Best Early-Game Pal Companions In Palworld

Key Takeaways

• Palworld players need to select a reliable team of pals due to dangerous threats and limited armor for survival.
• Different types of Pals offer unique benefits, with each type having the best Pal for specific functions.
• Early-game Pals like Cattiva, Lamball, Teafant, Daedream, Eikthyrdeer, Lifmunk, and Nitewing offer crucial support and advantages.

Life on Palworld‘s Palpagos Islands can be dangerous. With Syndicate Thugs and members of the Free PalAlliance on murderous rampages, it’s not enough to just pick the right pals for a base – players need a reliable team of pals at their side as well. Pokemon fans might be used to having six companions at their side, but Palworld players need to be more discerning with their choice, since they can only bring along five Pals.

Survival is a key element of Palworld‘s early-game, and players don’t have much in the way of armor or protection to help them survive. That’s why a strong team of Pal companions can make the difference between life and death in the first few levels of the game.

Updated on November 12, 2024, by Chris Harkin: There are any number of incredible things about Palworld and its ongoing progress. While it is also dealing with lawsuits, it continues to soar, and more players are jumping onto the highly-regarded surprise hit of 2024. Though there are many pals to be collected, an awful lot of them cannot be found or captured within an early region of the game. However, there are still plenty of options and different needs early in the game, from travel to fighting and base work, which make for a huge list of different pals that should be caught and utilized in some way.

12 Cattiva

A Pal To Upgrade Carrying Capacity

• Partner Skill: Increases Carrying Capacity By 50
• Neutral Element Type
• Can Be Found In Windswept Hills

Once players set up a Palbox and establish their first base, they need lots of supplies to kick things off, such as wood, stone, Fiber, and Paldium Fragment. The problem is that, until players put a few experience points into carrying capacity, there’s a limit to how much they can carry at once.

Fortunately, one of the first pals players can catch is Cattiva. This cat-like pal is far from a powerful fighter, so players are advised to select a different pal to defend themselves in a scuffle. However, when it comes to scavenging for crafting resources and supplies, Cattiva is invaluable. Cattivas each have the Cat Helper partner skill, with which they carry supplies and increase the player’s maximum carrying capacity by 50. Even better, this partner skill stacks, which means that a whole team of Cattivas can let players carry huge loads, potentially adding an extra 250 to the total carrying capacity. This helps pal tamers build their base even faster and more efficiently.

11 Lamball

A Pal That Shields Players From Attacks

• Partner Skill: Can Be Equipped As A Shield
• Neutral Element Type
• Can Be Found In Windswept Hills

Early-game armors protect players from some of the smaller Pals’ attacks, but there’s a limit to how much protection they offer when a tamer is swarmed by enemies or face-to-face with an Alpha Pal. Until they level up enough to unlock better shields and armor, Lamball can come in handy instead.

Once players reach the mid-game, they’ll only ever use Lamball for wool or maybe even food. However, in the early hours, Lamballs can save players’ lives thanks to their partner skill, Fluffy Shield. Some might feel like monsters holding up an innocent sheep between them and a barrage of bullets, but when HP is close to 0, a Lamball can make the difference between life and death.

10 Celaray

A Fast-Moving Glider Pal

• Partner Skill: Can Be Used In Place Of A Glider
• Water Element Type
• Can Be Found In Windswept Hills

As players make their way from the starting point of Palworld, one of the first things they’ll notice about the world is how many hills and mountains are dotted around the map. While players are free to jump, climb, and even fly on pals, sometimes it’s easier to just glide from a high point.

Normal parachutes can only get players so far before they run out of stamina. However, it’s worth unlocking and crafting Celaray’s Gloves at Level 7 so you can use this handy pal to glide instead. By hanging from a Celaray, pal tamers can glide further and faster before their stamina runs out, allowing them to explore even more of the map.

9 Tanzee

The Crazed Assault Rifle Monkey

• Partner Skill: Can Use An Assault Rifle Against Enemies
• Grass Element Type
• Can Be Found In Windswept Hills

Though he can’t be found in the first part of Windswept Hills, this early region is large and Tanzee is a great choice for a player’s first pal to receive a proper weapon of their own. Tanzee is a small, playful monkey that can be given an assault rifle, a prospect which seems terrifying but is a huge help.

Tanzee is also a hugely helpful worker early in the game, when seeding starts to become relevant. This is because grass element type Pals are fairly rare early on and in the Windswept Hills region. Tanzee can be used for many things, but his combination of abilities and uses leaves him ranked highly when it comes to useful early-game Pals for sure.

8 Teafant

Best Early-Game Healer

• Partner Skill: Water spouts heal the player
• Water Element Type
• Can Be Found In Windswept Hills

It isn’t easy restoring HP in Palworld. Without potions available to down at a moment’s notice, players usually have to run from a fight and wait for their HP to recover by itself. That’s why it’s always useful to have a healer in hand.

Although Teafant is far from a competent fighter, it can be a real lifesaver for tamers who come across a huge swarm of enemies and need to refill their HP bar quickly – and, without efficient armor in the early-game, this happens often. Teafant’s partner skill, Soothing Shower, shoots water from its trunk to cure wounds and restore the player’s HP.

7 Daedream

Best Pal For Constant Support

• Partner Skill: Fights With Magic Bullets Alongside The Player
• Dark Element Type
• Can Be Found In Windswept Hills

When players are in the heat of battle, it can be a real pain to swap out Pals who have fainted or are getting too weak to fight. As soon as a Pal goes back into a Pal sphere, the player is on their own, vulnerable as they’re surrounded by vicious enemies. However, any tamer who has a Daedream never has to worry about being alone again.

Available at Level 6, Daedream’s Necklace is a craftable item that unlocks Daedream’s partner skill, Dream Chaser. This skill allows Daedream to be out next to the player at all times, even when another Pal has been sent out to battle. This means that players who are in a real pinch can bring out at least two pals at once to fight by their side.

6 Eikthyrdeer

Best Early-Game Mount

• Partner Skill: Can Be Ridden & Can Double Jump
• Neutral Element Type
• Can Be Found In Windswept Hills

Although it’s far from the best open world in gaming, one of Palworld’s strengths is the sheer size of its map. If players want to explore the further reaches of the Palpagos Islands, they need the help of a few pals to travel faster. Although there are numerous mounts in the game, Eikthyrdeer is one of the best and can be found very early on.

Fortunately, it doesn’t take long to reach Level 12 and unlock the Eikthyrdeer Saddle, letting players use the partner skill Guardian of the Forest to mount this pal and explore every nook and cranny of the map. However, it could take a while for players to find all the materials needed to craft this saddle so early on in the game.

5 Lifmunk

Best Gun-Toting Pal For Attacking

• Partner Skill: Uses A Submachine Gun Alongside Player Attacks
• Grass Element Type
• Can Be Found In Windswept Hills

It might seem slightly overpowered to have a couple of Pals able to wield guns so early on in the game, but it was important for Pocket Pair to live up to the reputation of “Pokemon with guns.” That’s why players don’t need to stray too far from where they start the game to come across two pals who can use guns: Tanzee and Lifmunk.

Players can choose to use whichever pals they want, but if they want to select just one gun-toting pal to boost their attack power, Lifmunk has the edge over Tanzee. Lifmunk’s partner skill Lifmunk Recoil can be unlocked a whole level earlier than Tanzee’s, packs a bigger punch, and allows players to control its accuracy.

4 Dinossom

A Devastatingly Powerful Early-Game Mount

• Partner Skill: Can Be Ridden & Charges Grass Attacks While Ridden
• Grass Element Type
• Can Be Found In Windswept Hills

Dinossom is one of the more powerful, and subsequently dangerous, pals that can be found and captured relatively early in Palworld in the Windswept Hills region. With huge grass attacks and the ability to move faster to new areas by riding around a powerful creature like this, players will get a leg up fast once they catch a Dinossom.

Additionally, the creature comes with extra perks and is a strong worker on base. Planting and Lumbering abilities both at +2 make this one of the earliest pals in the game to be exceptional at multiple base activities. Dinossom is a big win, but once enraged, they never calm down, making going after them a precarious adventure.

3 Nitewing

Earliest Flying Mount In The Game

• Partner Skill: Can Be Used To Fly On
• Neutral Element Type
• Can Be Found In Windswept Hills

Although Level 15 is getting on towards the mid-game, the first pal that players can use to fly is a Nitewing. Nitewings spawn pretty close to the starting location, but players have to level up first to unlock and craft the Nitewing Saddle before using this pal as a flying mount.

Nevertheless, it’s absolutely worth getting a flying mount in a team as soon as possible. With so many hills and mountains dotting the landscape of the Palpagos Islands, it’s much easier to get around by flying. Players can see pals from a greater distance, travel more easily, and picking up Lifmunk effigies suddenly becomes a breeze.

2 Foxparks

Destroy Enemies With A Ferocious Flamethrower Pal

• Partner Skill: Can Be Used As A Flamethrower
• Fire Element Type
• Can Be Found In Windswept Hills

A fox with the power of fire is nothing new. Just look at Pokemon’s Vulpix who, in turn, was inspired by the kitsune of Japanese mythology. However, Foxparks stands out from the crowd with its must-have partner skill for any Pal tamer’s team.

Players can unlock Foxparks’s Harness as early as Level 6 and make the most of its partner skill, Huggy Fire. This transforms Foxparks into a flamethrower, allowing the player to pick up their Foxparks and dowse nearby enemies in flames. Since new players have very few effective weapons to choose from early on, Foxparks can be a real game-changer.

1 Pengullet

Obliterate Enemies With An Overpowered Rocket Launcher

• Partner Skill: Can Be Fired From A Rocket Launcher
• Water/Ice Element Type
• Can Be Found In Windswept Hills

Pengullet is a fairly unassuming pal that players come across early on in the game, as soon as they get to a body of water. Although they’re not immediately a valuable asset to a pal tamer’s team, their partner skill can help out in a pinch against even the toughest enemy.

Pengullet’s partner skill is Pengullet Cannon, unlocked once players craft Pengullet’s Rocket Launcher at Level 17. When used, the player loads Pengullet into the rocket launcher and fires it towards enemies, where it explodes on impact and does massive damage. Although this does incapacitate Pengullet, it can take out hordes of enemies in one go.