Palia - Hunting guide for solo players

In this guide, we'll talk about hunting in the new cozy life sim Palia (as of Open Beta 0.165.6).

This guide is aimed at NEW PLAYERS and solo players.

Although when you play the game, you'll see that even not-so-new players really need this guide too because you often see players shoot wildly at fleeing targets. Hunting with some patience (and preferably without anyone else around) is actually quite relaxing.

And if you have trouble shooting targets moving sideways -- it's important to note that every creature has a phase where they are basically not moving.

Hunting is actually great as a solo activity because typically other players will mess it up for you. We'll look at each type of quarry, including the Rare ones.

Chapaa

These commonplace monotone brown beaver-like creatures are your most basic quarry and a single hit from your most basic Makeshift Arrow will take one down. If you miss, or someone else blunders too close and it starts running, you have various options:

• Forget it and find another. They are plentiful.
• Run right behind them so they are fleeing directly in front of you, then shoot them.
• If they are running sideways, it'll be harder to hit because you have to lead your shot.
• Chase them and wait for them to start tunneling. You have a very small window to still shoot them before they are gone for good. Timing can be tight but you aren't shooting a moving target.

You can sometimes get a Striped Chapaa Tail from a basic Chapaa.

Striped Chapaa

These have a black stripe and are tougher. To save you a lot of time, use at least the Standard Arrows made with Copper. The strategy is the same as the basic Chapaa except you will very likely have to chase it at least once. If you hit them when they start to tunnel, they are pulled out and will flee again before trying to tunnel again.

You are not guaranteed to get Striped Chapaa Tail, so it's up to you whether you want to one-shot the basic Chapaas to get a Tail or chase Striped Chapaas in the hopes of a better drop rate for your time.

Azure Chapaa (follow this link if you want a spoiler to their general location)

These are white and not that easy to spot but just as easily spooked.

If you need help finding one, use the Hunter's Horn.

Get Dispel Arrows to stun them (and also do a lot of damage).

When you hit them with anything the first time, even a Dispel Arrow, they immediately explode into clones which all flee in approximately the same direction. You just need to hit any one. It might be easiest to hit them when they stop running to start tunneling.

If you have a Dispel Arrow, hitting them that second time will cause them to be pulled out if they were tunneling, just like a regular Chapaa. More importantly, the second hit with a Dispel Arrow will cause the target to be stunned (stars around its head). Keep hitting it to keep it stunned and it should be taken down shortly.

• It seems that if you are not using Dispel Arrows, there won't be stars around it's head when it's stunned and the stun period is much shorter. But it may still be possible to take them down with normal arrows.

On our second and subsequent kills we only got regular Chapaa drops, and no special Azure Chapaa drops.

Sernuk

You can take them down with a single shot if you use Standard Arrows, but there's an easy strategy with just Makeshift Arrows. When you first hit one, they start running:

• If you stay too close to them, they will generally not stop running. You don't want this because typically they run erratically, making shots harder.
• Instead, chase to keep them in sight, but keep your distance until they stop running. Then shoot them again.
• If you corner them where they can't move away from you, they might suddenly reset back to their original position.

It's best to hunt them in some kind of canyon-like location (such as eastern Kilima Village) where their escape path is generally predictable even if you lose sight of them.

Elder Sernuk

These Sernuk are a deeper shade of brown with black stripes. You are not guaranteed Elder Sernuk Horns, so unless you need those you might as well save some arrows and hunt regular Sernuks. You can hunt them in the same way as regular Sernuk.

Proundhorn Sernuk (follow this link if you want a spoiler to their general location)

These are bluish-white with glowing blue stripes.

If you need help finding one, use the Hunter's Horn, but I don't recommend it as they can sometimes be stuck inside an object and inaccessible and you've wasted something pricey to craft.

The general strategy for taking one down is actually the same as for regular Sernuk. However, you really need Dispel Arrows because of their teleportation ability.

When they are hit, they teleport several times, and often that means you will lose sight of it. If you hit it with a Dispel Arrow, they run first and teleport once at the end, so you can generally keep up. They are otherwise not really special.

Don't blindly chase, especially if you are not using Dispel Arrows. Circle around it until it will flee in the direction you want it to. Ideally you can corner it somewhere, but then be careful of being too close or it will keep trying to flee and teleport. Instead, shoot from a long distance and back away immediately to let it zigzag about in the enclosed space and settle down so you can shoot it again. If it can't lose you and stop fleeing, it might reset and vanish.

So far it seems that only your very first kill will award their special horns. Every other kill will get you regular Sernuk drops.