Goombella and Flurrie in the early game and Bobbery and Yoshi later on are the best partners to upgrade first in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (TTYD). Read on to learn which party members you should level up first, and what order to level them up in!

Partner Guides
All Partners			Best Partner Tier List
Partner Upgrade Guides
How to Upgrade Partners		Second Partner Upgrade		Best Partner Upgrade Order

Best Early Game Partner Upgrades

Partner	Rating and Explanation
Goombella	Rating: ★★★★★ • HP increases from 10 to 20 when upgrading. • Can learn Multibonk once upgraded, which deals damage based on the number of successful action commands and is effective in boss battles.
Madame Flurrie	Rating: ★★★★★ • Further increases HP, which is initially high. • Can learn Lip Lock once upgraded, which can steal HP from enemies, allowing it to sustain itself during battles.

By upgrading Goombella to Super Rank, her HP increases from 10 to 15, improving her vulnerability and making her easier to use in battle. In addition, she will also be able to use Multibonk, a powerful move, when upgraded.

Upgrading Flurrie to Super Rank increases her HP, which was already high, and she will be able to use Lip Lock, a high damage move that steals the enemy's HP and adds to Flurrie's HP and ignores enemy defense.

How to Upgrade Party Members

Best Ultra Rank Partner Upgrades

Partner	Rating and Explanation
Admiral Bobbery	Rating: ★★★★★ • Can learn powerful all-out moves when upgraded, which are effective in battles with multiple enemies. • Has high attack power, which is effective against enemies with high defenses, but consumes a lot of FP.
Yoshi	Rating: ★★★★★ • Can learn multi-hit, area-of-effect moves when upgraded, which are effective in battles with multiple enemies. • Consumes less FP but is weak against enemies with high defenses.
Goombella	Rating: ★★★★ • Can learn Rally Wink, which gives Mario another chance to attack in the same turn.
Vivian	Rating: ★★★ • Normal attacks are easy to use. • Moves learned in the second level-up are difficult to use.
Madame Flurrie	Rating: ★★ • Moves are great in the early game but becomes low priority in the late game.
Koops	Rating: ★★ • Can't attack flying enemies. • Can only be effective when fighting enemies on the ground.
Ms. Mowz	Rating: ★ • Has many supportive moves but lacks offensive moves, making it difficult for the character to play an active role in battles. • HP recovery moves are useful but consumes a lot of FP.

Level Up Admiral Bobbery and Yoshi

Admiral Bobbery and Yoshi are partners that learn offensive moves when they rank up to Ultra Rank.

The offensive moves that they learn are attacks that can hit multiple targets on the screen. They are especially effective in battles with multiple opponents.

Admiral Bobbery can effectively damage enemies with its high attack, and stay in a battle longer with its high defense. Yoshi may struggle against defensive enemies, but more efficiently consumes FP.

How to Get Second Partner Upgrade (Lv. 2)

How to Upgrade Partners

Bring Three Shine Sprites to Merlon

Upgrading party members requires the use of Shine Sprites, which you have to bring to Merlon.

By bringing three Shine Sprites to Merlon on the east side of Rogueport, you will be able to upgrade an ally by one level.

How to Upgrade Partners

How to Find Merlon's House

1	Go to the east side of Rogueport's Central Square
2	The building seen in the foreground is Merlon's house.
3	Merlon will be found inside.

Rogueport Collectibles, Enemies, and Points of Interest

42 Shine Sprites Needed

Each partner can be upgraded twice, which means you will need a total of 42 Shine Sprites to upgrade all seven.

All Shine Sprite Locations

Give Merlon Up Arrow to Upgrade to Ultra Rank After Chapter 5

Bring Merlon the Up Arrow which you can find after Chapter 5 at Hooktail Castle to upgrade your party members a second time. Upgrading them will bring them from Super Rank to Ultra Rank.

Because it costs 3 coins to upgrade a partner, it would take 6 coins to upgrade them twice.

How to Get Up Arrow

How to Adjust Party Member Upgrades

Adjust Upgrades from Chet Rippo

You can adjust your party's rank by talking to Chet Rippo in Rogueport Sewers.

How to Respec and Adjust Stats

Accessible After Chapter 5

Chet Rippo's house is located at the end of the cracked wall just after entering Rogueport Sewers. This will be accessible after completing Chapter 5.

Rogueport Sewers Collectibles, Enemies, and Points of Interest

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Related Guides

Tips and Tricks

Game Mechanics Guides

All Game Mechanics Guides
How to Level Up Fast	Best Level Up Bonus
How to Save the Game	Is There Online Multiplayer?
Coin Farming Guide	How to Store Items
List of Controls	All Missable Content
All Paper Mario Abilities	Plane Mode Guide
Best Partner Upgrade Order	How to Upgrade Partners
How to Get Second Partner Upgrade (Lv. 2)	All Partner Abilities
How to Respec and Adjust Stats	Merluvlee Hints Guide

Battle Mechanic Guides

All Battle Mechanic Guides
Battle Mechanics	What Happens When You Die?
Audience Mechanic	How to Charge Star Power
How to Trigger Bingo	How to Guard and Superguard
How to Recover HP	How to Recover FP
Stats Explained	Do Badges Stack?
List of All Status Effects	Danger Mario Build

Pianta Parlor Game Guides

Pianta Parlor Game Guides
Plane Game	Paper Game
Tube Game	Boat Game

Other Guides

Other Guides
Pit of 100 Trials Guide	Pianta Parlor Guide
Post Game Content Guide	How to Choose Yoshi Color
How to Get Up Arrow	Super Fun Quirk Quiz Answers
How Long to Beat the Game	All Zess T. Recipes
Partner Ring Feature	How to Unlock the Pipe Room
Who is the Mayor of Petalburg	Merlee's Fortune Telling Guide
Boo's Quiz Answer	All TEC Quiz Answers
What is the Ghost's Name?	Best Zess T. Recipes
Where to Find Bobbery in Rogueport	Lumpy Investment Guide
Stump Petuni Guide	Happy Lucky Lottery Guide
Watering Hole Location	Podley Location
All Emails	-