As soon as you step into the world of Palworld, it’s easy to become swept off your feet and into all the activities it offers.

I was immediately enraptured with the Pals and spent most of my early days trying to capture them all.

However, that put me way behind on the things I should have been doing.

To avoid my mistakes, here are 10 best starter tips for taking charge in Palworld.

1. Master Dodging

As with most games, perfecting the dodge roll can be the difference between life and death.

In Palworld, learning how to dodge means you can avoid enemy attacks from Pals.

It also means when you’re inevitably attacked by thugs, you can dodge out of the way of their gunfire.

Dodging will keep you alive, but ensure you watch your stamina.

When it runs out, you won’t be able to dodge out of an attack’s path.

2. Don’t Worry, Your Pals Won’t Die

I know one of the reasons why I refused to bring out Pals during early fights is because I didn’t want to lose them.

The good news is that your Pals won’t die when fighting another Pal.

When their health hits zero, they’ll become unconscious.

You just need to bring them back to base and put them in the Palbox for them to heal.

Depending on how hurt they are, it may take a while for them to heal up completely.

Keep in mind, too, that there’s a chance Thugs might steal your Pal from you if you end up dying, too.

If that happens, you can travel to the small settlement in the biome with the yellow grass.

The Pal merchant there can sell them back to you.

It’s best to avoid that in the first place though.

3. Call Pals Back and Auto-Attack Targets

Now, I’m not always the brightest player, so it took me a hot minute to realize how you call your Pal back into its sphere.

You literally just press “E” again.

Or, if you’re not playing on the keyboard, then you press whatever button you use to throw the Pal out of the Sphere again.

Let me add another tip on that that you might find helpful.

If you can get close enough to a target and hover your crosshairs over the target, then throw out your Pal, your Pal will automatically start fighting them.

This skips the need for you to hit the target first to initiate the fight.

It’s an easy way to get your Pal going without you needing to do anything but throw your Sphere at the right time.

4. Build a Primitive Workbench ASAP

One of the very first things that will kill you in Palworld is the cold.

You enter the world with nothing but a towel on, and when night hits, the islands become very cold.

You’ll need a torch to survive, but the only way you can make a torch is by building a primitive workbench.

So, as soon as you enter the world, build a workbench anywhere.

It doesn’t matter if you want to build a base there or not.

Just build it, then make yourself a torch.

When night hits, you won’t be the like the other newbs freezing to death.

Oh, and if you’re on a multiplayer server, be sure to clean up after yourself and demolish the primitive workbench after making your torch.

5. Use Your Base To Your Advantage

Your base is an important part of Palworld.

Besides being where your Pals rest, eat, and recover, it’s also a place of defense.

You can also use it to take care of enemies who might be a bit more advanced than yourself.

You can even use it to try and tame something your Party can’t handle.

All you need to do is kite the Pal to your base.

Depending on the distance, this might be impossible.

But if the Pal is close enough, you can pull the Pal toward your base by hitting it and running.

Once the Pal is close enough, the rest of your Pals will start to attack it.

With some quick timing, good aim, and a bit of luck, you can throw a Sphere at it when they’ve taken its health down.

6. A Bow Makes Capturing So Much Easier

Running after Pals with a club is exhausting.

Some of them are even faster than you, making it impossible to bring them down.

The best thing you can do is make a bow as soon as its technology becomes available to you.

Ranged is so much nicer since it allows you to aggro Pals like flying Pals or Pals that run faster.

From there, your Party of Pals can bring down its health enough for you to capture it.

Ranged can also help you in a fight against thugs.

It just makes playing Palworld a bit easier.

7. Exploring Palworld Yields Rewards

One of the aspects I love about Palworld is that it encourages and rewards exploration.

A little trip outside your base can introduce you to new Pals.

It can also give you free items like Spheres.

I’ve even seen a Mega Sphere just sitting in the grass.

There are treasure chests, journal pages that dig into the lore, and even Pal eggs, which you can hatch and earn a free Pal.

Take some time to leave your base and look around the world.

You might be surprised at what you find.

8. Take Down Thug Outposts

If you’ve ever seen a trail of smoke in the air, it’s worth investigating.

It could lead you right to a thug outpost.

These outposts tend to have a Pal locked in a cage inside it.

After clearing out the outpost, you can unlock the cage and the Pal inside automatically joins your Party, or heads to your Palbox.

It’s a great way to get some pretty powerful Pals, even if you’re in the starter region.

It’s how I got my Arsox, and he’s been my main fighter since.

Check out the outpost, but be ready for a fight.

9. Level Yourself First Then Worry About Your Pals

Because Pals do most of the fighting, your first inclination may be to level them up as much as possible.

Except they can’t go higher than your own level.

So, in actuality, you need to level yourself first.

For example, if you’re level 12, and you pick up a Pal that’s level 13 or 15, they’ll go down to level 12 to match you.

Or, if you have a Pal that’s level 12, they won’t reach level 13 until you do.

So, do what you need to reach higher levels and your Pals will follow with you.

10. Listen Closely for Shimmering Sounds

If you hear an odd shimmering sound, then it means there’s a Lucky Pal nearby.

These Pals glow, shimmer, and otherwise look far much larger than their usual size.

A Lucky Pal is basically a variant of a Pal.

It comes with better stats and is far bigger than its original size.

Lucky Pals are worth catching if you can since their stats end up being pretty stellar.

Just keep your ears focused on any shimmery sound that you might hear while exploring the islands.