When you first arrive in Palworld, you'll need wood, stone and food to get a base started. Catching a few Pals early helps with that, as they can gather materials and work at your base while you're out exploring.
The PC requirements below are from Palworld's Steam page. These are for playing the game on your computer, not for running a dedicated server.
| MINIMUM | RECOMMENDED | |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i5-9400F | Intel Core i5-12400 / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
| Memory | 16 GB RAM | 32 GB RAM |
| Graphics | GeForce GTX 1660 | GeForce RTX 3060 Ti / Radeon RX 6700 XT |
| DirectX | Version 11 | Version 11 |
| Network | Broadband Internet connection | Broadband Internet connection |
| Storage | 40 GB available space (SSD required) | 40 GB available space (SSD required) |
| Additional Notes | Internet connection required for multiplayer | Internet connection required for multiplayer |
Your first tools and base
You can pick up wood and stone from the ground to begin with. Use the wood to build a workbench, then make an axe and pickaxe so you can gather from trees and rocks more quickly. You'll need more of both materials as you start building, so leave yourself some for a campfire and shelter rather than using everything on tools.
For your base, look for fairly flat ground with resources nearby and room to add more workstations. Once you place a Palbox, you can manage the Pals working there and fast travel back to drop off supplies. Having that return point makes longer trips much easier.
Food and the first night
Pick berries as you travel so you've got something to eat when your hunger drops. Meat from defeated Pals is another early food source. To eat, right-click the food in your inventory or use the eat control on your controller.
Night brings colder conditions, so a torch or campfire is useful until you're equipped for them. Get some shelter built while you're still near your base. A bed also lets you sleep when the game and server conditions allow it.
Catching Pals and putting them to work
Craft some Pal Spheres before heading out to catch your first Pal. You'll have a better chance after weakening it, but watch its health as you attack so you don't defeat it before throwing the sphere. Bring a few spares, as a Pal can break out and you'll have to try again.
Once you've caught a few, have a look at their work suitability. A Pal that can water crops won't necessarily be able to plant them, and putting more Pals at a workstation won't help if none can do the job. Match your workers to the tasks you need: planting and watering for food, gathering for materials, or transporting to move items into storage.
You can keep others in your party to help in fights. Some Pals can also become mounts once you've unlocked and made their equipment, which gives you another reason to keep catching different ones as you explore.
What to build next
Open the Palbox to see your base upgrade tasks. These give you things to work towards as you unlock technology, and you'll need to return to the Palbox to apply the upgrade after completing them. Early on, tools, storage, food supplies and workstations are useful places to spend your technology points. Check the material requirements too, otherwise you can unlock something you can't make yet.
As the base grows, give your workers access to the stations and storage they need. Crops need harvesting, but the produce also needs moving somewhere, which is where transport workers help. Watching a base for a little while can show you which job is holding everything else up.
Breeding is something to come back to once you've built the setup for it. It lets you work towards Pals with the passive skills you want for fighting or base work; for now, getting familiar with the Pals you've caught will help you decide what you want later.
Heading further out
Before a longer trip, use a Repair Bench to fix your tools, weapons and armour, then pack food and spare spheres. A broken tool means coming back early, while going into a tougher area without decent armour and a shield can leave you with a much longer journey to recover your belongings. Use your Pals in fights and dodge attacks rather than trying to take every hit yourself.
Keep an eye on enemy levels and mark places you want to revisit. You can leave a difficult dungeon for later, then come back with better equipment and a stronger party.
Getting unstuck
If you get stuck in the terrain, the menu's respawn option can get you out. Check the server's death penalty before using it, though, as you may drop your equipment or other belongings and have to go back for them.
If you're setting up multiplayer for your group, you can find our Palworld server hosting here.
