The Royal Pickaxe starts strong, but many obstacles in Disney Dreamlight Valley shrug off the starter version.
If you need to upgrade your Pickaxe to access new areas of DDV or of its DLC, here’s how to get those upgrades.
Base game Pickaxe upgrades in Disney Dreamlight Valley
The base game has five upgrades for your Royal Pickaxe, and all of them require you to level up your friendship with various Disney characters.
1) Break small sea debris
Quest: The Great Maui
Meet Maui, do a bit of ego-stroking by running around to find out about him, and he’ll smack your Pickaxe with his hook so you can start getting rid of the small, blue boulders that sit on Dazzle Beach.
2) Break large sea debris
Quest: A Tale of Stone and Fire
Give Maui a hearty meal during his level four friendship quest, and he powers up your Pickaxe for a second time. Now, the larger coral boulders will fall apart when you hit them.
3) Break small ice blocks
Quest: Breaking the Ice
After finishing up Welcoming Elsa, you’ll get your first friendship quest with her. During the quest, you’ll need to brew the Warmth of Summer potion, which you can put on your Pickaxe to allow you to destroy the smaller ice structures in the Frosted Heights.
4) Break huge Ice Blocks
Quest: The Singing Ice
Craft the Cold of Winter potion during Elsa’s level six friendship quest. You’ll now be able to break the larger ice structures, giving you complete access to Frosted Heights.
5) Break the strange rocks in the Dark Castle
Quest: The Infestation, Part 3
Timon hands over the Dark Pickaxe Upgrade during his level 10 friendship quest. It works only inside the Dark Castle, but it’s the only way to clear the shadowy rubble and continue the main plotline of the base game.
A Rift in Time Pickaxe upgrades in Disney Dreamlight Valley
The Pickaxe upgrades in A Rift in Time rely heavily on the Timebending Table.
6) Break small copper rocks
Quest: The Secrets of Eternity Isle
Jafar’s opening quest introduces copper nuggets tucked inside stubby orange rocks. Your first upgrade cracks them.
7) Break small glass stalagmites
Quest: Village Project: Timeless Trash
Merlin makes you craft three potions at the Timebending Table. The Pickaxe potion lets you chip away at the little green-blue glass spires.
8) Break large copper rocks
Item: Large Copper Rocks Pickaxe Potion
After you reach Hourglass Lv. 1, craft this potion at the Timebending Table. Big copper outcrops in the Wastes will crumble on contact with your new Pickaxe upgrade.
9) Break large glass stalagmites
Item: Large Glass Stalagmite Pickaxe Potion
Also unlocked with Hourglass Lv. 1. Brew it, swing once, and the towering crystal pillars in the Glittering Dunes will disintegrate.
The Storybook Vale Pickaxe upgrades in Disney Dreamlight Valley
There are just two Pickaxe upgrades in The Storybook Vale, and you’ll get them pretty quickly after entering the world.
10) Break petrified wood
Quest: Welcome to the Storybook Vale
Your mailbox delivers an invite. Inside the new realm, you craft a Pickaxe potion that fractures the fossil-like wood boulders.
11) Break hunks of marble
Quest: Mythic Restoration
During your first friendship quest with Hades, you’ll need to gather Crimson Eternal Poppies, Posidonia, and Gravel. Using these ingredients, Hades reforges your Pickaxe so that the white marble chunks in Mythopia crack when hit.
Pick up more Disney Dreamlight Valley knowledge with our full list of Storybook Vale recipes!
