Palia Royal Highlands: access, activities and zone list

Palia's Elderwood expansion introduced the Royal Highlands - an entire zone with its own quests, wildlife, secrets and, most importantly, horse breeding. But be careful: access isn't as straightforward as the game would have you believe. Here's everything you need to know before venturing there.

Accessing the Royal Highlands

Contrary to what the original guide suggests, access to the Royal Highlands is not directly through a simple door. Patch 0.202 clarified the exact path, and it's a bit longer than expected.

Here's the full route:

1. First head to Bahari Bay and locate the old gate at B2 on the map - this is the one that leads into the Elderwood.
2. Once in the Elderwood, make your way to De Mer Dock.
3. Take the boat available there. This is what drops you off at the Royal Highlands.
4. As soon as you arrive, immediately activate the Royal Highlands stable's fast travel point, located along the path past Lonely Glen. Really, do this first. Missing it and having to redo the whole trip on foot is an unnecessary pain.

The old description of the "abandoned gate" likely referred to the Elderwood entrance on the Bahari Bay side - not to access to the Royal Highlands itself. The boat from De Mer Dock is indeed the official crossing point confirmed by the patch 0.202 notes.

" In my opinion, it seems necessary to finish the main storyline leading to the Elderwood, since the Highlands quest follows directly from it… you'll need to have at least completed the quest to get the glider. " - r/Palia thread, discussion on the Royal Highlands

This community tip is honestly the most useful one you could get. Technically, you can set foot in the zone without having finished everything. But without the glider (obtained via the Like a Bird quest) and without having progressed through the Elderwood storyline, you'll quickly find yourself stuck. The developers officially recommend it: finish the Elderwood quests before crossing over.

Activities to do in the Royal Highlands

The zone is packed. There's no question of just "wandering around" - there's really a lot to do, and some activities are tied to content that unlocks elsewhere in the game.

Horse breeding

This is the big new feature of the expansion, and frankly one of the best additions to the game in a while. Horse breeding lets you acquire mounts with unique, customized cosmetic traits. Each horse can look different depending on its breeding - it's the kind of system that can quickly become an obsession.

Small detail that matters: to ride certain horses, you'll need a mount permit, tied to the Royal Highlands support packs available in the premium store. And some legendary horses are directly tied to side quests - notably that of Piksiibelle, a character you'll need to meet in the area. The rarest mount isn't for purchase, it's earned.

Hunting and fishing

The Royal Highlands offer their own local wildlife to capture and their own varieties of plants and flowers to collect. If you're the type who wants to complete your bestiary and fill out your herbarium, this zone will keep you busy for quite a while. Fishing in particular, with the various bodies of water on the map, is worth checking out.

Exploration

Hidden treasures, secrets to uncover, remote corners to discover. The zone is large. And certain areas - the Royal Haunted Grounds in particular - really deserve to be wandered without a specific goal. The level design of this zone is clearly more ambitious than what we had in Bahari Bay.

Also worth noting: entering the Royal Highlands and meeting certain NPCs serves as a trigger for content located elsewhere in the game. For example, the "Crab Wars" and "Old Palian Remedies" quests in Bahari Bay only unlock after meeting Piksiibelle or Chayne in this zone. In short, even if you're not yet ready to explore in depth, it might be worth just crossing the border once.

The Royal Highlands

The zone is divided into numerous sub-zones, each with its own atmosphere. Here are the main locations you'll come across:

• Lochland Dock
• Lonely Glen - an essential checkpoint right from arrival, the fast travel stable is just after
• Standing Cliffs
• Enfield Shores
• Embra's Folly
• Amber Lake
• Mudan's Wall
• Renova's Steps
• Kestra River
• Fortuna Falls
• Old Fortuna
• The Forum
• Sadeel Falls
• Royal Haunted Grounds

That's a lot of areas for a single expansion. And not all of them are accessible right away - some open up as you progress through the main quests. Resist the urge to rush through everything on your first visit, or you might find yourself in a corner with no active quest and not really knowing what to do. Follow the storyline, and the zones will open up naturally.