How to raise your Pals Sanity meter in Palworld

A little self-care for the Pals

A Rushroar improving his sanity in a Hot Spring in Palworld

Palword keeps it just as real as it does fantastical — life’s everyday mundane tasks chip away at your little Pal’s sanity. To keep them in good spirits, you’ll want to make sure their Sanity (SAN) meter stays within a healthy range, so I’ve got some tips.

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Keep your Pals sane

For starters, check a Pal’s dwindling — or improving! — sanity meter by navigating to your Party menu. The SAN stat is in the top right, under their Health (HP) and Hunger. You can also monitor SAN as Pals do other chores. Shockingly, their sanity drops from doing most usual housekeeping tasks. Just like me, for real.

Anyway, fret not. You can improve your Pal’s SAN stat in plenty of ways, but we’ll get you started with a few basic tips here. Since Palworld is in Early Access, I’m still learning myself, but keep checking here as we keep testing and adding more ways to keep it together in Palword

Sleep

This one is a must, Pals without a bed will not sleep through the night, and it’ll chip away at their SAN. Keep them healthy; craft a Straw Pal Bed for every little critter starting at Level 3. It’s just (1) Technology Point plus the (10) Wood and (5) Fiber you’ll need to make a bed. They can’t share, either, so make sure you’ve got enough for everyone.

As you progress through the game, you’ll be able to unlock the Fluffy Pal Bed for 2 Technology Points at level 24. Not only does this ensure that your Pals get their much needed respite, but it also increases their SAN much more quickly. 

You should also be aware that larger pals, such as Alpha Pals or those such as Mammorest that are massive to begin with, will need Large Pal Beds to get a comfortable night’s rest. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to unlock this recipe until you reach level 36, so until then, you’ll just have to juggle larger Pals SAN by other means.

Grab a snack

In addition to needing food to maintain their health, Pals also need to eat to maintain their SAN. They get hangry, too, I guess. Check the descriptions on your recipe list; certain recipes like Broiled Dumud are good for the mind and body, so they’ll do more to improve your Pal’s SAN.

The best easiest early game food for increasing SAN in your Pals is Honey; not only is it fairly easy to come by in the wild, but you can throw some Beegarde into your Ranch and they’ll provide enough to keep your Pals going on their bad days.  

As soon as you’ve unlocked the Cooking Pot at level 17, you’ll be able to prepare both Stewed Galeclaw and Pancakes. Not only do these provide more SAN for your Pals, they also provide a buff which slows SAN decrease for some time. 

Treat them to the Hot Spring

Upon reaching Level 9, unlock this in your Technology tree for (2) Technology Points. I’d go for this upgrade ASAP, as it’s a quick and easy way for your Pals to get some rest during the day. To craft a Hot Spring, you’ll need (30) Wood, (15) Stone, (15) Paldium Fragments, and (10) Pal Fluid.

Just like the Pal Beds, the Hot Spring should be upgraded when the High Quality Hot Spring becomes available at level 40. To build it, you’ll need (100) Stone, (100) Wood, (30) Palladium Fragments, and (20) Cement, so it’s fairly resource-heavy. However, it does offer much faster SAN increases, so it’s worth it.

High Grade Medical Supplies

If your Pal is depressed or injured, it’s not gonna do much for their SAN. Craft the Medieval Medicine Workbench at Level 12; from there, you can make High Grade Medical Supplies to help out Pals with the Depressed status. To make High Grade Medical Supplies, you’ll need (5) Ingots, (5) Horns, and (2) Bones.

Return Pals to your Pal Box

As a final result, when all else fails, you can always return your Pals to your Pal Box in order to give them a break from the arduous tasks they face on your Base. This does mean that you lose their skills for a period, but if you have another of the same Pal you can always swap them out. 

Once they’ve been inside the box for an hour, they’ll be as good as new and ready to slave away on your base again.

About The Author
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Andrea Shearon
Associate Editor - Andrea is Destructoid's own little FFXIV encyclopedia with her hands in a bit of everything. She's been in the games industry for almost seven years, and has a fondness for RPGs, MMOs, farming sims, survival games, and the occasional horror adventure.
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