A common question among Dreamlight Valley players is how to get Dream Shards. Part of the reason for this is because you’ll need them early on to complete a quest for Merlin. Even though it sounds like it should be easy to get Dream Shards, this isn’t quite the case.
The developer Gameloft has addressed player concerns that it’s a little too difficult to get enough for Merlin’s quest. If you’re someone who started playing early on, chances are you’ll struggle a bit to get enough. However, the developer’s temporary solution was to send each player mail with Dream Shards inside. So make sure you check the mailbox next to your house for goodies.
How to Get Dream Shards in Dreamlight Valley
The mailbox is a useful way to get rewards on occasion especially if you haven’t claimed your Founder’s Pack rewards yet.
If you didn’t play near the release of Dreamlight Valley, you probably won’t get those free Dream Shards. But, I can’t say for sure. When I checked my mail, I had one letter named, “Use Your Dream Shards Wisley” with 25 inside. And then another, “Something Stuck in the Mailbox: Dreamshards” with 40 more. Regardless, if you want to know how to get them without relying on this temporary solution, here’s what to know.
When you first started playing you must have noticed there were Night Thorns practically everywhere making a mess. Even though these dreadful weeds seem to be causing the Forgetting, they do have some use. Every time you use energy to remove a Night Thorn, it’ll drop a reward of some kind for getting rid of it. This can be a few coins or a useful item instead.
Night Thorns can be a pain even though they don’t take a lot of energy to remove. But, if you’re not eating meals, you’ll run out of energy from all the actions you make.
Plus, you don’t really want to let the Valley become overridden with these pesky weeds anyway. While you can get Dream Shards from removing Night Thorns, the developer has admitted that the drop rate is low. They plan on increasing it in an upcoming update. Other than getting them from Night Thorns, you can also supposedly get them from feeding critters.
This doesn’t seem to be a reliable method for getting them, however, since you can only feed a critter once a day. And if you’re still early on in Dreamlight Valley, you probably only have access to a few critters like the squirrels. You’ll need to unlock new areas in the Valley to discover other unique critters to feed. According to the Collection menu, there are 41 different critters to find.
Feeding critters can be finicky but all you really need to do is run up to them until a button prompt appears. However, you do need to feed them the right food to get a reward. Unlike this screenshot, you’ll need to feed the squirrel an Apple.
Critters aside, if you’ve already cleared the entire area of Night Thorns, don’t worry. 10 more will appear each day giving you something to keep on top of for more rewards. It’s possible there may be a feature to prevent new Night Thorns from spawning, but I can’t say for sure. Keeping up with Night Thorns daily just reminds me of dealing with weeds in Animal Crossing.
Dream Shards are always worth searching for since you can convert them into Dreamlight after completing Merlin’s quest. This will help you unlock new content such as new areas to explore. And in the process, you’ll end up with tons of new Disney characters in your town.
If you don’t have a workbench yet for crafting, there are a couple of them around the Valley. Such as in Scrooge’s store or near Goofy’s house in the Peaceful Meadow.
That’s all there is to this Dreamlight Valley guide on how to get Dream Shards. Hopefully you’re able to take advantage of the free ones Gameloft sent out in the mail. Otherwise, you’ll need to start grinding and get lucky if the drop rate hasn’t been increased yet. Be sure to check out our other guide on if you can move houses.
Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.