Palworld leveling XP: why catch bonus stops working past the early game

What earns XP fastest changes as you play. Catching carries you through the early and mid game, boss farming takes over after that, and the level cap now tops out at 80 after the v1.0 update.

Where XP comes from

• Catching Pals: the top source early and mid game. You get XP even from Pals below your own level
• Catching new or high-level species: bigger XP payout than a repeat catch
• Boss farming: your main source from mid game onward
• Main missions: chunky XP at story milestones

Catching carries the early game

Catching a species grants bonus XP for each of the first five you catch (v1.0 lowered this from twelve). Work through five of every species you come across and your level climbs on its own. None of the catches go to waste either, since captured Pals feed into Condensing and breeding later. For technique, see our guide on catch level bands.

Boss farming takes over from mid game

Once catching stops moving the needle, switch to bosses.

• Field bosses: respawn each morning. Set day/night cycle length to its fastest option in world settings to shorten the wait between spawns
• Dungeon bosses: respawn roughly every hour. Combining a fast cycle setting with sleeping through the wait speeds this up further
• Tower bosses: challenge them as many times as you want, so repeat whichever one you can beat

Respawn timing depends on your world settings, so the numbers above assume the fastest cycle option.

Items that boost XP

• Training Manuals (S, M, L, XL): consumable items a Pal reads to gain XP directly. Best for pushing one specific Pal up in level
• XP-boosting dishes: seafood dishes like Jelliette’s Jiggly Jelly and Fried Gloopie Balls raise XP gain for a limited time
• Growth Acceleration Bell: an accessory that boosts XP for the Pal wearing it

The in-game description for the dishes says XP gain “increases slightly” and gives no number, so there is no exact percentage to report here. Treat the effect as a window to farm in rather than a fixed multiplier.

World settings multiplier

Solo play and hosted servers let you set the XP multiplier anywhere from 0.1x to 20x. If you want to level up fast, cranking that slider is the fastest route available. Leave it at the default if you’d rather take your time.

What changed in v1.0

• Level cap raised from 65 to 80
• Same-species catch bonus reduced from 12 Pals to 5
• Condensing cap reduced from 116 Pals to 48