Put Some Junk In Your Trunk: Introduction to Making LOTRO Gold
I recently noticed our forum had an entire section devoted to making LOTRO gold. It instantly occurred to me that in both WoW and LOTRO I’ve been asked numerous times how I make so much gold. At the time of this writing my main character has only 121g so I am no expert. Many people have substantially more. On the other hand, I’m continuously shocked at the lack of money people have! Just last week a level 60 Minstrel was saying that he possessed 34s – not enough to cover the repair bills after our instance! Are you kidding? That’s not enough to blow your nose or take a horse through the front gate of Bree.
The important thing is that I do not devote a lot of time to making gold. I am not one of those resellers that remain under house arrest in the Auction House (AH), permanently a level 6 banker in the pursuit of coin. That is why I’m sharing my ideas, because I’m pretty casual about it. My methods don’t require much grinding and allow you to make money naturally, as you play the game.
In approximate order of importance, for me, here is a simple list of gold making moves.
1. Empty Bags. Yes, empty bags can lead you to riches. It seems counterintuitive but it’s true…from nothing you can make something. It might sound silly but if you always keep 2 or more clear bags when you adventure you will discover the value of vender trash. Collect all mob trash in these empty slots and sell it. This is a huge money maker in the later game but it also works at all levels. As you go along pick up everything…everything. If you run out of room and plan to keep killing just delete the things with the least value. When you return home, sell it. Over time you will know which items provide the best yield. It can be very difficult to fee up the bag space but it’s worth it. Remember, you are filling 2 bags (30 slots!) with this debris. Try to get junk that stacks instead of single 7s items that take up too much room. I obsess over keeping 2-bags +x additional slots open. I feel pretty good about myself when I have more than 30 open compartments because it means more money.
The perfect time to use the power-of-the-empty-bag is when you grind for deeds, reputation, or special items like hides and crafting ingredients. Yes, it often involves multiple trips to a nearby vendor but in so doing it breaks up the monotony. You may even find some ore or wood along the way. More money! More importantly, it motivates you to continue the hard grind when you see the expanding silver after each trip. It also gives you a chance to repair. Too many people can’t be bothered by picking up trash but it is their loss. Besides, it’s eco friendly.
- Example 1 – Early Game: At the lower end of the game you have the lovely Slimy Barrow-Crawler in the dreaded Northern Barrow-Downs. This is not a mob you will likely grind or need to kill but the example will work. The level 14 worm drops blunt stingers (48c), mossy carapace (86c), and the ever delectable dusty egg sack (1s30c). I would collect them all but clearly favor the egg sacks. At 1s30 each we can stack 10 per bag slot so we get 13 silver per slot. You may be able to stack 20 but I don’t know. Anyway, multiple that by 30 and you get a whopping 390 silver. If you kept 2 bags open you now have 780 silver. That is amazing money for early game trash. So yummy! Substitute an equivalent mob that you will be killing anyway and you’re golden!
- Example 2 – Later Game: In the later levels of the game, and in the pursuit of a deed named Spider Slayer for +1 Valour in the Waterworks, I had to kill 340 glass spiders in total. I kept the trash they dropped and made about 1.2g after repairs. This was about 4 trips back to the Rotting Cellar for 500-600s profit each time. I don’t remember all the trash the spiders dropped but there was a lot. The worms in the area were equally lucrative.
2. The Auction House is Your (Best) Friend. Explore the Action House (AH) and try to sell everything that is not vender trash. A lot has been written about this elsewhere so I will keep it brief. The two main uses of the AH are 1) selling non-vender trash, and 2) buying up lower priced items to reselling. I do very little reselling but it can be very rewarding. If it does not sell at first, try, try again. Most things will sell eventually. Look carefully for niches where you can excel. Examining trends is part of the fun. Selling consumable that are needed by crafters is always a win-win. I often sell cheaper than everyone else. That insures my item will sell and not only do I make macha-macha but someone gets a good deal. Try not to overprice. It’s fun to discover the big ticket item but I like being the guy who posts a good deal. You can have the best of both worlds in terms of marking things up yet saving people money during a “gold rush.” After patches and the expansion there are always items that people want but can’t get access to. As a result these items are over inflated. For the metalsmith it was once the Beryl Shard. Now it is the Mithril Flake. You can still offer lower prices but make a ton of money…as long as the bubble lasts. Make the AH a ritual and you will find your own way to make your way.
- Example 1 – Early Game AH: Even though I needed light hides for tailoring but still sold 1/3 of my take at the AH. This provided, at the time, approximately 130s at level 10. I don’t know what that amounted to but it was a few hundred and that was a good start.
- Exampe 2 – Reselling: This week I won a pair of Berserker’s Leggings (image below). Since I have better leggings I decided to sell it but found a large discrepancy in price. There were about 5-6 pair for sale all of which were around 400-750, with 1 at 301. There were also 2 selling for 65s and 75s. I bought the two inexpensive ones and put mine up for 295s. I could have gone with 399s but wanted the lowest price. I put up another set and they both sold within 12 hours. I have now put the 3rd set up. You can do the math.
3. Level Up a Crafting Skill. Most of the big bucks are made from crafting items at the highest levels of mastery, so skill up. In the mean time, if you liberate yourself from the restrictive idea that selling 30s items is a waste of time you will see a tangible outcome in the form of an income stream. It adds up. I have a friend who has made well over 60g by selling low level food items at the AH. He farms, he cooks, and he cashes checks. No one believed me at the time but I made thousands of gold in WoW by fishing and watching movies or listening to music.
- Example 1 – Sell, Sell, Sell: At all levels do what you have to skill up. Sell what you can at the AH and even vender if you have to. The goal is to get to the good stuff so level up.
- Example 2 – End Game Crafting: Since I reached level 60 I am thinking about trying to make more gold for the first time since the Mines of Moria expansion. So, I am making some armor to sell. Once a week I craft Heroic Noble’s Armour armor which has sold for 9g. I sell various other pieces for about 75s-300s. When I tap out the mastery soon I expect to do a little better.
4. Don’t Waste Money on Armor & Weapons until Late-Game. You can’t save silver by spending silver, even at a fire drake sale. I’m sure this is not a popular option because everyone likes to display nice duds from time to time. Nonetheless, if you plan on leveling to 50-60 anyway try to make it on less expensive, quest acquired, and hand-made items. This should be applied on an individual-by-individual basis but boils down to being frugal. The bottom line is that you can’t save money by spending it…most of the time (e.g., successful reselling). Constant upgrading is putting money in someone else’s piggy bank.
5. Sell raw materials. Many people tout this route to wealth. I don’t engage in it much because I use the materials I collect. Since everyone wants to skill up raw materials like ore, wood, gems, and hides can make you a ton of money. Another reason to max out your craft skills is that when you no longer need materials from a previous mastery level it frees you to sell them. I sell most hides I find and make a good amount of money from such items. As time marches on you will be able to more comfortable engage in this practice.
On a related note, don’t buy too much when it comes to raw materials or rep items. When the goal is to put the money in your pocket this is a sure fire way to make someone else into LOTRO Trump.
In
conclusion, there is no magic trick here. For many of you this advice is somewhat obvious but hopefully it can be helpful for someone. It has worked well for me.
~FattyLumpkins
PS: I has some images and links but they are a pain to put in on this forum so maybe later.
