If you’re new to Guild Wars 2, or even if you’re an old or returning player getting set up for the new Heart of Thorns expansion, you might be finding yourself a little short on cash. Buff food, Ascended Gear, Legendaries, and Gems aren’t cheap! You don’t have to whip out your IRL wallet to fill your Guild Wars 2 wallet though — you’re not going to be able to make the markets tremble overnight with the gold you earn, but in just a couple hours a day you can go from pauper to prince and start saving for that next shiny skin.
Here are the key elements of making gold in Guild Wars 2:
Dungeons
Running dungeons is still far and away the best way to make money. Each explorable dungeon path gives 1 gold and 26 silver after beating the boss, and Ascalonian Catacombs gives 1 gold and 76 silver. If you’re experienced and running the dungeons with a guild or a group that is also familiar with the path, then certain dungeons can be completed very quickly — even pick up groups can finish Ascalonian Catacombs paths 1 and 3 in around thirty minutes.
In addition to the gold you get simply for finishing the dungeon, there are the regular drops which can be salvaged, and dungeon tokens, which are easy to turn into gold. For level 75+ dungeons (Citadel of Flame, Honor of the Waves, Crucible of Eternity, Arah), you can buy rare gear from the dungeon vendor (found in Lion’s Arch) and salvage it for Ectoplasm. For lower level dungeons, buy exotic gear and weapons and salvage them for Ectos and a chance at a very valuable insignia — use Black Lion Salvage kits if you have them!
If you haven’t run dungeons before, there’s no need to panic — once you learn the fights, they’re very simple — even for people in less than optimal gear or who are new to the game. Watch a couple of tutorial videos before jumping in, and make sure to let the group know that you’re new — most dungeon runners (as long as it’s not a speed run group) will be just fine with that! You’ll want to pick up Berserker equipment as soon as possible — it speeds up the run — but you really only need Rare or even Uncommon gear to contribute if you can’t afford exotics.
Here are the fastest paths to run every day if you’re feeling ambitious. If you’re short on time (or patience), Ascalonian Catacombs is always the best use of your gaming time.
- Ascalonian Catacombs 1 – 3
- Twilight Arbor Up
- Sorrows Embrace 1 + 3
- Honor of the Waves 1
- Citadel of Flame 1 + 2
Gathering and Salvaging
Another key element of making money in Guild Wars 2 is gathering everything! You don’t need to level up a skill, and gathering tools are cheap and easy to find, so don’t pass another tree or ore node without giving it a few whacks! Not only do you get experience for it — making this a great way to level alts — but even low level materials can sell for a lot, since they’re used in ascended recipes. Make sure that all of your characters are equipped with picks, axes, and sickles, and that you have spares on hand!
By the same token, make sure you’re salvaging as much as you can. Cloth armor should always be salvaged — silk, linen, wool, and cotton scraps sell for a pretty penny on the Trading Post. Level 80 blue and green weapons and heavy armor can be salvaged too — even though Mithril doesn’t sell for much, Orichalcum does, as do Ancient Wood logs. At current Trading Post prices, leather armor can safely be vendored to NPCs (but that might change — watch for new recipes!).
Most Rare armor and weapons should be salvaged with a Rare or Mystic Salvage Kit for the best chance at Ectos, but some Rare weapons are worth selling on the Trading Post — greatswords, swords, staves, and daggers often sell for a lot, since people are using them in the Mystic Forge. Check the Trading Post before salvaging to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck.
World Bosses
World bosses, especially since the Megaserver change, are a really great way to make a little extra gold. They can be almost as profitable as dungeon running, depending on drops. Each boss will give a guaranteed rare to each character once a day, as well as additional drops that could include rares or exotics, and the events can be done back to back. Open up an event timer like this one or just follow the World Boss train — there’s usually someone linking the next waypoint.
Most bosses are pretty easy — just equip a ranged weapon and watch out for red circles. Some of them — like the Jungle Wurm and Fire Elemental — can be defeated very quickly. But if you’re going to try for a harder boss like Tequatl, make sure you’re reading map chat and paying attention to the commanders.
Silverwastes Chest Train/Champion Farm Train
Possibly as lucrative as running dungeons (it depends somewhat on your Magic Find %) is the Silverwastes Chest Farm. Using the Bandit Crests recieved from completing events in the new Maguuma zone you can buy keys to unlock chests in the Silverwastes. They need to be dug up with shovels that only drop from events, so players have taken to banding together into chest farm groups and running through the whole map together.
All you need to do is have some keys, shovels, and crests, and check the LFG tool for something like ‘Chest Farm’ or ‘SW Chest’. The whole thing is sustainable (you get crests from chests to buy more keys) and can be done as often or as long as you want — just follow the commander from chest to chest.
If you’re looking for something a little more interactive, there are still champion farms in Malchor’s Leap and Frostgorge Sound, though you might need to look a little harder to find a group. Both of these methods yield a large number of bags which yield green loot, materials, and some silver.
The green loot is best to salvage — especially if you have the Copper-Fed-Salvage-O-Matic — or you can try your luck combining four green items in the Mystic Forge for a chance at a rare (this is a good thing to do with leather armor and if you’re full on Mithril or elder wood logs). Sell the materials you find and salvage for a pretty tidy profit — you might even get lucky and find a precursor or other rare item!
Convert Other Currencies to Gold
As you play Guild Wars 2, you’re going to find a whole bunch of other currencies — aside from gold — that are going to build up if you don’t use them. Almost everything can be converted into gold, if you don’t need the currency for something else — though it can be time consuming. Here’s how it works:
- Laurels: The easiest currency to convert into gold. Buy Tier 6 Crafting Bags from the Laurel Vendor — the materials you get sell for a lot of gold, especially Powerful Blood.
- Karma: There are a couple of options — you can buy Lost Orrian Jewelry Boxes from the Karma Vendors in Orr (but this is very ineffecient) or you can buy level 45-60 cloth armor with karma and combine four items in the Mystic Forge — this will give you something you can salvage for Linen Scraps. The best item to do this with is the ‘Cloth Crab Grabbin’ Gloves’ from Bram Dawnrazer in Bloodtide Coast.
- Guild Commendations: Buy Sentinel’s Intricate Gossamer Insignia for 80s + 10 commendations and sell on the Trading Post (as of right now about a 7g profit).
- Badges of Honor: Buy blueprints from WvW vendors and sell on the Trading Post (Rams and Arrow Carts are currently the most valuable).
- Skill Points: There are couple things you can do with Skill Points — buying Eldritch Scrolls and crafting weapons (especially Rusttooth, which has a Sigil of Force in it) is very lucrative, or you can try your hand at material promotion, especially with Charged Lodestones and Powerful Blood. But this is risky, based on the prices of Crystalline Dust and the T6 material you’re hoping to produce.
The Trading Post
Of course, the key to your financial success is the Trading Post — make sure that whenever you’re buying or selling that you make use of buy orders and list prices. If you buy instantly or sell instantly, you are cheating yourself out of a lot of gold over the long run. Be patient and make sure that you’re getting everything you’re worth.
Also, whenever you’re trying to figure out whether or not it’s worth your time to sell or buy something, bear in mind that the Trading Post takes 15% on transactions — many ambitious Trading Post moguls have been done in by trying to ‘flip’ items with less than a 15% profit margin.
Of course, everything you do in Guild Wars 2 will earn you money, whether it’s PvP, open world roaming, World v World, or crafting. Just be sure to save, sell what you don’t need, and look out for deals, and you’re bound to be a golden player in no time. Good luck!
