Every Pal in the Palpedia — 287 species and counting in Version 1.0 — has two things on its data card that decide most of its value: an element and a set of work suitabilities. Understanding how those two axes combine turns catch decisions from guesswork into a shopping list.
Element governs combat and mount type. Work suitabilities govern everything the Pal does at your base. A Pal with three work suitabilities is almost always worth catching, regardless of element.
The nine elements
Palworld's elemental wheel gives every Pal one type — some sub-species have two — that determines what damage they take extra of, what they resist, and, for a few, what egg they hatch from. The nine elements are:
- Neutral — no particular strength or weakness. Common early Pals.
- Fire — burns wood-heavy foes, weak to water. Kindling-adjacent.
- Water — beats fire, weak to electric. Watering-adjacent.
- Grass — beats water, weak to fire. Planting- and Gathering-adjacent.
- Electric — beats water, weak to ground. Electricity work role bias.
- Ice — beats dragon, weak to fire. Cooling work role bias.
- Ground — beats electric, weak to grass. Mining-adjacent.
- Dark — night-active. Beats neutral, weak to dragon.
- Dragon — the endgame archetype. Strong offense across the wheel.
The twelve work suitabilities
This is the more important axis for base-focused play. There are twelve roles, and a base needs at least one Pal per role you care about:
| Role | What it does | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Kindling | Lights the campfire, smelts ore, cooks food. | Critical |
| Watering | Refills the pot, waters berry plots. | High |
| Planting | Sows berry and wheat plantations. | Medium |
| Electricity | Powers refrigerators, incubators, and factories. | High (mid-game) |
| Handiwork | Speeds up any crafting bench. | Critical |
| Gathering | Harvests berries, wheat, tomato plants. | Medium |
| Lumbering | Chops trees for logs. | High |
| Mining | Breaks ore nodes — coal, copper, Paldium, ore. | Critical |
| Medicine | Makes and applies medicines. | Medium |
| Cooling | Runs refrigerators, keeps food fresh. | Medium |
| Transporting | Hauls finished goods to storage. | High |
| Farming | Feeds and tends animal-like Pals. | Low |
Pairings that punch above their weight
Kindling + Handiwork
The single best base pairing you can luck into early. One Pal that both cooks and crafts is worth two ordinary workers.
Mining + Transporting
Skips the entire "why is my chest of coal empty when the deposit box is full of it" problem.
Watering + Planting
A self-sustaining berry farm. Add a Gathering Pal and you never touch the plot.
Reading a Pal's work level
Every work suitability has a number next to the icon — level 1 through 4. Higher is faster. A level-3 Handiwork Pal finishes a workbench task in roughly half the time of a level-1 Pal. If you're comparing two Pals with the same set of roles, take the one with the higher work numbers.