# Best Research to Rush at the Pal Labor Research Lab

The smartest research order in Palworld — why the Research Speed line compounds first, the 5K-work cheapest project in the system, and the best lines for breeders, crafters, and expedition runners with exact costs.

Source: https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-research-to-rush
Updated: 2026-07-24

The Pal Labor Research Lab hides some of the biggest permanent buffs in the game behind 168 projects, and picking blind wastes months of Pal work-hours. The data gives a clear answer on what to rush: one line makes every other line faster, one project is almost free, and the rest depends on how you actually play. Full costs for everything live on the [research database](https://palworld-db.com/research) — this is the strategy layer.

## Rush These First, Whatever Your Playstyle

Two openers stand out from the entire table. **Cooling Storage Lv1** is the cheapest project in the whole system — a tiny 5K workload and a handful of Ice Organs for 10% slower food spoilage, pure profit for any base. And the **Research Speed lines** are the compounding pick: sixteen tiers that stack to a massive +160% research speed, which discounts every single project you run afterward. Rushing speed before substance feels wrong and is mathematically right:

| Project | Workload | Cost | Effect |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cooling Storage Lv1 | 5K | 30 [Ice Organ](https://palworld-db.com/item/IceOrgan), 5 Ancient Pal Manuscripts | 10% slower food spoilage |
| Cooling Research Tips Lv1 | 15K | 50 [Ice Organ](https://palworld-db.com/item/IceOrgan), 5 Swee Hair, 7 Manuscripts | +10% research speed |
| Incubation Acceleration Lv1 | 15K | 50 [Ice Organ](https://palworld-db.com/item/IceOrgan), 5 Swee Hair, 20 Ingots | +5% egg hatching speed |

Notice the pattern in the costs: Ice Organs and Ancient Pal Manuscripts gate the early lab. A [Foxcicle](https://palworld-db.com/pal/foxcicle) farming route and a manuscript stockpile keep the queue moving — and the [drop-booster crew](https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-support-pals) doubles the organ hauls.

## The Best Line for Each Kind of Player

After the openers, the lines diverge by playstyle, and the totals say which are worth finishing:

| If You Mostly… | Rush This Line | Full-Line Payoff |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Breed Pals | Egg Hatching (8 tiers) | +60% hatching speed |
| Craft gear | Material Saving (9 tiers) | Up to 65% fewer materials consumed |
| Run expeditions | Expedition Rewards + Speed (5 each) | +35% rewards, 35% faster trips |
| Farm crops | Crop Yield + Growth (5 each) | +50% harvest, faster growth |
| Fight base raids | Base Attack line (18 tiers) | Stacked combat rates for base workers |
| Mass-produce | Bonus-output lines (spheres, ammo, ingots, ore, food) | Extra items per craft, free |

The Material Saving line deserves a special call-out — 65% fewer materials on weapon, armor, and gear crafts effectively multiplies every stockpile you own, and it pairs absurdly well with the [weapon](https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-weapons-by-tech-level) and [armor](https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-armor-by-tech-level) upgrade paths' expensive late tiers. Breeders get the same story from Egg Hatching plus the [Special Cake loop](https://palworld-db.com/guides/how-breeding-works).

## The Core Nodes and the Tech Unlocks

Sixty-nine projects carry a core flag — they're the trunk of each line, gating the tiers behind them, so a line's flagged entries are never skippable on the way up. The ten **Technology Unlock** projects are different from everything else: they grant no percentage at all, just new recipes (the Snowman is the famous first one) — grab them when you want the toy, not as part of any rush. Deep tiers escalate hard: the top Handiwork tier alone is a 10M workload wanting 30 Computers and 70 Ancient Pal Manuscripts, so the endgame lab wants the same [Ancient Parts pipeline](https://palworld-db.com/guides/how-to-get-ancient-civilization-cores) as everything else at that stage.

> **Tip.** Lab work is real Pal labor — the workload numbers burn your crew's time, so staff it like a job: a high-rank Handiwork Pal on the lab, a [stocked feed box and hot spring](https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-food-for-san), and the Research Speed line first. That combination shrinks a months-long queue to something a weekend dents.

## Related Guides

Put the buffs to work:
- [Pal Labor Research: All 168 Projects and Costs](https://palworld-db.com/research)
- [Best Support Pals: Healers, Party Buffs, and Drop Rate Boosters](https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-support-pals)
- [How Breeding Works: Combi Ranks and Inheritance](https://palworld-db.com/guides/how-breeding-works)
- [Best Weapons at Every Tech Level](https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-weapons-by-tech-level)
- [List of All Expeditions and Rewards](https://palworld-db.com/expeditions)
- [Best Early Game Pals: First Catches for Every Job](https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-early-game-pals)


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Palworld Database — every number on this page comes from the game's own data files.