Yes, Palworld STAB is real: a Pal using a skill that matches its own element deals 20 percent more damage, and the value sits right in the game’s config files. What the number does not settle by itself is the question every endgame player eventually hits: is a top-tier off-type skill like Holy Burst worth a slot on a Pal like Knocklem Ignis, whose entire kit is Fire? The answer has actual math behind it, and it flips depending on what you are fighting.
This guide covers how the same-type bonus works in 1.0, the full damage multiplier stack it lives inside, and a worked Knocklem Ignis case study that settles the off-type question with real skill numbers. Everything reflects the live 1.0 build, as of August 2026.
Key Takeaways
- STAB is 20 percent: same-element skills deal 1.2x damage, confirmed by community testing and the game files’ DamageElementMatchRate value.
- 1.0 changed the type math: super effective now deals +50 percent, not double, and resisted attacks lose 33 percent, not half. Older type charts still show the pre-1.0 numbers.
- Everything multiplies: STAB times super effective is a 1.8x swing, and crits and status amplifiers stack on top of that.
- The off-type verdict: on Knocklem Ignis, its own Flame Cutter beats Holy Burst everywhere except against Fire-resistant targets, which is exactly the slot off-type skills should fill.
- Holy Burst’s real home is Neutral Pals: they get STAB on it, and Neutral skills are the only ones nothing resists.
What STAB Is in Palworld
STAB, the same-type attack bonus, gives a Pal 20 percent extra damage whenever it uses an Active Skill whose element matches its own. A Fire Pal casting a Fire skill hits at 1.2x. The community proved it twice over: damage testing across hundreds of samples landed on 20.3 percent, and dataminers later found the value spelled out in the game’s damage configuration as a flat 1.2 multiplier.
Three properties make it matter for building movesets:
- It applies to taught skills. A skill fruit skill gets STAB as long as the element matches the Pal. The bonus cares about elements, not how the skill was learned.
- It works in every matchup. STAB applies whether the target is weak, neutral, or resistant to the skill’s element. It never turns off.
- It stacks with buffs. Partner-skill attack boosts, passives, and condensing all multiply alongside it.
Dual-element Pals cut the other way on defense: they can be hit super effectively through either of their elements, and when a skill is strong against one of their types but weak against the other, the two cancel out to a flat 1x. There are no 4x or 0.25x interactions in the current game.
The Full 1.0 Damage Multiplier Stack
STAB is one dial in a stack of multipliers, and 1.0 quietly changed the biggest one. Super effective damage now deals 50 percent extra rather than double, and resisted damage loses a third rather than half. Plenty of older type charts still show the launch-era 2x, so if your damage feels different from what a chart promised, this is why.
| Multiplier | 1.0 Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| STAB (element match) | x1.2 | Always on for same-element skills |
| Super effective | x1.5 | Was 2x before 1.0; charts showing double are stale |
| Resisted | x0.67 | Was half before 1.0 |
| Critical hit | x1.5 | Multiplies with everything above |
| Status amplifiers | x2 (element-specific) | Soaked doubles Electric, Ivy-Covered doubles Fire, Electrify doubles Water |
The multipliers compound. STAB into a super effective matchup is 1.2 times 1.5, an 80 percent boost. Land a crit on a Soaked target with a STAB Electric skill and the chain reaches into 4x territory. This is also the mechanical backbone of the status pairings in our Palworld team builds guide: an Ivy-Covered target takes double Fire damage before STAB and effectiveness even enter the math.
One more 1.0 wrinkle worth knowing: Pals fighting beside you get roughly 40 percent faster skill cooldowns in combat, paired with a 25 percent damage reduction. Skill cadence matters as much as per-hit power, which becomes relevant in the case study below.
Case Study: Holy Burst on Knocklem Ignis
Holy Burst has a reputation as one of the best skills in the game, and the stats explain it: 700 power, a wide area explosion, Neutral element, and it is learnable naturally by more than 60 Pals plus anyone you feed the fruit to. Knocklem Ignis is a Fire Pal whose entire learnset is Fire, topped by its 700-power signature Flame Cutter and the 600-power Fire Ball, both on 30-second cooldowns, both applying Burn. Same cooldown, same or similar power, one question: does the off-type slot earn its keep?
| Matchup | Flame Cutter (Fire, 700, STAB) | Holy Burst (Neutral, 700, no STAB) | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral target (no type interaction) | 700 x 1.2 = 840 | 700 | Flame Cutter, +20% |
| Grass or Ice target (weak to Fire) | 700 x 1.2 x 1.5 = 1,260 | 700 | Flame Cutter, +80% |
| Water target (resists Fire) | 700 x 1.2 x 0.67 = ~563 | 700 | Holy Burst, +24% |
The verdict is clean. Against anything neutral or weak to Fire, Knocklem Ignis should never cast Holy Burst over its own kit: the signature Flame Cutter does the same base damage with a 20 to 80 percent head start, and it applies Burn on top, which matters if your team runs the Poison and Burn pairing. Even Fire Ball at 600 power out-damages Holy Burst in those matchups once STAB is applied.
Against Water targets, the table flips. Resisted Fire loses a third of its damage and STAB cannot buy that back, so Holy Burst’s flat 700 wins by about a quarter. That is the honest role of an elite off-type skill on a mono-element Pal: not an upgrade, a matchup patch. Slot it third behind two Fire skills and cast it when the target resists you or when its wide area clears a pack your ring-shaped signature would miss.
When Off-Type Skills Are Worth a Slot
The Knocklem Ignis result generalizes into a few rules you can apply to any Pal:
- The 1.2x bar: against neutral targets, an off-type skill must have more than 1.2 times the power of your best same-cooldown on-type skill to out-damage it. Holy Burst at 700 never clears that bar against a 700-power signature.
- Resists drop the bar to 0.8x: when the target resists your element, your on-type skill is effectively running at 80 percent of its sticker value. Any off-type skill at similar power wins that fight.
- Weak targets raise the bar to 1.8x: into a type advantage, off-type skills need nearly double the power to compete. That skill almost never exists.
- Status text is damage too: on-type kits usually carry their element’s status, and amplifiers like Ivy-Covered doubling Fire damage can matter more than the base numbers.
- Cooldowns decide DPS: a 700-power skill on a 30-second cooldown is 23 power per second; a 450-power skill on 20 seconds is 22.5. Compare skills at similar cooldowns or compare power-per-second, not raw power.
The practical template for most damage Pals: two on-type skills at staggered cooldowns, plus one coverage slot. The coverage slot goes to a high-power Neutral skill like Holy Burst, or to the element that patches your Pal’s worst matchup. And in fairness to the other half of the meta, if your endgame runs through player-damage builds like the Gobfin stack, your Pal’s moveset matters less than its party buffs, which is exactly why the tier list rates supports so highly.
Who Should Actually Run Holy Burst
Holy Burst’s reputation is deserved, just not on off-type casters. Its best users are Neutral Pals, and the reasons stack:
- They get STAB on it: a Neutral ace like Paladius casts Holy Burst at an effective 840, the same 20 percent edge Knocklem Ignis gets from Flame Cutter.
- Nothing resists it: Neutral attacks are the only offensive element no Pal resists, so that 840 lands at face value against every target in the game. Neutral skills never hit a weakness either, which makes them the reliable floor rather than the spike.
- The learner list is generous: more than 60 Pals learn it naturally, including endgame Neutral names like Paladius, and the fruit covers everyone else.
So the skill everyone calls one of the best in the game is really the best Neutral skill in the game, and Neutral Pals like Paladius and Hartalis, the aces from our team-builds boss core, are where it earns the title. On everyone else it is a good coverage option with a clear job description. Where you spend your levels first still matters more than any single skill slot, and our stat priority guide covers that side of the damage equation.
Gear for Number-Crunching Sessions
Testing skill damage means long sessions of reading floating numbers mid-fight. Deal prices current as of August 2026.
Samsung Odyssey G5 32″ QHD
Damage numbers and boss telegraphs stay readable at 32 inches of QHD, 37 percent off.
JBL Quantum 650X
Wireless multiplatform sound for hearing skill cooldowns and raid callouts.
8BitDo Ultimate 2
Hall effect sticks and a dock for the mount-and-explore half of Palworld.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Palworld have STAB?
Yes. A Pal using an Active Skill that matches its own element deals 20 percent bonus damage. Community damage testing measured it at roughly 20 percent, and the game’s configuration files list the element match rate as a 1.2 multiplier.
Does STAB stack with type effectiveness in Palworld?
Yes, multiplicatively. STAB’s 1.2x times the 1.5x super effective bonus gives an 80 percent total boost. Crits and status amplifiers like Ivy-Covered multiply on top of that.
Is super effective damage 2x in Palworld 1.0?
No. As of 1.0, super effective attacks deal 50 percent more damage and resisted attacks deal 33 percent less. Older type charts showing double and half damage reflect pre-1.0 values.
Should I put Holy Burst on Knocklem Ignis?
Only as a third-slot coverage option. Knocklem Ignis’s own Flame Cutter has the same 700 power and 30-second cooldown but gains STAB, so it hits 20 percent harder against neutral targets and 80 percent harder against Grass and Ice. Holy Burst only wins when the target resists Fire, like Water Pals.
Do skill fruit skills get STAB?
Yes. STAB checks the skill’s element against the Pal’s element, not how the skill was learned. A Fire skill taught by fruit gets the same 20 percent bonus on a Fire Pal as a naturally learned one.
What Pals use Holy Burst best?
Neutral Pals like Paladius and Hartalis. They gain STAB on it for an effective 840 power, and Neutral is the only attacking element that no Pal resists, so the damage lands at full value against everything.
Summary
STAB in Palworld is a flat 20 percent for element-matched skills, it multiplies with the 1.0 type multipliers of 1.5x and 0.67x, and those three numbers answer the off-type question mechanically. Keep your damage Pals on their own element by default, reserve one slot for coverage against the matchup that resists them, and give Holy Burst to a Neutral ace where its reputation is actually earned.
Skill slots are one dial among several: the party around the Pal multiplies damage harder than any single skill swap, and our team builds guide covers that layer comp by comp.