If you’ve spent any time building bases or catching Pals on Palpagos Island, you’ve probably hit a wall where you can’t craft better tools, stronger armor, or higher-quality Pal workstations. Learning how to research Palworld’s core unlocks is the fastest way to move past those early-game frustrations and start building the base of your dreams. I’ve put in over 120 hours of playtime across multiple save files, testing every research method to find the most efficient paths for both casual players and those who want to speedrun their progression. This guide skips all the vague generic advice and only includes tactics I’ve personally tested to work, no matter what your playstyle is.
How to Research Palworld: Core Basics You Need to Know First
Most new players search for how to research Palworld when they hit their first progression wall at level 5, when they can’t make metal tools to harvest ore. The entire system revolves around two separate tech trees: the standard technology tree and the ancient technology tree. Standard tech unlocks most common crafting recipes, base utilities, and basic gear, while ancient tech unlocks high-end, rare items like jetpacks, hoverboards, and legendary Pal equipment.
You can’t unlock any research without first building a Palbox at your base, that’s the core starting point for all progression. Once you place your Palbox, you can access both tech trees directly from your main menu, no extra workstation required for standard research. You’ll earn standard tech points every time you level up your player account, and ancient tech points from defeating Alpha Pals, clearing dungeons, and opening rare chests across the map.
One common mistake I see new players make is wasting their first 3 to 4 tech points on cosmetic items like decorative flags or wall art. Those unlocks don’t help you progress at all, and you’ll end up stuck without access to critical stations like the primitive furnace or Pal bed for hours if you waste points early on.
Fastest Ways to Earn Research Points for Both Tech Trees
Earning standard tech points is tied directly to your player XP, so the faster you level up, the faster you’ll unlock new research slots. The best way to farm XP early on is to catch every new Pal you come across, even if you don’t plan to add it to your active team. First-catch XP bonuses are 10 times higher than the XP you get from fighting Pals, and you’ll get an extra large bonus when you catch 10 of the same Pal type.
Catching 10 of every Pal type gives you a huge XP bonus that can push you through 3 to 4 levels in a single play session, so it’s worth taking the time to catch duplicates even if you already have that Pal registered to your Pokedex. For ancient tech points, the most consistent farm is running low-level dungeons near the starting spawn point, which give 2 ancient points per clear plus enough XP to level up once for players under level 20.
If you play with friends, splitting up to explore different biomes and catch new Pals will get your whole group research points twice as fast as playing solo. You don’t even have to be near each other to share XP gains from first-time Pal catches, so it’s easy to coordinate a group farming session even if you’re working on different parts of the map.
- Complete the first 10 base tutorial missions within your first 2 hours of play to earn 8 extra free tech points, enough to unlock all early-game core crafting stations
- Run the level 15 coastal dungeon near the starting spawn point once per in-game day, it gives 2 ancient points and enough XP to level up once per run for players under level 20
- Catch every new Pal you see, even if you don’t plan to use it on your team, the first-catch XP bonus is far more valuable than any random item you could pick up while exploring
Optimal Research Order to Avoid Wasting Points
If you’re still figuring out how to research Palworld without wasting points, sticking to a clear unlock order will save you a lot of frustration in your first playthrough. For early game (levels 1 to 15), always prioritize tool upgrades first, then base utility stations, then combat gear. Better tools let you harvest higher-quality resources faster, which lets you level up quicker and earn more research points in a loop.
Always unlock the next tier of pickaxe and axe before any other research in a new level bracket, it’s the single best investment you can make with your points. For mid game (levels 16 to 30), unlock Pal workstations like the breeding farm, Pal grinder, and medical station before you unlock better weapons. Those workstations will cut down your base work time by 70% and let you generate resources passively while you explore.
For late game (levels 31 and up), split your points between combat gear and ancient tech upgrades. A lot of players make the mistake of unlocking the assault rifle as soon as they hit level 20, but if you don’t have an ammo press to make bullets, it’s a completely useless unlock. Save combat gear unlocks for after you have your mid-game base fully set up and can produce ammo and repair parts consistently. I usually skip all furniture and cosmetic unlocks until I have every core utility and tool unlocked, it saves me 10+ points per playthrough that I can put towards upgrades that actually make gameplay easier.
Advanced Research Tips for Endgame and Custom Playthroughs
Once you hit level 30, you’ll need to build an ancient technology lab to unlock the rest of the ancient tech tree. You’ll need ancient civilization parts to build the lab, which drop from Alpha Pals and dungeon chests, so you should start saving those parts as soon as you hit level 20. You only need one lab per base, and you can access all ancient research from it once it’s placed.
Ancient tech items are account-bound across save files, so you only have to unlock them once, even if you start a new playthrough. That’s a little-known tip that saves a lot of time for players who like to start new saves regularly. If you’re playing with mods that add new Pals or crafting recipes, your research tree will automatically update to include those items, but you’ll usually need to earn special mod-specific points to unlock them.
You can reset your normal research points for free at any time by using the reset button in the tech tree menu, so don’t panic if you waste points on bad unlocks early on, you can fix it later without losing any progress. For players doing challenge runs like no-combat playthroughs, you can still earn all normal research points by catching Pals and completing base missions, you don’t have to fight any bosses if you don’t want to. If you’re playing on a community server, many servers have boosted research point rates, so you can unlock the entire tech tree in half the time you would on a single player save.
Research doesn’t have to be a confusing grind, even if you’re brand new to the game. Once you learn how to research Palworld’s tech trees efficiently, you’ll cut down hours of unnecessary grind and get to the fun parts of the game faster, whether that’s building a massive automated base, taking down endgame bosses, or collecting every Pal in the game. Don’t be afraid to test out different unlock orders to fit your playstyle, the best research path is the one that makes the game fun for you. If you have a favorite research trick I didn’t mention, feel free to share it in the comments below.