Best Armor in Palworld 1.0 : What to Craft & When to Upgrade
Your cloth armor is useless after level 10. Here is the armor upgrade path, what materials you need, and which sets are worth the grind.
- •Cloth → Metal → Refined Metal → Pal Metal. Skip everything in between. Never craft Pelt Armor.
- •Shields are separate from armor. Get the Giga Shield at level 28. It blocks far more than any armor upgrade.
- •For cold areas (Frostallion): bring cold-resistant armor or a fire weapon to stay warm. Frostallion will kill you before the cold does.

Your cloth armor keeps you alive against level 2 Lamballs. After that, it does nothing. Here is the upgrade path. Follow it and you stop dying to things that should not kill you.
Cloth Armor → Metal Armor (level 10)
Cloth is your starter set. Craft it. Then replace it at level 10 with Metal Armor. Do not craft Pelt Armor. It costs the same materials as Metal and is worse. There is no reason for Pelt Armor to exist.
Metal Armor → Refined Metal Armor (level 25)
Refined Ingots are the bottleneck. You need a lot of ore and a good furnace. Build the Improved Furnace before you grind for Refined Metal Armor. It halves the smelting time.
This set will carry you through the mid-game. Upgrade your shield before you upgrade your armor again.
Refined Metal → Pal Metal Armor (level 40)
Endgame armor. Pal Metal Ingots require Pal Fluids and ore. Farm Pal Fluids from water Pals. The grind is long but this set makes you survivable against legendaries.
Shields matter more than armor
Armor reduces damage. Shields absorb it completely until they break. At level 28, craft the Giga Shield. It absorbs hundreds of damage before your armor even matters. A good shield is worth more than two armor upgrades.
Cold and heat resistance
Some areas require specific armor or accessories. The northern snow region needs cold resistance. The volcano needs heat resistance. Craft the undershirt accessories for these. They take an accessory slot. Worth it.
Related Guides
Sources
This guide was compiled from multiple public sources. We cross-reference with 3+ sources before publishing.
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