"Strongest Pal" means three different things in Palworld: the Pal that kills a raid boss fastest, the Pal that makes your base produce the most, and the Pal that gets you across the map. Version 1.0 changed all three. It reworked the partner skills of over 200 Pals, rebalanced nearly every active skill, rescaled work suitability to 10 levels and added 47 new Pals, so tier lists written before 1.0 rank Pals on skills and numbers that no longer exist.
This list ranks the three roles separately. Base stats, partner skills, work levels and gear levels are from paldb's v1.0.5 data; acquisition and the element rules are cross-checked with the Palworld wiki. The ranking itself is our judgment, and it says so where it is a close call.
The short answer
| Role | Best pick | Close behind | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boss and raid combat | Necromus, Frostallion, Jormuntide Ignis | Blazamut Ryu, Xenolord, Shaolong | High Attack plus a partner skill that buffs you or the party |
| All-round combat and travel | Jetragon | Frostallion, Frostallion Noct | Top-tier stats and the fastest mount in the game |
| Base work (mid-game) | Anubis | Sekhmet next to Anubis | Handiwork 6, Mining 6, Transporting 4, breedable from early Pals |
| Base work (late game) | A specialist per job | Orserk, Astegon, Jormuntide Ignis, Lyleen | One job at level 7-8 beats several jobs at lower levels |
| Flying mount | Jetragon (3,300) | Panthalus (3,000), Shaolong (2,800), Xenolord (2,700) | Ride sprint speed in paldb's v1.0.5 data |
| Ground mount | Necromus, Hartalis (1,900) | Paladius (1,800) | Hartalis also blocks all attacks with a barrier while mounted |
The trap in most tier lists: combat strength and work value are separate. Xenolord and Shadowbeak are excellent fighters with Gathering 2 as their only work skill. Anubis is a good fighter and a great worker. Rank a Pal for the job you are going to give it.
Combat tier list
Ranked on base Attack and Defense, how strong and how party-wide the 1.0 partner skill is, element value, and how hard the Pal is to obtain. Tower bosses in 1.0 have a 5-minute time limit, so damage output counts for more than bulk.
Astralym has the highest base stats in the game (200 / 200 / 200), but it is the final boss of the Sealed Sanctum and cannot be captured. Any list that ranks it as a party Pal is wrong.
How to get the top combat Pals
| Pal | How to get it | Level | Gear to ride (technology level) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jetragon | Alpha at Sunreach (moved from Mount Obsidian in 1.0), or breed two Jetragons | 70 | Jetragon's Missile Launcher (70) |
| Frostallion | Alpha in the Astral Mountains, or breed two Frostallions | 60 | Frostallion Saddle (62) |
| Frostallion Noct | Breed Frostallion + Helzephyr | — | Frostallion Noct Saddle (62) |
| Necromus and Paladius | Bosses at The Furthest Flats | 60 | Saddles (61) |
| Jormuntide Ignis | Breed Jormuntide + Blazehowl (the reliable route) | — | Saddle (59) |
| Blazamut Ryu | Raid boss summoned at a Summoning Altar | 55 (Ultra 80) | Saddle (55) |
| Xenolord | Raid boss summoned at a Summoning Altar | 65 (Ultra 80) | Saddle (66) |
| Bellanoir Libero | Raid boss summoned at a Summoning Altar | 45 (Ultra 80) | Not a mount |
| Anubis | Breed Penking + Bushi | — | Not a mount |
The Summoning Altar unlocks at technology level 33 and takes the slab of the boss you want to summon. Most legendary and raid Pals breed only with their own species (Frostallion Noct is the exception), so the first one has to be caught; after that, breeding two of them is how you reroll passives. The Breeding Guide covers how passives pass on.
A pick for every element
A strong hit deals 2x damage and a resisted one 0.5x, every element except Neutral resists itself, and a Pal using a skill of its own element gets an extra 20%. That makes coverage worth more than the rank of any single Pal. Bring two or three elements that hit the boss's weakness and swap between them.
| Element | Strong against | Late-game pick | Earlier pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire | Grass, Ice | Jormuntide Ignis | Kitsun (level 34-38), Bushi |
| Water | Fire, Ground | Neptilius, Shaolong | Penking (Water and Ice) |
| Electric | Water | Orserk | Grizzbolt |
| Grass | Ground, Water | Silvance, Dandilord | — |
| Ice | Dragon, Grass | Frostallion | Penking |
| Ground | Electric, Fire | Anubis, Aegidron | Rushoar |
| Dark | Neutral | Necromus, Frostallion Noct | Katress |
| Dragon | Dark | Jetragon, Blazamut Ryu | Quivern |
| Neutral | Nothing | Paladius, Hartalis | — |
Two consequences of the chart are easy to miss. Dragon Pals dominate the late game, so Ice is the most valuable attacking element there, which is why Frostallion sits in the S tier. And many top Pals are dual-type: when a hit is strong against one of the target's elements and weak against the other, it deals normal damage. An Ice attack is not automatically double damage against every Dragon Pal, so check the second element too.
Best worker Pals
For base work only suitability levels matter. Version 1.0 raised the cap from 4 to 10, and a level 7 worker finishes a job about 22 times faster than a level 1 worker in paldb's data, so a few high-level specialists beat a crowd of all-rounders. The full list by job is in the Automation Guide; this table ranks the workers worth chasing.
Sekhmet is the pick most tier lists miss. Its 1.0 partner skill boosts Anubis at the same base, and it is catchable in the desert long before the World Tree workers. An Anubis plus a Sekhmet on the crafting stations is the strongest mid-game Handiwork pair.
Mounts
Ride sprint speed below is from paldb's v1.0.5 data, with the technology level of the saddle or gear. The Palworld wiki's mount table still lists lower, older values for several Pals (for example Quivern and Frostallion), so trust the in-game numbers if they differ.
| Mount | Type | Sprint speed | Gear (technology level) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitewing | Flying | 750 | 15 | The first flying mount |
| Ragnahawk | Flying | 1,300 | 33 | Your attacks become Fire while mounted |
| Pyrin | Ground | 1,300 | 29 | Fast mid-game ground mount, Fire attacks |
| Quivern | Flying | 1,400 | 38 | Also raises Dragon Pals' Attack by 15-30% in party |
| Frostallion | Flying | 1,800 | 62 | Fast and one of the best fighters |
| Necromus | Ground | 1,900 | 61 | Double jump |
| Hartalis | Ground | 1,900 | 70 | Barrier blocks all attacks while mounted; raid boss at level 70 |
| Xenolord | Flying | 2,700 | 66 | Raid boss at level 65 |
| Panthalus | Flying | 3,000 | No gear needed | The largest Pal; one per base, where it bombs raiders |
| Jetragon | Flying | 3,300 | 70 | The fastest mount in the game |
Panthalus is a boss at the Deserted Islet (level 70), reached with the Echoing Flute. You cannot bring its Health below 1 during the fight, and at that point any sphere captures it. Capturing it is required to reach the World Tree, so anyone who goes on to the endgame has one, and it cannot be bred.
What to use at each stage
-
1
Early game (levels 1-20)
Fight with the gear partner skills. Foxparks becomes a flamethrower (harness at technology level 6), Lifmunk and Tanzee add guns from levels 11 and 12. Ride Rushoar or Direhowl, then Nitewing from level 15. Bring Ground Pals to the first tower boss, Zoe and Grizzbolt. The [Beginner Guide](/en/games/palworld/guides/palworld_beginner-guide) covers this stage.
-
2
Mid game (levels 20-45)
Breed Anubis from Penking (an Alpha at level 15) and Bushi (an Alpha at level 25) as soon as the Breeding Farm opens at level 19. It carries your fights and your crafting. Add Kitsun for Fire, Grizzbolt for Electric, Katress (it can save Pal Spheres) and Sekhmet for the base. Ragnahawk (33) and Quivern (38) are the mid-game flyers.
-
3
Late game (levels 45-60)
Build the Summoning Altar and take Bellanoir Libero (45) and Blazamut Ryu (55). Breed Jormuntide Ignis, catch Astegon (an Alpha at level 55) and Neptilius, then Frostallion, Necromus and Paladius at level 60.
-
4
Endgame (levels 60-80)
Jetragon at Sunreach (70), Xenolord (65) and Hartalis (70) raids, Panthalus for the World Tree, then Orserk, Shaolong and the level 8 workers there. From here, the gains come from passives, not from new species.
Passives matter more than the species
Two copies of the same Pal can be far apart. A few combat passives from paldb's v1.0.5 data: Legend (Attack +20%, on legendary Pals), Lucky (Attack +15% with Defense and Work Speed), Demon God (Attack +30%, Defense +5%), Musclehead (Attack +30%, Work Speed -50%) and Ferocious (Attack +20%). Version 1.0 added World Tree passives with trade-offs, such as Twin-Edged Holy Blade (Attack +50%, Defense -30%) and Demon's Hand (Work Speed +90%, sanity drops faster), and strengthened the element passives of legendary Pals such as Ice Emperor and Divine Dragon.
For a worker, swap the attack passives for work ones: Remarkable Craftsmanship (+75%), Artisan (+50%) or Serious (+20%). How to stack four on one Pal is in the Breeding Guide.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | What happens | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Using a pre-1.0 tier list | Partner skills, work levels and Jetragon's location are all out of date | Check the 1.0 values; old lists cap work at level 4 |
| Six Pals of one element | A boss that resists it takes half damage from your whole team | Two or three elements that hit the boss's weakness |
| Stacking the same Pal for its partner skill | Since 1.0 most partner skill effects do not stack | Different species; Solenne even rewards it |
| Putting fighters to work | Xenolord and Shadowbeak have only Gathering 2 | Workers for the base, fighters in the party |
| Sending low Pals into high fights | In 1.0 Pals avoid attacking enemies far above their level | Level the party, not only the player |
| Chasing a legendary too early | Level 60-70 Alphas and raids wipe an underleveled team | Anubis and the level 45-55 raids first |
| Ignoring passives | A 'top tier' Pal with Work Slave or bad passives underperforms | Breed for Legend, Demon God or Lucky |
Related guides
- Breeding Guide — breeding Anubis and stacking passives on your top Pals
- Automation Guide — the best worker for every work type and production chain
- Base Building Guide — base levels, layout, sanity and raids in 1.0
- Beginner Guide — the first 20 levels and the first Pals to catch
- Palworld Review — whether the long-term loop is for you
★Honest Take: a wider top tier, with the same old gate
Version 1.0 made the top of Palworld more interesting. Partner skills that buff the player or the party mean that a Solenne, a Xenolord or a Jormuntide Ignis changes how a fight plays, not just how many numbers appear, and the stronger top-tier skills for every element make a balanced team viable instead of an all-Dragon one. The rework also fixed a real oddity: Jetragon is no longer a legendary that cannot do any work. The weak side is unchanged. The strongest Pals sit behind level 60-70 Alphas and raids, legendary and raid Pals breed only with themselves, and the real gap between a good and a great Pal is passives, which means hours at the Breeding Farm. If you only play the story, an Anubis, a Frostallion and a Jormuntide Ignis will carry you; the rest of this list is for the players who enjoy the optimisation.
