The A Heroes Journey update brought Hercules and Phil to Disney Dreamlight Valley, but unlike Pocahontas, the process of unlocking both characters is slightly more complicated. You’ve got five new quests to make your way through before they move into your valley, alongside a shiny new realm to explore.
To begin the first quest you need to complete, you have to unlock the Hercules realm in the Dream Castle. This will cost 11,000 Dreamlight, which is a pretty big investment if you ask me, but it’s worth it. As soon as you’ve unlocked the realm, before you’ve even set foot inside, you’ll begin the Moonlighting as a Hero quest. Here’s what you need to do from there.
How to complete the Moonlighting as a Hero quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley
(Image credit: Gameloft)
Once you’re inside the Hercules realm, a cutscene will play showing Phil running through the woods. Follow him by going right and walking through the trees. Speak to him in front of the plinth surrounded by thorns, and he will explain that Hercules has gone missing and he needs your help. You’ll offer to investigate the thorns and fog, so once the conversation has ended, walk up to the thorns and interact with them to receive a message from Artemis which doesn’t make much sense.
Head back to Phil by the pillar at the start of the realm, and talk to him. He’ll decipher the message you’ve just found and task you with finding a Moon Headband in the realm. Fortunately, it’s just in the pool of water behind where you’re talking to Phil, so grab your fishing rod and cast your line into the ripples. When you’ve reeled it in, take it to the pedestal next to Phil.
Talk to him again, and he’ll suggest getting more gifts for Artemis. You’ll need to gather the following items from around the realm next:
3 x Greek Clay3 x Greek Flowers3 x Sylvan Wood
Transfer these things to the pedestal, and the Moon Headband will start to glow. Phil will then tell you to pick it up, put it on, and head to the training arena with him. So, equip the headband and follow Phil to the left, clearing all the night thorns along the way. Speak to Phil once you’ve reached the arena, and he’ll get you to run the obstacle course before helping you. So, go through the starting line behind Phil to begin your run.
You’ll need to clear night thorns and light five Moonlight Beacons on your way around the course, so keep your Moon Headband equipped. It’s worth increasing your stamina bar to gold so you can glide around too, as this makes the entire course that little bit faster. As long as you get through in two minutes or less, that’s all that matters though.
Once you’ve spoken to Phil a final time, he’ll send you back to the first pedestal you found in the realm. Light this to clear the first bit of fog, and then go through the woods lighting every pedestal you come across until a cutscene plays showing Hercules in front of three swirling water fountains. Talk to Hercules, and the Moonlighting as a Hero quest will end, and the Speedrun Crash Course quest will automatically begin.
How to complete the Speedrun Crash Course quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley
Head back into the woods and speak to Hercules and Phil. After the initial excitement of them being reunited, they’ll explain they need the help of Hermes, aka some Winged Boots, to get across to the temple. These need to be mined from the marble pile to the left of where you speak to Phil and Herc. You’ll also need to gather five Pegasus Feathers while you find the boots, which can be found throughout the forest and are hard to miss given their golden glow.
Take all of these items back to Phil, and he’ll lead you to the Hermes pedestal back at the arena. Place the items on the pedestal, and speak to Hercules. Much like what happened with the Moon Headband, you’ll need to put in a bit more work to please Hermes, which means cooking up a “Legendary Meal”. To create this, you’ll need to find the following items scattered across the entire Hercules realm:
1x Aegean Delights1x Legendary Goldfish1x Greek Cheeses1x Greek Fruits and Veggies1x Giant Lettuce
When you’ve gathered all of these ingredients, use the cooking pot (the firepit) at the entrance of the arena to save yourself from going back to the valley. Shove all of these ingredients into the pot, and take the Legendary Meal to the Hermes pedestal. When you place it, the boots will start to glow like the Moon Headband did. Pick them up, put them on, and go to the starting line for the Hermes obstacle course directly to your left.
As you run around the obstacle course, you’ll need to collect five feathers. Just like the first obstacle course you ran, it’s easier to float or glide around and much faster too, so fill your stamina bar before you start to make your course more efficient. When you’ve finished in five minutes, you’ll be sent back to the dark forest and you need to talk to Hercules again.
He’ll say you’re ready to cross the storm to get to the temple, so run back to the cliff edge and interact with the Hermes symbol on the floor to cross. This will end the Speedrun Crash Course quest and immediately start the Thunderstruck quest.
How to complete the Thunderstruck Quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley
Hercules and Phil waste no time in telling you that the gate to the temple is locked, of course. But luckily, there’s a rotating puzzle on the floor you can solve to help. Use the levers at the bottom of the puzzle until the cloud with lightning coming out of it is facing you. You’ll know when you’ve positioned each correctly as a mechanism will pop up in the middle, and you’ll be able to grab the Stone Bracers Mould. Take this to Hercules, and he’ll ask you to gather the following items:
6 x Hephaestus Coals10 x Orichalcum Ore10 x Greek Marble FragmentGameloftGameloft
You can gather most of your Orichalcum Ore and Hephaestus Coals from the island you’re on, but you need to head back into the dark forest to get marble fragments from piles of broken marble pillars, and more coals from the arena.
Take all of these items to the crafting bench left of the temple’s entrance and craft the Golden Bracers. Place them on the Zeus pedestal in front of the temple entrance. Before you can enter the temple though, you’ll need to decide on whether you want to make Zeus laugh, cry, or become angry.
I chose to make him laugh, which sent me back to the valley to speak to Scrooge McDuck, Merlin, and Goofy to learn some good jokes. I couldn’t test if the other options gave different characters to speak to, but I imagine so. Go back to the valley and chat to your selected villagers, and return to Hercules in the realm with your findings. For me, I had to tell him my favourite joke, which triggered the Golden Bracers to glow on the pedestal.
Pick up and put on the Bracers, and you’ll be able to break the rocks blocking the temple entrance, alongside the chains keeping the door shut. When you break these, Hercules and Phil will run in and walk up to the mosaic at the back of the room. Follow them, and speak to Phil who explains that someone is making a mockery of the Gods by switching parts of the mosaic around. You’re then challenged to find the missing pieces around the temple. After this conversation, the Thunderstruck quest will end and automatically start the A Real Godly Mess quest.
How to complete A Real Godly Quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley
(Image credit: Gameloft)
You need to find six mosaic pieces around the temple, and luckily they have a very bright golden glow so you can see them from a mile off. Most of them are trapped behind big rocks, so keep your Golden Bracers on as you won’t be able to break them otherwise. Once you’ve got all six pieces, take them to Phil and interact with the mosaic to solve the puzzle. This is just like the puzzles we solved during the Storybook Vale DLC, so you just need to drag and drop the pieces into the right places.
Once you’ve completed the puzzle, a cutscene showing peace being restored to the realm will play, and you’ll ask Phil and Hercules to join you in the valley at the end. Hercules will immediately agree, but Phill will say he’s got things to do.
Head back to the valley, place Hercules’ house plans, and pay 10,000 Star Coins at the Scrooge McDuck sign. Once his house is built, the Welcome Hercules screen will play. This will unlock him in your valley, but it isn’t quite the end of the A Real Godly Quest mission.
Instead, you need to cook a 5-star meal for Phil. Any will do, I ended up just using whatever ingredients I had on hand and baking Aurora’s Cake. Take your meal back to the Hercules realm and give it to Phil at the temple, and he’ll say that it’s a tempting offer but he needs to find out who chaotically rearranged the mosaic. You’ll offer to help, which means “checking the temple”. Basically, just head straight to the mosaic and you’ll find a spool of Dreamlight Thread on the floor which you need to pick up and take back to him.
You’ll convince Phil that he’ll find more clues about who messed up the mosaic if he comes to Dreamlight Valley, which is all the persuasion he needs. So, head back to the valley with him and the “Welcome Phil” cutscene will play. After a quick conversation, A Real Godly Quest will be completed, and you’ll be able to start making your way through Hercules’ and Phil’s friendship quests.
