Creature catching games like Palworld owe a huge debt to Pokémon, the franchise that popularized the genre. There are many ways in which Palworld is an echo of Pokémon, to the extent of the latter's parent company looking into legal action. Catching Pals is practically identical to catching Pokémon: lower the Pals' health to weaken them, and then capture the Pal with an aptly named Pal Sphere. That said, Palworld's Pal Spheres are a pale imitation of Poke Balls and lack some of the unique quirks that have allowed the feature to evolve with the games over time.

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Palworld: How to Create All Pal Spheres

Palworld spheres are used to catch over 100 different Pals, but they vary in strength. From the mega to the legendary sphere, here are all the types.

Pal Spheres vs Poke Balls

In the beginning, there was only one, standard Poke Ball design: a black and white ball with mysterious inner workings able to shrink even the largest of Pokémon. In the canonical past, as detailed in Pokémon Legends Arceus, Pokeballs were whittled out of a kind of berry called an Apricorn. As the Pokémon franchise expanded, more types of Poke Balls were included. Great Balls and Ultra Balls were made to catch higher level Pokémon, but developers also created Poke Balls that could be utilized in specific situations.

• Fast Ball
• Level Ball
• Lure Ball
• Heavy Ball
• Love Ball
• Friend Ball
• Moon Ball
• Net Ball
• Dive Ball
• Nest Ball
• Repeat Ball
• Timer Ball
• Luxury Ball
• Premier Ball
• Dusk Ball
• Heal Ball
• Quick Ball
• Dream Ball
• Beast Ball

A Net Ball is great for capturing Water-type Pokémon or Bug-type Pokémon. A Dusk Ball triples the chance of catching Pokémon at night or inside dark caves. These specializations add an extra layer of interest to gameplay. Players who are determined to capture a specific type of Pokémon, like a huge Wailord, will need to consider their strategy. They could use a Dive Ball, since Wailords are found in the water, or they could opt for a Heavy Ball which has an increased chance of capturing Pokemon over 220 pounds. Wailord, for reference, weighs an average of 877 pounds.

The design of the ancient past's Poke Ball has it looking like it would fit right into Palworld, wherein players craft their own clothes, weapons, and survival items. Instead, Pal Spheres are glowing, almost elegant devices with swirling gold-work designs. There are six types of Pal Spheres:

• Pal Sphere
• Mega Sphere
• Giga Sphere
• Hyper Sphere
• Ultra Sphere
• Legendary Sphere

Pal Spheres' power levels are rather self-explanatory; a Mega Sphere has a higher catch rate than a regular Pal Sphere, and a Giga Sphere has a higher catch rate than a Mega Sphere. As players encounter more high level Pals throughout the world, they will need to arm themselves with Hyper Spheres and Ultra Spheres, leaving behind lower level Spheres. In Pokémon games, players might prioritize Great Balls and Ultra Balls as they reach higher level areas, but the basic Poke Ball can still be useful.

Missed Crafting Opportunities For Pal Spheres

There are plenty of massive Pals in Palworld, each with their own individual territories. When players venture out from their home bases, they just need to ensure that they have some Pal Spheres of the appropriate level in their inventory. There is not a lot of strategy involved. In Pokémon Legends Arceus, the obvious inspiration behind Palworld, players have to arm themselves with the appropriate type of Poke Ball to catch Pokémon mid-flight or Pokémon that are unaware that they are being hunted. This adds a level of intrigue that Palworld lacks. In Palworld, it is a legitimate strategy to just lob Spheres at a Boss-level Pal while the player's own Pals do all the damage.

Palworld has limited itself by sticking with Pal Spheres that increase in catch power level rather than including specialized Spheres. While adding in specialized Spheres may make certain aspects of the game more difficult, challenge is an important aspect of gameplay. For example, there is an opportunity for exclusively cave-dwelling Pals to only be captured by a specific kind of Sphere. This would send players on a mission to gather the materials needed to craft said Sphere, making for a major addition to the gameplay loop that could be both intriguing and fun. Palworld has borrowed many mechanics from Pokémon, so it only makes sense to take this one as well.

Palworld

Pocket Pair's Palworld is a creature-collection game set in an open-world. Entering early access on January 19, 2024, the project blends survival, building, farming, monster breeding, and shooter elements.