Best Passive Skills

Base (work) passives

Skill	Rating	Effect
Demon’s Hand	★★★★★	Work Speed +90% SAN dreceases +15.0% faster World Tree harvestables won't vanish when approached.
Remarkable Craftsmanship	★★★★★	Work Speed +75%
Artisan	★★★★★	Work Speed +50%
Work Slave	★★★★★	Work Speed +30%, Attack -30%
Insomnia	★★★★★	Nocturnal
Lavish Hospitality	★★★★☆	Drops When Defeated +100%
Service-Minded	★★★★☆	Drops When Defeated +50%
Babysitter	★★★☆☆	Structures: Egg Hatching Speed +30%, Structures: Breeding Speed +30%
Philanthropist	★★★☆☆	Breeding Speed +100%

For base Pals, work-speed passives come first: Artisan → Remarkable Craftsmanship → Demon’s Hand, in ascending order of power (note that Demon’s Hand also makes SAN drain faster). Work Slave trades -30% attack for +30% work speed, so there's no real downside on a Pal that never leaves the base. Insomnia lets them work at night, which directly extends their uptime. Dark-element Pals stay active at night even without Insomnia, so on them you can use that slot for Work Slave instead. Lavish Hospitality and Service-Minded are the picks for Pals on a butchering conveyor line. Babysitter and Philanthropist stay useful until the late-game breeding setup is in place.

Ranch passives

Skill	Effect
Heart of the Immovable King	SAN drops +20.0% slower.
Mastery of Fasting	Hunger decreases +20.0% slower.
Workaholic	SAN drops +15.0% slower.
Diet Lover	Hunger decreases +15.0% slower.
Positive Thinker	SAN drops +10.0% slower.
Dainty Eater	Hunger decreases +10.0% slower.

For ranch Pals, work-speed passives don't improve output. Prefer passives that slow SAN and hunger loss instead.

Party (held) passives

Skill	Rating	Effect
Vanguard	★★★★★	10% increase in Player Attack.
Stronghold Strategist	★★★★★	10% increase in Player Defense.
Noble	★★★★☆	Sell Price +5%, Buy Price -5%
Motivational Leader	★★★★☆	25% increase in Player Work Speed.
Logging Foreman	★★☆☆☆	25% increase in Player Logging Efficiency.
Mine Foreman	★★☆☆☆	25% increase in Player Mining Efficiency.

For party Pals, passives that buff the player (like Vanguard) are best. They trigger just by being in your party and stack across multiple Pals, so teach them to Pals you don't use in combat.

Mount (ride) passives

Skill	Rating	Effect
Eternal Engine	★★★★★	Max Stamina +75%
Swift	★★★★★	Move Speed +30%
Dimensional Leap	★★★★★	Movement Speed +50% Increases Hunger depletion rate by +15.0% World Tree resources will not vanish when approached.
Legend	★★★★★	Attack +20%, Defense +20%, Move Speed +20%
Infinite Stamina	★★★★☆	Max Stamina +50%
Runner	★★★★☆	Move Speed +20%
Fit as a Fiddle	★★★☆☆	Max Stamina +25%
Nimble	★★★☆☆	Move Speed +10%

For mounts the core four are Eternal Engine for stamina, Swift and Dimensional Leap for movement speed, and Legend, which also raises movement speed. That said, filling all four slots with speed and stamina is less effective than mixing in the “Combat passives” covered below — you end up with a Pal you can fight on without dismounting.

Combat passives

Skill	Rating	Effect
Diamond Body	★★★★★	Defense +30% Immune to Flinch Immune to Knockback
Serenity	★★★★★	Skill Cooldown +30%, Attack +10%
Immortality	★★★★★	Life Steal +5%, HP Regen Rate +100%, Attack +15%
Demon God	★★★★☆	Attack +30%, Defense +5%
Legend	★★★★☆	Attack +20%, Defense +20%, Move Speed +20%
Ferocious	★★★☆☆	Attack +20%
Musclehead	★★★☆☆	Attack +30%, Work Speed -50%
Heavyweight	★★★☆☆	Defense +20% Immune to Knockback
Burly Body	★★★☆☆	Defense +20% Immune to Flinch

Elemental damage up

Skill	Rating	Effect
Celestial Emperor	★★★★☆	30% increase in Neutral attack damage.
Spirit Emperor	★★★★☆	30% increase in Grass attack damage.
Flame Emperor	★★★★☆	30% increase in Fire attack damage.
Lord of the Sea	★★★★☆	30% increase in Water attack damage.
Lord of Lightning	★★★★☆	30% increase in Lightning attack damage.
Ice Emperor	★★★★☆	30% increase in Ice attack damage.
Earth Emperor	★★★★☆	30% increase in Earth attack damage.
Lord of the Underworld	★★★★☆	30% increase in Dark attack damage.
Divine Dragon	★★★★☆	30% increase in Dragon attack damage.
Savior	★★★★☆	30% increase in Neutral attack damage., 30% increase in Grass attack damage.
Eternal Flame	★★★★☆	30% increase in Fire attack damage., 30% increase in Lightning attack damage.
Siren of the Void	★★★★☆	30% increase in Dark attack damage., 30% increase in Ice attack damage.
Invader	★★★★☆	30% increase in Dark attack damage., 30% increase in Dragon attack damage.
Lunker	★★★★☆	20% increase to Water attack damage 20% increase to Ice attack damage 20% increase to defense.

For combat we recommend Diamond Body + Serenity + Immortality + a +30% elemental damage passive matching the Pal's element. Negating flinch and knockback with Diamond Body, and cutting cooldowns with Serenity, both end up raising your damage output. Immortality, through +100% HP regen rate and life steal, works as the defensive answer to how hard endgame enemies hit. The elemental passives are there purely to raise damage; they come in single-element (Flame Emperor and friends) and dual-element (Eternal Flame and friends) versions, and some of them are native to a specific Pal, so you inherit it through breeding. Legend raises attack, defense, and movement speed evenly, but it's a jack of all trades: if you're passing passives down by breeding, an elemental damage passive takes priority over Legend.