When you first arrive in the mystical world of Palworld, you start with absolutely nothing. Soon enough, however, you’ll be building bases, completing your Paldeck, ensuring food supply, trading with merchants, or fighting off raiders. Whatever the task, efficiency is the actual name of the game. So you capture a few early Pals, find a nice place, and set up shop. But who do you take with you in your party, and who do you leave in charge of resource gathering? All of that has to do with the wonderous world of abilities that hides behind Palworld‘s UI.
There are three different kinds of abilities. Combat Abilities determine how well your pals fare in battle. Worker Abilities determine how good they are at tasks and how good your resource supply will be. Lastly, Passive Abilities are completely Pal-specific. They add a personality trait to every Pal, both positively and negatively. Some traits make your Pals better fighters, some make them better workers, and some make them pretty much useless. Without any further ado, let’s jump right in!
Can’t get enough of Palworld? Check out our guide on catching Pals!
Combat Abilities – Typing
Every single Pal has one or two Elemental Types. Like plenty of other aspects of this game, these typings are pretty reminiscent of Pokémon. However, they operate just slightly differently. In Palworld, there are just 9 types, compared to 18 in Pokémon. Every type is strong against one type, and weak against one, although there are two exceptions to this rule.
The type matchup of Pals matters to their combat ability.
- Water attacks are strong against Fire types, but Pals with this type are vulnerable against Electric-type attacks.
- Fire attacks are strong against Grass types and Ice types, but Pals with this type are weak against Grass-type attacks.
- Grass attacks are strong against Ground types, but Pals with this type are weak against Fire-type attacks.
- Ground attacks are strong against Electric types, but Pals with this type are weak against Grass-type attacks.
- Electric attacks are strong against Water types, but Pals with this type are weak against Ground-type attacks.
- Ice attacks are strong against Dragon types, but Pals with this type are weak against Fire-type attacks.
- Dragon attacks are strong against Dark types, but Pals with this type are weak against Ice-type attacks.
- Dark attacks are strong against Neutral types, but Pals with this type are weak against Dragon-type attacks
- Neutral attacks don’t have any strengths. Pals with this type are nonetheless weak against Dark-type attacks.
Eagle-eyed readers among you have noticed there are two exceptions in this table. Neutral types don’t have any strengths, making them, on paper at least, the worst typing. Fire types are the exact opposite. They have only one weakness, Water, but they’re strong against both Grass and Ice types. That makes Fire the most potent typing in combat.
The Finer Details Behind the Typings
There are a few key details that this chart leaves out. Most prominently, Pals resist their own elemental type. Keep in mind that attacks themselves also have a typing. If a fire-type uses a fire-type attack, it will deal more damage – a so-called Same-Type Attack Bonus (STAB). This bonus is roughly +20%.
Some Pals have two types, which messes with the type chart. To offer some more clarity, let’s look at two Pals that have two types -the Water/Ice type Pengullet, and the Grass/Dragon type Dinossom.
-
- For Pengullet, the Water type cancels Ice’s weakness to Fire.
-
- Dinossom’s types cause it to have two strengths and two weaknesses.
- Pengullet is a dual Water/Ice type. Its Water typing makes it weak to Electric and strong to Fire, while its Ice-type makes it weak to Fire and strong to Dragon. While it would be strong to Fire attacks, its Ice typing cancels that out. Thus, Pengullet is weak to Electric and strong against Dragon.
- Dinossom is a dual Grass/Dragon type. Its Grass typing makes it weak to Fire and strong against Ground, while its Dragon-type makes it weak to Ice but strong against Dark. So, combining its types, you get a Pal that’s strong against both Ground and Dark, but weak against both Ice and Fire.
Worker Abilities – The Glory of Industry
So, it’s your destiny to create a thriving commune of skilled workers? Pals all have different skills that can help build your base. Some are extremely specialized workers, while others are a bit more general. Still, it’s good to have all your bases covered early on.
- Kindling is used to work with heat. Whether it’s cooking with campfires, refining ingots with a furnace, or providing general heat, you’ll need a Pal with the Kindling ability. The ability is exclusive to Fire types. Foxparks is the best Pal to grab to get your kindling started early on. It lives near the Rayne Syndicate Tower, so it won’t take you long to find one.
- Watering is an essential skill. Watering crops is vital for your food supply, so grab a Pal with this skill early. Furthermore, watering is also used to power crushers and mills. The best pal to pick up is Pengullet, which brings a bunch of additional skills too. You can find it easily near the ocean at the starting area.
-
- Foxparks is a must for everything kindling.
-
- Pengullet is the a good and versatile pickup.
-
- Planting is the skill that makes watering so essential. To keep your Pals productive, I recommend feeding them. Planting is the skill used for sowing berry, lettuce, tomato, and wheat seeds on their respective plantations. There are a bunch of good Pals for planting, like Tanzee or Lifmunk, but I recommend picking up a Caprity. It has level 2 planting, so it makes more food faster. You can easily find it near the Rayne Syndicate Tower.
- Generating Electricity is more of a late-game work suitability. It’s used to control a power generator, which is crucial to start industrializing. This skill shouldn’t be your priority, but a good Pal to pick up is Sparkit, which is also adept at Transportation and Handiwork. It once again lives near the Rayne Syndicate Tower.
-
- Caprity is an easy catch and yields enormous amounts.
-
- Electricity isn’t that relevent at the start, but it’s good to have a Sparkit in the bag.
-
- Handiwork refers to everything crafting. When you’re off exploring, Pals with this skill are what keeps production running. They build structures, craft tools and spheres, assemble weapons, and so much more. Lots of pals have the Handiwork skills early on, like Lifmunk and Tanzee, but I recommend picking up a Daedream. It’s nocturnal, which means you can only find it near the Rayne Syndicate Tower at night. On the flip side, it also works through the night, so your production won’t be down when all your other Pals rest.
- Gathering is the last step in your food production. Pals with this skill harvest the crops that have fully grown. It’s a very useful skill to combine with Transporting since it lets Pals who harvest immediately bring it to the food basket that keeps your base fed. Tanzee is the best option here since it combines the fairly niche tasks of gathering with transporting, as well as planting, handiwork, and lumbering. You can find one near the Fort Ruins, early on in the game.
-
- Daedream works through the night – keep the base running 24/7!
-
- Tanzee is a fantastic all-round addition to any base.
-
- Lumbering is another vital skill. You’ll need a lot of wood early on, and lumbering is where to get it. Like planting, there is another readily accessible Pal with a second-level ability for logging, and that spell is Eikthyrdeer. It’s available right near the Rayne Syndicate Tower. It can be a tricky catch, but it’s more than worth it.
- Mining is similar to lumbering. Stone is a critical resource that you’ll need a lot of early on. If you have a Pal with a level 2 mining skill, they can also mine Ore. The Pal that’s readily available with that specific skill is Tombat, another nocturnal Pal near the Rayne Syndicate Tower.
-
- Eikthyrdeer is a high-quality logger that’s easily accessible.
-
- Tombat works nights too, so keep your stone supply steady!
-
- Do your Pals ever deal with injuries, or do they suffer from complex psychological issues? Fortunately in Palworld, that can be cured with just some simple Medicine. If you plan on being an evil corporate overlord, you may not be interested, but medicine can be very useful. Lifmunk is frankly the only early Pal that’s able to manufacture medicine. Making medicines takes a lot of time, so it’s useful to have a Pal around who can do it for you.
- Cooling is the go-to skill to preserve food, or lowering temperature if you’re in the middle of a volcano or a desert. It’s a key skill for breeding. Like Electricity Generation, this game isn’t that relevant in the super early game, but a good Pal to pick up is Pengullet, since it’s readily available and can do plenty of other things before cooling starts to matter.
-
- Medicine takes long, so a pal can free up a lot of time.
-
- Pengullet is delightfully versatile. Get one early!
-
- It’s good to stay organized. If your resources are scattered everywhere, how can you expect to keep a clear head? So, you’ll want a Pal who has the Transporting skill to gather all the logs, berries, and stones and put them in boxes for you to use. As said with the gathering skill, it’s good to combine this with Transporting, and Tanzee is the right pick.
- Farming is a weird skill. There aren’t any levels in it, and every single pal gives different resources when you put them in a Ranch. While this warrants its own guide, some Pals you should consider putting in a ranch are Lamball for wool, Chikipi for eggs, and Mau for gold. You can find Lamball and Chikipi right outside of spawn, and Mau in the deep dungeons of Palworld.
-
- Like Pengullet, Tanzee is extremely versatile.
-
- Wool is useful early on, so put a Lamball in a Ranch!
Passive Abilities – A Sense of Individuality
The previous two abilities are based on the Pal’s species. Passive abilities, on the contrary, are about the individual Pal. Passive abilities are categorized into six tiers: from -3 to +3 passives.
Pals can have more than one ability.
-3 Negative Passive Modifiers
Pals with this ability are severely affected by their condition. They may still be useful, but they’re often outdone.
- Brittle: –20% defense
- Pacifist: -30% work speed
- Slacker: -20% attack
-2 Negative Passive Modifiers
Pals with these abilities are pretty much exclusively worse as workers. They can make for fine battlers, but they’re very high maintenance.
- Bottomless Stomach: Satiety drops 15% faster
- Destructive: Sanity drops 15% faster
-1 Negative Passive Modifiers
These are frankly pretty minimal problems. Sure, they still hurt your Pals, but they may be paired with a positive modifier that nonetheless makes these Pals worth it.
- Coward: -10% attack
- Clumsy: -10% work speed
- Downtrodden: -10% defense
- Glutton: Satiety drops 10% faster
- Unstable: Sanity drops 10% faster
+1 Passive Modifiers
We already reached the positive abilities. Many of these are extremely niche, so they may not come into play often. But they can still be pretty useful in a pinch.
- Abnormal: -10% incoming Neutral damage
- Aggressive: +10% attack, -10% defense
- Blood of the Dragon: +10% Dragon attack damage
- Botanical Barrier: -10% incoming Grass damage
- Brave: +10% attack
- Capacitator: +10% Electric attack damage
- Cheery: -10% incoming Dark damage
- Coldblooded: +10% Ice attack damage
- Conceited: +10% work speed, -10% defense
- Dainty Eater: Satiety drops 10% slower
- Dragonkiller: -10% incoming Dragon damage
- Earthquake Resistant: -10% incoming Ground damage
- Fragrant Foliage: +10% Grass attack damage
- Hard Skin: +10% defense
- Heated Body: -10% incoming Ice damage
- Hooligan: +15% attack, -10% work speed
- Hydromaniac: +10% Water attack damage
- Insulated Body: -10% incoming Electric damage
- Masochist: +15% defense, -15% attack
- Nimble: +10% movement speed
- Positive Thinker: Sanity drops 10% slower
- Power of Gaia: +10% Ground attack damage
- Pyromaniac: +10% Fire attack damage
- Sadist: +15% attack, -15% defense
- Suntan Lover: -10% incoming Fire damage
- Veil of Darkness: +10% Dark attack damage
- Waterproof: -10% incoming Water damage
- Work Slave: +30% work speed, -30% attack
- Zen Mind: +10% Neutral attack damage
+2 Passive Modifiers
These abilities can single handedly make a Pal worth it. Put them in the right spot, and they are sure to provide a serious buff to your adventure.
- Musclehead: +30% attack, -50% work speed
- Runner: +20% movement speed
- Serious: +20% work speed
+3 Passive Modifiers
When you have a Pal with any of these abilities, you should 100% keep them and treat them well. They’ll be excellent for breeding, but they’re also a massive asset themselves.
- Artisan: +50% work speed
- Burly Body: +20% defense
- Celestial Emeror: +20% Neutral attack damage
- Diet Lover: Satiety drops 15% slower
- Divine Dragon: +20% Dragon attack damage
- Ferocious: +20% attack
- Legend: +20% attack, +20% defense, +15% movement speed
- Logging Foreman: +25% player logging efficiency (when in party)
- Lord of Lightning: +20% Electric attack damage
- Lord of the Underworld: +20% Dark attack damage
- Lucky: +15% work speed, +15% attack
- Mine Forman: +25% player mining efficiency (when in party)
- Motivational Leader: +25% player crafting speed (when in party)
- Stronghold Strategist: +10% player defense (when in party)
- Swift: +30% movement speed
- Vanguard: +10% player attack (when in party)
- Workaholic: Sanity drops 15% slower
I hope you found this guide useful. If you want more Palworld, don’t forget to check out our preview!
