Palworld for beginners: your first ten hours

Your first ten hours in Palworld have a surprisingly clear shape: survive, build, take off. If you know it, you’ll have a working base within three hours and a flying mount within ten. If you don’t, you’ll waste time running around on foot and wondering why your Pals at the base aren’t producing anything. This article walks you through it hour by hour and covers one mistake almost everyone makes.

The first two hours: gather the basics

The start is classic survival. You gather wood and stone, craft your first tools and catch whatever you run into: Lamball, Chikipi, Cattiva. They’re weak Pals, but they’re exactly what you need to get a base going.

Two things you want by the end of the second hour: a Palbox (without it there’s no base) and a campfire. The Palbox establishes your base and determines where your Pals will work.

Hours three to five: get production going

Now comes the part that makes Palworld fun. Catch Foxparks: it can kindle, so it will take over the furnace and smelting. Build your first proper base and add the two things everything depends on: a berry plantation and a feed box.

By the end of the fifth hour you should have a base that produces something even while you’re just standing nearby and watching.

Hours six to ten: take off

The goal of this phase is level 15 to 20 plus Nitewing, the first flying Pal you can ride. Flying changes the game more than any weapon; the map shrinks and traveling stops being a chore.

Around the same time it pays to build a second base right by a mountain with ore. You’ll always be short on ore, and letting Pals mine it is more convenient than going back for it every time.

Mistake number one: hungry Pals

This is the most common beginner mistake, and it’s behind most of the early-game frustration. Pals at your base eat. When there’s no food, they stop working, and the base grinds to a halt even if everything else is fine.

The fix is simple, so do it right away: build a berry plantation and a feed box and assign a Pal that can plant and gather to work there. Automating food is the first thing your base should be able to do, not the last.

Mistake number two: Pals left in the box

A Pal sitting in the Palbox does nothing. It isn’t a backup, it’s wasted output. As soon as you catch something, check its work suitability and assign it to your base.

Every Pal’s work suitability is shown with icons: mining, lumbering, cooling, planting, watering, transporting, handiwork. These icons, not combat strength, are what you should use to pick your base crew. So catch weak Pals too if they can do something you’re missing.

Where to build your first base

This is the first real decision in the game. You want a spot with wood, stone and ore nearby and enough flat ground for buildings. On the map there are plenty of such spots in the green starting area. Don’t rush it; moving your base later is a pain.

What to save for later

Don’t head into the desert or the frozen region early. It isn’t enemies that will kill you, it’s the temperature; without the right gear you can’t do anything there. Likewise, there’s no point chasing Tower Bosses before you have decent weapons and a solid team of Pals.

And if you play with friends, set up your own server. The world keeps running on it even without you, and you don’t have to figure out who hosts.

FAQ

This guide is compiled from publicly available beginner guides and official game materials, not from our own playthrough. The recommended order of steps matches across sources; check the specific levels and Pal names in the game, as they have changed during development.