Palworld players discovered an exploit for capturing bosses and turning them into party members

Palworld - A player stands in front of Zoe & Grizzbolt in their party
(Image credit: Pocketpair)

It turns out that one of the best pals to catch early on in Palworld is actually, somehow, one of its bosses. The first major goal in Palworld is taking your team to challenge the tower bosses and their giant Pals but thanks to an exploit players have found, you can actually just catch those extremely powerful creatures, human pal tamer still astride them and everything. I've managed to reproduce the trick myself, so it's definitely still doable if you too want to perform a corporate takeover on the local tower bosses.

The earliest target for this trick is Zoe & Grizzbolt, the tower boss and her Pal partner that you'll be encouraged to fight at the Rayne Syndicate Tower near where you begin the game. Here's how to pull it off:

  • Attack any PIDF Guard you can find in order to get a "Wanted" status
  • This is easiest from the Small Settlement fast travel point in the plateaus west of Grassy Behemoth Hills 
  • Fast travel to the Rayne Syndicate Tower and enter the boss battle
  • Do not attack Zoe & Grizzbolt 
  • Run away from the PIDF guards who spawn into the tower to pursue you and bait them into shooting at Grizzbolt instead
  • When Grizzbolt suddenly turns away from their gunfire and stops attacking, throw a Pal Sphere at its back

(Image credit: Pocketpair)

You'll likely see that the projected "capture rate" stays at 0% because of course you aren't supposed to be able to catch the boss Pals. If you attempt to throw a ball at Zoe & Grizzbolt without this exploit, the game will tell you that they're immune. But if you toss a ball while the boss is in this glitched state, you'll be able to catch it and add Zoe & Grizzbolt, as a single entity, to your party of Pals.

After you succeed, escape the remaining PDIF Guards by opening your menu and pressing "respawn" to die and return to your base. You'll have to fast travel back to collect your gear but it should be on the ground outside the tower.

(Image credit: Pocketpair)

The neat thing about catching a boss is that they remain way more powerful than just a normal Grizzbolt. Z&G retain their huge total health of over 30,000 and all their active skills too. They've got work suitability for handiwork, lumbering, transporting, and generating electricity, but with all that power I'd rather just bring them along to fight with me.

This trick started getting shared around on social media over the weekend and of course folks are wondering if it will get patched out. It's still achievable as of today and honestly, this is pretty on par with the level of silly exploits you can find in most early access survivalcraft games. So go get yourself a one-of-a-kind Zoe & Grizzbolt if you're up to a bit of cheesing.

Best PalsPalworld roadmapPalworld modsPalworld multiplayerPalworld dedicated serverPalworld breeding guide

Best Pals: What to catch early
Palworld roadmap: The early access plan
Palworld mods: Best tweaks to install
Palworld multiplayer: How to co-op
Palworld dedicated server: Full-time Pals
Palworld breeding guide: Get started with cake and eggs

Lauren Morton
Associate Editor

Lauren has been writing for PC Gamer since she went hunting for the cryptid Dark Souls fashion police in 2017. She accepted her role as Associate Editor in 2021, now serving as self-appointed chief cozy games and farmlife sim enjoyer. Her career originally began in game development and she remains fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long fantasy books, longer RPGs, can't stop playing co-op survival crafting games, and has spent a number of hours she refuses to count building houses in The Sims games for over 20 years.

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