Disney Dreamlight Valley has 60+ unlockable characters in their arsenal. Unlocking them isn’t an easy task and it takes some time till you can do all of that.
More importantly, not every character is as useful as some. Some of them are essential for progression, some for upgrades and some are more useful for making money.
After spending 100+ hours playing Dreamlight Valley, unlocking all of the characters, and making all the mistakes, here’s a list of what characters you should unlock first for different purposes, how to do that and what it’ll bring you:
Which Dreamlight Valley Characters Make the Biggest Difference?
If you want to talk about the character benefits that have probably some of the best long-term investments for new players then these 4 would be it:
Remy
I would put unlocking Remy as a highest priority. If you unlock him, you’ll gain access to Chez Remy, the restaurant. Also, you’ll unlock cooking, which is one of the most important gameplay systems.
Unlocking Remy is not only detrimental for completing numerous quests in Dreamlight Valley but it also will save you so much time moving around once you stop eating only berries and start eating real cooked food.
You’ll also be able to cook favorite meals of other Disney/Pixar characters and increase friendship level with them faster. Increasing the friendship level with Remy will unlock more recipes. On top of everything, some of those meals can fetch a lot of money.
How to Unlock:
In order to unlock Remy, you’ll have to unlock his realm in a castle with 3,000 Dreamlight and complete the initial quest there.
Moana
Moana of Motunui is the character that you’ll want to unlock if you care about saving time fishing. Unlocking her and raising friendship levels with her will grant you access to a fishing boat.
A fishing boat that generates free fish over time. You can either use it for cooking, quests or just sell them. All in all it’s a win-win situation and it will save you a lot of time.
How to Unlock:
To unlock Moana, you’ll have to unlock her realm in a castle with 3,000 Dreamlight and complete the few quests there. Those 3000 Dreamlight will also unlock Maui.
Wall-E
If unlocking Wall-E for his cuteness isn’t enough, how about Wall-E’s Garden. If you invest into leveling friendship with him and doing necessary quests you’ll gain access to his garden. It’s a place where he produces vegetables automatically. It’s a great source of ingredients for cooking and it’ll save you a lot of time gathering crops.
How to Unlock:
In order to unlock Wall-E, you’ll have to unlock his realm in a castle with 3,000 Dreamlight and complete the initial quest there.
Kristoff
Kristoff is one of my most memorable characters from Frozen. Unlocking him and raising friendship levels will open something called Kristoff’s Stall. It’s a place where you can buy crafting materials instead of farming them.
It’s more of a time-saving thing than anything else. This allows you to fully commit to doing quests and being able to focus on earning money the most efficient way.
How to Unlock:
In order to unlock Kristoff, you’ll have to spend 3,000 Dreamlight to unlock the Forest of Valor.
Which Dreamlight Valley Characters to Unlock for Tool Upgrades?
In Disney Dreamlight Valley there’re 3 essential tools that you’ll use on a daily basis. Having them as they are is completely fine but in order to gain full access to all areas in each biome and gain new materials, you’ll have to upgrade them. The only way to do that is by leveling friendship and completing quests from these characters:
Elsa
Unlocking Elsa and raising friendship level with her will allow you to upgrade your Pickaxe. Which lets you break the large ice blocks in the Frosted Heights and gives your access to new resources and some important main quests.
How to Unlock:
In order to unlock Elsa, you’ll have to unlock her realm in a castle with 4,000 Dreamlight and complete the initial quest there. Note that those 4000 Dreamlight will also unlock Anna.
Maui
If you followed my advice and got Moana, you’ll also have access to Maui. Not only is he the awesomest, handsomest and funniest demigod but he also comes with some pretty nice perks. If you do quests related to him and level friendship with him you’ll be able to upgrade your pickaxe which lets you break the large sea debris on Dazzle Beach. Also you get access to new useful resources that can help you with decorating and cooking.
Anna
She might be after Elsa on this list but she’s the one who joins the village first. Doing her quest and boosting friendship will allow you to upgrade your shovel which lets you remove those pesky tree stumps that are everywhere. It opens a lot of new paths and gathering spots.
Merlin
Merlin doesn’t need to be unlocked but if you want to upgrade your shovel and remove those annoying mushrooms from the map, you’ll need to level friendship with Merlin completely. In return you’ll gain new areas, cooking ingredients and few other resources.
Scar
Scar can help you upgrade your shovel that allows you to remove bones in the Sunlit Plateau. To do that you need to increase friendship levels which includes what seemed to me one of the longest quests ever. You have to plant a seed and water it occasionally. It takes 3 full real life days for seed to grow. I had a feeling like it took way more.
How to Unlock:
To unlock Scar, you’ll have to spend 7,000 Dreamlight to unlock the Unlock the Sunlit Plateau biome.
Which Dreamlight Valley Characters are Best For Earning Coins?
There’s multiple ways to earn Star Coins in Dreamlight Valley, if you read my beginners guide you’ll know that growing and harvesting pumpkins is the best way to do it. Some of these characters can help you with that, some can earn you extra money without you having to do anything and some will just save you money in the long term.
Goofy
Goofy is one of the free characters that you don’t have to unlock but in order to build his stall, you’ll have to spend Star coins. I wish I could tell you it’s a one time investment but it’s not. You’ll have to buy each stall on each new biome, but also you’ll have to upgrade them to gain full access to every item. It’s a costly investment if you decide to build every shop.
The other characters I’ve already mentioned above can also help:
- Wall-E – Free Veggetables
- Kristoff – Saves time on gathering materials
- Moana – Free Fish
- Remy + Cooking = expensive dishes
Which Dreamlight Valley Characters to Unlock for Quality of Life?
Not every character that you unlock is worth it because they make you richer or upgrade your tools. Some of them are worth it because they help you progress the story, some unlock a little bit of convenience and some just unlock decorations that are highly necessary to make your village look nice.
Scrooge McDuck
While being one the first characters available, Scrooge often gets discarded and forgotten about. While he might not offer any real value and all he does is take money from you, he is still detrimental once you decide to focus on decorating.
Most people focus on upgrading him later in playthrough but it ends up being very costly if you do it all at once. What I suggest is that whenever you have a larger sum, invest a few percent of it into buying new cosmetics and upgrading his shop. It will save you a lot of hassle later, trust me. I’m speaking from experience.
Merlin
Merlin is an important part of the game because most of the main quests are tied to him. I don’t have to tell you that keeping him close and happy will help you unlock most of the content in the game and he introduced important mechanics. On top of all of that, reaching level 10 friendship with him will give you access to a wizard hat.
Tiana
Unlocking princess Tiana and progressing her friendship quests, will get you Tiana’s Palace, a restaurant/venue in your valley. More importantly,The Meal Stall, where she prepares cooked meals that you can purchase instead of cooking them yourself. Additionally you’ll get new recipes, furniture, and themed rewards through her questline.
Beast
Last but not least, Beast from Beauty and the Beast. To unlock him, you’ll first have to unlock Belle and then you’ll have to increase friendship levels with him in order to unlock the flower stall. It makes collecting flowers for crafting and gifts much easier. It’s especially useful for decorators and completionists.
Conclusion
Firstly, let me apologize for saying “friendship level” so much but hopefully you get the importance of that system. These are the characters that should help you progress easier and have more fun playing Disney’s Dreamlight Valley. What was the first character that you unlocked? Let me know in the comments.
