Let’s face it: Palworld isn’t always for the feint of heart. You’ve got forced manual labor, trappers imprisoning wild creatures in cages, and aggressive enemies with guns. There’s a lot of danger out there in the world, and that’s why it never hurts to protect yourself with a shield.
A shield in Palworld is equipped on your body and passively blocks incoming attacks. Although there are a variety of shields, most players will start off with the Common Shield at level four of the Technology Tree. As you level up, you’ll eventually gain access to the strongest shield in the game, the Ultra Shield, at level 55.
These defensive items can be the difference between a successful wilderness adventure or the walk of shame back to your fallen backpack, so they’re more than worth adding to your arsenal.
How shields work in Palworld
After creating a shield, your character will automatically equip it and be able to use it in battle. This system doesn’t like most games, though, where you hold the shield to block against incoming damage. Instead, shields in Palworld work like an energy shield; they automatically defend you from a set amount of damage at a time.
When you have one equipped, you’ll notice a bright blue bar above your health. Whenever you’re attacked, whether from another human or a Pal, this bar will be depleted before you begin sustaining actual damage to your health. If your shield is fully depleted during a fight, don’t worry about needing to find resources and heading back to your base to return it to its full strength. To restore your shield, all you need to do is avoid taking any damage for a short time, and the blue bar will begin filling back up.
Most shields require certain ingredients to craft, including Ancient Civilization Parts, Paldium Fragments, and other resources like Stone and Wood. Before you can craft a shield, however, you’ll need to level up and unlock the recipe in the Technology Tree using Technology Points.
The most basic shield in the game, the Common Shield can be crafted at a Primitive Workbench—the earliest crafting station you’ll be able to build. Once you begin leveling up and fighting tougher foes, though, you’re going to want to graduate from the game’s most basic defense and equip something much stronger. To craft the Mega Shield, the second-weakest shield in the game, you’ll need a High Quality Workbench. If you want one of the stronger shields, you better start looking to build a Production Assembly Line.
All shields in Palworld
Currently, there are a total of five shields in the game:
- Common Shield
- Mega Shield
- Giga Shield
- Hyper Shield
- Ultra Shield
As you start climbing up the shield tiers, you’ll see pretty massive increases in shield strength. The Mega Shield jumps to 260 (up from the Common Shield’s strength of 100), and they just keep going up from there. The Ultra Shield has a whopping 1,520 shield strength factor, so it’s definitely worth equipping if you reach the highest level in Palworld.
Once you’re ready to move on from the Common Shield, the crafting recipes begin to look very similar; they all use Paldium Fragments and Ancient Civilization Parts. When you’re ready to construct the Ultra Shield, however, you’ll want to get your hands on Plasteel and Ancient Civilization Core. Here are all of the shields and their recipes for whatever level you’re at in Palworld:
| Shield Name | Required Level | Shield Strength | Recipe |
|---|---|---|---|
 Common Shield | Level 4 | 100 | 10 Fiber 20 Wood 20 Stone 10 Paldium Fragment Primitive Workbench |
 Mega Shield | Level 16 | 260 | 5 Ancient Civilization Parts 30 Paldium Fragment High Quality Workbench |
 Giga Shield | Level 28 | 540 | 15 Ancient Civilization Parts 50 Paldium Fragment Production Assembly Line |
 Hyper Shield | Level 43 | 1045 | 30 Ancient Civilization Parts 100 Paldium Fragment Production Assembly Line II |
 Ultra Shield | Level 55 | 1520 | 50 Ancient Civilization Parts 150 Paldium Fragment 50 Plasteel 30 Ancient Civilization Core Production Assembly Line II |
Although we believe having a shield equipped is the key to surviving Palworld, you know what they say: “The best defense is a good offense.” After you’ve built the shield of your choice, why not look to build one of the many guns in the game? You should also be sure to equip your base with its own defense system to protect from pesky raiders.
This article was updated on Sept. 26, 2024 with new information.
