You just woke up on a beach. You have no clothes, your hands are cold, and there’s a giant mammoth-looking thing called a Mammorest wandering around that can flatten you in roughly three seconds. It’s tempting to just start punching trees and hope for the best, but Palworld is a bit of a trap if you play it like a standard survival game. If you spend ten hours building a wooden shack only for a fire-breathing raid to burn it to the ground, you’ll realize that a solid Palworld progression guide isn't just about leveling up—it's about staying ahead of the game's increasingly brutal curve.
Most people treat the game like a linear climb. It isn't. It’s a series of plateaus where you suddenly realize your current tools are garbage and your Pals are lazy.
The Early Game Scramble and the Level 15 Wall
The first few hours are basically a tutorial disguised as an island getaway. You need a base. You need Paldium fragments. You need to stop starving. But here is the thing: don't get attached to your first base location. Everyone builds right by the starting Plateau of Beginnings, and honestly, it’s kind of a mid-tier spot. You’ll want to find somewhere with flat ground and, more importantly, proximity to Ore nodes. Ore is the literal blood of your mid-game progression.
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By the time you hit level 10, you should have a basic team. Cattiva is great for carrying capacity, and Lamball is... well, it’s a shield if you’re desperate. But the real game starts when you unlock the Pal Gear Workbench. This is where the game shifts from "survival" to "creature-assisted warfare."
Getting a saddle for a Rushoar or a Melpaca changes everything. Suddenly, you aren't walking everywhere. You’re charging. You're fast. But then you hit level 15, and the XP requirements start to sting. This is the first real "wall" in your Palworld progression guide journey.
Why You Should Stop Grinding and Start Catching
A lot of players make the mistake of trying to level up by killing wild Pals or mining rocks. That’s a waste of time. The secret to explosive XP gain is the "Capture Bonus." For every species of Pal, you get a massive experience boost for the first 10 you catch. If you see a Lifmunk and you already have nine, catch that tenth one. The XP bar will jump more than it would after thirty minutes of manual labor.
It’s a snowball effect. More XP means better technology unlocks. Better technology means Mega Spheres. Mega Spheres mean you can catch higher-level Pals like Penking or Nitewing.
Nitewing is your first flyer. Get one. The moment you can fly, the map opens up, and the game ceases to be a walking simulator.
Mid-Game Logistics: The Ore Crisis
Around level 20 to 30, Palworld stops being about what you can do and starts being about what your base can do. You’re going to need Ingot. Thousands of them. If you’re still mining Ore with a stone pickaxe, you’re doing it wrong.
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You need a dedicated mining base. Look for the areas behind the Desolate Church or the various mountain ridges that have 6-8 Ore nodes clustered together. Throw down a second Palbox there. Fill it with Digtoise or Dumud. These guys will spend their entire lives smashing rocks so you don't have to.
The Breeding Renaissance
Honestly, breeding is the most "broken" mechanic in the game, and I mean that in the best way possible. You can get endgame-tier Pals like Anubis way earlier than you’re supposed to if you know the right combinations.
- Anubis is the king of Handiwork. He builds things in seconds that would take you minutes.
- You can breed a Penking and a Bushi to get an Anubis egg.
- It requires Cake. Cake requires a Wheat Plantation, a Mill, and a Ranch with Cows (Mozzarina) and Chickens (Chikipi).
It’s a supply chain. If you neglect the farm, you neglect the breeding. If you neglect the breeding, you’re stuck using sub-par Pals for the first 40 levels. Don't be that person. Start your cake production early. It’s the single most important tip in any Palworld progression guide because it bypasses the RNG of finding high-level Alphas in the wild.
Gearing Up for the Tundra and the Desert
Once you hit level 30, the map starts fighting back. The weather will kill you before the Pals do. You’ll need Heat Resistant and Cold Resistant armor. This is where the grind for Ancient Technology Points becomes real. You get these by defeating Bosses (the ones marked on your map) for the first time.
Don't ignore the dungeons. They look like scary caves, but they’re actually loot goldmines. You’ll find technical manuals that give you extra Tech Points, saving you from having to level up just to unlock a new saddle.
The Weaponry Shift
Arrows are for losers by level 35. You need the Handgun. Then the Assault Rifle. While the Pals do a lot of the heavy lifting, your character's damage output matters during Tower Boss fights.
Tower Bosses, like Zoe and Grizzbolt or Lily and Lyleen, are the literal gatekeepers of your progression. They have massive health pools. You can't just "wing it." You need elemental advantages. Bringing a Fire Pal to a Grass fight isn't just a suggestion; it’s a requirement if you don't want to spend twenty minutes chipping away at a boss's health.
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The Late Game: Mastery and Legendary Hunting
Level 40 to 50 is a different beast. This is the endgame. At this point, your Palworld progression guide objectives shift toward legendary Pals: Jetragon, Frostallion, and Paladius.
These aren't just "hard" fights. They are tactical puzzles. Jetragon is the fastest mount in the game, but he will incinerate you if you aren't wearing Legendary-tier Pal Metal Armor.
To get that armor, you need to find Schematics. Legendary Schematics drop from Alpha Bosses, but the drop rate is tiny—around 3%. You’ll be farming the same bosses over and over. It’s a grind, but seeing your character take zero damage from a level 45 Pal because your gear is so cracked? That’s the payoff.
Optimization is the Final Boss
By now, your base should be a literal factory. You should have specialized Pals for everything.
- Jormuntide for watering.
- Blazamut for smelting.
- Wumpo for hauling.
If you see Pals standing around with a lightbulb over their heads saying they're "slacking off," it’s usually because your base layout is too cramped. Pals have weird pathing logic. They get stuck on trees. They get stuck on roofs. Keep your base open. Keep it flat.
Actionable Steps for Success
Success in Palworld isn't about playing the longest; it's about playing the smartest. Follow these steps to keep your momentum:
- Prioritize the 10-Catch Bonus: Stop ignoring the "weak" Pals. Catch 10 of everything you see to rocket through the early levels.
- Automate Ore Immediately: Find a cluster of Ore nodes and set up your second base there by level 15-20. You cannot progress to Steel or Pal Metal without a massive surplus of Ore.
- Start Your Cake Farm: Get a Wheat Plantation and a Ranch running ASAP. Breeding is how you get powerful Pals like Anubis or Quivern without having to fight level 45 Alphas.
- Hunt Alpha Bosses for Ancient Parts: You need Ancient Civilization Parts for incubators and grapples. Farm the level 11 Chillet or the level 17 Quivern every time they respawn.
- Upgrade Your Player Stats Wisely: Focus on Weight and Stamina first. Attack power is tempting, but your Pals do the damage. You just need to be able to carry the loot and dodge the attacks.
- Use the Statue of Power: Collect Lifmunk Effigies to increase your capture power. It’s the difference between a 10% and a 60% catch rate on a rare Pal.
The world is huge, and it's easy to get distracted by a shiny Lucky Pal or a random chest. That's fine. Explore. But when you feel like you're not getting stronger, look at your base. Usually, the bottleneck isn't your skill—it's your infrastructure. Fix the factory, and the rest of the game falls into place.