There’s nothing more frustrating than sitting down to craft a new set of armor, upgrade your base storage, or repair your favorite crossbow, only to realize you’re completely out of leather. I wasted hours my first week of playing running around random biomes chasing low-yield Pals, coming back to my base with less than 15 pieces after an hour of grinding. If you’re tired of that same headache, this guide breaks down exactly how to farm leather in Palworld without wasting time on bad targets or low-spawn locations.
What Pals Drop the Most Leather When Hunted?
Not all Pals are created equal when it comes to leather drops, and picking the right targets is the easiest way to cut your farming time in half. You don’t have to go after the strongest, highest-drop Pals right away either; even early-game targets can give you plenty of leather if you hunt them in dense spawn areas. The below list breaks down the best Pals to target based on your current level:
- Cattiva: Drops 1-2 leather per kill, found everywhere on the starting island, perfect for level 1-10 players who can’t take on stronger Pals yet. They spawn in swarms of 3-5, so you can clear a whole group in seconds with a basic club or bow.
- Felbat: Drops 3-4 leather per kill, spawns in wooded areas at night, with low attack damage that makes them safe to farm even with a basic crossbow. They also drop small amounts of venom, which you can use for poison arrows later on.
- Grizzbolt: Drops 6-8 leather per kill, mid-game spawn in the bamboo grove biome, and also drops electric organs so you get double value per run. They’re a bit tanky, so bring a level 20+ fighting-type Pal to take them down fast.
- Mammorest: Drops 10-12 leather per kill, late-game spawn in the snowy mountain biome. Just make sure you have fire-type Pals or fire ammo to melt their ice armor, otherwise fights can drag on for minutes.
You don’t have to kill Pals to get leather, either. Capturing them gives you the exact same drop rate as killing them, so you can fill out your Paldeck and farm leather at the same time if you’re still working on completing your collection. If you run into a shiny variant of any of the Pals on this list, capture it immediately; they give double the normal drops, so you’ll get twice as much leather for the same effort.
How to Farm Leather in Palworld: Optimal Low and Mid-Game Spots
Even if you’re targeting the right Pals, farming in a bad location will slow you down to a crawl. I’ve tested dozens of spots across the map over 100+ hours of play, and these two locations are the most consistent for fast, low-effort leather farming regardless of your level. For early-game players, the grasslands west of the first fast travel point on the starting island is unbeatable. There are constant Cattiva and Lamball spawns along a 200m loop around a small pond, and you can get 30-40 leather in 20 minutes without ever fighting a Pal above level 5. I tested this spot on a new save last week, and I had enough leather to make three full sets of leather armor before I even hit level 12.
For mid-game players who’ve unlocked the bamboo grove biome, the area just west of the Sealed Realm of the Thunder Lord fast travel point is perfect. Felbat and Grizzbolt spawns are extremely dense here, and the fast travel point is right at the edge of the grove so you don’t have to run far when your inventory is full. If you build a small outpost with a storage box near the grove entrance, you don’t even have to teleport back to your main base to unload; just drop off your leather and keep farming. Always bring a few empty Pal spheres when you farm this spot, because shiny Grizzbolt spawns are surprisingly common here, and they give you 12+ leather per capture.
Skip the desert biome entirely when you’re farming leather, by the way. Most Pals there drop bone or cloth instead of leather, so you’ll waste hours running around with almost no drops to show for it. The swamp biome is also a bad pick, as most Pals there drop organic material instead of leather.
Gear and Pal Setups to Speed Up Leather Farming
You don’t need fancy endgame gear to farm leather efficiently, but a few small upgrades will make the process way faster. For early-game players, the crossbow is the best weapon for leather farming, because you can take down Pals from a distance without taking damage, and ammo is cheap to craft with wood and stone. Skip fire arrows or fire weapons entirely, though; fire will burn leather drops half the time, so you’ll end up with way less leather per kill even if you take down Pals faster. That’s a mistake I made all the time when I first started playing, and I couldn’t figure out why I was getting so few drops after hours of hunting.
For mid-game players, the assault rifle is even faster, but stick to normal ammo to avoid destroying drops. If you’re playing with a group, have one player run a healing Pal to keep everyone topped up, and the rest run fighting-type Pals to clear spawns in seconds. Bring a high-level Foxparks with the "Swift" trait as your riding Pal, too; the movement speed boost lets you run between spawns 30% faster, so you can clear more Pals per hour. You should also unlock the "Looting" skill for your main combat Pal as soon as possible; at max level, it increases drop rates by 30%, which adds up fast when you’re farming 50+ Pals per run.
If you have extra technology points to spare, invest in the item stack size upgrade early on. It lets you carry 50% more leather per run, so you don’t have to stop and unload your inventory as often. I also recommend keeping a few extra inventory slots open when you farm, so you don’t have to throw away other useful drops like Pal organs or extra ammo to make room for leather.
Common Leather Farming Mistakes to Avoid
Even if you’re following all the right steps, small mistakes can cut your drop rate in half and make farming way more frustrating than it needs to be. The most common mistake I see new players make is wasting time on low-drop Pals like Chikipi or Lamball. They only drop 0-1 leather each, so even if you kill 10 of them, you get less than you would from one Felbat. It’s tempting to kill every Pal you see when you’re first starting out, but sticking to the high-drop targets we listed earlier will save you hours of grind.
Another common mistake is not using fast travel points to unload your inventory. I used to carry 50 pieces of leather around while farming, then end up having to leave drops behind because my inventory was full. Now I keep an eye on my weight limit, and teleport back to my base as soon as I hit 80% capacity; it saves way more time in the long run than trying to squeeze in one more kill before heading back. Set your in-game time to night at a bed before you head out to farm Felbat, too; they only spawn after dark, so you’ll waste 70% of your time searching if you head out during the day.
Avoid using large area of effect attacks like grenades or Mammorest’s charge skill when you’re farming, as well. These attacks often destroy drops before you can pick them up, so you’ll kill a whole group of Pals and end up with zero leather to show for it. Stick to single-target or small AOE attacks to make sure you collect every drop. Don’t go out of your way to farm leather unless you need it immediately, either. If you kill every Cattiva or Felbat you pass by while you’re farming wood or ore, you’ll build up a huge stockpile of leather without even trying, and you won’t have to set aside time to grind for it later.
At the end of the day, figuring out how to farm leather in Palworld doesn’t have to be a frustrating grind. If you pick the right Pals to hunt, stick to high-spawn areas, and avoid the common mistakes we covered, you’ll have more leather than you know what to do with in no time. I still use the starting island Cattiva loop when I need a quick 20 pieces for repairs, and the bamboo grove Grizzbolt farm for big crafting projects like building a new base or making armor for my whole Pal squad. Try out the methods that fit your current level, and adjust as you unlock better gear and access new biomes.