This guide contains tips of where to deliberately 'farm' for platinum.
In the earlier levels, it can at times be tough for spell casters to find enough platinum to cover the cost of their spells. Melee classes do not have this problem, but on the other hand, they are more gear-dependant and will want to buy weapons and armor from the Bazaar.
At higher levels, earning enough platinum to keep you up-to-date with spells, mercenaries and reasonable gear is generally speaking not a problem.
1 General Tips
2 Starting Out
3 Level 10-20
4 Level 20-30
5 Level 30-40
6 Level 40-50
7 Level 50-60
8 Level 60-70
- Forget old strategies that involve farming classic trade skill materials at low levels such as High Quality skins/pelts, Spider Silk, etc. There are super easy ways of raising tradeskills these days for little to no money, and the low-end Bazaar is not very active. You will waste time farming and waste time trying to get it sold.
- What were once rare high-end gems such as Black Sapphires, Diamonds and Blue Diamonds are now just sold to merchants for platinum. They are still a nice very nice source of incoming, but obviously Blue Diamonds do not sell for 10k platinum like they did in the Kunark era.
- Coin is weightless, so don't worry about being encumbered from it.
- You will find random pieces of Defiant gear on the way. This is a good seller, although some armor types are more popular than other. It's too much trouble attempting to sell most regular, low level pieces, but save legs and chestpieces, as those are rare and sell for a good amount of platinum on the Bazaar.
If you do the Tutorial starting out, you will earn more than enough platinum via the basic quests that you receive from the guards and NPCs.
Humanoid monsters, such as orcs, frogloks, lizardmen, etc. are generally a good target as they sometimes carry weapons and armor. While hunting in newbie areas such as outside the gates of West Freeport, near Kelethin or in Steamfont Mountains near Ak'Anon, look for skeletons and orcs, particularly those carrying a weapon. Rusty weapons sell for a few gold.
When you get close to level 10, monsters also begin dropping some money directly.
An old money-making classic, Bone Chips, is no longer a source of income for newbies as high-levels players can buy them in endless amounts from merchants these days. They do sell for about 1 silver each to a merchant, though.
Around level 10 you may rarely find Bronze weapons that sell for up to a few platinum.
By far the best farming spot in the high teen levels is the undead island in Ocean of Tears. The island is located in eastern part of the zone, south of the cyclops island. To get there, first travel to Butcherblock Mountains via the Kaladim stone in Plane of Knowledge. Walk west to the docks, then find the Gnome by the end of the northern dock named Translocator Fithop. Say to her: 'travel to ocean of tears', and you will be teleported to the 'sister island' in Ocean of Tears. From there, travel southwest, preferably with levitate, or by swimming - watch for sharks!
All over the undead island you will find a mix of 'a greater skeleton' and 'a gargoyle'. The gargoyles are your ticket, as they quite commonly drop Gargoyle Eye, which sell for almost 10 platinum each to merchants. The gargoyles are level 18-20 and may come in pairs, so you should preferably be at least level 15 and have a tank mercenary with you. You will earn excellent experience this way and should quickly reach level 25.
Gargoyles in Ocean of Tears remain the easiest source of income from selling their eyes.
Another good experience and platinum earning spot is Castle Mistmoore. The humanoids (Dark Elves) there will rarely drop Fine Steel weapons, which sell for 4-6 platinum each, and monsters in this level range can also drop up to a few platinum each.
Hill Giants in Mountains of Rathe are an old classic that still work. Take the Plane of Knowledge stone to Oggok, which transports you to The Feerrott, then walk west to Mountains of Rathe. At the 'intersection', head north towards the hill giant area (which used to be in the south in the old days).
Hill Giants are level 34 to 35 and wander all over the place. There appears to be an instant respawn of monsters, meaning that as soon as a placeholder or a Hill Giant has been killed, another will immediately spawn. You should be able to walk from giant to giant endlessly.
Each Hill Giant drops up to 60 platinum and often drop Fine Steel weapons, gems and other merchant fodder. Also kill cyclopses and giant skeletons while you're there. There's a gypsy merchant named Susanna just to the west where you can unload your loot.
If you're in your low 30's, you will need a tank mercenary and/or watch carefully that you don't get too many adds. Either way, you should gain good experience from killing them up until the low 40's.
Hill Giants in Mountains of Rathe remain a solid source of income.
Another place with good loot and good experience to go with it is the cyclops island in Ocean of Tears. It is the second island to the west of sister island, the island you zone in one from the Translocator in Butcherblock Mountains, and is swaming with seafury cyclopses that are between level 38 and 42. They drop up to 7 platinum each, along with decent merchant stuff such as Opal Bracelets and rare gems. They are also a very good source of experience up until around level 45.
The Hole (The Ruins of Old Paineel) is a great place to gain experience and earn platinum at the same time. The monsters themselves don't drop that much coin, but they frequently drop gems and old school vendor trash such as Opal Bracelet, that add up. At level 50 you should fight in the old city in the eastern part of the zone, fighting undead spirits, gargoyles, ratmen and constructs. Don't bother with the earth elementals in the far east part, as they are too low level.
In your high 50's you can move further west, down the tunnel that leads to the 'temple', and even further west leads to the former site of Master Yael; now the entrance to Underfoot. The place remains an excellent spot for both platinum and experience up until the high 60's.
Other high-end Kunark dungeons such as The Ruins of Sebilis (Old Sebilis) provide roughly the same amount of income.
The Hole remains an excellent source of platinum in the form of gems and other vendor trash.