Palpagos Islands

Palpagos is the main map, a set of connected regions that rise in level as you move away from spawn. You start in gentle grassland at level 1 and finish in snowy mountains around level 50, and the whole base game plays out across these five zones. The regions are not walled off from each other; the gating is soft, tied to the level and gear each area demands rather than hard boundaries. The recommended path follows the Tower Bosses, so this page reads region by region in that order.

Where you start

The starting forest, part of the Windswept Hills in the northwest of the main landmass, runs from level 1 to roughly 15. It is grassland with gentle terrain, the safest place on the map, and home to the first Tower Boss (Grizzbolt, under the trainer Zoe). This is where you build your first base. Site it somewhere flat and open, near trees, stone, berries, and Paldium, because a cramped or resource-poor spot makes the base painful to run for hours afterward.

The early Pals here are the ones you build your first workforce from: Lamball and Cattiva for Handiwork and Transport, Foxparks for Kindling, Pengullet or Teafant for Watering. Mass-catch them. Catching ten of the same species grants a bonus that includes an EXP boost, so grabbing ten Lamball is a real leveling method, not busywork.

The mid-map regions

North of the start, the snowy forest around the Lily tower is the mid-tier zone, roughly the level 25 area. It is cold, so bring cold-resistant gear before you settle in. This is the second Tower Boss (Lyleen), and clearing it marks the shift from early game to mid game.

From there the map splits into hot regions. The volcanic southwest, around the Axel tower, is high-tier at roughly the level 40 area and requires heat-resistant gear or you take ongoing burn damage. The desert northeast, around the Marcus tower, is a second hot zone near the level 45 area. Both punish an underprepared visit, so the practical order is to gear for heat once and clear them close together.

The high end of the base map

The snowy northwest mountains, around the Victor tower, are the top of the base-game curve at roughly the level 50 area. It is cold, and it holds the fifth and final base-game Tower Boss (Shadowbeak). Clearing Victor is the natural end of the Palpagos progression and the point where players start building a mount to cross to the expansion islands.

Do not skip heat- or cold-resistant armor before entering the volcano, desert, or snow. Environmental damage in these regions is constant, not a one-time hit, and it will drain you faster than the Pals will. Craft the resistant set first, then travel.

Working the map

Two habits make Palpagos smoother. First, unlock nearby fast travel points before you range far; the tower tops become fast travel points once cleared, and statues and towers dotted around the regions link the map together. Second, gather as you go. Ore, coal, and the signature blue Paldium come from field nodes across every region, and Lifmunk Effigies scattered around the map are spent at a Statue of Power for up to ten capture-rate upgrades. Collecting them while you travel is free progress toward catching everything higher up.

When to leave Palpagos

You are ready to leave the main map when you have cleared Victor at level 50, have a flying mount (Jetragon for example) or a fast aquatic mount (Jormuntide for example), and have a combat team that covers the type chart. The offshore islands start where Palpagos ends, and they need open-ocean crossings that only a mount makes practical. Until you have that mount, there is plenty of Palpagos left to farm.

Next: the Expansion Islands deep guide for Sakurajima and Feybreak. For the whole run on one page with levels and rewards, see the Tower Boss order cheatsheet.