First-run route
You've picked a difficulty and you know it changes what the route's times mean.
A difficulty is selected; you noted whether you're on vanilla or modified settings.
This route's estimated times assume normal difficulty with no multipliers — modified settings are fine, but your times stop being comparable to the guide.
tune-time-savers
Two minutes of settings worth hours, then a throwaway camp — not a base.
You've picked a difficulty and you know it changes what the route's times mean.
Why: This route's estimated times assume normal difficulty with no multipliers — modified settings are fine, but your times stop being comparable to the guide.
Done when: A difficulty is selected; you noted whether you're on vanilla or modified settings.
If you want a faster run, the four legit time-savers are set before you spawn.
Why: These four settings cut busywork without trivializing combat — the community treats them as fair for a solo rush.
Prerequisites: Difficulty chosen (0.1)
Done when: Death penalty, supply drops, incubation and weight are set to your taste.
You understand that more bases and more Pals per base cost frame rate.
Why: Newcomers over-build early and then wonder why the game stutters — the cause is base/Pal count, not the settings.
Prerequisites: Time-savers set (0.2)
Done when: You'll cap base count and per-base Pals to keep performance smooth.
Palbox, a chest, a campfire and a bed are placed. Nothing more.
Why: This first camp is disposable — you'll relocate to an ore spot; every minute decorating it is wasted.
Prerequisites: Performance trade-off understood (0.3)
Done when: A Palbox exists with a chest, a campfire and a bed — and nothing decorative.
Your base is good enough. Leave now. Upgrade nothing until you've caught a mount — the location will change anyway.
The early tech that unblocks catching, food and crafting is unlocked in order.
Why: Spending tech points on the wrong recipes early stalls everything — this order keeps you catching and fed.
Prerequisites: Temp camp dropped (0.4)
Done when: Pal Sphere, workbench, campfire, chest, bed, stone tools, berry plantation, feed box, ranch and bow are unlocked.
Missions, the right catches, first base, first mounts, Tower 1.
You treat the mission log as your to-do list — nothing skipped.
Why: Missions are big XP AND they gate progression: fast travel, spawns, whole regions unlock through them.
Prerequisites: Priority tech unlocked (0.5)
Done when: The mission tab is open and you're working the top active mission.
CattivaA Cattiva is caught and working your camp.
Why: Every beginner guide agrees: the first sphere goes to Cattiva — it crafts, mines, gathers and carries from minute one.
Prerequisites: Following missions (1.1)
Done when: A Cattiva is assigned to your camp and doing work.
Cattiva workHandiwork · Mining · Gathering · TransportingestimateCat Helper passive+50 carry weight per Cattiva in your party (stacks)estimate Cattivafirst catch — all-round camp workerKindling, ranch and support roles are covered by caught Pals.
Why: A camp that cooks, produces spheres and defends itself lets you leave and level instead of babysitting.
Prerequisites: Cattiva working (1.2)
Done when: Kindling, a ranch producer and a support Pal are all caught and assigned.
FoxparksKindling + flamethrower Partner Skill (clears the first Grass boss)
Vixyat the Ranch: digs Pal Spheres, arrows and gold coins
Lamballwool at the Ranch + early shield/tank
Chikipieggs at the Ranch — food never bottlenecks
PengulletWatering/Cooling/Handiwork/Transport
Daedreamauto offensive support (with the necklace)You have a Pal that punches above your level for early fights and mining.
Why: One or two strong early Pals carry the whole 1–15 stretch — knowing which ones saves hours of underleveled fighting.
Prerequisites: Work team caught (1.3)
Done when: At least one early carry is in your active party.
Pupperai)+10% melee damage passiveestimate
Rushoar (mount)+500% stone destructionestimate
TombatMining lv. 3 — buffed in 1.0estimate
Incineramlv. 10, single spawn spot — big early carryestimate Pupperainew in 1.0, Ground — versatile worker, Best Boy passive RushoarMining mount Tombatnight miner Incineramearly carryYou catch 5 of a species, then switch species — systematically.
Why: The capture bonus is the fastest XP in 1.0 and it's independent of your world XP multiplier — but it caps at 5 per species.
Prerequisites: Early carries caught (1.4)
Done when: You reach 5 catches on a species, then move to a new one instead of over-farming.
Cattiva)verifiedThe capture bonus caps at 5 catches per species in 1.0: past that, XP/minute collapses. Stop at 5, switch species.
Pays off: Diversifying captures = better XP
Capture bonus12 → 5 catches/speciesverified
Base placed on flat ground; passive arrow production is running.
Why: A base that self-produces food, spheres and arrows feeds both the player and the team XP while you're away — flat ground avoids Pal pathing bugs.
Prerequisites: XP loop running (1.5)
Done when: Food, ranch, sphere and arrow lines all run without manual input.
RobinquillHandiwork lv. 2 for the arrow lineYour base is good enough. Leave now. Upgrade nothing until you've caught a mount — the location will change anyway.
You've picked an allocation school and stuck to it — Weight/Stamina before damage.
Why: Weight and Stamina remove the two things that slow a new player the most (trips home, running dry); raw damage matters far less early.
Prerequisites: First base placed (1.6)
Done when: Every level-up point went into Weight or Stamina, not Attack/HP.
A ground mount and your first flyer are unlocked.
Why: Mobility is the single biggest time-saver early — a flyer turns a two-minute trek into ten seconds and lets you catch effigies at night.
Prerequisites: Stat school picked (1.7)
Done when: A ground mount (Eikthyrdeer) and a flyer (Nitewing) are ridable.
Rushoar saddle6 tech lv.estimate
Celaray glider7 tech lv.estimate
Eikthyrdeer saddle12 tech lv.estimate
Nitewing saddle15 tech lv.estimate Eikthyrdeerdouble-jump ground mount + Lumbering Nitewingfirst flying mount — spawns near the start Celarayupgraded glider — more fall damage in 1.0
Chilletearly Alpha — easy Dragon mountReflex installed: no 
Lifmunk Effigy left behind, turned in at the Statue of Power.
Why: Effigies raise Capture Power, which directly improves catch rates — better catches make the whole XP loop faster.
Prerequisites: Mounts unlocked (1.8)
Done when: Collected effigies are turned in at a Statue of Power; Capture Power went up.
Lifmunk/Pal EffigiesverifiedFeed the Statue of Power: global capture rate.
Pays off: Statue of Power
GrizzboltFirst tower boss defeated.
Why: The first tower unlocks progression and hands +5 Ancient Technology Points — bring Ground to answer the Electric boss.
Prerequisites: Effigy reflex installed (1.9)
Done when: Zoe & Grizzbolt defeated; +5 Ancient Technology Points banked.
Grizzbolt10 lv.estimateCounterGround skills ( Eikthyrdeer, Pupperai) — boss is ElectricestimateTower boss timer5 minverifiedAncient Technology Points on first clear5 ptsverified PupperaiGround damage vs the Electric boss Foxparksflamethrower burstThe budget is tight all the way to endgame: don't blow them early.
Pays off: Triple Jump Boots, Soralite Quarry, Ancient Hatchery, Wing Pack
Triple Jump Boots (lv. 70)6 ptsdataminedSoralite Quarry (~lv. 72)7 ptsdataminedAncient Hatchery (~lv. 76)8 ptsdataminedWing Pack (lv. 80)9 ptsdatamined
Mining base, firearms, first cakes, Towers 2–3.
Base missions are done at the Palbox — each level adds a worker slot.
Why: Base level is what gates your worker slots and your extra bases — ignoring it caps your whole economy.
Prerequisites: Tower 1 cleared (1.10)
Done when: Base missions completed and Base Upgrades pressed; worker slots went up.
Second base placed on an ore spot, producing ingots without you.
Why: Ore is the bottleneck for every tier of gear from here on — a base that mines while you're away removes it permanently.
Prerequisites: Base level 10+ (2.1)
Done when: Ore mines itself into a furnace and ingots land in a chest, unattended.
TombatMining lv. 3 — qualifies as a minerYou know what you're NOT building before endgame.
Why: Each of these five feels productive and costs hours — naming them is what keeps the route fast.
Prerequisites: Mining base running (2.2)
Done when: You can name the five and you're doing none of them.
Your base is good enough. Leave now. Upgrade nothing until you've caught a mount — the location will change anyway.
Your first real firearm is crafted and supplied with ammo.
Why: The bow stops scaling here; the Prototype Shotgun hits hard and burns far less ammo than the automatics, so your economy survives it.
Prerequisites: Traps understood (2.3)
Done when: A firearm is equipped and you have a sustainable ammo supply.
Don't blow your resources on a weapon that gets replaced two tiers later. Wait for a stable tier before investing.
Alpha and dungeon rotation in place — catching, not killing.
Why: Catching an Alpha pays far more than killing it, and Alphas respawn — this is a repeatable loop, not a one-off.
Prerequisites: Firearm supplied (2.4)
Done when: You catch Alphas rather than killing them, and re-run them after respawn.
Not consumed on learning: a late-game item combines duplicates into rarer versions — keep every duplicate.
Pays off: Late-game combining into rarer versions
Required for star-rank promotion — never consume one at random.
Pays off: Star-rank promotion
Two more tower bosses down (+10 Ancient Technology Points).
Why: Towers gate progression and each first clear banks +5 Ancient Technology Points — the currency for your endgame tech.
Prerequisites: Alpha rotation running (2.5)
Done when: Lily & Lyleen and Axel & Orserk are defeated; +10 points banked.
Lyleenlv. 20 · Grass → counter with FireestimateAxel & 
Orserklv. 30 · Electric/Dragon → counter with Ice/GroundestimateAncient Technology Points on first clear5 pts/towerverifiedThe budget is tight all the way to endgame: don't blow them early.
Pays off: Triple Jump Boots, Soralite Quarry, Ancient Hatchery, Wing Pack
Triple Jump Boots (lv. 70)6 ptsdataminedSoralite Quarry (~lv. 72)7 ptsdataminedAncient Hatchery (~lv. 76)8 ptsdataminedWing Pack (lv. 80)9 ptsdatamined
Basic breeding, Towers 4–5, dungeon loops.
You accept that old combo lists and calculators are dead, and you use a 1.0 one.
Why: 1.0 reviewed every combination and gated the strong Pals later — an EA calculator will send you to breed a pair that no longer produces what it claims.
Prerequisites: Towers 2–3 cleared (2.6)
Done when: You have a 1.0-updated calculator open and you verify each pair before spending a cake.
A Breeding Farm and an Egg Incubator are up and running.
Why: Breeding needs the farm, a male/female pair, a cake in the chest and an incubator — missing any one of them stalls the whole thing.
Prerequisites: Old combos purged (3.1)
Done when: Farm built, incubator ready, one male + one female Pal assigned.
Cake production is automated — the farm never idles for lack of one.
Why: No cake, no egg. Cake needs five farm inputs at once, which is exactly why your ranch and plantation had to run first.
Prerequisites: Breeding Farm built (3.2)
Done when: Cake is being produced without you hand-carrying ingredients.
You use the cake that matches what you're breeding for — not whatever's in the chest.
Why: The four 1.0 cakes do completely different jobs; using the wrong one wastes the ingredients and the egg.
Prerequisites: Cake supply automated (3.3)
Done when: The cake in the chest matches your goal: stats, volume, mutation or passives.
You know what a mutated egg actually gives — and that it's a 1–3% game.
Why: Mutation is the single biggest power spike in 1.0 breeding, but at 1–3% it's a long game — chase it only once your cake supply is free.
Prerequisites: Cake choice understood (3.4)
Done when: You're breeding with Extravagant Vegetable Cake and you accept the 3% odds.
Ultra-rare Mutation passives (breeding, combat, sky-island traversal) — keep every carrier.
Pays off: Mutation breeding
Base mutation rate1%dataminedWith Deluxe Vegetable Cake3%/egg (+2 pts)datamined
Your parents' combined target passives are set up so the child inherits what you want.
Why: Passives are inherited from the parents' combined pool — a sloppy pair dilutes the roll and you burn cakes for nothing.
Prerequisites: Mutation understood (3.5)
Done when: Parent pairs are chosen so their desired passives combine cleanly (2/2, 1/3 or 0/4).
All Palpagos towers cleared.
Why: Finishing the Palpagos towers is what puts you on the Feybreak doorstep with the Key Spheres already banked.
Prerequisites: Breeding running (3.6)
Done when: Marcus & Faleris and Victor & Shadowbeak defeated; Saya & Selyne too if you're on pace.
Falerislv. 40 · Fire → counter with WaterestimateVictor & 
Shadowbeaklv. 50 · Dark → counter with DragonestimateSaya & 
Selynelv. 55 · Dark → counter with DragonestimateAncient Technology Points on first clear5 pts/towerverifiedThe budget is tight all the way to endgame: don't blow them early.
Pays off: Triple Jump Boots, Soralite Quarry, Ancient Hatchery, Wing Pack
Triple Jump Boots (lv. 70)6 ptsdataminedSoralite Quarry (~lv. 72)7 ptsdataminedAncient Hatchery (~lv. 76)8 ptsdataminedWing Pack (lv. 80)9 ptsdatamined
A dungeon rotation feeds you Training Manuals, Skill Fruits and blueprints.
Why: Dungeons are the one repeatable source of catch-up XP and skill fruits — but only worth it near your route.
Prerequisites: Towers 4–5 cleared (3.7)
Done when: A dungeon loop near your bases is running; manuals and fruits are stockpiling.
Required for star-rank promotion — never consume one at random.
Pays off: Star-rank promotion
Not consumed on learning: a late-game item combines duplicates into rarer versions — keep every duplicate.
Pays off: Late-game combining into rarer versions
Feybreak, the Gold Coin Press money printer, endgame prep.
Feybreak region explored, Bjorn & 
Bastigor cleared.
Why: Feybreak is tower 7/8 and the only door to Sunreach — it's a pure DPS wall, so bring Fire against the Ice duo.
Prerequisites: Dungeon rotation running (3.8)
Done when: Bjorn & Bastigor defeated; Key Sphere 7/8 banked.
Bastigor)-1294 / -1669estimateBjorn & Bastigor60 lv.dataminedHP310000 HPdataminedTypeIce → counter with FiredataminedCold zonebring cold-resistant armor — environment damage stacks on the fightestimateThe budget is tight all the way to endgame: don't blow them early.
Pays off: Triple Jump Boots, Soralite Quarry, Ancient Hatchery, Wing Pack
Triple Jump Boots (lv. 70)6 ptsdataminedSoralite Quarry (~lv. 72)7 ptsdataminedAncient Hatchery (~lv. 76)8 ptsdataminedWing Pack (lv. 80)9 ptsdatamined
Gold production is automated — ammo and gear stop being a money problem.
Why: Endgame gear and ammo cost real gold; a press that mints while you play removes the last grind before the World Tree.
Prerequisites: Feybreak cleared (4.1)
Done when: Gold accumulates without you selling by hand.
Vixy ranch, merchantsestimateAmmo: buy or craft?no universal rule — compare purchase price vs materials + work time + Pal opportunity costestimateAn exploration team and a boss team are each assembled by role.
Why: The team that explores well is not the team that kills bosses — carrying one team for both jobs is why newcomers stall at the World Tree.
Prerequisites: Economy automated (4.2)
Done when: Two distinct team compositions are saved and ready to swap.
Stocks built, 
Bellanoir raid attempted, Legend chains scouted.
Why: Everything hoarded here pays off past level 66 — the World Tree is where unprepared runs die.
Prerequisites: Endgame teams built (4.3)
Done when: Materials, blueprints and cores are stockpiled; you know what Bellanoir drops.
Bellanoir raid lootestimateExclusive Training Crystals, IV/Stat Fruits (Power/Life/Stout) for perfect-stat breeding, Ultra Slabs, boss eggs.
Pays off: Level catch-up + perfect-stat breeding
Jetragon, 
Frostallion, 
Necromus, 
Paladius)estimateThe Legend passive cannot be rolled: breeding chains only — keep every carrier.
Pays off: Legend breeding chains
Required by Ancient/Legendary crafts — sources: Oil Rigs and raids.
Pays off: Ancient/Legendary crafts
Not consumed on learning: a late-game item combines duplicates into rarer versions — keep every duplicate.
Pays off: Late-game combining into rarer versions
Sunreach, the Panthalus chain, the World Tree: the same path as the Veteran Route, detailed step by step over there.
Modules disabled, Auri & 
Shaolong defeated, Soralite farm started.
Why: Sunreach is the level 60+ sky region and tower 8/8 — the portal at the Feybreak summit is the only way in, so arrive geared.
Prerequisites: Endgame stocks ready (4.4)
Done when: The whirlwind over the central tower is gone, Auri & Shaolong are down, Soralite is mining.
Shaolong68 lv.estimateCountersDragon/Water duo → Ice and Electric; aim at the BLUE body parts, the fur takes zero damageestimatePlasma Multicutter unlock66 lv.estimateSunreach priority order1. watchtowers & fast travel · 2. missions · 3. catches ×5/species · 4. Soralite · 5. new schematics · 6. Shaolong & 
Renjishiestimate Frostallionrecommended Ice counter Orserkrecommended Electric counterSunreach's endgame ore, smelted at the Ancient Furnace only.
Pays off: Endgame crafts (Ancient Furnace)
Panthalus chain Panthalus caught (not killed), World Tree terminal activated.
Why: Catching Panthalus is the only key to the World Tree — and if it DIES, the whole summoning ritual restarts from the Echobones.
Prerequisites: Sunreach cleared (5.1) · All 8 tower bosses beaten
Done when: Panthalus is in your Palbox and the World Tree barrier is down for good.
Panthalus70 lv.estimateCapturefight scripted to a sliver of HP → any sphere works; weak to ElectricestimateIf it diesthe WHOLE ritual restarts — a Ring of Mercy removes the riskestimateSequenceResearcher on the Deserted Islet (west of the No Man's Trail FT) → 4 Echobones marked on the map → flute on any workbench → blue stone to summon → talk to the Researcher again after the catchestimate
Beakonrecommended Electric — catchable as early as the desertThe budget is tight all the way to endgame: don't blow them early.
Pays off: Triple Jump Boots, Soralite Quarry, Ancient Hatchery, Wing Pack
Triple Jump Boots (lv. 70)6 ptsdataminedSoralite Quarry (~lv. 72)7 ptsdataminedAncient Hatchery (~lv. 76)8 ptsdataminedWing Pack (lv. 80)9 ptsdatamined
Guardians down, door open, Zenara & 
Astralym defeated. GG.
Why: The final stretch: a radiation biome that needs the Gas Mask, three guardians, an 8-key door you already hold, then a typeless DPS check.
Prerequisites: Panthalus caught, terminal activated (5.2)
Done when: Zenara & Astralym defeated; the Awakening mission is complete.
Dandilord + 
Silvance (Grass) → Fire · Modified Grizzbolt (Electric) → GrounddataminedKey Spheres required8 — granted automatically, one per tower boss: nothing to farmestimateZenara & Astralymlv. 80 duo, TYPELESS — no elemental shortcutestimateHP420000 HPdataminedWorld Tree priority orderaccess → Paloxite → Holy Water → Radiant Gems → exclusive passives → Awakening → final PalsestimateKeeps World Tree resources from vanishing AND doubles as a craft input — save it with a rainbow-passive Pal.
Pays off: World Tree farming + craft inputs
The core of the Awakening mechanic — farmed in the depths of the World Tree.
Pays off: Awakening
Key inputs of the Ancient Relic Recycler, harvested in the World Tree.
Pays off: Ancient Relic Recycler
Never toss one: feedstock for the Ancient Relic Recycler to roll legendary passives.
Pays off: Legendary passives (God of Destruction, Dimensional Leap…)
Ancient Relic Recycler unlock74 lv.datamined