How to Pick the Best Starting Area in Palworld

One of the main parts of the survival-crafting-monster-taming game Palworld is building a base, and every good base needs a good foundation. A few different areas in the game can be respawned in, labeling them as the most likely areas to build a base. 

Each base area has its ups and downs, and there are a different number of Pals and resources in each. We’ll break them all down below so you can choose the best place to call home in Palworld. 

The Different Starting Areas in Palworld

There are eight different respawn areas in Palworld, and they’re all rated by their Pal Population and Resource Amount. These are one to five stars, and they’re ranked in the game itself. Each area also has unique parts to it, and they’re scattered around the main island of the game so you can start near Pals or biomes that you like.

These are the different starting areas:

Windswept Hills Plateau of Beginning

• 5/5 Pal Population
• 5/5 Resource Amount

This is where you’ll start by default in Palworld. The Plateau of Beginning has a nice base area right by it in a dilapidated castle, and it’s the perfect spot for beginners. There are a lot of resources and Pals around, so you have everything you need and all the Pals you could want.

The climate is calm as well, so you don’t have to worry about freezing to death if you don’t have a torch at night (although with all the resources nearby, it’s incredibly easy to get one).

Windswept Hills Flying Fish Coast

• 4/5 Pal Population
• 3/5 Resource Amount

The Flying Fish Coast part of Windswept Hills is a cozy little island off of the main archipelago. If you’re looking to set up a large base, or even if you’re planning to do a lot of farming, then this is a good area to look at. Plus, Pals in the area include Gumoss and Teafant, who are very good at running the farming side of bases.

However, there are not a lot of resources around. Be prepared to travel for what you need or to bring it from another base. In general, this base is nice aesthetically and can be perfect for specific types of players. 

Sea Breeze Archipelago Reef

• 3/5 Pal Population
• 4/5 Resource Amount

The Archipelago Reef is a decent spot to set up base. The climate is pretty good, and there’s nothing necessarily bad about the area besides the lack of Pals around. Of those pals. you'll find Gumoss and Melpaca right by your base, both of which are normally much farther away. 

The best benefit to using this area as a base is that it’s not near a fast travel point otherwise. This makes it easy to get to the area whereas it’s a bit of a hike otherwise. 

Sea Breeze Archipelago Castaway Beach

• 3/5 Pal Population
• 3/5 Resource Amount

If you want to live by the cliffside ocean, then this is the perfect area for you. It’s got a rocky beach with a decent amount of room for a base, all surrounded by cliffs and rocks. 

Unfortunately, there’s not too much room to build here. However, if you keep your base just a little on the tighter side, then this area can work nicely. Plus, the Pals that are around include water and ice types like Pengullet, Celaray, and Teafant, which aren't normal spawn area Pals.

Marsh Island

• 3/5 Pal Population
• 4/5 Resource Amount

Marsh Island is the perfect beach retreat with a ton of privacy. There’s a winding beachfront that makes for pretty bases, and there’s a cliff that keeps most of the outside world away from your base. 

However, it can get chilly at night, so you may want to prioritize getting cloth armor or torches immediately. Because it’s much more secluded, there are fewer Pals, making things difficult if it’s your first time playing the game. However, you'll find additions like Lifmunk among the generic starting Pals, giving you access to a fairly strong buddy early on. 

Eastern Wild Island

• 2/5 Pal Population
• 2/5 Resource Amount

With the sparse Pals and resources, the Eastern Wild Island isn’t ideal for most Palworld beginners. However, if you like a challenge and you aren’t a fan of beaches, then this could be the perfect place to play the game.

It’s nice and secluded with pretty great defenses, so you won’t have to worry about raids too much. Pals can be hard to come by, but Tanzee roams the wilds nearby, and they're great for both working the base and battling. 

Ice Wind Island

• 2/5 Pal Population
• 2/5 Resource Amount

The northernmost area in Palword lives up to its name – Ice Wind Island is cold. You’ll need protection at night here, so it’s best to choose this area if you already know what you’re doing. There are very few resources, which makes preparing for the cold hard if you don’t bring your stuff (and Pals)  from elsewhere. However, you will find Ribbuny right off the bat here, and they're great base workers.

The trade-off is that there’s a lot of flat land, making it another great area to farm in. Instead of being a beach, it’s more forest-y, with a great view of the greenery nearby. 

Forgotten Island

• 2/5 Pal Population
• 2/5 Resource Amount

The Forgotten Island is the second freezing-cold area in Palworld. With very little space, resources, or Pals, it’s easily the hardest starting area of them all. The beaches have more water than sand, so a base has to be built a bit further away from the respawn point.

For those who are looking for the ultimate challenge, the Forgotten Island is the place to start. One of the only upsides to this area is that you'll find Pals there way earlier than you typically would, like Celaray or Lifmunk. However, these are all also somewhere else, just not together.  

Those are all the starting areas in Palworld! Let us know which area you built your main base in the comments below.