Crazy Palworld bug lets you catch Zoe and Grizzbolt and other tower bosses, here's how to do it

What you need to know

• Palworld's Syndicate Tower bosses are normally immune to capture, but thanks to the discovery of a new bug, it's currently possible to catch them.
• The bug works on both the Steam and Xbox/MS Store versions of Palworld, and can be performed with any Pal Sphere.
• Performing the bug requires you to lead hostile PIDF Guards into a tower boss fight, have them accidentally hit the boss while shooting at you, and then throw a Pal Sphere at the boss' back. Read the text below for an in-depth guide.
• Tower boss Pals are wildly OP, with incredible amounts of HP and damage. They can also work in your base like normal Pals, and can be used as mounts as well.

Don't lie; when you first saw one of the big bad Syndicate Tower bosses in Palworld, your first thought — just like mine — was "I'm gonna capture it." Gotta catch 'em all, right? However, after weakening its health to critical levels and chucking a Pokéball Pal Sphere, you were devastated to learn that tower bosses are immune to capture. Forced to simply slay the fiend and move on, you wished that there was a way to make that tough-as-nails Pal yours.

Well, I've got good news for you. Thanks to the discovery of a wild new Palworld bug, you actually can catch tower bosses — and they're just as wildly overpowered as you'd expect them to be, with ridiculous amounts of HP and crazy high damage. What's more, it works in all versions of the game, and is surprisingly easy to pull off. All you'll need are basic Pal Spheres and a bit of friendly fire.

I'll go over how to perform the exploit below, but remember that this is an exploit, so developer Pocketpair will probably try to patch it out as soon as possible. Also, keep in mind that having captured tower bosses after that patch inevitably comes could cause something like save corruption to occur, so take advantage of this glitch at your own risk!

Still interested? Read on for the details.

How to capture tower bosses in Palworld

To capture tower bosses like Zoe and Grizzbolt, you'll first need to head to one of Palworld's friendly NPC-controlled settlements. The easiest one to get to in the early game is the Small Settlement that's west of the starting area at coordinates (71, -486). If you need help navigating, check out this handy Palworld interactive map.

Once there, attack one of the PIDF Guards and get yourself Wanted for 1x Assault. This should spawn in several more guards that start shooting at you. Next, run to the Small Settlement's Fast Travel Statue, then teleport to whichever one is near the Syndicate Tower that has the boss you want to capture. The guards will teleport with you; quickly run to the Syndicate Tower and activate the boss fight, and the guards will follow you into it.

Once the fight begins, do not damage the boss yourself, as this will stop the glitch from working. Instead, position yourself so that it's between you and the PIDF Guards, and get them to accidentally hit the boss while attempting to shoot you. This will break the boss' AI and cause it to stand still. When this happens, immediately throw a Pal Sphere at its back to capture it instantly. Note that any Pal Spheres will work for this, so use the standard ones that are easy to make.

Boom! That tower boss isn't so immune to Pal Spheres now, eh? From here, simply quit out to the main menu, then load up the game again to get rid of your Wanted status.

If you're having trouble getting the glitch to work, make sure you're throwing your Pal Sphere quickly. You should watch this video from YouTuber WiLLiSGaming (also embedded below), too, as it shows the full process in detail.

A lot of people are saying that the bug's been patched, but I can confirm that — at least on the Steam version — it still works. I loaded up a testing save a few minutes before writing this to try it out, and I was able to capture Zoe and Grizzbolt on my first attempt. Make sure you follow the tips and instructions above, and you shouldn't have any problems, either.

In case you're wondering, tower boss Pals are capable of everything regular ones are, so you can put them to work in your bases, ride them as mounts, and more. They even level up, getting stronger over time. Just be aware of the fact that they obliterate the balance of the game, so I'd avoid using them if you want to maintain its integrity.

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 it's also playable through Xbox Game Pass.