Katress is the cat mage of Palworld’s Dark roster, a nocturnal Pal (Paldeck #79) that leans hard into the fact that Dark attacks deal extra damage to Neutral types. It is not a top-tier fighter, but it earns its place through a partner skill that saves Pal Spheres and a triple stack of useful base jobs. Getting the most out of it comes down to picking the right skills for the role you actually want it to play.
Quick answer: For fighting, run Nightmare Ball, Dark Laser, and Dark Whisp with Legend, Musclehead, and Serenity. For base duty, keep it on Handiwork and Medicine Production with Artisan, Serious, Swift, and Runner.
Katress combat build in Palworld 1.0
Katress carries a magic attack of 105, so its damage output is fine but not exceptional. The real reason to keep it in your party is the partner skill, and the way you build it should support that support role rather than pretend it is a heavy hitter.
Mystical Black Magic partner skill
Katress’s partner skill is Mystical Black Magic. While it is in your party, Neutral Pals drop 40% more items when defeated, scaling up to 80% at higher ranks. The item bonus only matters when you are fighting Neutral Pals, so it is situational.
The second effect is the one that makes Katress a genuine catch companion. There is a 10% chance (up to 50% at rank 5) that a thrown Pal Sphere is not consumed. Keep Katress as your active Pal and you can burn through fewer spheres during long capture runs. The effect does not stack, so a second Katress adds nothing here.
Best active skills
Stick with Katress’s Dark-type moves, since they hit its intended targets hardest and outclass its Fire coverage. The strongest loadout leans on the high-power Dark skills it learns late, filled out with a reliable tracking attack.
| Active skill | Type | Power | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nightmare Ball | Dark | 300 | Big single hit |
| Dark Laser | Dark | 450 | Highest damage beam |
| Dark Whisp | Dark | 600 | Homing finisher |
Katress can learn Fire moves such as Flare Arrow and Ignis Blast, but the Fire coverage is too weak to justify a slot over its Dark options. If you want the missing moves earlier, you can teach them with Dark Skill Fruits, including Dark Laser and Nightmare Ball.
Best passive skills for combat
Because Katress is fairly frail, the priority is raising its damage so fights end quickly. Aim for this set of offensive passives, most of which you pass down through breeding:
- Legend — bred from a Legendary Pal, boosts attack and defense.
- Lord of the Underworld — bred from Necromus.
- Musclehead — raises attack, obtained through breeding or surgery.
- Serenity — obtained through breeding or surgery.
Katress base build in Palworld 1.0
At a base, Katress is a flexible worker thanks to three job types. It has Handiwork Lv 3, Medicine Production Lv 3, and Transporting Lv 2. That combination lets it craft, brew medicine, and haul finished goods without needing a dedicated setup. The catch is that Katress will stand around idle if there is nothing to craft or carry, so only place it where there is steady work.
Note: Katress is nocturnal, so it does its base work at night. Plan its station around that schedule if you want consistent output.
Best passive skills for base work
A worker build balances crafting speed with movement speed so Katress finishes tasks and stores items fast. The cleanest setup pairs work-speed and move-speed passives:
| Passive | Effect |
|---|---|
| Artisan | +50% work speed |
| Serious | +20% work speed (total +70% with Artisan) |
| Swift | +30% movement speed |
| Runner | +20% movement speed (total +50% with Swift) |
Artisan and Serious together give a +70% work speed boost so it clears one job and moves to the next quickly. Swift and Runner add a +50% movement speed boost for faster hauling. If raids are turned off in your world settings, the active skills do not matter for a pure base worker, so you can build entirely around passives. Alternatives like Remarkable Craftsmanship, Work Slave, and Vampiric also lean into non-stop production if you prefer maximum uptime.
Katress stats and movement
Katress is a medium-size, rarity 6 Pal. Its base numbers explain why it plays as a support and worker rather than a frontline tank.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| HP | 90 |
| Melee attack | 100 |
| Magic attack | 105 |
| Defense | 90 |
| Stamina | 100 |
| Run speed | 440 |
| Ride sprint speed | 620 |
| Transport speed | 292 |
At the level 80 ceiling, HP scales to roughly 4,500–5,580 and attack to 730–919 depending on IVs, with full Soul, Condenser, and Trust bonuses pushing those figures much higher.
Weaknesses and counters
As a Dark Pal, Katress deals extra damage to Neutral types and takes 1.35x damage from Dragon attacks. If you are fighting a wild Katress, a Dragon Pal is the fastest counter given how frail it is. Strong picks include Shaolong, Jormuntide, and Jetragon.
How to get Katress and pass down skills
Katress can be caught in the wild at levels 20 to 46, mostly at night, and it also hatches from a Large Dark Egg. Breeding is the reliable route when you want specific passives, since some skills only reach Katress if a parent already carries them. Its breed power is 700, and these are dependable parent pairs:
| Parent 1 | Parent 2 | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Penking | Celaray | Katress |
| Cinnamoth | Dumud | Katress |
| Melpaca | Grintale | Katress |
Breeding Katress further opens two notable outcomes. Pairing it with Wixen produces the Fire-typed Katress Ignis, while Pyrin plus Katress makes Pyrin Noct.
Once you have one worth keeping, its drops feed a matching accessory. Katress yields Leather, Katress Hair, and an Advanced or High Grade Technical Manual, and Katress Hair is a required material for the Epic-rarity Katress Ring, which reduces incoming Neutral damage and boosts Dark damage for the Pal fighting beside you. That ring turns a support cat mage into a small but real force multiplier for a Dark-focused party.
