If you’ve spent any time playing Palworld in 2026, you know hitting a wall with endgame crafting is one of the most frustrating parts of the experience. You might have stacks of refined ore, dozens of high-level Pals, and a fully upgraded tier 3 base, but none of that matters if you don’t know how to get ancient technology points in Palworld to unlock the game’s best gear, structures, and quality of life upgrades. I’ve spent the last three months testing every possible farming route for these points, cutting out all the inefficient methods that waste hours of your time, so you can skip the grind and get straight to building the Pal base of your dreams.
How to Get Ancient Technology Points in Palworld: Core Unlock Methods
Before we jump into optimized farming routes, it’s important to cover the only reliable ways to earn these points in the 2026 version of the game. A lot of old guides from 2025 list methods that got patched out earlier this year, so you don’t want to waste time on tricks that no longer work. The three valid, permanent ways to earn points are:
That means you can’t farm points by repeatedly killing low-level alpha Pals, breeding rare Pals, or selling high-tier items, despite what you might see in old viral social media clips. Those methods never actually worked, or got patched out within the first few months of the game’s full release.
Most Efficient 2026 Farming Route for Ancient Technology Points
Once you’ve cleared all the one-time boss rewards for your save, you’ll want to stick to a consistent farming route to stock up on points for endgame upgrades. I tested 12 different routes over four weeks, and this one gives the highest point per hour rate by far, with a 45-minute average run time that fits easily into short play sessions.
Start your run at the Frozen Wastes tower fast travel point. Right outside the tower entrance, there’s a level 45 alpha Mammorest that respawns every 24 in-game hours – it only takes a minute to take down with a high-level fire Pal, and it drops 2 to 3 points every time you kill it. From there, glide southwest to the volcanic dungeon entrance, where you’ll find three gold-tier ancient chests scattered across the dungeon’s upper level. You don’t need to fight any of the dungeon bosses to reach these chests, just sneak past the level 30+ Pals if you’re not geared for combat.
If you follow this route consistently, you’ll never run out of ancient technology points to unlock your favorite endgame items. I’ve had runs where I got 21 points in one go by hitting all three chests in the volcanic dungeon and joining a high-tier raid right after, so your luck can definitely vary, but the average is still far better than any other route I tested. If you’re playing in co-op, you can split up to loot chests faster, and all party members get points for every chest anyone on the team opens.
Common Mistakes That Waste Your Ancient Technology Point Farm Time
Most players slow down their farm by making simple, avoidable mistakes that add hours of unnecessary grind to their play sessions. I used to waste 2 hours a day running low-level dungeons for points before I realized those chests don’t drop any, so I know first-hand how frustrating following bad advice can be.
First, don’t waste time fighting low-level alpha Pals under level 30. They only drop common crafting materials and Pal gear, no ancient technology points. The level threshold was raised from 20 to 30 in the 2026 spring update, so any guide that says level 20 alphas work is outdated.
Second, don’t bother opening common ancient chests with grey trim. They only drop ancient civilization parts, which are used for crafting, not points. You can tell the difference from 10 feet away, so don’t waste time running up to every chest you see just to check.
Third, don’t try to reset dungeons to farm the same gold chests repeatedly. The account-bound respawn timer for these chests can’t be exploited by leaving and re-entering the dungeon, or by resetting your server. Most of these mistakes come from outdated 2025 guides that no longer apply to the 2026 version of the game, so you don’t want to follow old advice that slows down your ancient technology point farm.
Smart Ways to Spend Your Ancient Technology Points in 2026
Once you have a steady stock of ancient technology points, you can start planning your endgame build without worrying about running out mid-craft. It’s tempting to unlock every new item as soon as you have enough points, but prioritizing the most useful upgrades first will save you dozens of hours of grind later on.
Your first purchase should be the Pal Essence Condenser upgrade that lets you raise Pal levels past 50. This upgrade makes every other part of the game easier, from boss fights to base resource farming, so it’s far more useful than any weapon or vehicle. Next, unlock the hoverbike, which cuts travel time for farming routes in half, followed by the large base shield that protects your base from raid damage even when you’re offline.
You can skip the decorative ancient structures entirely unless you’re building a themed base for fun, as they give no functional benefit and cost 5 to 10 points each. If you play mostly in co-op, you can also prioritize the shared storage upgrade that lets all party members access the same storage chests across your entire base, which cuts down on a lot of unnecessary back and forth during group play sessions.
At the end of the day, learning how to get ancient technology points in Palworld doesn’t have to be a days-long grind if you stick to the proven routes and avoid common mistakes we covered here. The 2026 update has made these points far easier to farm consistently than they were at launch, so you can unlock all the best endgame content in a fraction of the time it used to take. If you test out the farming route we shared, drop a comment below to let us know how many points you got on your first run.