Palette Prime has two main routes: The Fallen King and Off-Color. You can tackle the village or the woods first; Twinkle grants Scan Power on the first route that requires it. Rescue Bowser from Bedrock, restore the Spellbound Woods and return for six battle Sparks, fourteen Memories and the hidden side tasks.
Story walkthrough
The Fallen King — reach Paletteville
Meet Woodrow and approach his house. Clear A Bridge Too Fear to rescue Glitter, then enter the secret passage under the house. Twinkle grants Beep-0 Scan Power here if you have not already received it in the woods.
Scan the gap to reveal the bridge and inspect apparent dead ends for hidden paths. Clear Blight at the End of the Tunnel, then continue into Paletteville. Medicians can heal their allies and should be removed before you spread damage across the entire enemy group.
Blast Through the Bedrock
Bowser joins as a fourth combatant with his Bowzooka. Bedrock takes very little ordinary damage. Lure her onto one of the explosive traps on the floor, then shoot her while she is standing on it. Her immediate Aftershock stomp detonates the trap beneath her. Repeat this four times instead of spending turns firing at her away from the traps.
Do not stand every hero on the same line, and do not spend a whole turn firing into an ineffective protected target. Use the Bowzooka and other area attacks on helpers blocking the next lure. Peach’s Team Barrier or Exosphere protects the bait when needed. Repeat the weak-point process and finish the exposed boss. Winning recruits Bowser and awards one crystal.
Off-Color — the Spellbound Woods
Clear A Ghostly Sunset at the entrance to rescue Zephyrquake. Ghostly Walkers avoid reaction fire during their special movement, so use direct damage, a good side angle or an appropriate area Spark instead of waiting for them to trigger every Hero Sight shot.
Use Scan throughout the woods to reveal paths and ladders. If this is your first story branch on Palette Prime, Twinkle grants the ability here. Clear Forest Rush and keep the heroes separated against Squashettes’ landing attacks. Frostbite can limit movement when successfully applied, but check Tacticam for the specific enemy’s protections.
Abandoned Well — Roots of Corruption
Enter the Abandoned Well and descend its curved wooden walkways, scanning gaps and suspicious dead ends. The hidden side room for Professor Backpack branches off this descent.
In Roots of Corruption, destroy all three eyes of a Darkmess Taproot within the same hero turn; leaving one eye intact allows the root to recover. Before using an attack, check which eyes it can actually hit. Rabbid Luigi’s Discruptor, Peach’s Boom-Brella and Bowser’s Bowzooka can cover multiple visible targets when their attack paths align.
Use the lifts to reach the lower stages and remove a Wildclaw only when its approach prevents the next coordinated attack. Clear the last root to rescue Electrogeddon, obtain the second crystal and restore the woods’ color.
Sparks on Palette Prime
Glitter, Zephyrquake and Electrogeddon are story rewards. Bury the Hatchet unlocks Vampastra, A Dryad’s Dream unlocks Zephyrdash and the Secret Zone unlocks Wildclaw Master. Twinkle gives Scan Power instead of occupying a battle slot.
All Spark locations and abilities
Side quests and hidden routes
Bury the Hatchet
After restoring the woods, speak to Sweetlopek near his workshop west of the ship. Investigate the village houses, including the first pumpkin house, the bird’s house and The Fork’s house, reading the clues rather than guessing the culprit. Open the barrier north of Paletteville with the square key near the snake-head landmark. Scan the footprints in the new section for the whetstone and bring it to The Fork. Return to the culprit’s house and win The Stolen Axe to recruit Vampastra.
A Dryad’s Dream
After Bury the Hatchet, meet Sweetlopek at the woods entrance. Scan the large tree’s left side to reveal the dryad, then clear Nesting Instinct. Find three seeds: scan the red flowers near Sweetlopek; use the key-and-switch pipe branch on the right; and reveal the left bridge to a tree you can shake. Deliver all three to the dryad for Zephyrdash.
Palette Prime Secret Zone
Buy the Spellbound Key and approach the door beyond Evil By the Lake. Inside, scan the lower bridges and ladder, carry the round key to its device and take the opened pipe. Reveal the crate above, push it down and use the scanned return route to bring it to the floor plate. Rescue Wildclaw Master, then repeat the timed trial for the Gleaming Dukes skin.
“Well”-Hidden
Halfway down the Abandoned Well’s curved path, use Wave on the plant blocking the left branch. Scan the gap beyond it, cross to the hidden puddle and clear the fight. Open the nearby Memory reward before returning.
The Princess and the Prima Donna
From Spellbound Woods Entrance, take the eastern ladder up to the fixed Peach-and-Rabbid-Peach battle. Use Team Barrier and Heal together while concentrating damage on one threat. The reward includes Peach’s Steampunk Boom-Brella skin.
The Riddle of Palette Prime
Enter the side pipe near the bottom of the well. Place the woodpecker at sunrise, swan at the bright sun, fox at the crescent-moon dusk symbol and owl at the full moon. Use the floor symbols rather than a guessed clock-face orientation.
Red Coin Challenge
At the Pumpkin Patch, run through the red ring and collect all eight coins among the houses and scarecrows. Sprint with X and follow the looping route without entering an unrelated side passage.
The Kid and the King
East of Paletteville’s flag, clear the puddle using Rabbid Luigi and Bowser. Use the Discruptor for several visible targets and the Bowzooka to destroy cover or damage a group. Bring a protective or recovery Spark because this duo has no ordinary healer.
Closing the Gap
At the southwestern edge of the Pumpkin Patch, scan the yellow footprints to create a bridge. Defeat the guarding Spellraiser before its summons turn the fight into a prolonged wave battle. Collect the Wildwood Blade reward beyond it.
Fungi Frenzy
Free the two Toads in Darkmess near the base of Paletteville by the lake. The cleared route exposes an egg needed to destroy the eye at the Green Coin Challenge approach.
Medician Hunt
Accept the request in Paletteville and defeat three marked Medicians around Sweetlopek’s workshop. Remove the healer first in each encounter, then finish its support without allowing repeated healing turns.
Bridge to Darkmess
Use the square key near the snake-head landmark to open the barrier north of town. Follow the route east to the Wave block and yellow footprints, scan the bridge across the water and clear the puddle beyond it.
Victor’s Palette Prime Invitational
Meet Victor near the water at the bottom of town. Dash, collect and throw Sillyfish into the highlighted pool. Aim for six for the Planet Coin requirement; pick an efficient loop rather than chasing a fish far away from the container.
Evil By the Lake
Open the northern barrier and follow the lake route toward the Secret Zone. Clear the large Darkmess puddle on that approach. Choose protection against the local enemies before crossing its narrow firing lanes.
Darkmess Near the Woodshed
Use the scanned bridge over the lake southeast of the WM ARC to reach the western hills. Clear the puddle near Sweetlopek’s workshop, keeping the heroes separated against area attacks on its compact field.
Spellbound Gateway
Visit Madame Bwahstrella inside the pumpkin-shaped house near Gourd Lake. Win the dimensional challenge with Sparks suited to its enemy lineup. Use Ennui after your attacks when an enemy group must be held for the next turn.
Giant Surprise
Return with twenty-four Sparks to the golden pipe in Spellbound Woods. Scan the footprints to reveal its ladder. Against the Giant Depleter, respect its active counter and avoid feeding it HP through repeated unsafe hits. Use protection, healing and concentrated damage on a prepared turn. Victory awards two Gold Prisms.
Ghostly Walker Hunt
Accept the hunt and defeat the three marked Ghostly Walkers around Spellbound Woods. Their movement can bypass reaction shots; rely on direct damage and the weaknesses shown in Tacticam.
Blue Coin Challenge
At the woods pond, scan to reveal the missing ladder to the blue pipe. Inside, scan the hidden pipe and move the crate onto its plate as part of the coin route. Finish to receive Galactic Atlas: Palette Prime.
Pond Scum
Clear the marked puddle by the pond in Spellbound Woods. Do not confuse this separate optional battle with the story fight at the woods entrance.
Green Coin Challenge
First clear Fungi Frenzy, carry its egg down to the waterfront and destroy the eye blocking the ring. Collect each of the five green groups before the timer expires, following the path as new groups appear.
Palette Prime Pipe
Immediately beyond the square-key barrier north of town, inspect the left side. Push the crate away from the concealed white pipe, enter it and open the propeller chest in the hidden area.
Sweetlopek’s Workshop
Scan the bridge over the lake south of the ship and travel west to the ladder-and-pipe puzzle. Move the large Wave block right, climb the first ladder and scan the bridge to the second. Descend and move the large block left again, then climb the second ladder and take the white pipe to the chest.
Height Fright
Return after Drizzle upgrades Wave on Terra Flora. North of the Pumpkin Patch, activate the purple tiles to stabilize the first two bridges, then scan the uphill crossing. Collect the blue ball, carry it to its device and reactivate the first bridge tile to connect the final propeller chest.
Creepy Hollow
Find all three pumpkin heads for the scarecrows. North of the patch, scan the faint wall symbol, follow its arrow through the bushes and reveal the bridge to the first. Shake the tree south of the flag for another. Collect the remaining head behind the farmhouse and fit each onto a headless scarecrow.
Finish the return visit
Collect fourteen Memories, complete the timed Secret Zone revisit and check the hidden quests near the workshop, northern barrier, well and Pumpkin Patch. Height Fright requires the Terra Flora upgrade, so it cannot be finished on the first visit. The twenty-four-Spark golden pipe is also a later-return objective.
Memory locations · Professor Backpack’s riddles · Gold Prisms and giant bosses