If you’ve spent your first few hours in Palworld running from high-level Pals, scrambling for wood and stone, and wondering why you can’t unlock that cool flying mount you saw your friend use, you’re not alone. Figuring out how to level up in Palworld efficiently is the first step to turning your ragtag starter base into a sprawling, self-sustaining empire with an army of powerful Pals at your side. I’ve put over 120 hours into the game across multiple playthroughs, and I’ve tested every trick in the book to cut down on grind and progress faster without cheating or using exploits.
Stack Quest Rewards for Consistent, No-Grind EXP Gains
Quests are by far the most underrated way to earn EXP in the early to mid-game, and most new players skip them entirely to go hunt Pals. That’s a huge mistake. Even low-level fetch quests give 2-3 times the EXP of killing a Pal 5 levels higher than you in the first 20 levels. For example, collecting 5 berries takes 2 minutes, gives 100 EXP, while killing a level 15 Lamball only gives 30 EXP on average. You can complete 3-4 low-level quests in the time it takes to clear one enemy camp, for 4 times the total EXP.
Technology point rewards tied to quests let you unlock new crafting recipes faster, which unlocks even more high-EXP activities like building advanced bases or fighting higher-tier bosses. Don’t skip the base-building quests even if you think you don’t need that extra storage chest. The EXP and points you get will let you unlock better tools and weapons way earlier than you would if you only grinded mobs. I made this mistake on my first playthrough, and I spent 10 extra hours stuck at level 15 because I ignored all the tutorial quests.
How to Level Up in Palworld Using Targeted EXP Farming Runs
Once you hit level 20, quest rewards start to slow down, and you’ll need to add targeted farming runs to your routine to keep progressing fast. If you’re wondering how to level up in Palworld without spending all your time farming, mixing quest runs with 20-minute farming bursts is the sweet spot. Early mid-game, head to the grassy plateau south of the starting island, where groups of 5-8 low-level Pals respawn every 2 minutes. Bring a Pal with a wide AOE attack, like a Foxcicle with Ice Breath, to take out whole groups in 2-3 hits without wasting ammo or tool durability.
For mid to late-game farming, head to the volcanic biome to farm high-level fire Pals, just make sure you have heat resistance armor first so you don’t take passive damage. You get a 50% EXP bonus if the Pal you’re using to kill is within 3 levels of the target, so don’t just bring your max-level legendary Pal to farm low-level mobs, you’re leaving tons of EXP on the table. Before you head out on any farming run, pack these essentials to avoid wasting time:
- 2-3 AOE Pals matched to the element of the farming area for fast, efficient clears
- Enough high-stamina food to keep your stamina full so you can dodge or fly away from aggressive high-level Pals
- A spare Grappling Gun or flying mount to escape if you pull more Pals than you can handle
- 10+ empty inventory slots to pick up extra loot drops you can sell or use for crafting later
Optimize Your Base Production to Earn Passive EXP While You Explore
A lot of players don’t know that you get small amounts of EXP every time one of your Pals completes a crafting, farming, or building task at your base. If you set up your base correctly, you can get a steady stream of passive EXP even when you’re out exploring or farming mobs. Assign Pals with high Work Suitability scores for their assigned tasks to cut down on production time and get EXP faster. For example, a Pal with Lumbering level 3 will chop wood twice as fast as a level 1 Pal, so you get EXP from wood processing tasks twice as often.
Build multiple copies of high-use crafting stations: 2-3 workbenches, 2 furnaces, 2 sawmills, so your Pals don’t have to wait in line to use stations and waste time. I set up a dedicated crafting base near a coal and iron deposit on my last playthrough, and I left it running while I went hunt rare Pals. I usually leveled up 2-3 times every time I came back after 2 hours of exploring. Just make sure your base has enough beds, food, and entertainment to keep your Pals from getting stressed or hungry, because you won’t get any EXP if your Pals stop working entirely.
Use Party Composition Bonuses to Maximize EXP Gains From Combat
A little-known mechanic in Palworld is that you get a 15% global EXP bonus for all kills if you have 4 Pals of different elements in your active party. That bonus applies to both your player level and your Pals’ levels. You can stack this bonus with the 50% EXP boost from using a Pal close to the target's level for a total of 65% extra EXP per kill. That adds up really fast, especially when you’re farming large groups of mobs or fighting world bosses.
Don’t forget to send unused Pals to the Palbox Training Grounds once you unlock it at level 25. You can assign up to 10 Pals to train passively, and you get a small cut of their EXP gains too. A lot of new players make the mistake of only leveling one main Pal and leaving the rest at low level, but that means they miss out on the party diversity bonus, and they have no backup if their main Pal dies in a boss fight. I fought the first level 30 world boss when I was level 22 with a well-built, diverse party, and I leveled up 3 times from that one fight alone. It’s way more efficient than grinding low-level mobs for hours.
At the end of the day, you don’t have to spend 10 hours grinding the same group of Pals to make progress. A mix of questing, targeted farming, passive base EXP, and optimized party composition will get you to endgame way faster than mindless grinding. Now that you know how to level up in Palworld efficiently, you can spend less time grinding and more time catching rare Pals, building your dream base, and taking on the game's hardest challenges. Don't be afraid to experiment with different farming spots or base setups to find what works best for your playstyle.