Heartopia: Whale Canyon becomes a permanent main quest — and a shortcut if you've finished the Trending Season

The maintenance on August 19, from 9 PM to midnight (UTC+1) — that's 10 PM to 1 AM in France —, changes the status of Whale Canyon. XD Inc. announces that at the end of the Trend Season, the underwater zone will open a permanent main quest. The canyon's content thus stops being tied to a season's calendar.

The chain has three parts. It can be accepted from Whale Canyon's main screen, provided you've reached the required home level — the publisher doesn't specify this level. Completing it grants exploration progress and exploration certificates, and unlocks more Whale Canyon content.

One point is worth reading twice, because it's the most actionable part of the update: if you've already completed all the quests of the current Trend Season, you'll be able to skip this main quest and directly claim all the associated rewards. Finishing the season before it ends therefore spares you from redoing three parts of the storyline. The rest of the update adds a sticker event on August 29 and a series of fixes focused on the canyon.

What the shift to permanent content changes

Until now, Whale Canyon's progress advanced at the pace of a season, with the well-known drawback of that format: whatever isn't done during the window can no longer be caught up on, and a player who joins partway through inherits a half-locked zone. The permanent quest removes this constraint and serves as an entry point to what was previously only accessible through the seasonal thread.

A second, more subtle effect: as this quest progresses, the cleanliness limit of Whale Canyon's various areas gradually increases. The cap therefore rises along with the storyline's progress, which concerns Builders who maintain the zone on a daily basis.

That leaves the timing. The August 19 announcement says "at the end of the Trend Season" without giving a date again. The one published at the season's launch set its closing at August 22 at 5:59 AM server time, meaning Saturday, August 22 at 12:59 PM in France: the best estimate available, not a guarantee.

The shortcut: what to wrap up before the deadline

The option to skip the main quest is conditional on a precise state: having completed all the quests of the current Trending Season. An incomplete log, and you'll have to go through the three parts like any newcomer, for the same rewards in the end.

The procedure is therefore simple: open your Trending Season quest list today, Thursday, August 20, and prioritize the unvalidated lines. A quest left unfinished doesn't cause you to lose its rewards — they remain accessible via the permanent quest — but it costs you the time of the full chain.

For those who haven't yet set foot in the zone, nothing is lost: the permanent quest is designed for them. The only announced prerequisite remains the homestead level, whose value isn't published.

"Back-to-School Sticker Challenge": from August 29 to September 14

The new event is called “Back-to-School Sticker Challenge.” XD introduces it like this: “Whether it's studies, sports, art, or practical life, our seagull can do it all.” The principle: completing the dedicated missions gives a random sticker from among the already-open themes. Since not all themes are open from day one, the pool of possibilities diversifies as the event progresses.

One clarification: the announcement gives these times in server time, without conversion. On previous windows, server time corresponded to UTC-5, which places 6:00 AM server-side at 1:00 PM in France. XD does not confirm this here: never cut it close to the last hour of a deadline.

The social lever: five stickers per day and per person

Duplicates aren't wasted. You can gift your duplicate stickers to other players via the gifting feature, with a cap of 5 stickers per day for the same person. The cap is per recipient, not global: you can supply several contacts on the same day.

A small group therefore completes its sets much faster than a solo player left to the randomness of missions. Three or four Builders who announce their duplicates and gaps every evening cover most of the open themes within a few days. If you don't have a group, bring it up in your guild before August 29.

Rewards cannot be lost

Each sticker set grants a reward once a certain number has been collected. The announcement doesn't publish this threshold, so you'll need to check it in-game once it opens.

The safety net, on the other hand, is explicit: rewards not claimed during the day are sent by mail the next day, and at the end of the event, all accumulated unclaimed rewards are sent by mail. Missing a day of logging in therefore costs nothing beyond the missions not completed. Remember to empty your mailbox.

Guild validation, dreams, and toolbox

Three quality-of-life tweaks affect daily routines.

• A catch-up for daily guild validation. After completing the Saturday or Sunday validation, you receive 1 catch-up attempt per day, with a maximum of 2 stored. These are used to recover missed validations during the week. The weekend thus becomes the moment you can't afford to miss, since it's what feeds the stock.
• The dream system moves to a list format. Ongoing unique objectives are now displayed as a list, with direct progress tracking and manual claiming of rewards. A “general overview mode” allows you to view the complete objective tree.
• The “repair kit” comes out of the bag. A quick-use entry has been added to the toolbox: no more need to open the inventory. It doesn't appear when you own zero repair kits, including on islands — a missing icon means an empty stock, not a broken feature.

Two display additions round out the list: in emote feedback for likes on the home, books and other creations, the emote's name is now displayed; and home info on the bus map now shows your name.

Ten fixes focused on Whale Canyon

The fix list has thirty-three entries, ten of which are for the canyon. This is consistent with the shift to permanent content: an area meant to last is an area that gets stabilized.

• Dolphins would sometimes get stuck in "Undersea Mountain," unable to move again.
• Plant shadows displayed abnormally black.
• A map display issue for Whale Canyon.
• The Whale Canyon portal appeared too early on the map.
• The character's posture became abnormal during scripted dialogues.
• Seaweed display issues.
• On some devices, the character's clothing turned transparent in empty background areas.
• The rocks near the fresco changed color between close and distant views.
• Fishing boats at sea could be seen from the edges of the area.
• The mission text color in the exploration manual displayed incorrectly.

None of these change balancing, but these irritants had been piling up on the summer's most visited map.

Hair salon and control panels at the Shop

On the decoration side, the Furniture Shop is opening a hair salon theme with the "Semi-Reclined Shampoo Chair," the "Hairdressing Chair," the "Perm Machine," the "Rotating Barber Sign," and the "Standing Mirror." Some furniture pieces come in several color variants, and a new showroom is being added.

The self-service lab, meanwhile, is receiving seven interactive furniture research options: "Wall-Mounted Control Panel," "Control Console," "Standing Control Panel," "Main Control Console," "Standing Main Button," "Ceiling Main Button," and "Wall Main Button." Several come in different styles and are obtained once the research is completed, so not right at maintenance.

What to prioritize

1. Today, Thursday, August 20: open the Trending Season quest list and identify what hasn't been completed yet.
2. Before the season closes, expected on August 22 at 5:59 AM server time: finish them so you can skip the permanent quest and grab the rewards directly.
3. This weekend: complete Saturday's or Sunday's pairing validation to start building up your catch-up stock, capped at two.
4. Before August 29: form a trading group for the "Back-to-School Sticker Challenge". Five sends per day per person is little alone, a lot with four.
5. During the event: empty your mailbox. Unclaimed rewards land there the next day, along with the full balance when it closes on September 14.

As for the rest, there's no rush. Since the Whale Canyon main quest is permanent, it will wait until you have the time — that's precisely what's changing with this update.