The islands span grassland, desert, volcano, snow and coast — each with its own Pals, resources and environmental hazards. Knowing the map means catching the right Pals, mining the right materials and packing the right resist gear before you go.
Know the land
🌱 Grasslands (SE)
The starter zone — easy Pals, gentle terrain and the site of most first bases.
🏜️ Desert (NE)
Sulfur, coal and Fire Pals; bring heat-resistant armour to avoid burning up.
🌋 Volcano (W)
Ore, coal and Dragon/Fire Pals — home to heavy-hitting tames.
❄️ Snowfields (N)
Ice Pals and the Astral Mountains endgame; pack cold-resist gear or take cold damage.
Hazards & prep
- Extreme heat and cold drain health without resist armour — craft it before travelling.
- Night brings tougher, aggressive Pals (and the nocturnal Legendaries like Necromus).
- Water crossings need a swimming mount or a flyer; plan routes between islands.
- Set bases at biome edges so mining Pals reach the resources without you hauling.
Where to catch what
- Grass and Ground Pals: grasslands and forests near the start.
- Fire and Rock Pals plus sulfur: the desert and volcano.
- Ice and Dark Pals: the northern snowfields and at night.
- Water Pals: coasts and the seas between islands — bring a swimmer.
The desert and the snowfields deal continuous environmental damage without the matching resist armour. Craft heat-resistant gear before heading northeast and cold-resistant gear before the Astral Mountains — otherwise you'll bleed health just walking around, long before anything attacks you.
The regions by name, and what level they expect
The compass directions above tell you where to walk; these tell you when. The level bands are
what decide whether a region is a detour or a wall.
| Region | Pal levels | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Windswept Hills | 1–15 | The starter region, and where most first bases go |
| Bamboo Groves | 10–20 | The natural next step; runs on into Moonless Shore |
| The central islands | ~25–30 | Mid-game training ground |
| Mount Obsidian (volcano) | 35–50 | Magma and Fire-type Pals |
| Astral Mountains | Endgame | The far north: snow, Ice-type Pals, the world tree |
The 10–20 band is why Bamboo Groves feels right and the volcano feels broken.
There is a real gap between the low twenties and the volcano’s thirty-five, and the central islands are what
fills it. Skipping them is the usual reason a run stalls: it is a level problem, not a gear problem — and the
resist armour on this page will not fix it.
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 5 September 2026 against the Palworld Wiki (palworld.wiki.gg) and PinDrop.gg — which agree Windswept Hills is the 1–15 starter zone and Mount Obsidian runs roughly 35–50. They disagree on Bamboo Groves: this page says 10–20, PinDrop says 10–25, and the wiki’s own per-Pal spawn data runs as high as 31, so treat that one band as the least precise number on this page. The central islands is this page's own label for the gap between Bamboo Groves and the volcano, not a named in-game region, so no source gives it a figure — only the gap itself (a real jump between the low twenties and Mount Obsidian's 35) is confirmed. What is still unverified is the only thing reading cannot settle — nobody here has played it.