When you first start playing Palworld, it’s easy to get caught up in catching every cute or cool Pal you run across. You might hoard low-level Chikipi, Lamball, and Cattiva just because they’re easy to catch, until suddenly your Palbox is completely full. You might even miss out on catching a rare, high-stat Pal because you don’t have any empty slots left. That’s why learning how to remove unwanted Pals in Palworld is one of the most useful early-game skills you can pick up to keep your gameplay running smooth.
Why You Need to Remove Unwanted Pals in Palworld Regularly
It’s tempting to hold onto every Pal you catch just in case you need it later, but hoarding Pals causes more problems than it solves for most players. For one, your Palbox has a hard storage cap that you can only expand a handful of times as you level up. If you fill it with low-value, low-level Pals, you won’t have space for the 3 or 4 star rare Pals that are actually worth investing time and resources into.
Unwanted Pals can also cause issues in your base if you assign them by accident. Low-skill Pals assigned to farming, crafting, or defending your base will work far slower than specialized Pals, and they’ll eat through your food stores without giving you much value in return. I learned this the hard way during my first playthrough, when I had 8 low-level Chikipi assigned to my farm and they ate all my berry harvest in half a day without planting a single new seed.
You’re also leaving free resources on the table if you don’t clear out unwanted Pals regularly. Most methods of removing Pals give you back useful materials like Pal Essence, Pal Sphere shards, or even rare skill fruits, so clearing out your roster actually helps you progress faster instead of setting you back.
Safe Methods to Get Rid of Unwanted Pals Without Penalties
You don’t have to worry about negative consequences for removing Pals you don’t want, as long as you use one of the official in-game methods. There are three main options that work for different play styles and game stages, so you can pick the one that fits your current needs best:
- Release them back into the wild: This is the easiest, most accessible method for new players who haven’t unlocked mid-game crafting stations yet. Just open your Palbox, select the Pal you want to remove, and click the “Release” button. You’ll get a small amount of Pal Essence and a tiny XP boost for your remaining Pals, and there are zero penalties for this choice. It’s perfect for common, low-level Pals you catch by accident while exploring.
- Assign them to the Pal Dissolver: Unlocked when you hit level 21, the Pal Dissolver turns unwanted Pals into valuable crafting materials you can’t get easily anywhere else. You’ll get Pal Sphere shards, rare ore, and even skill fruits depending on the rarity and level of the Pal you dissolve. This is the best option for mid to late game players, as the materials you get can help you craft higher tier Spheres and upgrade your base fast.
- Send them on permanent dispatch missions: If you don’t want to destroy or release a higher level Pal that you just don’t have space for, you can send it on a special long-duration dispatch mission that doesn’t require the Pal to return. You’ll get steady resource rewards like gold, ore, or food for as long as the mission runs, and the Pal won’t take up space in your Palbox or base. This is a great middle ground if you feel guilty about getting rid of Pals entirely.
Note that you can’t remove a Pal that’s currently in your active party, assigned to a base job, or set as your mount. You’ll need to unassign them first and move them to your Palbox before you can pick one of the removal options. That’s a common stumbling block for new players who can’t figure out why the release button is greyed out.
Mistakes to Avoid When Removing Pals
Even though removing Pals is a simple process, there are a few common mistakes that can cost you hours of progress if you’re not careful. I’ve made almost all of these myself, so I can tell you exactly what to watch out for to avoid frustration.
Accidentally deleting your favorite high-level Pals is the most common mistake players make when clearing out their roster. I once deleted my level 32 4-star Grizzbolt by mistake when I was rushing to clear out low-level Lamball, and I had to spend 3 hours hunting for a new one to replace it. To avoid this, use the “lock” feature on all Pals you use regularly for battle or base work. Locked Pals can’t be released or dissolved by accident, so you don’t have to double check every selection when you’re clearing out space.
Removing Pals with rare passive skills is another mistake that can set you back. Even if a Pal is low level and not useful for battle or work, if it has a rare passive skill like Legendary, Swift, or Workaholic, you can extract that skill into a skill fruit later to apply to a better Pal. Always check a Pal’s passive skill list before you delete it, even if it’s a common low-level type.
Wasting rare Pals on basic release is a third mistake that loses you tons of free resources. If you have a rare or legendary Pal that you don’t want to use, never just release it. Put it in the Pal Dissolver instead, and you’ll get rare materials like legendary Pal shards that you need to craft endgame gear and structures. You get almost nothing for releasing rare Pals, so it’s always worth the extra 10 seconds to use the Dissolver instead.
How to Organize Your Pal Roster to Avoid Frequent Removals
If you find yourself having to clear out your Palbox every 30 minutes of play, you can fix that with a few simple organization habits that take almost no time to set up. I started using these tips after my first 20 hours of play, and I now only have to clear out my roster once every 3 or 4 hours of gameplay.
Set clear rules for which Pals you keep before you head out exploring. For example, once I hit level 25, I only keep Pals that have at least two useful passive skills, or are at level 20 or higher. If I catch a common Pal that doesn’t meet those requirements, I release it immediately instead of storing it in my Palbox. That prevents you from filling up your space with Pals you’ll never actually use.
Sort your Palbox by level or rarity at least once a play session. The sort feature makes it easy to spot all the lowest level, most common Pals that you can remove first, without having to scroll through every page of your box. You can also sort by work suitability if you’re clearing out Pals to make space for better base workers.
Use separate Palbox tabs for different Pal types to make organization even easier. I have one tab for my active battle team, one for my base workers, one for Pals I’m saving for skill extraction, and one for excess Pals I’m going to dissolve later. That way I never accidentally mix up Pals I want to keep with Pals I want to remove, and I can clear out the excess tab in 2 minutes flat whenever it gets full.
Once you get the hang of how to remove unwanted Pals in Palworld, you’ll never have to miss out on catching a rare Pal because your box is full again. You’ll also get tons of extra crafting materials that help you upgrade your base and gear faster, so it’s a win-win for your progression. Take 5 minutes to test out the different removal methods and set up a simple organization system on your next play session, and you’ll notice a huge difference in how smooth your gameplay feels.