When you first drop into Palworld’s open world, it’s easy to feel stuck. You’re stuck with flimsy stone tools, can’t catch any of the cool high-level Pals you see wandering around, and every tiny level up feels like it takes hours of grinding rocks and berries. If you’re tired of wasting time on low-value tasks that barely move your XP bar, you’re in the right place. This guide covers how to level up quickly in Palworld, with tricks I’ve tested across 120+ hours of play that work for both brand new players and folks coming back after a content update. You won’t find any cheesy exploits here, just practical strategies that fit right into normal gameplay.
How to Level Up Quickly in Palworld: Prioritize High-XP Activities First
The biggest mistake new players make is spending hours on tasks that give barely any XP. You can cut your leveling time in half just by focusing on activities that give the highest XP return for your time, instead of doing whatever random task pops into your head. I went from level 1 to level 22 in under 90 minutes on my last playthrough just by ditching tree chopping for these high-priority tasks.
- Catching 10 of every Pal species: You get a 1,000 XP bonus per first Pal catch, plus an extra 5,000 XP when you hit the 10-catch mark for any species. This bonus stacks with any XP boosts you have active, so it’s by far the fastest XP in the early and mid game.
- Defeating alpha Pals 5+ levels above you: Even a level 20 alpha gives 12,000+ XP per kill, and you can take most down safely with a bow if you position yourself on a high ledge they can’t reach. You can even catch them for an extra 50% XP bonus on top of the kill reward.
- Mass crafting high-tier items: Crafting 50 metal ingots at once gives more XP than crafting 50 stone axes, so prioritize bulk crafting of items you’ll actually use later, like ammo, building materials, and healing items. You get XP for every item crafted, even if your base Pals are doing the work for you.
You don’t have to completely skip low-XP tasks like harvesting berries or cutting trees, but only do them when you actually need the resources. Don’t waste 30 minutes chopping wood just to get a sliver of XP when you could catch three new Pals and get two full levels in the same amount of time. First catch bonuses stack with party XP boosts, so make sure you have any active buffs running before you go on a Pal-catching spree to maximize gains.
Optimize Your Pal Team for Faster XP Grinding
Your Pals do 90% of the work in Palworld, so setting them up correctly will make your XP gains way faster with almost no extra effort on your part. Most players don’t realize that you get passive XP from everything your base Pals do, not just the tasks you complete yourself. A well-optimized team can get you extra levels even when you’re off exploring other parts of the map.
First, always bring a Pal with the "XP Boost" passive skill in your active party. This skill adds 10-25% extra XP for every action you complete, including catching Pals, killing enemies, and crafting items. You don’t even have to use the Pal in combat, just having it in your party is enough for the buff to apply. I always keep a low-level Cattiva with XP Boost in my party for the entire early game, it adds up to multiple extra levels over 10 hours of play.
Next, assign your base Pals to high-output tasks like crafting, mining, and lumbering while you’re out exploring. Every time they craft an ingot, cut down a tree, or build a structure, you get a small portion of the XP from that action. I once left my base running for two hours while I ran errands, and came back to three full levels of XP just from my Pals working on their own. Make sure you have enough food and beds for your base Pals so they don’t stop working from low stamina or hunger.
For combat content like alpha fights and raids, use Pals that are strong against the enemy’s element. A fire Pal will take down a grass alpha twice as fast as a neutral Pal, cutting your fight time in half so you get your XP reward faster and can move on to the next activity. Don’t waste time trying to fight alphas with a team of Pals that are weak to their element, you’ll just end up dying and wasting time reloading your save.
Unlock the Right Tech Tree Upgrades Early to Multiply XP
It’s tempting to unlock fun cosmetic items like furniture and cute decor as soon as you get tech points, but prioritizing utility upgrades first will make your XP gains way faster. A few key tech unlocks can cut your leveling time in half, so save the cosmetics for once you’re at the endgame and have extra points to spare.
The first upgrade you should get as soon as you hit level 10 is the Palbox upgrade. This lets you carry 10 extra Pals in your party, so you can catch more Pals before you have to head back to base to store them. This alone makes your Pal catching runs 2x more efficient, since you don’t have to stop every 10 minutes to teleport back and drop off Pals. I made the mistake of unlocking a bunch of random crafting recipes before the Palbox upgrade on my first playthrough, and it slowed down my early game progression by hours.
Next, unlock ranged weapons as soon as possible: the primitive bow first, then the crossbow once you hit level 12. Ranged weapons let you take down high-level alphas from safety, even if you’re 10 levels below them. You can stand on a high rock or ledge where the alpha can’t reach you, and shoot it full of arrows until it dies or is weak enough to catch. This lets you get the massive XP rewards from high-level alphas way earlier than you would if you only used melee weapons.
Once you hit level 15, unlock the XP share charm as soon as you can. This item splits XP across your entire active party, so you don’t have to swap Pals in and out of combat to level them up. You’ll be able to level your entire combat team at the same time, so you don’t have to waste time grinding low-level enemies to get new Pals up to your current level. Don’t hoard tech points for later, unlock these upgrades as soon as you meet the level requirement to start benefiting from them right away.
Avoid These Common XP-Wasting Mistakes
Even if you’re doing all the right high-XP activities, small mistakes can slow down your leveling progress by hours. These are the most common mistakes I see new players make, and avoiding them will make your progression way smoother.
First, don’t waste time fighting Pals that are more than 10 levels below you. They give barely any XP, even if you kill 100 of them in a row. Only kill low-level Pals if you need their drops for crafting, otherwise just run past them and focus on higher-level targets or catching new Pals. I used to kill every Lamball I saw early on for extra XP, and it was a total waste of time that gave me almost no progress.
Second, unlock fast travel points as soon as you find them, and use them constantly. Fast travel is non-negotiable for fast leveling, since running across the map from one end to the other can take 10+ minutes that you could be spending earning XP. Whenever you find a new fast travel statue, activate it immediately even if you don’t plan on coming back to that area soon. You never know when you’ll need to teleport back to turn in a quest or drop off a full inventory of Pals.
Third, don’t ignore the early tutorial quests. A lot of players skip them because they feel basic, but many of them give 2,000+ XP for 30 seconds of work, which is way more than you’d get from grinding for the same amount of time. Even quests as simple as “craft a stone axe” or “catch your first Pal” give enough XP to push you to the next level early on, so knock them out as soon as they pop up.
Finally, don’t try to catch alphas that are 20+ levels above you in the early game. You’ll waste dozens of Pal spheres and 15+ minutes of time fighting them, and you’ll almost certainly end up dying before you catch them. Wait until you’re at most 10 levels below the alpha, and your catch rate will be high enough that the effort is worth the XP reward. I tried to catch a level 45 alpha Chillet when I was level 15 on my first playthrough, wasted 30 spheres and 20 minutes, and got nothing to show for it.
At the end of the day, leveling fast in Palworld is all about working smarter, not harder. You don’t have to spend 10 hours grinding the same spot to unlock endgame gear, you just have to focus on high-value tasks, optimize your Pal team, and avoid the silly mistakes that slow most new players down. You can adjust these tips to fit your playstyle too: if you hate catching Pals, you can focus on alpha fights and mass crafting instead and still get fast progress. If you follow these tips, you’ll know exactly how to level up quickly in Palworld, and you’ll be taking on endgame raids and catching legendaries before you know it. If you have a favorite XP farming trick I didn’t mention, drop it in the comments below to help other players out.