World of Warcraft Classic is already a much tougher game than Retail, and the recent addition of a Hardcore mode to the vanilla version of the game makes things even tougher. One of the things that makes vanilla WoW so much harder than Dragonflight or Wrath of the Lich King Classic is how difficult it is to earn gold, and how much more expensive everything is.
Players tend to need to make gold in WoW Classic for two things: the Level 40 mount (which costs 90g, including training), and skill training while leveling. As long as players follow these gold-making tips for WoW hardcore, then training skills, buying upgrades off the Auction House, and affording that Level 40 mount will become much less of a financial burden.
Before Anything Else, Make A Bank Alt
The best thing a player can do for themselves to make gold in WoW Classic Hardcore is to make a Bank Alt. As soon as one's main character has at least one Gold in their inventory, start another character to send all of your gold and materials to.
Park this character next to a bank, and you will have protection against losing literally everything upon death – all of a dead character's progress will be lost, but their gold and crafting materials will be ready to go for another run.
For Alliance players, the best bank alt city is arguably Ironforge, as it is less likely to be griefed, close to an Inn, and the Auction House, Bank, and Mailboxes are all nearby. However, it means getting the bank alt to around Level 5 to get through Coldridge Pass. For Horde players, the best bank alt city is the Undercity, for many of the same reasons as Ironforge – just be careful of the elevator on the way in, it's known to kill many an unsuspecting player.
Professions Can Be Tedious, But Lucrative
One of the best ways to make money in any version of World of Warcraft is to pick up two professions, preferably two gathering professions. The early level ranges of World of Warcraft Hardcore are very saturated with players, and listings on the Auction House before Level 30 tend to go for little above vendor price.
World of Warcraft Classic: Best Professions For Each Class
World of Warcraft Classic players who want to pair their class with the most beneficial profession should use this guide to find the best match.
But after around level 30, when there is significantly less competition, materials gathered for the engineering and alchemy skills tend to skyrocket. Late-game engineering and alchemy recipes can be game-changers in Hardcore WoW, especially things like the Petrification Potion and the Advanced Training Dummy, making the demand for these ingredients enormous.
Until Level 30, choose either Mining or Herbalism and pair it with Skinning. Skins don't sell for much on the Auction House, but they sell for a decent amount to vendors, especially when there are so many players leaving skinnable corpses in their wake. After Level 30, though, the best way to make money with professions in WoW Hardcore is to replace Skinning with a different gathering skill – or a crafting profession, provided one has gathered enough materials to boost it.
Complete Quests & Choose Valuable Rewards
One of the best ways to make money fast in WoW Classic Hardcore mode is to simply complete quests, and choose the most valuable rewards. Though vanilla WoW doesn't show vendor prices in the inventory, there are lots of addons – like Vendor Prices and Leatrix Plus – that do. When offered a choice of quest rewards, hover over each option to see which is the most valuable. If no choices are direct upgrades, then choose the most valuable one instead.
Completing quests usually rewards Gold (or Silver, for most of the game) in addition to items and other rewards. Like vendor prices, players must download addons to see what quests will rewards before they pick them up, as vanilla WoW doesn't show quest start locations on the map.
Though Elite quests often reward much more Gold than regular quests, don't try them without a full group. Elite quests feature much stronger enemies than normal open-world enemies, and are comparable to the difficulty of instanced dungeons.
Loot And Sell Everything, But Auction BoE Items
Most of the time in World of Warcraft, players will avoid looting useless or cheap items because they take up inventory space. In Hardcore WoW, though, every source of gold is another step close to affording the next skill upgrade – which means looting and vendoring almost everything that enemies drop. If one's backpacks fill up, players can replace low-value items with higher-value ones, or simply head back to town.
However, not everything should be sold to NPCs. Random enemies, and especially enemies in dungeons, will sometimes drop Bind-on-Equip weapons and gear of at least Uncommon quality. If these items aren't a direct upgrade for a character, head straight to the Auction House (or send the items to a Bank Alt), and put it up for sale. Early-game uncommon and rare items sell for remarkable amounts of gold on the Auction House – buying an upgrade off the AH can make things easier for hardcore players restarting after a bad death, after all.
In Hardcore WoW, it's normal to make a lot of trips back and forth from vendors if one doesn't have large bags.
Offer Teleportation and Portal Services
A reliable way to get Gold in World of Warcraft Classic is to offer others a way to get to far-off areas faster. In WoW Hardcore, Mages can create portals to specific locations, while Warlocks can summon others to their location if they are in the same party. Players can typically get away with charging above 75 silver for a teleport, which adds up quickly during high population times.
To safely level up, many players will go to all three starting zones, but both factions have one that's much harder to get to than the other two. Alliance Night Elves who want to get to Stormwind can try to get through the Wetlands, or take a summon. Likewise, Horde players who want to get to Mulgore could trek through the Barrens, but it's much easier to just teleport there. For both factions, Booty Bay tends to be a lucrative location, too, as players go here for the cross-faction Auction House and world buffs that pop relatively often.
World of Warcraft
- Released
- November 23, 2004
