Disney Dreamlight Valley is making some significant changes to Star Paths ahead of its next update to make it more engaging for 'those who play week over week'

Alice and player in front of the Dream Castle in Disney Dreamlight Valley
(Image credit: Gameloft)

Ahead of the new Emotional Rescue update, Disney Dreamlight Valley has announced that some significant changes are being made to its current Star Path format. As detailed on the Disney Dreamlight Valley blog, these changes are being made to help make the Star Path feel more accessible for every player, regardless of where they are in the valley and how much progress they have made within the game.

The most significant update is the addition of Routine Duties. These won't take the place of the standard Star Path duties, but add an additional layer of challenge to work through to get ahold of more rewards. These duties refresh each week, giving you even more to work on, and follow a different theme. The blog stated that these additional duties were initially designed for "those who play week over week" since standard duties alongside those in the base game can become slightly repetitive.

Also linking to duties you'll complete throughout the Star Path, any that relate to specific characters or things you unlock in the game, like restaurant orders or features like Dreamsnaps, have been removed for now. This will definitely help brand-new players get stuck in with the Star Path without encountering any roadblocks because they simply haven't got to that point yet.

Even with as many hours in the game as I have, there are still characters from realms I haven't unlocked yet, which have stopped me from completing a number of tasks in the past. Plus, if you were grinding the Star Path out at the last minute, these could also effectively roadblock your progress and make it impossible to finish in time, so I'm glad they're finally gone.

However, this doesn't apply to brand-new characters introduced with updates and new Star Paths, which are Joy and Sadness for this update. Since new characters roll out alongside new Star Paths, it makes sense that most players will be racing to unlock them. If you're not the type of player to wait with baited breath the second another character is announced, then having these exclusive duties might be the push you need to head into their realm and make your way through their friendship quests—especially now you don't have the added pressure of completing challenges for other characters too.

Finally, each Star Path will have an additional five days tacked onto the end, so you've got plenty of opportunities to complete your duties. There's a 48-hour grace period once these five days are up to give you a chance to spend all your Moonstones on prizes if you haven't already done so. Yes, I know, this is a reduction from the previous grace period, but with five additional days to complete the entire Path, we can't complain too much if we run out of time, since there comes a point where it's our own doing.

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Kara Phillips
Evergreen Writer

Kara is an evergreen writer. Having spent four years as a games journalist guiding, reviewing, or generally waffling about the weird and wonderful, she’s more than happy to tell you all about which obscure indie games she’s managed to sink hours into this week. When she’s not raising a dodo army in Ark: Survival Evolved or taking huge losses in Tekken, you’ll find her helplessly trawling the internet for the next best birdwatching game because who wants to step outside and experience the real thing when you can so easily do it from the comfort of your living room. Right?

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