Your First Hour: The Three Mistakes That Slow You Down for Weeks

Mistake 1: Building at Spawn

The starting area is a trap. It looks safe. It has flat land. It has a few trees and stones. But it has zero ore nodes past the first couple, and you need ore for everything — ingots, Pal Spheres, tools, weapons. The spawn base works for levels 1-10. After that, every ore run takes 5 minutes of walking each way.

The fix: The spawn base is temporary. At level 10-15, catch a flying mount (Nitewing is the earliest — catch one near the starting area at night). Fly to the Fort Ruins plateau. Move your base. Yes, you lose your existing structures, but early-game structures are cheap wood and stone. The time saved on future ore runs pays back the rebuild cost within your first two hours at the new location.

Mistake 2: Catching Everything

Your Paldeck fills up fast. The early game gives you easy access to 30+ species. Most beginners catch one of everything they see, then have a box full of Pals they never deploy.

The fix: For the first 10 levels, only catch Pals with work suitabilities your base needs: Mining, Kindling, Handiwork, Transporting, Planting, Watering. If a Pal doesn’t have at least one of these at level 2+, skip it. Catch 10 copies of the same useful species (Lamball, Cattiva, Foxparks) for the 10-catch XP bonus — this levels you up faster than catching one of everything.

Mistake 3: Ignoring the Palbox Upgrade

The Palbox has a “base level” that increases with upgrades. Each level adds more Pal slots to your base. Beginners ignore this because “I can already deploy 5 Pals, that’s enough.” But a level 10 base deploys 15 Pals. More Pals working simultaneously = faster resource production = you level up faster = you unlock better technology. The Palbox upgrade is the single best investment in the first 20 hours.

The Level 10 Decision: Tech Rush vs. Exploration

At level 10, you unlock your first Technology Points (TP). You have enough TP for one major unlock. This is the first decision that shapes your next 20 hours.

Path A: Tech Rush. Spend TP on the Logging Camp and Stone Pit. These automate wood and stone production, freeing your Pals to do more valuable work. Your base becomes self-sufficient for basic materials. This path leads to faster base expansion and earlier access to mid-game technology.

Path B: Exploration. Spend TP on better Pal Spheres (Mega Spheres) and a better weapon (Old Bow). This lets you catch higher-level Pals and fight tougher enemies. Your base develops slower, but your personal power grows faster.

Which should you choose? Tech Rush if you enjoy base building and want a self-running operation before exploring. Exploration if you want to see the world and catch rare Pals early. There’s no wrong answer — but there IS a wrong behavior: splitting TP across both paths. Half-investing in both means you’re mediocre at both. Commit to one path for levels 10-20, then catch up the other path.

Real Example: What Happens When You Split TP

A player at level 10 unlocked the Logging Camp AND Mega Spheres. The Logging Camp required base Pals to operate, but the player was out exploring with Mega Spheres and nobody was at base. The Logging Camp sat idle. The Mega Spheres let them catch level 20 Pals, but those Pals needed better base facilities the player hadn’t unlocked yet. The result: a base that produced nothing and Pals too high-level to use effectively. Pick one path. Execute it fully. Then pick the other.

Technology Unlock Priority

If you chose Tech Rush, unlock in this order:

  1. Logging Camp (automated wood)
  2. Stone Pit (automated stone)
  3. Palbox level 2 (more Pal slots)
  4. Better beds (Pals rest faster = more work time)
  5. Production lines (automatic crafting)

If you chose Exploration, unlock in this order:

  1. Mega Spheres (catch level 15-25 Pals)
  2. Old Bow (your first ranged weapon)
  3. Basic Shield (survivability while exploring)
  4. Cloth Armor (more defense)
  5. Nitewing Saddle (your first flying mount, game-changer at level 15)

Your First Boss: Zoe & Grizzbolt (Level 15 Target)

The first tower boss is Zoe & Grizzbolt, and it’s the skill check between “early game” and “mid game.” Most beginners walk in at level 12 with 3 random Pals and die in 30 seconds.

Proper preparation:

  • You need 3-4 Ground-type Pals at level 15+ (Rushoar counts, and you should have several by now)
  • Bring 10+ basic food items for healing
  • Craft Cloth Armor and at minimum an Old Bow
  • The boss arena has pillars — use them as cover when Grizzbolt charges its electric attack
  • Focus your Pals’ attacks on Grizzbolt. Zoe (the rider) has much less HP than the mount

What most beginners get wrong: They bring their strongest Pals regardless of type. Fire Pals against an Electric boss take double damage and die immediately. Type advantage matters more than raw level at this stage. A level 15 Ground Pal does more effective damage to Grizzbolt than a level 25 Fire Pal.

The Day 3 Food Crisis (And How to Prevent It)

Around day 3-4 of your first playthrough, every new Palworld player hits the same wall: your Pals are starving, your food supply is depleted, and you have no automated food production set up. You spend an entire play session hunting for food instead of progressing.

The crisis happens because the starter Berry Plantation produces just enough to feed 3-4 Pals, but by day 3 you’ve probably caught 10-15 Pals and assigned half of them to your base. The food deficit builds gradually — you don’t notice until everyone is starving simultaneously.

Prevention: By the end of day 2, build a second Berry Plantation AND assign a Lifmunk or Tanzee with Planting 3+ to tend it. Two plantations with a dedicated Planter feeds 10-12 Pals indefinitely. Add a Wheat Plantation on day 3 so you can cook Jam-Filled Buns (2 Berries + 1 Flour), which provide 4x the nutrition of raw Berries per unit.

If you’re already in the crisis: Hunt Chikipi and Lamball around the starting area. Cook their meat at a Campfire. This is emergency food, not a long-term solution. While your Pals eat the emergency rations, build the second Berry Plantation. The crisis is a one-time event — once you have dual plantations + a Planter, food becomes a solved problem for the rest of the game. The players who quit Palworld in their first week almost always quit because they hit this food wall, didn’t understand why, and assumed the game was just a constant grind for survival. It’s not. It’s a one-time infrastructure check. Build the second plantation, assign a Planter, and food stops being something you think about. Pass it once, and food is never a problem again for the rest of your playthrough.