Best Palworld 1.0 Mounts for Every Stage: Locations and Saddle Levels
- Your fastest ride climbs in steps as saddles unlock: Direhowl (1,050 · saddle Lv 9) carries you for ages, then Ragnahawk (1,300 · Lv 33), Shadowbeak (1,600 · Lv 47), Necromus (1,900 · Lv 61), Xenolord (2,700 · Lv 66) and finally Jetragon (3,300 · Lv 79). The big jumps are all endgame.
- A saddle unlocks at its technology level and the fast mounts are all late — nothing above ~1,900 is available before Level 61. So the smart move is having any mount out early, not holding out for a fast one.
- Locations vary by obtain-type: only Necromus & Paladius sit at one fixed, pinnable spawn (~446, 681, Desiccated Desert). Most others are wild regions; Xenolord is a raid boss with no map spawn; and Jetragon’s exact 1.0 coordinate is disputed, so verify it in-game.
- Land and air mounts share the ride-sprint stat; swimmers use a separate swim-dash stat. Stack Nimble + Runner + Swift (+ legendary-only Legend) for up to +75% — a Jetragon with all four hits ~5,775, about 11× on foot. The calculator does the maths for any mount.
“Just get Jetragon” is the laziest mount advice in Palworld — you can’t ride it until Level 79, so for almost the whole game something else is your fastest ride. This guide maps the best mount at every stage to its saddle unlock level and where to catch it, backed by the datamined speeds, with a free calculator so you can plan your own upgrades. (For the three-mount team and pure efficiency angle, see our original mount guide — this one is about progression, saddles and locations.)
Mount progression: your fastest ride at every stage
Mounts don’t get faster smoothly — they jump in steps as their saddles unlock, and the biggest jumps are bunched at the end. Here’s the fastest land-or-air mount you can actually unlock at each stage:
| Stage (saddle level) | Fastest mount | Ride sprint | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lv 9 | Direhowl | 1,050 | Ground |
| Lv 33 | Ragnahawk | 1,300 | Flying |
| Lv 47 | Shadowbeak | 1,600 | Flying |
| Lv 61 | Necromus | 1,900 | Ground |
| Lv 66 | Xenolord | 2,700 | Flying |
| Lv 79 | Jetragon | 3,300 | Flying |
A saddle unlocks at its technology level (you earn roughly one tech point per level), so this doubles as a level-by-level plan. The takeaway: Direhowl at Level 9 carries you for a huge chunk of the game, and the real speed only arrives in the endgame.
Speed vs. saddle level: the fast mounts are all late
Plot every notable mount by speed and unlock level and the trade-off is blunt — there’s no early speed demon:
Everything above ~1,900 unlocks at Level 61 or later. That’s why chasing raw speed early is a trap: a mount you can ride now beats a faster one you can’t touch for 40 levels.
Where to get each mount
This is the part most speed guides skip. Mounts come from very different sources, and only some sit at a single mappable spot — so treat this as a schematic, not a pin map:
| Mount | Saddle | How to get it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direhowl | 9 | Wild catch (spread) | Low-level regions; densest on Forgotten Island |
| Nitewing | 15 | Wild (day & night) + Alpha | Low-level areas; guaranteed Alpha at Ice Wind Island ~(-276, -70) |
| Ragnahawk | 33 | Wild cluster | Mount Obsidian volcanic SW (~-828, -379 is one spot) |
| Shadowbeak | 47 | Rare (~1-in-20) spawn | Circling Wildlife Sanctuary No. 3 (eastern island) |
| Necromus + Paladius | 61 | Fixed dual legendary | ~(446, 681), Desiccated Desert — the one solid pin |
| Xenolord | 66 | Raid boss (no map spawn) | 4 Slab Fragments on Feybreak → summon at an Altar |
| Shaolong | 77 | Wild (gated) | Inside the World Tree, near Alluvion Lakefront |
| Jetragon | 79 | Fixed legendary | Sky Islands (1.0) — coordinate disputed, verify in-game |
Two traps to avoid: Xenolord isn’t a field spawn — it’s a raid boss you summon, so don’t go hunting the map for it. And Jetragon’s coordinate moved in 1.0 — a lot of guides still print the old Mount Obsidian spot, so confirm it on your own map before flying out. (Swimmers like Jormuntide and Neptilius have their own water routes — more below.)
Ground vs. flying: the lead trades hands
You’ll spend ~90% of travel flying, but a ground mount earns its slot in caves and no-fly boss arenas. Interestingly, which category is fastest flips back and forth as you level:
- Ground leads first — Direhowl (1,050) beats your first flyer Nitewing (750).
- Flying overtakes at Lv 33 with Ragnahawk, and holds the lead through the mid-game.
- Ground briefly retakes it at Lv 61 — Necromus (1,900) is faster than any flyer you can unlock right then.
- Flying wins the endgame the moment Xenolord (2,700) comes online at Lv 66.
So carry both: a flyer for distance, a ground mount (Necromus or Paladius) for the terrain a flyer can’t help with.
Which upgrades are actually worth it
Not every new mount is a big jump. Here’s the speed gain at each step of the fastest ladder:
The standout is Necromus → Xenolord at +42% — the single biggest leap, and the moment flying pulls decisively ahead. But note the two early steps (Direhowl → Ragnahawk, → Shadowbeak) are worth ~+23% each, so upgrading early matters as much as chasing Jetragon last.
The full picture: what’s unlocked when
If you’d rather see everything at once — every mount, when it unlocks, and how fast it is — this grid lays it out. Read a column for “what can I ride at this level,” a row for “when does this mount come online”:
Make any mount faster (and plan it)
Base speed isn’t the whole story — four move-speed passives stack additively:
| Passive | Bonus | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nimble | +10% | Common |
| Runner | +20% | Common |
| Swift | +30% | Common |
| Legend | +15% | Legendary-only (innate on Jetragon, Frostallion, Necromus, Paladius, Neptilius) |
All four together is +75%, turning Jetragon’s 3,300 into roughly 5,775 — about 11× your on-foot speed. On a non-legendary you can still stack Swift + Runner + Nimble for +60%.
Want your own numbers? Our Palworld Mount Progression Calculator works out any mount’s effective speed with passives, your estimated trek time, and the fastest mount you can unlock at your level.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the best mount at each stage in Palworld 1.0?
By saddle level: Direhowl (Lv 9) early, Ragnahawk (Lv 33) then Shadowbeak (Lv 47) mid-game, Necromus (Lv 61) for ground, Xenolord (Lv 66) as your first big flyer, and Jetragon (Lv 79) at the end. The fast mounts all unlock late, so ride whatever’s fastest and available.
What level is the Jetragon saddle?
Technology level 79 — one below the level-80 cap. Its gear is “Jetragon’s Missile Launcher,” which is what makes it rideable. That’s why you’ll be riding something else for almost the entire game.
Where do you get Necromus and Paladius?
They share a fixed spawn in the Desiccated Desert at roughly (446, 681) and aggro together. Paladius sleeps at night while Necromus is nocturnal, so night-time lets you fight them one at a time. Both need the Level 61 saddle.
Is Xenolord found on the map?
No — Xenolord is a raid boss. Collect 4 Slab Fragments from Feybreak Island dungeons, craft the Slab, summon it at an Altar, defeat it, and hatch the Huge Dark Egg. There’s no field spawn to hunt.
Are swimming mounts on the same speed list?
No. Swimmers (Neptilius 2,000, Jormuntide 1,800, Surfent 1,440) use a separate swim-dash stat, so they’re not comparable to land/air ride-sprint numbers. Carry one for ocean crossings.
The bottom line
Don’t chase Jetragon — chase saddle levels. Get Direhowl out at Level 9, take Ragnahawk and Shadowbeak as they unlock, grab Necromus for no-fly zones at 61, and let Xenolord and finally Jetragon finish the ladder. Know each mount’s location (most are wild regions; only Necromus/Paladius have a hard pin; Xenolord is a raid), breed the speed passives onto your daily flyer, and run your upgrades through the progression calculator.
More Palworld 1.0: the original mount guide (fastest Pals + best team), the full map guide, and the World Tree & Panthalus endgame.