Who are the best Palworld starter Pals? Taking inspiration from a certain Nintendo franchise, the very start of your Palworld journey sees you choose one Pal to be your starter, but who can you choose between, and which is the best option?
There are 100 Palworld Pals in the Paldeck during early access, with another 75 coming before the full Palworld release date. We’re unsure as of yet whether we’ll have to choose between one of three, or if we must seek out our new partner in the open world game. We don’t know all of their abilities yet, nor how the selection process actually works, but these three Pals are highly likely to appear in the early game, and could therefore serve as your starter Pal.
Palworld starter pals
These are the Pals you can choose from at the start of Palworld:
- Foxparks
- Lamball
- Chikipi
- Cattiva
Foxparks (#001)
- Element – Flame
- Partner Skill – Dakko Fire
Kicking things off is Foxparks, which looks to essentially be the Vulpix of Palworld. This fiery fox can shoot fireballs from its tail during combat, or you can pick it up under your arm and use it as a flamethrower, as seen in the video above when this ability is used to eliminate a horde of eight Lamballs. Foxparks can also light campfires, which is useful for cooking and survival. You might need to wander a little further from your base to find Foxparks, but they’re nearby, and very useful to have on your team.
Lamball (#007)
- Element – Neutral
- Partner Skill – Body Shield
For another Pokemon comparison, Lamball is very Wooloo-esque… which is to say it’s basically just a very round sheep. Or lamb, in this case. Lamball is described by developer Pocket Pair as being a Pal “at the bottom of the food chain”, but don’t let that fool you. Its weapon of choice is a heavy machine gun and while an individual Lamball seems easy to kill, in the video above, it can be seen as part of a huge group which looks like it’ll become overwhelming quite quickly. Lamballs can also help with construction, as we’ve seen it building what appears to be a conveyor belt.
Chikipi (#031)
- Element – Neutral
- Partner Skill – Unknown
The third choice for your Palworld starter is Chikipi, and in this instance, there isn’t really a Pokemon to compare it to. This is just a chicken. Described as “far too weak and extremely delicious”, Pocket Pair has neglected to mention just how adorable this Pal is. We may end up eating Chikipi, but we’ll feel bad when doing so. There is speculation that Chikipi may end up being the Magikarp of Palworld, in that it can turn into something extremely powerful via breeding and fusion, but we’re yet to see if that theory has any substance.
Cattiva
- Element – Neutral
- Partner Skill – Cat Helper
This sassy little creature is plentiful in the early game in Palworld, and its partner skill means it can help to carry supplies. This means that your own carrying capacity will be increased which, in our experience, is one of the most helpful things a Pal can actually do. It can be tricky to catch when you begin the game without any ranged weapons, as it will run away until its stamina is depleted, but if you’re patient enough you should be able to melee it up close while it’s taunting you to attack.
Which is the best Palworld starter?
Ahead of launch, it’s tough to tell exactly which Pal will be the best at the start, but our money is safely on Foxparks. The fire fox is the only Pal of the three with a naturally offensive ability, and will also assist with survival early on. Lamball seems like it will require a little more investment before it becomes powerful, while if the theories are correct, Chikipi will be quite useless from the get-go. Cattiva is useful for resource management, though.
That is all we know about the Palworld starters at the moment, but make sure you check out our guide to Palworld breeding to understand exactly how that mechanic works. We’ve also got the details on Palworld multiplayer, crossplay, and game pass so you can play with friends.