A fresh start in Palworld 1.0 rewards a short list of early decisions far more than raw grinding. The right Pals early give you a follow-up damage source, a portable flamethrower, extra carrying weight, and a fast mining boost, while a few capture habits smooth out your entire leveling curve. Here is what to prioritize inside your first few hours in the Levels 1-20 range.
Quick answer: Catch Daedream and Hoocrates at night, grab Foxparks for fire damage, add Cattiva for carry weight, then pick up Rushoar for mining, Chillet (the Alpha at Windswept Hills, Level 11) for a Dragon mount, and Eikthyrdeer for a double-jump mount. Alongside that, capture up to 12 of every species you meet for the XP bonus, spend Lifmunk Effigies at your Statue of Power, and activate every fast travel point for free technology points.
Best early Pals to catch in Palworld 1.0
Every Pal below is obtainable in the early game and offers a specific, repeatable benefit rather than a one-off gimmick. Two of them, Daedream and Hoocrates, only appear at night, so plan a night run early.
| Pal (Type) | Partner Skill | Why catch it early |
|---|---|---|
| Daedream (Dark) | Dream Chaser | After you craft its necklace, it follows you without being summoned and adds magic-bullet follow-up damage. The effect stacks, so several Daedream can trail you at once. |
| Hoocrates (Dark) | Dark Knowledge | Increases the attack power of Dark Pals in your team, which directly buffs a stack of Daedream. Keep one in the party if you run that setup. |
| Foxparks (Fire) | Huggy Fire | Equips to you as a flamethrower that shreds tankier enemies and early bosses. Its Kindling also fuels your furnace back at base. |
| Cattiva (Neutral) | Cat Helper | Raises your maximum carrying capacity while in the party and stacks with more Cattiva. It also handles Mining and Handiwork. |
| Rushoar (Ground) | Hard Head | A rideable mount that smashes boulders far faster, and it can clear several grouped boulders in a single charge for quick early mining. |
| Chillet (Ice/Dragon) | Wriggling Weasel | An Alpha Pal near the starting area at Level 11 in Windswept Hills. Riding it applies Dragon damage to your attacks, and it brings strong attack stats. |
| Eikthyrdeer (Neutral) | Guardian of the Forest | A fast early mount with a double jump for traversal, plus faster tree cutting. The saddle is on the pricier side. |
Note: Because Daedream keeps firing on its own, it can accidentally kill a Pal you are trying to capture. If you head out purely to catch, leave your Daedream at base.
Partner skill crafting costs
Most of these Pals need a piece of gear before their Partner Skill activates. Build them at the Pal Gear Workbench as materials allow.
| Gear | Materials |
|---|---|
| Daedream’s Necklace | 5x Leather, 10x Fiber, 10x Paldium Fragment |
| Foxparks harness | 3x Leather, 5x Flame Organ, 5x Paldium Fragment |
| Rushoar saddle | 3x Leather, 10x Stone, 5x Paldium Fragment |
| Chillet saddle | 10x Leather, 20x Fiber, 5x Cloth, 20x Paldium Fragment |
| Eikthyrdeer saddle | 5x Leather, 20x Fiber, 10x Ingot, 3x Horn, 15x Paldium Fragment |
Capture habits that speed up leveling
Catching many Pals is not just for your team; it is one of the fastest leveling levers in the game. Each of your first 12 captures of a given species grants a large experience bonus, so grab up to a dozen of everything you run into instead of walking past common Pals.
While you explore, pick up every Lifmunk Effigy you can find. Spending them at the Statue of Power in your base raises your global capture rate, which makes rarer Pals easier to land. Skipping them quietly lowers your odds on the next Pal you actually want.
Touch every fast travel point too. The first activation of each one hands you a free technology point, and those add up quickly across the map. You will know it registered because the point appears on your fast travel network and the tech point lands in your total.
Get airborne with the Wing Pack
Flight opens up exploration that is otherwise gated behind slow overland travel. In 1.0, the Wing Pack functions as a gear item rather than a Pal slot, which changes how and when you take to the air compared with older runs. Earlier, the first reliable flyer was Nitewing around Level 15, but with the Wing Pack your air timing can shift.
The priority is the same either way. Get off the ground as soon as the game allows, because reaching the new Sunreach floating islands depends on the Wing Pack.
Mining, ingots, and combat math
For resources, Rushoar’s boulder-breaking charge and Cattiva’s Mining cover your early stone and ore needs before you set up a dedicated mining base. Foxparks matters here as well, since its Kindling powers the Primitive Furnace and lets you start turning ore into Ingots, which unlock a major jump in crafting.
Type advantage is not decoration; it is the difference between winning and losing fights you should win. Attacking with an advantaged element adds 50 percent damage, while attacking into a disadvantaged element cuts it by 33 percent. On top of that, a Pal deals 20 percent bonus damage when using a skill that matches its own typing, and dual-typed Pals get that bonus for both types.
| Matchup | Modifier | 100 damage becomes |
|---|---|---|
| Advantaged element | +50% | 150 |
| Neutral matchup | No change | 100 |
| Disadvantaged element | -33% | 66 |
Tune your world settings first
Before you commit to a rough patch, check the settings menu. Experience rate, capture rate, egg incubation time, the death penalty, and the number of bases you can build are all adjustable, and most can be changed mid-save rather than only at world creation. If a stretch feels slow, raise the XP multiplier, push through, then set it back. The main option locked at world creation is randomized Pal spawns, which is worth saving for a second playthrough.
With a night run for Daedream and Hoocrates, Foxparks and Cattiva in your pocket, and your capture rate climbing through Effigies and 12-catch bonuses, you will have a stable, high-tempo start that carries you well past the early bosses and toward flight and the wider 1.0 map.
