To get the most out of Disney Dreamlight Valley, you’ll need to find a set of Royal Tools. These tools will help you fish, garden, smash rocks and even take a cheeky selfie. The majority of these tools will be gathered as you begin the main story, and some of them can be upgraded to further clear out obstacles from the valley.
In this guide, I’ll be talking you through each of the available tools, what they can be used for, and how to get starting upgrading them, so let’s get started.
How to find the royal tools
Disney Dreamlight Valley: Where to find the Royal Tools
There are four Royal Tools to get your hands on, plus the camera. These tools are:
Watering canShovelPickaxeFishing rodCamera
The watering can and pickaxe will be the first tools you’ll unlock as you begin the game with Merlin and Mickey. The pickaxe can be found in the bottom right of the Plaza, and the watering can be found at the back of your little house.
The shovel can be found at the Chez Remy bistro in the northeast of the Plaza, and the fishing rod is in the Peaceful Meadow. It’s in a sorry state when you find it at the largest pond, but take it to Goofy and he’ll fix it up for you. The camera unlocks almost right away, so get snapping.
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As for what you can do with the tools, it’s pretty simple. Watch for a pale-coloured circle appearing around the area you want to interact with, such as a rock you want to use the pickaxe on. You can then use the right-click button to use the tool.
You can use the watering can on freshly planted and dying plants, and the shovel can be used to dig up golden glitter spots to find minerals and treasure, as well as dig holes to plant seeds in. The pickaxe can break rocks on the ground and black rocks on walls. Smashing these rocks often reveals special gems, like garnets and emeralds which you can sell or use for quests.
Dreamlight Valley shovel upgrades
Your shovel is initially used for digging up all those sparkling holes in the ground around the valley but later upgrades help you clear some of the obstacles and debris too. So far in Dreamlight Valley, you can use the shovel to remove tree stumps and wildebeest bones.
How to remove tree stumps
Anna friendship level 3 quest: An Icy Invitation10 softwood4 hardwood4 iron ingot3 tinkering parts
How to remove wildebeest bones
Scar friendship level 3 quest: Breaking Bones5 dry wood5 iron ingot5 Lion’s Claws (Dig in the Sunlit Plateau)
How to remove large wildebeest bones
Scar friendship level 7 quest: The Circle of Life10 purified night shardsOld Bones (in the Vitalys Mines)
Dreamlight Valley watering can upgrades
You’ll mainly use your watering can to water crops and flowers, but it’s also used for getting rid of those pesky purple mushroom obstacles. It does seem a bit unintuitive that watering a mushroom would kill it but hey, it’s a magical valley.
How to remove mushrooms
Merlin friendship level 8 quest: A Dark Experiment20 mushrooms5 emeralds3 purified night shards
How to remove large mushrooms
Merlin friendship level 10 quest: The Final Trial1 falling water (Near lower Glade of Trust waterfall)1 ice heart25 mushrooms
Dreamlight Valley pickaxe upgrades
Your pickaxe is initially used for breaking rocks and mining gems around the valley but with upgrades you can also clear out the big blue coral rocks on the beach and the ice shards in the Frozen Heights.
How to remove large beach coral
Maui friendship level 4 quest: A Tale of Stone and FireMaui’s items (beside the boat in the Moana realm)Any 5-star meal
How to remove ice shards
Elsa initial quest: Breaking the Ice5 sunflowers2 sugarcane3 garlic5 lemons1 vial of ocean water (fish anywhere on the beach)
How to remove large ice shards
Elsa friendship level 6 quest: The Singing Ice1 white daisy1 red falling penstemon1 pink bromeliad5 ice chunks (inside the ice cavern)1 vial of freezing water (fish in the Frosted heights)3 snowballs
Dreamlight Valley fishing rod
How to use the fishing rod in Disney Dreamlight Valley
The fishing rod is the trickiest tool to use. In a body of water, you’ll see circles of different colours with bubbles that indicate fish are nearby. They can be white, red or blue coloured depending on the difficulty of the catch.
To cast your rod, you need to hold the spacebar or the right mouse button until the small circle moves into the fishing circle. Then, you need to wait for the prompt and left-click to “catch” the fish, before waiting for the circle to move inwards.
You want to time your left-click with the outer circle meeting the inner circle. If you get a green circle, you’ve clicked on time; if it’s red, you’ll need to start again. You’ll need to do this two or three more times to catch the fish.
So far, the fishing rod doesn’t have any upgrades to make it more effective like the watering can, pickaxe, and shovel.
