As you progress in Palworld, you will eventually reach the point where you will need to craft rarer materials for building and crafting.
Such resources include Carbon Fiber and Refined Ingots but to craft these, an important material called Coal is required.
Coal can be found all over the island once you start venturing away from the starting area but some areas are richer with this material than others.
How To Get Coal?
1) Mining Coal Nodes
Coal is obtained by mining Coal Nodes, which can be found in various parts of the island and these are distinguishable by their dark and rough appearance.
These are often larger than Stone Nodes, which makes it easy to tell them apart once you are close since their color is more blackish than Gray.
Mining Coal Nodes is best done with a pickaxe as these deal more damage to nodes and this is best done with a Metal Pickaxe or a Refined Metal Pickaxe.
2) Setting Up Coal Farms
A good way to have an unlimited supply of Coal would be to set up a mining base in a location that has multiple Coal Nodes in one area.
Once you have set up a base in the area, you should set up boxes for your Pals to carry the mined Coal to and have a Feed Box setup with a Berry Plantation nearby.
Assigning a Water Pal and a Grass Pal to manage the Berry Plantation will provide food to all the Pals while having Pals with Level 2 Mining will take care of the Coal. (Anubis, Tomcat, etc are good)
3) Building Coal Mines
The Sakurajima Update introduced new structures for farming and one of these is the Coal Mines that can be built in your base.
These allow your Pals to farm Coal from the comfort of your base just as they would with Stone, giving you an unlimited supply of Coal.
Coal Mines may be unlocked as an Ancient Technology option in your Technology Menu, which becomes available once you’re each Level 53.
Best Locations To Farm Coal
One of the earliest areas that will start showing Coal Nodes is in the Bamboo Groves and Verdant Brook, which are just beyond the Plateau of Beginnings and the other early locations you explore.
You can also make your way to Mount Obsidian as there are spots where multiple Coal Nodes can be found and mined.
Eventually, you will discover more areas and when it comes to the best place to find Coal Nodes, you will want to stick with the Dessicated Desert. (Northeast part of the map)
Pals That Drop Coal
As of now, there are certain Pals that drop a certain amount of Coal when they are defeated but for mass farming of this material, it is best to mine Coal Nodes, set up a Base, or build a Coal Mine.
- Blazamut (10 100%)
- Menasting (10 100%)
Coal Uses
Coal is mainly used when crafting Refined Ingot (2 Coal and 2 Coal per piece) as this is used for more advanced equipment and structures.
You will also require Coal when crafting Carbon Fiber (cost 2 Coal per piece) but on the other hand, you can also make it with Charcoal.
This makes it best to just use Coal when you need to make Refined Ingots that are much needed in the later parts of the game.
Verdict
While Coal can be obtained as a drop from certain Pals such as Blazamut and Menasting, it is much easier to mine the resource from nodes or set up a mining base.
Coal becomes an essential part of your material collection once you need to start crafting equipment that requires Refined Ingots.
The more dangerous the area, the more likely you are to find Coal, and many players tend to teleport to the Desecrated Desert to get insane amounts.