5 Beginner Tips & Tricks for Palworld

When it comes to tutorials, Palworld's Early Access one is great. It takes you on a step-by-step process not just through your first couple of levels, but through several, and there’s even a nifty Survival Guide accessible through the menu.

That said, there are definitely things I wish I’d known before starting. My first world has been a hot mess of trial and error, as I’ve died in inconvenient spots, run out of necessary resources, and allocated stat points to the wrong areas. You don’t have to make my mistakes, though. If you’re just jumping into this Pal-catching adventure, here are what I consider essential tips to help you with early-game exploration, levelling up, and building/crafting.

Swim with Caution

There’s so much to see once you venture out of the Windswept Hills starting area, including mysterious towers, dungeons, enemy camps, other islands, and more. As such, you’ll often find yourself climbing and swimming to new places, even if you’re not super equipped to do so. The curiosity (at least for me) is just too strong.

But I unfortunately had to learn the hard way that swimming can be risky. Maybe not DREDGE-level dangerous, but still pretty perilous. If you drain all your Stamina while in the water — treading or actively swimming — you’ll die and drop your items. For me, this happened far from a respawn point, and I wasn’t near a fast-travel statue either, so I had to make the long trek back to my belongings. Don’t be like me and assume you can swim for an endless amount of time, because you can’t, and dying is definitely inconvenient. This tip could also be “Climb with Caution,” but there’s more of a chance that you’d survive fall damage if you run out of Stamina; the water is not as forgiving.

You Can (and Should) Frequently Recall an Active Pal

I love exploring the world with a Pal by my side — at least until they get in the way of me catching other creatures. While they’re cute and helpful in nearly all areas of gameplay, sometimes they can be too helpful, especially in combat.

So if you’ve cut down a Pal’s HP and are ready to throw out your Pal Sphere, be sure to recall your active Pal first or command them not to attack. If you don’t, they might deal the final blow, which can be incredibly frustrating if you’re trying to get a boss or Lucky Pal.

Catch 10 of Each Pal

Most actions in Palworld give you EXP, including foraging, crafting, and combat, but the best way to level up is by catching Pals. If you want to climb levels fast, you should take advantage of the EXP bonus that the game gives you once you get 10 of the same Pal. For example, you’ll receive a boost if you capture 10 Lamballs, Cattivas, or any of the other creatures in your Paldeck.

While the game mentions this in the tutorial, I didn’t take it seriously until I was about level 20. But I wish I had done so sooner, as it really speeds things up. However, you’ll need a substantial supply of Pal Spheres, especially since it’s easy to whiff a throw or fail a catch. To make sure you’re not spending too many resources crafting them, I recommend always keeping an eye out for ones to grab in the environment and looting chests you come across as well. You could also build a Ranch for your base and assign a Vixy to dig inside of it, which will yield a ton of Pal Spheres and other items for you to use.

Increase Your Carrying Capacity

Levelling up is your chance to enhance your character’s stats, allowing you to apply points to Health, Stamina, Attack, Defense, Work Speed, and Weight. But it’s hard to know which ones to prioritise when you’re just getting started.

I enhanced my Attack and Defense for my first few levels but quickly got weighed down by all the stuff I was carrying. Early on, you’ll be gathering resources more than fighting, so it makes more sense to up your Weight stat. Otherwise, you’ll have to slowly trudge over to the nearest fast-travel point before you can unload items at your base.

Stock Up on Ore

I didn’t expect Ore to be one of the most vital materials needed in base-building and crafting; if I had, I would’ve collected as much as I could from the get-go. Instead, I built my base in a place with no Ore whatsoever, and I was constantly running out to get more. Of course, I eventually caved and decided to move my base, which was also a pain. Similar to the swimming catastrophe, save yourself time and avoid my mistakes.

You’ll need Ore to refine into Ingots, so it’s smart to place one of your bases in a place abundant with those nodes. Any of your Base Pals with the level two Mining trait, such as Tombat, Penking, or Dumud will automatically mine Ore for you, though they might be difficult to get early on. Until you can capture them, you’ll have to do the mining yourself.

Those are my five essential tips for getting started in Palworld! I hope this makes the early-game stages pitfall-free for you. Have fun exploring Palpagos Islands, and stay tuned for more tips and tricks right here at GameGrin.