Palworld Progression Order: What to Unlock Before Anything Else

Palworld progression order is the sequence in which you should tackle the game’s systems so that early decisions actually pay off instead of boxing you in later. The short version: build a working base first, then chase the tower bosses in level order, because each tower boss falls in a clean level ladder — 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 55, 60, 68, 80, and every first clear hands you Ancient Technology Points that unlock gear you cannot get any other way. Most beginner frustration in Palworld isn’t about difficulty, it’s about not knowing which of the twenty systems thrown at you in the first hour deserves attention now versus in fifty hours.

The first few hours should be about infrastructure, not combat. Drop a base near a resource-rich starting zone, capture a small spread of early Pals that cover the basic work types, and get a crafting bench and a few storage boxes up before wandering far. Leveling itself is secondary early on — passive capture experience does more heavy lifting than most new players realize, which is worth understanding through the catch bonus XP mechanic rather than grinding kills. Once the base is self-sufficient, point yourself at the nearest tower — for most starts that’s the lowest-level faction tower — because clearing it is what actually opens the rest of the map’s fast-travel network and story gating, not exploring on foot.

Base Pal assignment matters more than people expect this early; a base with the wrong work suitability spread stalls production no matter how many Pals you throw at it, and that’s a separate rabbit hole covered in the base Pal work suitability guide. For the first stretch, though, the only thing that matters is having enough Handiwork and Kindling coverage to keep crafting queues moving while you go fight the first tower.

There isn’t one single correct pace, but the approaches below trade speed against risk in predictable ways. A hard rush skips base development to bank Ancient Technology Points early; a balanced approach treats each tower as a checkpoint rather than a race.

There’s no quick way to farm Ancient Technology Points outside of specific bosses, but leveling efficiently makes those boss fights faster to clear, which is why the balanced ladder tends to outperform a blind rush for most players — you arrive at each tower actually able to survive it.

Faction Towers Unlock the Ancient Technology Tree

Each first clear pays 5 Ancient Technology Points, adding up to 40 across the eight faction towers, and those points are the only currency for a separate branch of the tech tree. Ancient Technology Points are used to research items in the Ancient Technology section, including the Grappling Gun and essential breeding structures like the Egg Incubator — gear that shortcuts travel and breeding for the entire rest of the run. Where those points sit relative to Palworld’s other currencies is worth understanding on its own, covered in the currencies breakdown comparing Gold, Dog Coins and Ancient Tech Points.

Alpha Pals Are a Slower, Optional Top-Up

Alpha Pals found in the open world reward one Ancient Technology Point the first time they’re defeated or captured, but a repeat kill gives no extra points. They’re worth hitting on the way to a tower, not worth detouring far for early on — the faction towers are the efficient path to the same currency.

The World Tree Finale Is Locked Behind Every Other Tower

Reaching the World Tree finale means beating all eight tower bosses and clearing a gating quest built around capturing a whale Pal to craft a special item, and the boss waiting inside has no elemental weakness at all, so it’s purely a gear and Pal-quality check. Getting your active team’s stats to that point is a separate long-term project best handled through the Trust mechanic and its effect on Pal stats, which matters far more once you’re staring down a typeless endgame boss than it does on tower one.

Myth: You Should Level to the Cap Before Fighting Any Tower

This isn’t how the ladder is built. The 1.0 boss levels of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 55, 60, 68 and 80 are confirmed for the current release, and each tower is tuned to be beatable near its listed level with the right elemental counter, not at the level cap. Waiting until level 80 to fight the tutorial boss just wastes the early Ancient Technology Points you could be spending on utility gear for dozens of hours.

Myth: Base Optimization Has to Happen Before You Fight Anything

A base only needs to be functional, not optimized, before your first tower run. Chasing a perfect work-suitability spread or fixing every idle Pal issue up front eats hours that are better spent clearing the first two or three towers. If Pals are sitting idle instead of working, that’s usually a fixable setup problem rather than something to solve before you ever leave the base — worth checking against a guide on Pals not working at base rather than assuming the whole base needs a redesign.

Myth: Hard Mode Towers and Cosmetics Are Part of Core Progression

Hard Mode Towers only unlock after clearing all eight regular Tower Bosses, and reward cosmetic hats plus Legendary Schematics rather than Ancient Technology Points. They’re a genuine endgame loop, not something to chase before the World Tree — treat them as a long-tail goal, not a beginner priority.