player-looking-at-phoenix-shrine-in-palia
Screenshot by Gamepur

Palia: Focus Explained – Uses, Upgrades, Renown, & Shrine Locations

Focus can be a vital help when levelling up your skills in Palia, and this guide will details how it works and how to upgrade its effectiveness.

Focus is an important mechanic for players to pay attention to in Palia. It can help boost the EXP earned from any task, helping characters level up faster and skip the level-grinding process that plagues many other MMOs.

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However, getting to grips with how Focus works and managing it effectively can be a bit tricky, So we put together this guide to help all players understand what focus is in Palia, as well as the best ways to boost Focus and level up their character faster.

Related: Palia – Release Date, Trailers, & Beta Access

How Does Focus Work in Palia?

character-focus-stat-in-palia
Screenshot by Gamepur

Focus is a mechanic that can increase the amount of EXP a character earns while completing tasks in Palia. At the start of the game, characters have a maximum Focus of 200, which gives them a 20% bonus to EXP. This allows players to earn more EXP when performing activities. However, this can be upgraded to allow for more Focus and a greater bonus to EXP from doing all sorts of activities, such as gardening and fishing.

Characters need to eat to increase their Focus, and by increasing the Focus cap, players ensure they can make their characters eat more to keep the EXP boost going. At the same time, by upgrading the EXP boost focus provides, players will earn more EXP when doing activities and level up faster. To do this, players will need to use Renown.

How to Earn Renown in Palia

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Screenshot by Gamepur

Renown is a currency players can earn in a couple of ways in Palia. It’s earned by completing quests, interacting with villagers, and thought getting accomplishments, Palia’s version of achievements. We’ve found that we completed various accomplishments naturally as we played Palia, and completing quests often yielded the biggest amount of Renown, making it the best option when you are looking to stock up. It should be noted that Renown caps at 1000.

How to Upgrade Focus in Palia

Players can upgrade their character’s Focus stat by spending Renown at two Shrines in Palia. In this section, we’ve outlined where these Shrines are and how to earn Renown to use with them.

Where to Find the Phoenix Shrine in Palia

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Screenshot by Gamepur

The Phoenix Shrine is located in Phoenix Falls. This is the area players will first spawn into when beginning their Palia journey, so it’s easy to find. Players will need to progress through the quests in this area until they get one from Jina called “Phoenix Shrine.” See above for an exact map reference for Phoenix Shrine.

The quest tasks players with exploring the ruins where they originally came from. As they do, they’ll come across the shrine and will be able to interact with it. Players can spend 100 Renown to increase their Focus by 5% with this shrine. This can be done multiple times.

Where to Find the Dragon Shrine in Palia

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Screenshot by Gamepur

The Dragon Shrine is located in Maji’s Hollow, the area at the top of the main map in Palia. Players will unlock the shrine by completing the “Dragon’s Shrine” quest. This is unlocked by meeting Chayne and the rest of the villagers, with Chayne then sending the player a letter about meeting the “final resident,” which will guide them to the shrine. See above for an exact map reference for the Dragon Shrine in Palia.

When visiting this shrine, players can spend 100 Renown to increase their Focus cap by 50. This too can be done multiple times, allowing players to expand their Focus pool massively and use food to their advantage when trying to level up.

Related: This ‘Animal Crossing’ Meets ‘Stardew Valley’ Game May Have Cured My MMO Phobia on The Mary Sue


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Author
Image of Jamie Moorcroft-Sharp
Jamie Moorcroft-Sharp
Jamie Moorcroft-Sharp is a Staff Writer at Gamepur. He's been writing about games for ten years and has been featured in Switch Player Magazine, Lock-On, and For Gamers Magazine. He's particularly keen on working out when he isn't playing games or writing or trying to be the best dad in the world.
Author
Image of Matthew Fuller
Matthew Fuller
Matt is a freelance writer based in the UK and has spent over three years covering and writing about video games. He discovered his love of games journalism while attending Canterbury Christchurch University, where he earned a bachelor's and master's degree in Game Design and has been writing ever since. He will find any excuse to play and write about games. When he isn't fighting dragons or exploring far-off galaxies, he spends his free time playing D&D, listening to music, or reading a good book. His primary game bests are Diablo IV, the Final Fantasy series, D&D, and anything new releasing that tickles his fancy.