Palworld: How to get Ancient Civilization Parts

Palworld is launching into early access and game preview on Steam, Windows, and Xbox. The game will also be available via Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.
(Image credit: Pocketpair)

After the opening hours of your Palworld journey, one of the first things you should do is pursue making advanced items like the Egg Incubator. The first step of this process is researching and unlocking them with Ancient Technology Points. Once that's done, you'll then need to collect all the materials they require before you can actually craft them.

Each of these crafting recipes are unique, though they all require Ancient Civilization Parts. These can be pretty hard to find if you don't know what their sources are, but luckily, we do — and we're passing that information along to you in this guide. Here's every way you can get Ancient Civilization Parts, as well as the best way to farm for them.

How to find Ancient Civilization Parts in Palworld

Defeating boss Pals in the open world or in dungeons rewards you with Ancient Civilization Parts. (Image credit: Pocketpair)

There are two ways to get Ancient Civilization Parts in Palworld. To guarantee drops, you'll need to kill or capture Alpha Pal bosses in the open world and at the end of dungeons. These are bigger, stronger versions of regular Pals with red symbols next to their name and icons on the map. Alpha Pal bosses are considerably harder to defeat than their normal counterparts, but they drop one or two Ancient Civilization Parts every time you beat them (you also get an Ancient Technology Point the first time you do).

Note that Alpha Pals in the open world respawn one real hour of active game time after they're beaten, and until that time passes, you won't be able to fight them again. Also, keep in mind that available dungeons appear as cave entrances in the environment and rotate every 200 minutes.

Strangely, Syndicate Tower bosses do not drop Ancient Civilization Parts when defeated, despite the fact that they're way tougher than other bosses. Because of that, you shouldn't bother trying to get any by challenging them when they reappear. Just stick to Alpha Pals.

You can also find Ancient Civilization Drops in gold, purple, or red chests. These loot containers — red chests, especially — can often be quite tough to find, but all of them can spawn either in the overworld or at the end of dungeons. Note that red chests can't be opened unless you have a copper key, which you can sometimes get from gold or purple chests. It's impossible to "farm" for Ancient Civilization Parts with chests because both their spawns and the items within them are randomized, but getting some from them is always a nice surprise.

Best Palworld Ancient Civilization Parts farm

By discovering these Fast Travel Statues, you can warp around the open world to reach Alpha Pals faster. (Image credit: Windows Central)

If you need to farm for Ancient Civilization Parts, the best way to do so is to fast travel around the map and defeat or catch Alpha Pals in the open world. As long as you've done a good amount of exploring, you should have found multiple Fast Travel Statues you can teleport to, as well as several boss spawn locations to visit (and revisit). By the time you've beaten the last Alpha Pal you can fight, the first will hopefully be respawning soon, allowing you to rinse and repeat without wasting much time.

You could also try blitzing your way through every dungeon you come across to rush to their bosses, though their layouts can be confusing and are often filled with lots of trash mobs to battle. Still, keep them in mind, especially since you can get plenty of additional loot from the chests within.

Palworld: Paldium Crystals explained

A Paldium Crystal, which is actually just an Ancient Civilization Part. Don't worry, we'll explain. (Image credit: Windows Central)

Are Paldium Crystals the same as Ancient Civilization Parts?

Yes, Paldium Crystals are identical to Ancient Civilization Parts. If you're on the Xbox or Microsoft Store version of the game, they'll be called Paldium Crystals. Steam players, though, will see them as Ancient Civilization Parts.

We confirmed that Paldium Crystals are just the Xbox version's name for Ancient Civilization Parts when we got some from defeating a boss in both the Xbox and Steam editions and realized that they had the same icon and description, but different names. They have identical uses as crafting materials, too.

We suspect that once the Palworld devs get an incoming patch certified by Microsoft, Paldium Crystals will get the name swap to Ancient Civilization Parts in the Xbox and Microsoft Store version. Until then, just be aware that the item will have a different name depending on the platform you're playing on.

Palworld is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One consoles, and Windows PC via either the Microsoft Store or Steam. It's quickly become one of the best Xbox games and best PC games of 2024 so far, and notably, it's also playable through Xbox Game Pass.

Palworld |$29.99now $26.99 at Steam (PC, Digital)

Palworld | was $29.99 now $26.99 at Steam (PC, Digital)

Pocketpair's hit new open world survival game elegantly blends creature collector action with base-building and crafting systems. It may be in Early Access, but it's already proven to be a blast to play whether you're alone or teaming up with friends. 

Also at: Xbox (Xbox/PC, $29.99, Digital)

Brendan Lowry

Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he's been an avid fan since childhood. You'll find him doing reviews, editorials, and general coverage on everything Xbox and PC. Follow him on Twitter.