Best Starting Pals in Palworld 1.0

Best starting Pals in Palworld 1.0 is one of the first things you need to figure out when you land on the Palpagos Islands. With over 280 Pals in the game after the 1.0 launch on July 10, 2026, and more than 70 brand new ones added, it can be hard to know which ones are actually worth your time early on. This guide cuts through the noise and tells you exactly which Pals to catch first, what they do, and where to find them.

Palworld 1.0 is available on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation. More details are on the official Pocketpair website.

TL;DR — Best Starting Pals in Palworld 1.0

• Cattiva — Catch first. Adds carry weight and covers multiple base jobs.
• Pupperai — New in 1.0. Boosts your melee damage and works your base immediately.
• Clovee — New in 1.0. Raises the Gathering level of all your base Pals by +1.
• Foxparks — Best early Kindling Pal. Doubles as a flamethrower in combat.
• Daedream — Night-only. Hovers around you constantly and attacks enemies without being summoned.
• Pengullet — Covers Watering, Cooling, Handiwork, and Transporting all in one.
• Gumoss — Best early Planting Pal. Keeps your berry farms running nonstop.
• Vixy — Assign to Ranch. Passively generates Pal Spheres, gold, and arrows for free.
• Tombat — Level 3 Mining, Gathering, and Transporting. Ideal for a dedicated mining base.
• Eikthyrdeer — First double-jump ground mount. Great for traversal and logging.
• Nitewing — First flying mount. Unlocks aerial travel and opens up the full map.

How to Think About Early Pals in Palworld 1.0

Before diving into individual Pals, understand how the game is structured. Your Pals do most of the heavy lifting. They fight for you, run your base, and mine resources while you explore. Your job early on is to build a small team with clearly defined roles: base workers, combat partners, and mounts.

Do not try to catch everything and figure it out later. That leads to a cluttered Palbox full of Pals you never use. Instead, catch a few of the right ones early and assign them to the right jobs. A focused roster of six to ten well-placed Pals is better than thirty random ones with no roles.

Also remember: catching 5 of the same Pal species gives you a big XP bonus in 1.0. So catching multiple Cattivas, multiple Foxparks, and multiple Pengullets early not only fills your base workforce — it also speeds up your leveling. For everything else about getting off to a strong start, see our full best start guide for Palworld 1.0.

Best Starting Pals for Your Base

Cattiva — Your First Catch

Cattiva is the single most important early Pal in Palworld 1.0. Catch one before anything else. Its partner skill, Cat Helper, adds carry weight to your character for every Cattiva in your active party — up to 100 extra carry weight per Cattiva in 1.0. This stacks, and it solves your biggest early game problem: running out of inventory space while gathering ore and wood.

On top of that, Cattiva works at your base covering Handiwork, Gathering, Mining, and Transporting. It is one of the most versatile early workers in the game and keeps multiple base stations running without wasting time. Catch several of them in the starting area during your first hour.

Where to find: Common spawn throughout the Hill of Beginnings starting area. Active during both day and night.

Pupperai — Best New 1.0 Pal for Early Game

Pupperai is a brand new Ground-type Pal added in 1.0 and one of the best early catches in the game. Its partner skill, Best Boy, increases your melee weapon damage by 10 percent at level 1, scaling up to 35 percent at level 5. That is a massive buff for early combat where you are still using basic melee weapons regularly.

At your base, Pupperai covers Gathering, Lumbering, and Transporting. It is versatile enough to fill gaps in your early workforce, and strong enough in combat to make a real difference. It is worth catching several right at the start since you will want it both in your party and at your base.

Where to find: Spawns just north of the Hill of Beginnings, near the Level 38 Mammorest. Look for level 2 to 4 Pupperai roaming the area. Active day and night.

Clovee — Best Base Aura Pal in Early Game

Clovee is another new 1.0 Pal and arguably the best base aura Pal you can get in the early game. Its partner skill, Happy Clover, raises the Gathering Work Suitability of every other Pal at your base by plus one level. That means any Pal with a Gathering stat suddenly becomes more effective across the board. Berry farming speeds up immediately when Clovee is deployed.

Clovee also covers Planting and Gathering itself, giving your food production a double boost. It is a quiet but powerful addition that makes your entire base run better from the moment you place it.

Where to find: Spawns in the starting area alongside Cattiva and Pupperai. Active during both day and night.

Foxparks — Best Early Kindling Pal

Foxparks is a Fire-type Pal that handles Kindling at your base. Kindling is essential: it powers your furnace for smelting ore and your campfire for cooking food. You need it constantly, and Foxparks is one of the earliest options to cover it.

What makes Foxparks especially good is that it only has Kindling as its work stat. That means it stays focused. It will not wander off to do Transporting or Gathering when you need it at the furnace. Assign it there and it stays there. In combat, its partner skill transforms Foxparks into a flamethrower you can equip directly, which deals solid fire damage to tanky enemies and bosses.

Where to find: Spawns in grassy and forested areas in the starting zone. Also found in the Bamboo Grove region. Craft its Harness using 3 Leather, 5 Flame Organs, and 5 Paldium Fragments to use it as a flamethrower.

Pengullet — Best Early All-Rounder for Base

Pengullet is one of the first Pals you will run into after the tutorial zone and it is worth catching several straight away. It covers Watering, Handiwork, Transporting, and Cooling — four different base jobs in one Pal. That kind of flexibility is invaluable when you are still building out your workforce and have not found specialists yet.

Watering is critical for your berry plantation. Without a Watering Pal, your crops stall and your Pals go hungry. Pengullet fills this role immediately. Pair it with Gumoss for Planting and you have a self-sustaining food production setup from very early on.

Where to find: Common near water in the starting area. Easy to spot and easy to catch at low levels.

Gumoss — Best Early Planting Pal

Gumoss only has one job: Planting. That sounds limited, but it is exactly why Gumoss is so good. A Pal with only one work stat will always prioritise that job. Gumoss goes straight to your berry plantation and never gets distracted. Keep one or two assigned there and your food production will not run dry.

Fed Pals work faster. Hungry Pals slow down and eventually stop. Getting your food loop running with Gumoss and Pengullet early is one of the best things you can do for your base efficiency.

Where to find: Spawns in forested areas near the starting zone. Common during both day and night.

Vixy — Best Ranch Pal

Vixy has a unique passive called Dig Here. When assigned to grazing at your Ranch, it passively digs up Pal Spheres, arrows, and gold coins from the ground without any input from you. This is incredibly valuable early on when every Pal Sphere feels precious and crafting them costs Wood and Stone you constantly need for other things.

Vixy is not the strongest base worker overall. But as a passive resource generator assigned to the Ranch, nothing matches it in the early game. Build your Ranch as soon as you unlock it and put Vixy there immediately. It pays for itself within minutes.

Where to find: Spawns in grassland areas near the starting zone. Less common than Cattiva but still findable within the first hour.

Tombat — Best Early Mining Pal

Tombat was buffed in 1.0 and now sports Level 3 Mining, Level 3 Gathering, and Level 3 Transporting. That is an exceptional combination for a Pal you can find this early in the game. It makes Tombat the go-to pick for setting up your mining operation, especially once you unlock a second base near an ore cluster.

Catch two or three Tombats and station them at a dedicated mining base. Pair them with Pengullet for Cooling and you have an automated ore and ingot pipeline that runs while you are out exploring. For more on late-game resource farming, see our guide on how to get Soralite and Soralite Ingot in Palworld.

Where to find: Tombat spawns only at night in the Hill of Beginnings and surrounding areas. Bring enough Pal Spheres for a night run and you should find several.

Wispaw — New 1.0 Pal with Catch Bonus

Wispaw is a new Dark-type Pal introduced in 1.0 and a sneaky pick for any early roster. Its partner skill boosts your capture rate when you land a Back Bonus throw on an enemy — meaning if you hit a Pal from behind, your catch rate gets an extra bump. This makes catching rare Pals noticeably easier during the mid-game.

At base, Wispaw covers Handiwork, Lumbering, Medicine Production, and Transporting. That is solid utility, especially the Medicine Production stat which becomes valuable later for crafting consumables. It is worth getting at least one for your party when you are hunting rare species.

Where to find: Night-only spawn. Found west of the Small Settlement, around the Desolate Church, and across Marsh Island. Spawns at levels 11 to 12.

Best Starting Pals for Combat

Daedream — Best Early Combat Support Pal

Daedream is the most unique combat Pal in the early game. Its partner skill, Dream Chaser, lets it hover around you constantly — even when you have a different Pal summoned. It will automatically attack any enemy you engage. Craft a Daedream Necklace and you can have multiple Daedreams orbiting you at the same time, all firing Dark magic bullets at your target. They deal damage without dropping enemy HP to zero, so you can still catch Pals without accidentally killing them.

One important note: Daedream fires on its own, so if you are trying to weaken a specific Pal for catching, leave Daedream at base. Otherwise it is one of the strongest early combat partners you can have.

Where to find: Night-only spawn. Head northeast from the Plateau of Beginnings fast travel point after dark. You will find several in the hills. They are easy to spot due to their glowing purple hair.

Jolthog — Best Early AoE Attacker

Jolthog is a must-have early combat Pal for dealing with groups of enemies. Its partner skill, Jolt Bomb, lets you throw Jolthog directly at enemies like a grenade, dealing electric area-of-effect damage to everything nearby. It is one of the most satisfying and effective combat tools in the early game, especially in dungeons and Syndicate camps where enemies group up.

Jolthog also generates Electricity at base, which becomes important for certain workbenches and structures later in the progression.

Where to find: Common spawn in the starting grasslands during the day. Look for it in open fields near the Hill of Beginnings.

Rushoar — Best Early Combat and Mining Pal

Rushoar is a Ground-type Pal that can be ridden for speed dashes and does solid Mining work at base. As a mount, its partner skill lets it perform a powerful charge that breaks rocks and deals damage to enemies. It is one of the fastest early ground mounts for short bursts of movement and useful for breaking through Syndicate camps quickly.

Where to find: Spawns in rocky areas in the starting zone. Common during both day and night.

Best Starting Mounts in Palworld 1.0

Eikthyrdeer — First Double-Jump Ground Mount

Eikthyrdeer is the best early ground mount you can get, and most experienced players say it is the one to prioritise first. Its partner skill, Guardian of the Forest, lets you double jump while riding it. This changes traversal completely. You can reach ledges, jump over obstacles, and cross terrain that would otherwise require climbing or backtracking.

Eikthyrdeer also covers Logging at your base with Level 2 Lumbering, making it useful even when you are not riding it. Unlock its saddle from the tech tree and you will not want to go back to running on foot. The saddle requires 5 Leather, 20 Fiber, 10 Ingots, 3 Horns, and 15 Paldium Fragments.

Where to find: Head west from the starting area into the grasslands. You will find Eikthyrdeer roaming alongside Woolipops and Direhowls.

Celaray — Best Early Glider Upgrade

Celaray does not work as a riding mount the usual way. Instead, crafting Celaray Gloves lets you glide further and faster whenever you jump off a ledge. The upgrade is unlocked at Technology Level 7 and immediately improves how far you can travel without using stamina on climbing. If you love gliding across the map, Celaray is worth catching early.

Where to find: Spawns near water in the starting coastal areas. Common and easy to catch at low levels.

Nitewing — First Flying Mount

Getting a flying mount changes everything in Palworld. Nitewing is the first one you can realistically access, with its saddle unlocking at Technology Level 15. Once you are in the air, the map opens up completely. You can reach high cliffs, fly over water, collect glowing Pal Effigies from above at night, and find base spots that are impossible to raid.

Flight is not just about travel speed. It is about accessing content the ground cannot reach. Rushing to Nitewing should be a top priority in your first 15 levels. For tips on reaching new areas, see our guides on how to reach Sunreach Island in Palworld and how to remove the Fog of War in Sunreach Island.

Where to find: Spawns in the sky above the starting area grasslands and is relatively common. Keep an eye on the sky during early exploration runs.

New 1.0 Pals Worth Catching Early

Palworld 1.0 added over 70 new Pals. Most of them are mid or late-game content, but a handful are available right at the start and make a real difference.

• Pupperai — Ground-type. 10 to 35 percent melee damage boost. Catches in the starting area. Already covered above but worth repeating.
• Clovee — Grass/Neutral. Raises all base Pals’ Gathering by +1. Starting area spawn. Base game-changer from day one.
• Wispaw — Dark-type. Boosts catch rate on Back Bonus throws. Night spawn near Desolate Church and Marsh Island. Great for hunting rare Pals.
• Amione — Water-type. Raises all base Pals’ Watering by +1. Always spawns in pairs. Found southwest of the Bridge of the Twin Knights. Excellent base aura Pal.
• Tanzee Ignis — Fire variant of Tanzee. Covers Kindling, Handiwork, Lumbering, and Transporting. Unlocks a fire assault rifle at Technology Level 13. Solid combat and base pick.
• Muffly — Ice-type. Covers Cooling and Transporting. Best early Cooling Pal for keeping food from spoiling in your refrigeration setup.

Tips for Catching the Right Pals Early

• Weaken before throwing. Get the target’s health low, not critical. A Pal at 10 percent HP is much easier to catch than one at full health. Just do not drop it too far or you risk a knockout.
• Use the catch count display. When you aim a Pal Sphere at a target, the game shows how many of that species you have caught. Use this to track when the XP bonus is about to expire and move on to the next species.
• Hunt at night for dark Pals. Daedream, Tombat, and Wispaw are night-only spawns. Plan a dedicated night run with enough Pal Spheres before your first sunset.
• Check work suitability first. Before assigning any Pal to a base station, check its Work Suitability list. A Pal assigned to the wrong station does nothing useful. Match the stat to the job.
• Do not take your best workers into combat. Keep your base Pals at the Palbox and take dedicated combat Pals into the field. Mixing roles hurts both your base output and your fight performance.
• Collect Pal Effigies on every run. Boosting your capture power through the Statue of Power makes every catch easier. See our guide on how to get and use Mimog Effigy in Palworld for details.

For more tips on Skill Fruits that power up your Pals’ abilities, see our guide on how to get Skill Fruits in Palworld. And for help managing your team, see our guide on how to assign Pals to work in Palworld.

Recommended Early Roster Setup

Here is a simple team to aim for within your first few hours of Palworld 1.0. This gives you solid base coverage, reliable combat support, and your first mount.

Base Workers (Palbox Assignment)

• Cattiva x2 — General base work and inventory carry weight
• Foxparks x1 — Dedicated Kindling for furnace and campfire
• Pengullet x1 — Watering, Cooling, and Handiwork
• Gumoss x1 — Dedicated Planting for berry farm
• Clovee x1 — Base aura that boosts all Gathering stats
• Vixy x1 — Assign to Ranch for passive Pal Sphere and gold generation

Combat Party

• Daedream x2 (with Daedream Necklace) — Always-on combat support
• Jolthog x1 — Area-of-effect electric damage
• Pupperai x1 — Melee damage boost and flexible fighter
• Eikthyrdeer x1 — Double-jump ground mount and logging support

This roster covers your immediate base needs, keeps you alive in fights, and gives you strong mobility from early on. Swap in Nitewing once you hit Technology Level 15 and unlock its saddle.

For more on unlocking endgame Pal upgrades through Ancient Technology Points, see our guide on how to get Ancient Technology Points in Palworld. And if you want to upgrade your gear fast, see our guide on how to get the Fish Sword in Palworld and our guide on how to get Fiber in Palworld.

For stat management to support your Pal team better, see our full guide on Palworld 1.0 best stats to level up first. And to master admin tools for server play, check our all admin commands in Palworld guide.

Frequently Asked Questions