Palia: How to Upgrade Your Tools at the Worktable

Every tool in Palia starts as a Makeshift version, and you can push it through three higher tiers to hit bigger trees, mine tougher ore, water more crops, and land rarer fish. Upgrading works the same way for each tool. You raise the matching skill, buy the recipe from that skill’s Guild Store, then craft the next tier at your Worktable using your current tool as an ingredient.

Quick answer: Reach the required skill level (3 for Standard, 6 for Fine, 9 for Exquisite), buy the recipe from the tool’s Guild Store, then craft it at your Worktable with the previous tier tool plus the listed planks and metal bars. The new tool replaces the old one automatically.

The four tool tiers and what unlocks them

All tools follow the same tier ladder: Makeshift, Standard, Fine, and Exquisite. Exquisite is the highest tier in the game right now. You cannot skip a tier, because each recipe demands the previous tool as a crafting material.

Skill levels gate the recipes. Most tools unlock their tiers at levels 3, 6, and 9. The Hoe is the exception and needs slightly higher gardening levels.

Palia quest panel visible on screen while the player explores the area outdoors — The in-game HUD during open-world play, where you gather materials and level skills. Image: Singularity 6

Tier	Skill level	Materials (plus previous tool)
Standard	Level 3	20 Sapwood Plank, 5 Copper Bar
Fine	Level 6	10 Heartwood Plank, 5 Iron Bar
Exquisite	Level 9	5 Flow-Infused Plank, 2 Palium Bar

Note: The Hoe unlocks Standard at Gardening Level 4, Fine at Level 7, and Exquisite at Level 9 instead of the usual 3/6/9 pattern.

How to craft a tool upgrade

Level the matching skill until the recipe unlocks. Chop trees for Foraging, mine nodes for Mining, catch fish for Fishing, and so on. The recipe becomes available for purchase once you hit the required level.

Open the Map and find the Guild Master for that skill. Their portrait circle marks their spot, and you can middle-click to set a waypoint that follows the character as they move.

Palia quest tracker on screen as the player moves through the world to find an NPC — Tracking an objective in the world, the same way you locate a Guild Master to buy a recipe. Image: Singularity 6

Talk to the Guild Master and buy the recipe with Gold. Each tier costs more than the last, so keep some Gold in reserve before you head over.

Go to your Worktable, which you set up during the “Welcome to Palia” intro. Select the new tool recipe, confirm you have the previous tier tool plus the required planks and bars, then craft it. The upgraded tool replaces the old version in your tool wheel automatically, so there is nothing else to swap or equip.

Where to buy each tool recipe

Each tool ties to one skill and one Guild Store. Gardening covers two tools, so Badruu sells both the Hoe and Watering Can recipes.

Tool	Skill	Guild Master
Axe	Foraging	Ashura
Pick	Mining	Hodari
Hoe	Gardening	Badruu
Watering Can	Gardening	Badruu
Fishing Rod	Fishing	Einar
Bow	Hunting	Hassian
Belt	Bug Catching	Auni

Recipe costs and materials by tool

Most tools share the same Gold prices and the same plank-and-bar recipe at each tier. The Belt is the outlier because it uses leather, fabric, and silk instead of planks. The Hoe costs more Gold at Standard and unlocks later.

Standard tier (Level 3)

Tool	Gold cost	Materials (plus Makeshift tool)
Axe, Pick, Watering Can, Rod, Bow	200–250 Gold	20 Sapwood Plank, 5 Copper Bar
Hoe (Level 4)	500 Gold	20 Sapwood Plank, 5 Copper Bar
Belt	250 Gold	4 Leather, 3 Copper Bar

Fine tier (Level 6)

Tool	Gold cost	Materials (plus Standard tool)
Axe, Pick, Watering Can, Rod, Bow	1,500 Gold	10 Heartwood Plank, 5 Iron Bar
Hoe (Level 7)	1,500 Gold	10 Heartwood Plank, 5 Iron Bar
Belt	1,500 Gold	2 Fabric, 3 Iron Bar

Exquisite tier (Level 9)

Tool	Gold cost	Materials (plus Fine tool)
Axe, Pick, Watering Can, Rod, Bow, Hoe	3,000 Gold	5 Flow-Infused Plank, 2 Palium Bar
Belt	3,000 Gold	2 Silk, 1 Palium Bar

What each upgrade actually does

Higher tiers unlock more than raw stats. The Axe lets you chop medium trees at Standard and large trees at Fine, plus Flow-infused trees at Exquisite. The Pick can mine Iron at Standard and adds Palium at Fine. The Watering Can waters up to five crops at Standard, nine at Fine, and pours faster at Exquisite.

Tool	Main benefit of upgrading
Axe	Chops larger trees and deals more damage
Pick	Mines Iron, then Palium; breaks nodes faster
Bow	Shoots farther for easier hunting
Rod	More line health and faster movement for tricky fish
Belt	Higher chance to daze bugs
Hoe	Tills a larger area at once
Watering Can	Holds more water and waters more crops

Keep tools repaired so they don’t downgrade

Every tier above Makeshift loses durability with use. The bar around the tool’s icon shows its condition, turning from yellow-green to orange to red. If it fully depletes, the tool drops down to the previous tier and you have to re-craft the upgrade at the Worktable, so repair before it runs out.

You can repair at Sifuu the Blacksmith’s anvil in Kilima Village using Gold or Repair Kits, or at the Central Stables fast travel points in Bahari Bay and the Elderwood using Repair Kits. You can also build a Repair Station on your housing plot, which uses Repair Kits only. The Repair Station recipe comes from Hodari once you reach Mining Level 4, and Repair Kits are crafted at the Worktable after you upgrade any tool past its Makeshift version.

Because each tier keeps costing more Gold and rarer materials, focus your early upgrades on the skills you use most. Upgrading a tool immediately opens up better resources, which then feed the materials you need for the next tier across all your other tools.