Palworld Starter Guide: Beginner Tips & Tricks

The somewhat bizarrely-named Palworld is a strange game. A blend of survival, crafting, and monster-taming, in Pocket Pair, Inc.’s Palworld your adorable creatures called Pals slave away for you, and you never need to pay them a cent! The game can seem overwhelming at first, however, so here are some Palworld beginner tips and tricks to help you navigate your first hours in this vibrant world.

Starting Out in Palworld

When you start the game, you’ll be presented with options like “Start Game” and “Join Multiplayer Game.” For beginners, starting your own game is advisable. You’ll be prompted to set your world’s name, decide on multiplayer settings, and choose a difficulty level. The difficulty options range from Casual to Hard, with a Custom option for tailored gameplay. For new players, starting with Casual or Normal is recommended to get accustomed to the game’s survival aspects, but here’s a rundown of the difficulty levels so you can make an informed choice:

• Casual: Easier battles, faster resource gathering, and no death penalties.
• Normal: A balanced experience with equipment and material loss upon death.
• Hard: More challenging with slower progress and increased combat difficulty.

Following this, you’ll find yourself on the Character Creation menu. Here, you’ll craft your unique Flamborn character. The creation process offers various customization options for your character’s appearance and voice, including:

• Several different presets
• Hairstyle and color
• Facial hairstyle and color
• Voice
• Name

Be careful, though: you can’t change your character’s appearance later, so choose wisely!

Beginning Your Adventure

You’ll begin your journey at Windswept Hills. The game offers tutorial objectives, but there’s much to explore and learn on your own. Familiarize yourself with the HUD, which includes elements like a compass, quest list, Pal party, health and hunger bars, temperature gauge, and tool and weapon menus.

Understanding the Technology Tree

The Technology Tree is your key to unlocking new items and crafting stations. Spend points earned from leveling up or exploration to unlock these things, and note that some recipes are unlocked by capturing or defeating Pals. You can unlock cool and useful tech like the grappling gun from this menu.

Crafting and Gathering

Your initial focus should be on crafting basic tools like a Stone Axe, Stone Pickaxe, and Hand-held Torch. You’ll also need a Primitive Workshop to start building your base. Remember, some materials are obtained through combat with Pals, so arm yourself accordingly.

If you’re having trouble finding resources, we have you covered.

Building Your First Base

No Palworld beginner tips and tricks would be complete without touching on base building. Base building is a key part of the game.

First, create a Palbox – the device is essential for assigning jobs to Pals and tracking base missions. Then, use the wooden structure set to construct a simple shelter. Ensure your base has workstations for your Pals because they play an important role in gathering and crafting.

Capture Pals and assign them to tasks they excel in, like farming or gathering. Keep your Pals happy with amenities like Feed Boxes and Hot Springs.

Where to Build Your Base

Building a solid base is a key part of the gameplay in Palworld. The game offers various respawn areas, each with its unique characteristics, affecting your base-building strategy. These areas vary in Pal population and resource amounts, rated on a scale of one to five stars, and are spread across the main island, each offering distinct advantages and challenges. Here’s a summary of each area:

Windswept Hills Plateau of Beginning

• Pal Population: 5/5
• Resource Amount: 5/5
• Ideal for beginners with plentiful resources and Pals.

Windswept Hills Flying Fish Coast:

• Pal Population: 4/5
• Resource Amount: 3/5
• Suitable for large bases or farming, but limited resources.

Sea Breeze Archipelago Reef:

• Pal Population: 3/5
• Resource Amount: 4/5
• Good climate, isolated, but lacks Pal variety.

Sea Breeze Archipelago Castaway Beach:

• Pal Population: 3/5
• Resource Amount: 3/5
• Ideal for ocean-side living, but limited building space.

Marsh Island:

• Pal Population: 3/5
• Resource Amount: 4/5
• Offers privacy and scenic beachfronts, but can be chilly.

Eastern Wild Island:

• Pal Population: 2/5
• Resource Amount: 2/5
• Challenging due to sparse resources and Pals, but good for defense.

Ice Wind Island:

• Pal Population: 2/5
• Resource Amount: 2/5
• Extremely cold, requiring preparation, but offers spacious land for farming.

Forgotten Island:

• Pal Population: 2/5
• Resource Amount: 2/5
• The most challenging area with limited space, resources, and Pals.

How to Disassemble & Move Your Base

In Palworld, changing your base location involves disassembling your Palbox. To do this, enter Build Mode, select Disassembly Mode, and then interact with your Palbox to disassemble it. This process returns all materials used to craft the Palbox, and the game alerts you about which items will stay and which will be destroyed. Most structures and items, such as houses and chests, will remain intact, and all of your Pals will be safe.

Alternatively, you can disassemble your Palbox directly from the world map by hovering over your base’s icon and following the prompt. This method follows the same rules regarding what remains and what is destroyed. Disassembling from the map is a convenient option when relocating after finding a better location for a new base during exploration.

Initially, you’re limited to one home base in the game. It’s advisable to choose your first base location carefully. As you progress, you’ll unlock the ability to have multiple bases, making relocation easier if you discover a more suitable spot later in the game.

Preparing for the First Tower

In the Towers in Palworld, you can take on trainers and their Pals in pitched boss encounters. Because these encounters are the toughest combat challenges in the game, we recommend enhancing your stats, leveling up by capturing Pals, and equipping yourself with ranged weapons for effective combat before taking them on.

There are five towers spread across the world, each with their own combat challenge. If you’re keen to test your mettle, we recommend the Rayne Syndicate Tower to begin with. It’s the easiest tower, and the one that the game nudges you towards during the tutorial.

Joining a Guild in Palworld

Guilds are designed to be collaborative spaces for players to work together and progress more effectively than playing solo. There a number of advantages and disadvantages of joining a Guild:

The Positives

• Map Visibility: Guild members can see each other on the large game map, making it easier to locate and reach each other.
• Future Updates: The guild system may receive updates to address current limitations.

The Downsides

• Shared Bases: Joining a Guild results in a shared guild base, which doesn’t offer duplicated or improved resources compared to individual bases. Productivity is not increased with more guild members.
• Limitation on Bases: Players in a Guild are restricted to the guild base, whereas solo players can have their own base. Eventually, players unlock a secondary base, but in a Guild, this limits the total number of bases compared to playing solo.

Given the significant downsides, particularly concerning base sharing and productivity, we wouldn’t currently recommend joining a Guild in Palworld. The benefits of maintaining individual bases while playing alongside others outweigh the advantages of Guild membership. The map visibility feature is a notable benefit for Guild members, but it doesn’t offset the productivity limitations.

Players looking to maximize their experience in Palworld might prefer to play alongside others without joining a Guild, maintaining the full benefits of individual bases and progression, at least until the Guild system receives potential future updates.

Can You Evolve Pals?

In short, no. Pals in Palworld remain in their original form and do not evolve. For example, a Lamball will always retain its characteristics as a, well, cute ball of wool.

However, there are things you can do to enhance your Pals:

Using Items

Players can enhance Pals by using specific items:

• Skill Fruit: Grants a Pal a particular Active Skill. There are no restrictions based on Pal type; any Pal can learn any Active Skill.
• Pal Souls: At a Statue of Power, use collected Pal Souls to increase a chosen Pal’s stats.

Breeding

Breeding Pals allows control over their stats, skills, and the creation of specific Pal variants, including potential Lucky Pals. To encourage the process, use items like Cake. Everyone loves cake. We have a full overview of breeding combos and Pal Fusions if you’re after more info.

Fusing

Fusing Pals can result in different variants, adding another layer of customization.

In essence, the absence of evolution in Palworld is compensated by extensive customization options, including a non-limited move pool and breeding choices.

The combination of these features ensures that no two Pals are exactly alike, enhancing the diversity and strategic depth of the game. This level of customization could lead to interesting and unpredictable player-versus-player (PvP) matchups in the future.

Make sure you read our guide about how to keep your Pals topped up with health.

So, there you have it. Some Palworld beginner tips and tricks for starting in the colorful, crazy world of Palworld. Hopefully, these little titbits give you a good start on your Pal-tastic adventures. Keep an eye on the Palworld website for more news as the game evolves. We’ve got a guide for those who have encountered the dreaded black screen, too. Have fun, Pal!