Palworld v1.0.3 patch notes: balance changes and fixes
Pocketpair released Palworld v1.0.3 in the early hours of August 12. I have read the patch notes end to end — and this one is noticeably more interesting than the previous two. For the first time since launch the developers went after balance and not just bugs, and they went after exactly the things players complained about loudest.
The short version: Jetragon and the Aquatic Construction Kit moved down the tech tree — to levels 70 and 23 instead of 79 and 66. Trees now drop twice as much Fiber, crude oil extractors are cheaper and pump faster, and World Tree Holy Water weighs almost nothing and now drops from expeditions and fishing. On the bug side, the two that matter most are an item duplication exploit and a Sunreach main-mission softlock.
Below is my breakdown of what this changes in practice, followed by the complete official patch notes in a spoiler — translated word for word from Steam.
The short version
- Jetragon: related technologies now unlock at level 70 instead of 79, and the missile launcher needed to ride him is cheaper to craft.
- The Aquatic Construction Kit dropped from level 66 to level 23, and its Ancient Technology Point cost from 4 to 1. Offshore bases moved from endgame to early game.
- Trees drop twice as much Fiber.
- World Tree Holy Water: lasts longer, weighs 0.1 instead of 1, and was added to World Tree expedition and fishing rewards and to the Large Fishing Pond.
- Oil: the Crude Oil Extractor, High-Pressure Crude Oil Extractor and Large Power Generator are cheaper to build, and both extractors pump faster.
- An item duplication exploit and a Sunreach main-mission softlock are fixed.
- Summoned Pals no longer stop fighting or stop helping with base work.
- Server owners get a new bAllowEnemyCampSpawnNearBaseCamp setting — enemy camps can spawn near base camps again.
What it means in practice
Jetragon is nine levels closer
Jetragon is the fastest mount in the game, and until now the road to him ran through level 79 — first survive to it, then go and beat him. His technologies now unlock at level 70, and Jetragon’s Missile Launcher — the Pal Gear you need to actually fly him — costs fewer materials. Nine levels near the top of the curve are worth more than they sound: on the experience curve each step in that range costs noticeably more than the last. The patch notes just say "some Jetragon-related technologies" without listing them. We checked the game data: both moved, the launcher and his statue. The recipe changed more than the notes admit, too — the ingot itself was swapped. It used to cost 60 Paloxite Ingots and 24 AI Cores, now it's 48 Soralite Ingots and 12 cores. The numbers are the smaller half of it: Paloxite is smelted from Soralite ore, Paloxite ore and Holy Water, so the launcher no longer drags a World Tree trip behind it.
Offshore bases are now a level-23 thing, not endgame
The biggest change in the patch. The Aquatic Construction Kit used to unlock at level 66 and cost 4 Ancient Technology Points — meaning building on water was a late-game option gated behind several bosses. In v1.0.3 it is level 23 and 1 point, with reworked materials and work amount. In practice an offshore base stops being an endgame trophy and becomes an ordinary mid-run choice. A cosmetic bug went with it: fast travelling to an offshore base no longer leaves a patch of "beach" floating on the water.
World Tree Holy Water is no longer a burden
The consumable you cannot walk around the World Tree without got five changes in its favour at once. Holy Water lasts longer and weighs 0.1 instead of 1 — ten times as many units for the same carry weight. There are more sources: it was added to World Tree expedition rewards, to World Tree fishing and to the Large Fishing Pond, while Pals in the World Tree area and Teafant Spring now hand out more of it. On top of that, two riding-aura bugs are fixed (the effect did not show on the Pal you were riding, and after the buff expired the aura came back and refused to fade) — and using it finally makes a sound.
Oil: cheaper to build, faster to pump
The whole oil chain got cheaper: fewer materials for the Crude Oil Extractor, the High-Pressure Crude Oil Extractor and the Large Power Generator, and both extractors pump faster on top of that. The third line deserves its own mention: the base mission that asked for a plain extractor now accepts the high-pressure one. It used to be a classic trap — you reached the advanced version, built it, and found the mission stuck until you also planted the obsolete model next to it. What to place where, and what it costs in power, is in the base planner.
Twice as much Fiber
A short line with long consequences: trees now drop twice as much Fiber. Fiber is one of the hungriest materials of the early and mid game — it goes into arrows, spheres, cloth, furniture and half the buildings, and it is usually the reason you keep going back to the woods. Doubling the yield per tree hits exactly that chore. Where things grow and who chops fastest is in the base planner and on the map.
Item duplication, the Sunreach softlock and other fixes that matter
A few of the bug lines are worth pulling out. An item duplication exploit is closed — Pocketpair, as usual, do not say which actions triggered it. The Sunreach softlock is fixed: removing the barrier before accepting the main mission used to make it impossible to complete. Summoned Pals no longer freeze up — they could previously stop fighting or stop helping with base work. Alpha Surfent produces Leather on the Ranch again. Rewards for the normal Moon Lord fight and for the Ultra Raid Boss were brought in line with what was intended. And a Katress trick is gone: switching spheres while riding with her Partner Skill active could hand you a different type of sphere.
One new setting for server owners
A new bAllowEnemyCampSpawnNearBaseCamp entry was added to the config. By default the game suppresses enemy camp spawns near player base camps; the new setting turns that suppression off. Useful when a base has landed on top of a Syndicate camp and made it stop spawning, and on servers that want more activity around settlements. Syndicate camps and other points of interest are marked on the map as always.
Palworld v1.0.3 — full patch notes
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[Game Balance and System Adjustments]
Items and Equipment
- Changed the unlock level of some Jetragon-related technologies from 79 to 70, and reduced the materials required for the Pal Gear used to ride Jetragon.
- Changed the technology unlock level of the Aquatic Construction Kit from Level 66 to Level 23, changed its Ancient Technology Point requirement from 4 to 1, and adjusted the required materials and work amount.
- Extended the duration of World Tree Holy Water.
- Reduced the weight of World Tree Holy Water from 1 to 0.1.
- Added World Tree Holy Water to the rewards for World Tree expeditions, World Tree fishing, and the Large Fishing Pond.
- Increased the amount of World Tree Holy Water obtained from Pals in The World Tree area.
- Increased the amount of World Tree Holy Water obtained from Teafant Spring.
- Adjusted the work amount required to craft the Ancient Armor series.
- Doubled the amount of Fiber obtained from trees.
Bases and Missions
- Reduced the building costs of the Crude Oil Extractor, High-Pressure Crude Oil Extractor, and Large Power Generator.
- Increased the crude oil production speed of the Crude Oil Extractor and High-Pressure Crude Oil Extractor.
- The base mission that requires building a Crude Oil Extractor can now also be progressed by building a High-Pressure Crude Oil Extractor.
Server Settings
- Added a server setting (bAllowEnemyCampSpawnNearBaseCamp) that disables the suppression of enemy camp spawns near player base camps.
[Visual and Sound Improvements]
Graphics and Display
- Adjusted the boundary display in some areas to make it easier to see from a distance.
- Improved the display quality of some objects in dungeons.
Sound
- Added a sound effect when using World Tree Holy Water.
[Major Bug Fixes]
Crashes and Progression Blockers
- Fixed an issue where the mission could become impossible to progress if the barrier was removed before accepting the main mission in Sunreach.
Multiplayer and Co-op
- Fixed an issue in co-op where lighting on the client side could display incorrectly after cutscenes or the ending played.
- Fixed an issue in co-op where some scenes could stutter during the cutscene that plays when entering The World Tree.
- Fixed an issue on dedicated servers where Fast Travel could activate unintentionally during Tower Boss battles.
- Fixed an issue on dedicated servers where Pals could appear to vibrate rapidly on the client screen.
Pals and NPCs
- Fixed an issue where the summoned Pal could stop fighting.
- Fixed an issue where the summoned Pal could stop helping with base work.
- Fixed an issue in multiplayer where, when the Partner Skill of Orserk or certain other Pals activated, the effect display could fail to update correctly, making it appear as though the skill had not activated.
- Fixed an issue where Alpha Surfent would not produce Leather when assigned to a Ranch.
Battles and Bosses
- Fixed an issue where some raid boss battles could fail to progress as intended.
- Fixed an issue where the wave effect and actual damage range did not match for some of Panthalus’s attacks.
Bases and Building
- Fixed an issue where the placement detection for stairs and slanted roofs could fail to match their actual shape.
- Fixed an issue where stairs could not be placed correctly on the sides of foundations or roofs.
Items and Rewards
- Fixed an issue where the reward settings for the normal Moon Lord battle and the Ultra Raid Boss battle had not been updated to the intended settings.
- Fixed an issue where items could duplicate when performing certain actions.
- Fixed an issue where, when Katress’s Partner Skill activated, switching spheres while riding could allow the player to obtain a different type of sphere.
- Fixed an issue where the World Tree Holy Water effect did not display correctly on the Pal being ridden when using World Tree Holy Water while riding.
- Fixed an issue where, after the World Tree Holy Water effect ended, riding a Pal would cause the World Tree Holy Water aura to reappear and not disappear when approaching trees in The World Tree area.
- Fixed an issue where an unintended reward was set for the desert expedition.
- Fixed an issue where the Dark Skill Fruit: Psycho Gravity did not appear on the item search screen.
- Fixed a bug where the firing interval was not set for sphere launchers.
UI, Display, and Text
- Fixed an issue where resolution settings would not apply correctly in fullscreen mode.
- Fixed an issue where, after switching window mode with F11 / Alt+Enter, the game could unintentionally return to fullscreen mode after loading.
- Fixed an issue where, if certain effects were on screen while aiming, the entire screen could become blurred.
Sound
- Fixed an issue where the water sound effect could fail to play at Teafant Spring.
- Fixed an issue on dedicated servers where the BGM for Attack Choppers triggered by other players could play even from far away.
- Adjusted the BGM playback range for Attack Choppers so that it plays correctly for players who are Wanted.
- Fixed an issue where unintended footstep sounds could play when walking on furniture or facilities.
Controls
- Fixed an issue where, after changing the key assignment for "Attack that enemy!" in Controls, selecting "Restore to Default" would not restore the default setting.
- Fixed an issue where settings could be applied unintentionally when interacting with the change confirmation dialog and duplicate key warning in Controls.
Map and Exploration
- Fixed an issue where a beach-like display could remain on the water surface after Fast Traveling to an offshore base.
Thank you for your continued support of Palworld.