Quick Links
- How To Unlock Hunting
- How To Use A Bow
- How To Switch Between Arrow Types
- How To Hunt Chapaa
- How To Hunt Sernuk
- How To Hunt The Proudhorn Sernuk And Azure Chapaa
Though it doesn't have traditional combat like some RPGs, that doesn't mean Palia lacks action completely. You'll need to do your fair share of hunting of the local creatures that inhabit Kilima Valley and Bahari Bay in order to progress through the game.
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In this guide, we'll show you how to unlock Hunting as a skill and who to talk to about bow and arrow upgrades, how to switch your arrow types, go into detail about the three Sernuk and Chapaa variants, and tell you how to disable the Proudhorn Sernuk and Azure Chapaa's magical abilities.
How To Unlock Hunting
During the main quest, Welcome to Palia, you'll receive a letter from Hassian, who'll gift you a Makeshift Bow, 20 Makeshift Arrows, and the recipe for Makeshift Arrows, and Hunting will be unlocked.
You'll also automatically receive the skill quest Hunting 101, which asks you to hunt one Sernuk and one Chapaa, and loot them.
The Hunting 101 skill quest unlocks Hassian's Hunting Guild Store, where you'll be purchasing recipes for bow upgrades and new arrow types, as well the Hunting Horn buff item as you increase your skill level.
Multiple players can hunt animals at the same time. Each player who hits it will obtain their own loot.
Bow Type
Hunting Level Unlocked At
Recipe Cost
Makeshift Bow
1
Free
Standard Bow
3
250 Gold
Fine Bow
6
1,500 Gold
Exquisite Bow
9
3,000 Gold
Arrow Type
Hunting Level Unlocked At
Recipe Cost
Makeshift Arrow
1
Standard Arrow
3
100 Gold
Slowdown Arrow
3
500 Gold
Fine Arrow
6
1,000 Gold
Dispel Arrow
9
2,000 Gold
How To Use A Bow
To use a bow, hold down the primary action button while either moving or standing still, and you'll enter an aiming mode where you have a reticle in the center of your screen.
Controlling the direction you aim at is done by moving your camera, and this also allows you to turn around completely while aiming. While in this mode, you're also able to move, but at a slower speed, allowing you to better line up shots at targets.
Release the primary action button, and you will shoot an arrow at whatever your reticle is over.
How To Switch Between Arrow Types
As you gain levels in Hunting, you'll unlock different types of arrows that do more damage or provide useful effects.
Arrow Type
Damage Done
Additional Effects
Makeshift Arrow
1 Damage
None
Standard Arrow
2 Damage
None
Slowdown Arrow
2 Damage
Slows down creatures on-hit
Fine Arrow
3 Damage
None
Dispel Arrow
3 Damage
Disables the magical abilities of creatures on hit
To change arrow type, use the secondary action button while your bow is equipped, and you'll go into a small menu that displays your available arrows.
Hover over and select whichever arrow you want, and it'll be equipped.
You can hit a creature with a Slowdown Arrow or Dispel Arrow, then swap to another type to continue doing damage and conserve arrows that are more resource-intensive to craft.
How To Hunt Chapaa
Chapaa are small mammals that resemble a cross between a red panda and a badger and spend most of their time wandering in the grasslands of Kilima Valley and Bahari Bay.
They drop several materials used to craft, cook with, and gift to Villagers, and are occasionally needed as quest requirements.
They come in three variations: the Spotted Chapaa, Striped Chapaa, and Azure Chapaa. Each one has its own amount of Health which increases with each variation, and also drops a greater amount of materials.
Chapaa Appearance
Chapaa Type
Most Common Locations
Dropped Materials
Health
Spotted Chapaa
Central Kilima Valley, Western Kilima Valley, Southern Bahari Bay
Chapaa Meat Chapaa Fur, Spotted Chapaa Tail
2
Striped Chapaa
Western Kilima Valley, Southern Bahari Bay
Chapaa Meat, Chapaa Fur, Striped Chapaa Tail
4
Azure Chapaa
Southern Bahari Bay
Chapaa, Meat, Chapaa Fur, Azure Chapaa Tail
7
Chapaa will wander around a small area, occasionally pausing to stand on their hind legs and survey the surrounding area. They become alerted when you get too close to them, miss an arrow near them, or miss a Smoke Bomb near them.
After alerted, Chapaa will run away in the opposite direction, very rarely changing direction, but dig into the ground and disappear after a short amount of time.
Due to their slower running speed and less erratic movements, you can often get in multiple hits before they disappear.
Chapaa are also still vulnerable to arrows when digging and can be shot as long as they haven't disappeared into the ground completely. You'll still receive loot if you hit them then.
Chapaa Type
Makeshift Arrow Hits
Standard/Slowdown Arrow Hits
Fine/Dispel Arrow Hits
Common Chapaa
1
1
1
Striped Chapaa
4
3
2
How To Hunt Sernuk
Sernuk are deer-like mammals that graze in the grass and forests across both Kilima Valley and Bahari Bay, and provide several important materials when hunted such as Sernuk Meat and Sernuk Hide.
Sernuk come in three variations: the Common Sernuk, Elder Sernuk, and Proudhorn Sernuk.
Sernuk Appearance
Sernuk Type
Most Common Location
Dropped Materials
Health
Common Sernuk
Southern Kilima Valley, Southern Bahari Bay, and Northern Bahari Bay
Sernuk Meat, Sernuk Hide, Sernuk Antlers
6
Elder Sernuk
Southern and Northern Bahari Bay
Sernuk Meat, Sernuk Hide, Elder Sernuk Antlers
8
Proudhorn Sernuk
Northern Bahari Bay
Sernuk Meat, Sernuk Hide, Proudhorn Sernuk Antlers
10
Sernuk spend most of their time wandering in a small area and occasionally grazing, but if you get too close, miss an arrow near them, or miss a smoke bomb near them, they'll become alerted and run off.
Unlike Chapaa, Sernuk will not hide and despawn. They'll continue to run after alerted, frequently and rapidly changing direction, until their alert period runs out, and then they'll return to idling.
Slowdown Arrows can make hunting Sernuk a lot easier, as they slow them down considerably and give you plenty of time to hit them before they run away.
Sernuk Type
Makeshift Arrow Hits
Standard/Slowdown Arrow Hits
Fine/Dispel Arrow Hits
Common Sernuk
3
2
1
Elder Sernuk
5
4
3
How To Hunt The Proudhorn Sernuk And Azure Chapaa
Both Sernuk and Chapaa have an extremely rare, third variation that can be found: the Proudhorn Sernuk and the Azure Chapaa.
Both variants appear exclusively in Bahari Bay, and are required to be defeated if you want to complete the Sernuk Hunter and Chapaa Hunter Accomplishments.
- Proudhorn Sernuk start in one direction and will continue to walk slowly, stopping to graze occasionally, but can even cross the length of the map.
- Azure Chapaa tend to linger in one small area and move less than regular Chapaa, rarely moving and often raising up to survey the area.
Defeating a Proudhorn Sernuk is also required for the completion of Sifuu's level three friendship quest, Hunting For Meaning.
Unlike regular Sernuk and Chapaa, both the Proudhorn and Azure variants possess a magical ability that makes them far more of a challenge to defeat:
- Once alerted, the Proudhorn Sernuk will run off and teleport three times back to back before stopping to idle. It tends to move in one direction when teleporting and can cover a massive amount of ground in a short time. It will also disappear completely if alerted and not defeated.
- Azure Chapaa have the ability to create temporary copies of itself, and once alerted, it will split into one real Chapaa and three copies to confuse you. Each one often runs in a different direction and the copies also dive into the ground independently of the real Chapaa as well.
While they can be defeated with any type of regular arrow, using the Dispel Arrow will completely disable their abilities for a short time, making them far easier to defeat.
Variant
Makeshift Arrow Hits
Standard/Slowdown Arrow Hits
Fine/Dispel Arrow Hits
Proudhorn Sernuk
10
5
4
Azure Chapaa
7
4
3
NEXT: Palia: How To Get A Shepp
