I’ve honestly not been paying a great deal of attention to what players of Palia are doing to prep for the Royal Highlands update, but I have noticed about 3 different things people seem to be doing to try to prepare for it.

I’ve noticed people are trying to make a lot of in game gold in preparation, but if the Elderwood expansion has taught us anything this is probably not going to be as fruitful an endeavor as people are hoping it will be. When we got the Elderwood we also got what was virtually a new region specific form of currency in the form of infected essence. We do know that there is going to be an upgrade to the maximum amount of storage we currently have with this update, but I don’t believe it will be attainable with in game gold.

First of all, the palium storage chest recipe already requires such an exorbitant amount of in game gold that I don’t feel it’s reasonable to expect that to be the currency used to obtain the recipe. Not knowing any more than I do right now about what the new expansion will bring us I have two theories about how the new storage recipe will be obtained. The simple version involves a super hard grind so that we can pay for it with amber essence. I’m inclined to believe, however, that to obtain the recipe for the new storage we will have to complete a brand new, super grindy quest. The result of which would be getting the recipe as a reward for completing it.

I also recently noticed that platinum nodes seem to be getting mined to the point that they’re no longer as easy to find as they used to be. I realized, of course, that there must be some sort of rumor prompting people to mine all of it they can find. This was later confirmed for me by a streamer on Twitch. I do find it incredibly reasonable to expect that we will be having more uses for the ore than we have thus far, but I have serious doubts that it will play a major role in advancing through the new game play coming with the update. When the Elderwood update occurred most of the advancement requiring resources was done through resources found in the Elderwood. While I support the idea of having a good supply of platinum on hand I do not believe it will be crucial for advancing through the new storyline.

The only prep work I’ve encountered that I thought wasn’t likely a waste of time is the idea of earning the weekly ranching guild coins in order to have some on hand for the horses. For those who enjoy the ranching aspect of the game and want to play around with finding what traits can be brought to the horses this is an excellent idea. I would suggest, however, that up until now the handler’s licenses and starter packs in the premium store have been quite pricey. Giving us a whole new animal that goes from being a mere pet to a mount places it on a higher level and in my opinion will be reflected by the cost of the handler’s license and starter packs for the horses. Before spending any real world hard earned money on them I would suggest being sure you have at bare minimum one horse you will feel justifies the cost prior to actually making a purchase.

I apologize if I seem like a wet blanket trying to curb excitement for the new update. I’m excited for it too, and the last thing I want to do is to discourage anybody. But as somebody who has played the game I realize that we really don’t know a whole lot about the new update. We really only have past experience upon which to base our expectations, and all this frantic preparation may be for nought. I’m simply attempting to suggest a calmer approach to it so that we can take our time and enjoy the game both prior to and after the update arrives.