bosses.

These settings can be adjusted at any time if you find the game too easy or too grind-heavy.

2. Choosing the Best Base Location

Don’t rush to place your base. Instead, explore the world and find a flat area with essential resources nearby.

What to Look For in a Base Location:

• Trees & Stones – For early crafting materials.
• Ore Nodes – Needed for weapons, armor, and advanced crafting.
• Wild Eggs & Mushrooms – Useful for food and item production.

Once you unlock multiple bases at Level 10, set up a base near resource-dense areas and use it for fast travel between locations.

3. Leveling Up Fast – The Best Methods

Fastest Ways to Gain EXP:

• Capturing Pals – The best method, including bosses.
• Catching 12 of the same Pal – Grants a large EXP boost.
• Buying Pals from vendors or hatching eggs – Counts toward capture milestones.
• Crafting & Cooking – Grants passive EXP while managing your base.

Best Stat Allocation for Early Game:

• Weight (800-1000) – Essential for carrying loot and materials.
• Stamina (180-200) – Helps with climbing, gliding, swimming, and combat.
• Health – Dump extra points here for better survivability.

Avoid Work Speed, as your Pals handle crafting tasks, making this stat unnecessary.

4. Managing Hunger, Sanity & Work Efficiency

Both you and your Pals have Hunger and Sanity meters that need management.

How to Keep Hunger & Sanity in Check:

• Hunger – Eat any food with a Nutrition Value. Raw food has no side effects, but cooked food is better.
• Sanity – Pals lose Sanity over time but recover by:
  • Sleeping, bathing, and eating specific foods.
  • Using Woolipop Pals to generate Cotton Candy, a quick sanity booster.

If a Pal’s Sanity drops too low, they stop working or develop conditions like injuries or depression. Fire or condense them into another Pal for efficiency.

5. Unlocking Technology & Prioritizing the Right Upgrades

Technology Points:

• Earn 6 per level.
• Prioritize workbenches, tools, and base upgrades first, then focus on weapons.
• Find extra Tech Points in dungeons, treasure chests, and from certain Pals.

Ancient Technology Points:

• Unlock special gear like Egg Incubators and Grappling Guns.
• Earned from Alpha Pals, Dungeon Bosses, and Tower Bosses.
• Capture Chillet repeatedly to farm early-game Ancient Tech Points.

6. Building & Optimizing Your Base Layout

A well-planned base boosts efficiency and saves time.

Best Base Layout Tips:

• Minimize walking distance between crafting stations, feed boxes, and sleeping areas.
• Group similar workstations together (e.g., Mills, Crushers, and Water Pals).
• Place storage chests near workstations for faster material retrieval.

Upgrade your Palbox to increase the number of Pals assigned to your base for better automation.

7. Partner Skills & Team Composition

How to Build a Strong Team:

• Mount Pals – Provide faster movement and combat abilities (Grisbolt, Incineram).
• Work Pals – Specialize in farming, mining, or crafting (Tanzee, Digtoise).
• Combat Pals – Useful for boss fights and tower battles.

Best Early-Game Pals to Capture:

• Incineram (Fire) – High offensive power, can be caught at Level 10.
• Grisbolt (Electric) – Found in Wildlife Sanctuaries.
• Tanzee (Farming) – Great for harvesting and crafting.
• Chillet (Ice) – Can be farmed for Ancient Tech Points.

8. Combat Strategies & Boss Battles

Boss fights are easier with the right strategy.

Key Boss Battle Tips:

• Use Fire & Poison Weapons – Deals percentage-based damage over time.
• Let Your Pals Tank – Throw them away from you to force bosses to attack them.
• Dodge & Withdraw – If your Pal is targeted, withdraw them before the attack lands.
• Use Shields – They regenerate after 25 seconds, reducing incoming damage.

For Tower Bosses, bring Ground-type Pals or use Incineram to deal massive damage.

9. Farming, Breeding & Production Strategy

Why Cake Production is Important:

Your main early-game goal should be to start producing Cakes as soon as possible for breeding.

• Unlock Wheat Fields & Mills to mass-produce flour.
• Use Mushroom Soup for an easy nutrition & sanity boost.
• Sell Jars of Honey at Bandit Camp for quick scrap income.

Fastest Way to Unlock Breeding:

• Prioritize Farming Tech Unlocks.
• Set up ranches & food production before focusing on combat.
• Capture High-Tier Pals Early – Their offspring inherit strong traits.

10. Key Takeaways & Final Tips

Essential Tips for Beginners:

• Capture Every Pal – Fills your Paldeck and unlocks useful abilities.
• Fast travel often – Each new point grants a Tech Point.
• Stockpile Skill Fruits – Teach powerful attacks to any Pal.
• Manage food carefully – Avoid spoilage and use storage boxes.
• Plan your base efficiently – Shorter travel distances = faster production.
• Upgrade and breed Pals – 4-star Pals have higher work and combat stats.

Final Thought

Early-game progression in Palworld is all about resource efficiency, smart leveling, and preparing for breeding. By capturing powerful Pals early, optimizing your base layout, and producing food efficiently, you’ll have a smooth progression path into mid and late-game content.

Now that you’re ready to build, explore, and fight your way through Palworld, what’s your first goal?