"Rich" wrote...
> I've seen a few gold guides and they weren't worth a hoot. Anyone tell me
> the better ones?
Of course, the other replies to this response assume that you're level 70,
because, of course, who ISN'T level 70 at this point? [/sarcasm]
Lots of people, you jerks.
From the start of your career, here's my tips on making money.
0) Remember this first. You will never start out making tons of cash.
Gold-making sites that propose to sell you this secret are flat-out LYING.
1) Invest in mining. Mining is the one gathering profession that starts out
making serious cash, as opposed to herbalism or skinning, which earn bupkus
compared to mining.
Okay, I'm sure that people are going to say that ***LATER ON***, herbalism
and skinning far outshine mining. I'm speaking of when you're 10th level
and mining COPPER, folks. If you can show me for a fact that stacks of
peacebloom and silverleaf, or stacks of light leather, will sell for more
than a stack of copper bars, I'll happily admit I'm wrong. Otherwise STFU
and let the teacher teach.
You can also pick up herbalism or skinning for extra profit, but remember
that at this point a stack of copper ore > anything else, so you're better
off just sticking with mining. We'll get into other professions later.
2) Get Auctioneer. Auctioneer lets you scan auctions for a particular item
and figure out average prices very quickly. This is a huge time-saver.
Auctioneer also usually comes with an add-on called Gatherer, which marks on
your mini-map and your world map the location of all nodes you've mined or
gathered from. This is helpful to remind you where to look.
You don't NEED either. You can scan auctions yourself and figure out
averages, and by learning the zones you can learn where the nodes tend to
be. But Auctioneer and Gatherer make it easy.
3) Be prepared to spend time to make money. It doesn't come quickly, even
for a Lv 70. Time invested = more money, straight-up fact.
4) Okay, you've got your mining skill, your mining pick, Auctioneer and some
time. Go to either Elwynn Forest or Dun Morogh (for Alliance), or Durotar
or Eversong Woods (for Horde). There are copper nodes all over the place.
You will probably have to clear out monsters; keep whatever you find, but
remember that a stack of copper ore > anything else, except gems. Go forth
and mine. Mine until you have at least 3-4 stacks of copper ore, though 6-8
are better. If you find any gems (especially shadowgems), keep those too.
5) Once you have enough copper, go back to town and smelt it into bars.
This increases your mining skill so that you get less 'Failed Attempts' when
mining. Take the bars and head to the nearest faction Auction House.
Figure out what a good average is for a stack of copper bars and sell for
that average or -possibly- just a smidgen lower. (I've found that copper
bars sell for an average of 2-4g per stack of 20, depending on the day of
the week you sell on. Weekends always bring higher prices.)
Some folks will tell you that copper ore might bring higher prices, since
some miners need it to skill up their mining, and jewelcrafters can prospect
it to find gems. I can tell you that this isn't reliable. Keep to the bars
and you'll make more money.
6) When you get your money (might be the next day), turn around and spend it
on the biggest bags you can. If you have enough cash, get 16-slot
Netherweave bags (sell for 5-6g on Auction House). If it's a choice between
four Woolen Bags and one Netherweave Bag, get the Netherweave Bag. This
saves time and hassle later on.
7) Repeat steps 4-6 until you have four Netherweave Bags. At this point you
may be a higher level and wanting to look into mining tin and smelting
bronze. (Yes, I know silver is orange and bronze is only yellow. Silver is
a rare spawn and can't be relied on. By mining tin you'll get your skill
up, don't worry about it.) If you want to mine tin, you'll be better served
by going to Google and looking up 'Warcraft mining guide'. Look for guides
on free sites such as Allakhazam, Wowwiki, Wowhead or TenTonHammer. They
should tell you where tin can be found.
Eventually you'll want to try a crafting profession or switch to
herbalism or skinning, especially if you've just picked up Alchemy or
Leatherworking. You'll need to start over from Skill Level 1 and start
gathering, but it's made easier by the fact that you've made a ton on
mining, and you have those 16-slot bags to gather with. Herbalism and
Skinning are both quite lucrative at higher levels, and Alchemy and
Jewelcrafting even moreso.
9) An alternate skill to get into is Enchanting, which is both a gathering
skill (with Disenchant) and a production skill. Enchanting has one problem,
though: It's expensive and time-consuming to raise. But once you reach the
upper levels of the skill, you will rake in money hand over fist. You may
want to pick up the Enchantrix addon or another Enchanting Profession addon,
as this will not only help you learn what various items break down into when
using Disenchant, but also helps you market your Enchanting abilities.
10) As you adventure, remember that quests give you more money than just
straight-out grinding (that means just running around killing monsters).
Always take a quest that's offered by a questgiver (they have big yellow !'s
over their heads). Do the quest as soon as it's reasonably feasible and go
back to the questgiver (they will now have big yellow ?'s over them) for
your reward. Usually quests can be obtained several at a time, and the
questgivers usually are close to each other, so it's probably easier to do a
bunch of quests then go turn them all back in at once.
Remember that you can only have 25 quests in your quest log. There is
usually no problem if you abandon a quest; you can just go back to the
questgiver who gave you that quest, and he'll give it to you again.
11) Green items are nice but not absolutely necessary. You will get
adequate quest rewards to equip your character as you adventure. You can
supplement your equipment by buying gear on the Auction House, but remember
a few things. First, gear that's your level isn't all that much better than
gear that's a few levels below yours. It's not really worth it to spend
gold for a few more points of armor or a couple extra attribute points.
Second, watch out for gear of level 18-19, 28-29, 38-39 and so on. That's
when the 'twink' levels are for battlegames, and people price gear of that
level out of the reach of most gamers. (If you find green gear of that
level, it's worth it to try to auction it at the same average as the rest of
the money-gougers, especially if the item in question gives any sort of
Agility bonus. If a twink buys your item, the profit makes it all
worthwhile.)
12) At level 40 (soon to be level 30), you will have the first opportunity
to get your apprentice mount. DO THIS. It costs between 80-100g for the
mount and the skill to ride it (soon to be 35-50g). Your first mount
increases your ground speed by 60%, which means you move between nodes 60%
faster. It's a large indirect boost in your money-making speed and you will
like it very much. If you have followed steps 1-11, you should have this
kind of cash way before you need it.
13) You'll find certain areas are great 'farming' spots, where you can
acquire decent amounts of materials fairly quickly. For example, in
Westfall, there's a spot where Defias Brotherhood mobs spawn fairly quickly
and in plentiful numbers, and a fairly skilled adventurer can obtain many
stacks of linen cloth this way. Remember that other people know of these
spots too... which is why 13) is not higher on the list, as you can't rely
on farming spots for income. (Another fallacy of the pay-for gold guides,
which list such spots, and usually are outdated from before The Burning
Crusade came out and made such spots obsolete.)
14) One other thing. During your adventuring career you will probably
require the services of someone who has different professions than you do.
This is why Guilds were created. Find a guild which has members who are
willing to use their skills for your benefit (usually on a quid pro quo
status, which means you'll have to be willing to do the same for them).
This will save you much pain and aggravation -- and cost -- later on.
-Jobbles
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