Palworld 1.0 Mount Guide: Fastest Pals by Level, Best Team Setup, and Maximum Efficiency
- Jetragon is still the fastest mount in the game (3,300 ride-sprint) but you can’t ride it until Technology level 79 — one below the level-80 cap — so for almost the whole run something else is your fastest ride. And it’s no longer in a league of its own: 1.0’s new flyers Panthalus (3,000), Shaolong (2,800), Eidrolon (2,750) and Xenolord (2,700) closed the old gap.
- Your fastest available mount climbs in steps: Direhowl (1,050, Lv 9) carries you for ages, Ragnahawk (1,300, Lv 33) and Shadowbeak (1,600, Lv 47) are the mid-game jumps, then the big leaps — Necromus/Hartalis (1,900), Xenolord (2,700), Jetragon (3,300) — are all endgame unlocks.
- Don’t chase one do-it-all mount — carry one specialist per terrain: a flyer for ~90% of travel (Jetragon, or Xenolord for long non-stop flights), a ground mount for caves and no-fly boss arenas (Necromus/Paladius), and a swimmer for oceans (Neptilius, the new 1.0 legendary at swim-dash 2,000; Jormuntide is the best classic one).
- Any mount gets much faster with four stacking move-speed passives — Nimble (+10%), Runner (+20%), Swift (+30%) and the legendary-only Legend (+15%) — for +75% total. A Jetragon with all four hits roughly 5,775, about 11× your on-foot speed.
In Palworld, the difference between a good run and a slog is almost always your mount. The map is big, stamina is short, and the right Pal under you turns a numbing cross-map jog into a two-minute flight. But “get Jetragon” is lazy advice — you can’t ride it until nearly the level cap, and 1.0 quietly reshuffled the whole speed ladder. Here’s what’s actually fastest at every stage, backed by the datamined numbers, plus the three-mount team that keeps you moving over any terrain.
The fastest mount you can unlock at each level
Mounts don’t get faster smoothly as you level — they jump in big steps, and the biggest jumps are all bunched at the end. This is the fastest ground-or-flying mount you can actually unlock at each player level (a saddle unlocks at its technology level, and you gain roughly one technology point per level):
| First available at | Fastest mount | Ride sprint | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 9 | Direhowl | 1,050 | Ground |
| Level 33 | Ragnahawk | 1,300 | Flying |
| Level 47 | Shadowbeak | 1,600 | Flying |
| Level 61 | Necromus | 1,900 | Ground |
| Level 66 | Xenolord | 2,700 | Flying |
| Level 79 | Jetragon | 3,300 | Flying |
The story here is Direhowl. Its saddle unlocks at level 9, it’s one of the fastest early mounts at 1,050, and nothing meaningfully faster arrives until Ragnahawk (1,300) at level 33 — so a Pal you can get in the first hour stays your best ride for a big chunk of the game. (There are two small bumps in between: Helzephyr at 1,100 and Beakon at 1,200.) The real acceleration only starts with Shadowbeak (1,600, level 47), then the endgame legendaries stack up fast: Necromus, then Xenolord, Eidrolon (2,750, level 68), Shaolong (2,800, level 77) and finally Jetragon at 79. There’s also Panthalus (3,000), a quest Pal you catch in the World Tree endgame rather than unlock with a saddle — see our World Tree and Panthalus guide.
Speed vs. when you can unlock it
Plot every notable mount by how fast it is and how late it unlocks, and the trade-off is blunt: the fast mounts are all late. There is no early speed demon hiding in the roster.
The fastest flyers, ranked from the datamine:
| Flyer | Ride sprint | Saddle level | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jetragon | 3,300 | 79 | Legendary; fastest in the game |
| Panthalus | 3,000 | World Tree quest (~70) | Caught, not saddle-unlocked |
| Shaolong | 2,800 | 77 | Fastest farmable flyer (new in 1.0) |
| Eidrolon | 2,750 | 68 | New in 1.0 |
| Xenolord | 2,700 | 66 | Stamina 300 — best for long, non-stop flights |
| Frostallion | 1,800 | 62 | Legendary |
| Shadowbeak | 1,600 | 47 | The best mid-game speed jump |
| Faleris | 1,400 | 60 | Solid pre-endgame flyer |
| Ragnahawk | 1,300 | 33 | Reliable mid-game workhorse |
| Nitewing | 750 | 15 | Your first flyer — slow, but it flies |
One myth to kill: you’ll still read that “Jetragon is more than double the next-fastest flyer.” That was true in the old base game — it isn’t in 1.0. The new flyers (Panthalus, Shaolong, Eidrolon, Xenolord) sit right on its shoulder, and Xenolord is arguably the better travel mount: only slightly slower at 2,700, but with nearly three times Jetragon’s stamina (300 vs 110), so it flies far longer before you have to touch down.
How much time a mount actually saves
Speed numbers are abstract, so here’s what they mean in minutes. Your character’s on-foot sprint speed is about 500; a mount’s ride-sprint runs from ~1,000 to Jetragon’s 3,300. Across a long cross-map trek, that’s the difference between a quarter-hour jog and a quick hop:
| Ride | Ride sprint | ~4 km trek | vs. on foot |
|---|---|---|---|
| On foot | 500 | ~13.3 min | — |
| Direhowl (Lv 9) | 1,050 | ~6.3 min | −52% |
| Ragnahawk (Lv 33) | 1,300 | ~5.1 min | −62% |
| Shadowbeak (Lv 47) | 1,600 | ~4.2 min | −69% |
| Necromus (Lv 61) | 1,900 | ~3.5 min | −74% |
| Xenolord (Lv 66) | 2,700 | ~2.5 min | −81% |
| Jetragon (Lv 79) | 3,300 | ~2.0 min | −85% |
| Jetragon + 4 passives | 5,775 | ~1.2 min | −91% |
The takeaway isn’t the exact minutes — map size is a community estimate, so treat the distance as illustrative — it’s the shape of the curve. Your very first mount already halves your travel time, and everything after that is chipping away at what’s left. That’s why the smart move early is simply having a mount out, not holding out for a fast one.
The best mount team
Because speed isn’t the only thing that matters — flying is blocked inside some dungeons and boss arenas, oceans need a swimmer, and ground mounts jump terrain a flyer overshoots — the efficient setup is one specialist per terrain, not one mount for everything:
| Terrain | Early game | Endgame |
|---|---|---|
| Flying (≈90% of travel) | Nitewing (Lv 15) | Jetragon (Lv 79) — or Xenolord (Lv 66) for long flights |
| Ground (caves, no-fly arenas) | Direhowl (Lv 9) | Necromus / Paladius (Lv 61) |
| Swimming (ocean crossings) | Surfent (Lv 16) | Neptilius (Lv 64) |
Ground mounts earn their slot in the places a flyer can’t help: cave systems, dungeons and the boss fights that disable flight. The fastest are a tie — Necromus and Hartalis both hit 1,900 — with Paladius just behind at 1,800. Necromus has the higher sustained run speed and a double jump; Hartalis triple-jumps (handy for scaling terrain) but is a raid boss you have to summon. All three want level 61+.
Swimming uses its own speed stat (swim-dash, not ride-sprint), so it gets its own ranking:
| Swimmer | Swim-dash | Saddle level | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neptilius | 2,000 | 64 | New 1.0 Legendary — the fastest swimmer |
| Jormuntide | 1,800 | 40 | The fastest of the classic swimmers |
| Surfent | 1,440 | 16 | Best early water mount |
| Azurobe | 1,000 | 24 | Compact; adds a Water attack |
Making any mount faster
Base speed isn’t the whole story — passive skills stack on top of it. Four move-speed passives add together:
| Passive | Move speed | How you get it |
|---|---|---|
| Nimble | +10% | Common; catch or breed for it |
| Runner | +20% | Common |
| Swift | +30% | Common |
| Legend | +15% | Legendary-only — innate on Jetragon, Frostallion, Necromus, Paladius, Neptilius and a few others |
All four together is +75%, which turns Jetragon’s 3,300 into roughly 5,775 — about 11× your on-foot speed. Because Legend can’t be farmed onto ordinary Pals, the full +75% is a legendary-only ceiling; on a non-legendary you can still stack Swift + Runner + Nimble for +60%. Breed the speed passives onto your main travel mount and you rarely need anything faster. (For a hands-free way to keep crafting those breeding cakes, see our AutoHotkey hold-F guide.)
There’s also the Wing Pack, 1.0’s personal glider: it lets you fly without using a Pal mount slot, burning Wing Cells for fuel. It’s very much an endgame unlock, though — Technology level 80 — so it’s a convenience for after you’ve finished the tree, not an early shortcut. Early on, gliders like Galeclaw fill the same “float down safely” niche.
How to unlock a mount
- Catch the Pal. A saddle only appears in your technology tree once you own that species.
- Build the Pal Gear Workbench (Technology level 6) if you haven’t — every saddle is crafted there.
- Unlock and craft the saddle. Spend the technology points (usually 1–2) at the saddle’s required level, then craft it from the listed materials.
- Ride. Put the Pal in your active party, stand next to it and hold F (PC default). The saddle doesn’t take an inventory slot — crafting it simply makes that Pal rideable.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fastest mount in Palworld 1.0?
Jetragon, at a datamined ride-sprint speed of 3,300 — the fastest on land, air or water. But its gear (Jetragon’s Missile Launcher, which also lets you ride it) doesn’t unlock until Technology level 79, so it’s strictly an endgame mount. With all four speed passives it reaches about 5,775.
What’s the fastest early-game mount?
Direhowl. Its saddle unlocks at level 9 and it sprints at 1,050 — faster than any flyer you can get for a long while, and it stays your best ride until Ragnahawk at level 33.
Is Jetragon still way ahead of everything else?
No — that’s outdated. In 1.0 the new flyers Panthalus (3,000), Shaolong (2,800), Eidrolon (2,750) and Xenolord (2,700) all come close. Xenolord is often the better travel pick thanks to its much larger stamina pool.
What’s the best ground mount?
A tie between Necromus and Hartalis at 1,900 ride-sprint, with Paladius at 1,800. You want a ground mount for caves, dungeons and boss arenas where flight is disabled — everywhere else, fly.
What’s the fastest swimming mount?
Neptilius, a new 1.0 Legendary, at a swim-dash speed of 2,000. The best classic swimmer is Jormuntide (1,800), and Surfent (1,440) is the best early water mount.
Do I need the best mount for everything?
No. Carry one flyer, one ground mount and one swimmer and you’re never bottlenecked. A flyer handles ~90% of overworld travel; the other two exist for the terrain a flyer can’t.
The bottom line
The efficient way to play the traversal game is simple: get any mount out immediately (it halves your travel time on its own), lean on Direhowl until the mid-game, take Shadowbeak as your first real speed jump, and build toward a three-Pal team — a fast flyer, a ground mount for no-fly zones, and a swimmer — by the endgame. Chase Jetragon last, not first; it’s the fastest, but it’s also the one you’ll be riding for the shortest slice of the game. Breed the speed passives onto your daily flyer and you’ll cross the map faster than the fast-travel loading screen.
More Palworld 1.0, explained: the full map guide for where all that speed takes you, the best base Pals to run your economy, and the World Tree & Panthalus endgame where you catch one of the fastest flyers in the game.