When you're starting out in Palworld, it's a good idea to catch 10 of every single Pal, to help you level up faster - but there are some you'll want to grab as soon as you can in order to strengthen your team and increase your base efficiency and productivity. Below, you'll find a list of the best Palworld Pals to catch in the early/mid game - that's before level 30.

Best Pals for Your Team

The best Pals to add to your party before level 30 are:

Eikthyrdeer

This deer-like Pal with huge antlers is one of the best Pals to use as a mount in the early game. Its ability, Antler Uppercut, charges forwards dealing damage to Pals and enemies ahead of you, but can also be used on its own as a movement speed boost.

It’s also great for helping you catch Pals, as it knocks down and deals damage to any Pals it runs into. This means you can whittle their health down carefully, and you’ve got an advantage to your catch?% while the Pals are knocked over on the ground.

Vanwyrm

Vanwyrm is most likely the second Pal you’ll encounter that can be used as a flying mount. Getting a flying mount as soon as possible is a great idea as you’ll find it much easier to traverse the world and pick up Fast Travel points and Lifmunk Effigies. The first saddle for a flying mount you can unlock is Nitewing’s Saddle at level 15, followed by Vanwyrm's Saddle at level 21. As soon as you can, you should switch from Nitewing to Vanwyrm, as Vanwyrm is much more powerful in combat.

Quivern

Quivern is a great choice for combat as it can learn Draconic Breath (Dragon) Acid Rain (Water) and Grass Tornado (Grass) offering you more options in battle for your type match ups.

Katress

Katress is exceptionally strong in combat, with plenty of high-damage Dark attacks. Crucially, their Partner skill, Grimoire Collector, makes Neutral Pals drop more items when defeated, as long as Katress is out. Farming drops from Pals can be a lengthy process, so Katress will help you gather more leather and other drops in the early game.

Warsect

Warsect is a huge Ground/Grass beetle with massive attack and defense. While fighting with Warsect, its Partner Skill increases your defense and applies Fire damage to your attacks. This is a great Pal to keep around long-term for its defensive properties.

Best Pals for Your Base

We recommend catching these Pals and getting them to work on your base as early as possible.

Vixy

Vixy drop Pal spheres and arrows when assigned to Ranch. You’ll need plenty of Pal spheres to progress and level up, so we recommend grabbing two of these and placing them in your Ranch as soon as possible. They can be caught all across the starting zone.

Tombat

Tombat are useful additions to your base as they’re some of the first Pals that offer Rank 2 mining, gathering, and transporting. They will break down ore and then transport it for you, which is a crucial role to fill in your base. They can be caught in the starting zone at night-time.

Mossanda

Mossanda are useful as they have Rank 2 planting, handiwork, and lumbering, and Rank 3 transporting. They don’t eat much, either, so they're easier to keep satisfied. However, they're a little more difficult to find than Tombat - they can’t be found in the starting zone, instead you’ll need to head northeast, over the sea. The ones we've seen are around level 27.

Wixen

Wixen are the earliest Pals that offer Rank 3 handiwork, plus they've also got Rank 2 kindling and transporting. A Fire Pal for kindling is crucial to help you produce ingots from ore, and Wixen can also transport items and give you a hand with building. Wixen are rare, however - the best place to find them we've found is the large volcanic fissure to the northeast of the map.

Digtoise

Digtoise has one speciality - mining. Not only are they Rank 3 at mining, Digtoise's partner skill, Drill Crusher, makes mining incredibly fast. You'll need to craft Digtoises' Harness first, but once you have it, bring Digtoise along in your party and throw it at a rock you want to mine - using Shell Spin, it'll obliterate the rock faster than anything else we've found.

If you're not quite high level enough to get Digtoise, you can use Rushoar in the meantime, as they also have the ability to mine rocks faster when mounted, though not as quickly as Digtoise can!