Palworld Chain Breeding
By Shaheer Bin RamzanUpdated November 5, 2026
Most Pals you want are not one breeding away from the Pals you own. Chain breeding is the method for closing that gap, and the numbers below show how short most chains are.
What is chain breeding?
Chain breeding means pairing two Pals, keeping the child, and using that child as a parent in the next pairing, until the child is the Pal you want. Each pairing is one step.
How long are chains?
We measured every route between two different Pals in the table, counting a step as one pairing that changes the Pal you hold. The average shortest route is 2.0 steps and the longest is 7.
| Steps | Routes | Share of all combinations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28,019 | 31.4% |
| 2 | 31,136 | 34.9% |
| 3 | 12,786 | 14.3% |
| 4 | 3,821 | 4.3% |
| 5 | 1,744 | 2% |
| 6 | 768 | 0.9% |
| 7 | 149 | 0.2% |
91.7% of reachable routes need three steps or fewer, so most chains stay short.
A worked example
The fastest route from Lamball to Anubis takes 3 steps: Lamball + Turtacle Terra (variant) gives Dazemu; then Dazemu + Cryolinx gives Cryolinx Terra (variant); then Cryolinx Terra (variant) + Anubis gives Anubis.
How to plan a chain
- Pick your start and your target.
- Run them through the shortest path finder. Tick owned-only if you want routes you can start today.
- Use the never-use list to skip partners you cannot get.
- Check each parent pair on its Pal page before you commit eggs.
When a chain will not work
About 12% of start-and-target combinations have no route. Most of those involve one of the 26 Pals that cannot be bred from other Pals.
Chains and passive skills
A chain decides the species. Passive skills and IVs are rolled separately on each egg. Read the passive skill odds before you decide how many eggs each step needs.
Best starting Pals for chain breeding
Some Pals sit closer to everything else in the table. These ten reach the rest of the roster in the fewest steps on average, so they make strong starting points when you do not know your route yet.
| Pal | Average steps to other Pals | Pals it can reach |
|---|---|---|
| Green Slime | 1.75 | 272 |
| Purple Slime | 1.76 | 269 |
| Blue Slime | 1.76 | 270 |
| Red Slime | 1.76 | 270 |
| Cave Bat | 1.76 | 268 |
Hardest Pals to reach by chain
These Pals take the most steps to reach on average from the rest of the roster. Plan extra eggs for them and check their parent pairs early.
| Pal | Average steps from other Pals | Parent pairs |
|---|---|---|
| Chikipi | 5.59 | 46 |
| Teafant | 5.19 | 26 |
| Vixy | 4.83 | 28 |
| Lamball | 4.64 | 30 |
| Mau | 4.47 | 32 |
| Jolthog Cryst (variant) | 4.40 | 2 |
| Mau Cryst (variant) | 4.40 | 2 |
| Pengullet Lux (variant) | 4.39 | 2 |
| Jolthog | 4.24 | 45 |
| Lifmunk | 4.08 | 37 |
Chain breeding from your own collection
A route is only useful if you can start it today. With What Can I Breed, you select the Pals you own and see every child you can reach, round by round. Then the path finder's owned-only option limits each step to partners you hold.
Frequently asked questions
What is chain breeding in Palworld?
Chain breeding means breeding a Pal, then using the child as a parent for the next breeding, until you reach the Pal you want.
How many steps does a chain usually take?
Across all reachable Pal-to-Pal routes in the table, the average shortest chain is 2.0 steps, and 91.7% of routes take three steps or fewer. The longest is 7.
Can every Pal be reached by chain breeding?
No. About 12% of starting-and-target combinations have no route, mostly because 26 Pals only breed from themselves.
Keep reading
Sources and verification
- PalCalc project: the breeding table and mechanics data used on this site (MIT License).
- Everything That Changed About Breeding in Palworld 1.0 (All Things How, updated July 12, 2026): used to cross-check 16 published recipes and the list of Pals that only breed true.