How to prepare for the Whispers of the Wind update in Disney Dreamlight Valley

Disney Dreamlight Valley is rolling out its Whispers of the Wind update on April 8, adding Pocahontas and a bunch of new friendship quests to work your way through. If you want to make your way through these quests as quickly as possible and invite Pocahontas to your valley, then a little preparation goes a long way. Without knowing what quests we'll be sent on, it's hard to know the most efficient way to prepare, but using the information we've received on the update, there are a few things I'll be doing at the very least.

This time around though, unlike the majority of Disney Dreamlight Valley updates, you don't need to work on saving up your Dreamlight to unlock a new realm in the Dream Castle. Instead, you'll visit a new mysterious island off the coast, which is where the journey to unlock Pocahontas begins.

How to prepare for the Whispers of the Wind update in Disney Dreamlight Valley

As always, there's nothing you strictly need to do to prepare for the update. Once it's released, every player will be able to access it and make their way through Pocahontas' friendship quests. Since it's her debut in Disney Dreamlight Valley, there are no friendships you need to work on with other villagers in advance either. But there are a few things you can do to prepare in advance.

Gather gemstones

Even though we don't know what friendship quests we will be sent on with Pocahontas, we do know that we'll be preparing a "celestial celebration" as shared in the trailer for the update. If there's one thing that screams celestial to me, it's glittering gemstones. So, to save yourself the stress of having to gather gemstones once you reach the quest, gather some which are harder to find, like tourmaline or diamonds.

Befriend raccoons

If there's one thing that screams Pocahontas to me, it's raccoons. So, I'm going to spend some time befriending the raccoons in the Forest of Valor. If you're yet to befriend these masked bandits, then forage for some blueberries and approach them slowly. They're quite quick, nervous critters and you need to feed them for at least three days to unlock them as a companion too. With that said, we do know that you'll unlock Meeko, Pocahontas' raccoon companion, as part of her quests.

Gather hardwood

I've always found that hardwood is one of the most frustrating materials to gather in Disney Dreamlight Valley, even though it spawns in the Sunlit Plateau, Forest of Valor, Frosted Heights, and Glade of Trust. That's largely because it always spawns in fixed numbers and takes a while to respawn once you've gathered it.

Since it's always used for crafting bigger structures, it's one of those essential materials you just have to gather too. We don't know how we'll get to Pocahontas' mysterious new island, but if we need to craft a raft or anything like that, we'll no doubt need hardwood.