Guide to Making Gold in ESO

Megabear

I’m in PC NA server and this is my personal guide to making gold in ESO. Your own experience may differ especially if you are from a different server. Also I did not include a section about Writs because I haven't really done those purely because I don't like doing them even if it only takes a few minutes. Please feel free to share information on writs.


Guild Trader:

Use zone chat and/or forums to join a guild with a guild trader, but shop around to see which trader best fits you at lowest requirement versus competing guilds in same area. For example one guild trader I joined has 10k weekly sales requirement whereas another in same city requires 100k weekly sales. BIG difference. Maximum listing is capped at 30 listings per trader so you may end up joining more than one.

I experimented with various guild traders and below is how I rank them. Again this is my personal tier list and your experience may vary.

1. Rawl’kha – Everything seems to sell the fastest here, and I can price things a bit higher to boot. Call it convenience fee that people are willing to pay.
2. Capitals of each faction (Mourhold, Wayrest, Elden Root) + Belkarth – Everything sells rather quickly in these locations too.
3. Major cities of each faction + Vivec City, Hollow City – Ranges between Okay to Good. Some cities, such as Daggerfall and Vvardenfell seem to move goods better than others but I’m going to go ahead and put them all in same tier.
4. Minor traders + Anvil, Abah’s Landing, Orsinium – By minor traders I mean those lonely traders you see in random places. These locations do make sales and almost never have any requirements, but I’d still upgrade from these locations as soon as possible unless you don’t carry too much inventory.
5. Refuge traders – I buy stuff from these locations to support them and also because I often find great deals in these locations, but only if I happen to come across them.

AddOn:

First, regardless of which path to riches you take you should install addons below:
*For those on consoles you can access following website to access Tamriel Trade Center: https://us.tamrieltradecentre.com/pc/Trade/Search

• Master Merchant (MM)

- Pro: Shows you actual price items were sold at
- Con: Limited to guilds you are in, and therefore data is limited and narrow

• Tamriel Trade Center (TTC)

- Pro: Shows you breakdown of listing prices in average, high and low among other data
- Con: Can be misleading because listing price and sold price can mean very different things

• Harvest Map

- This is one of basic addons that shows you all nodes such as ores and chests. You can download a "master file" and voila, you now have all locations of all resources in the game, including chest locations.

• uespLog (UESP) & Arkadius Trade Tools are other trade add-ons that have been recommended by community. Feel free to try them out!

What you do is use add-ons such as MM & TTC to interpret actual market value. Let’s take couple scenarios below as an example.

Scenario 1: “Infused Green Pact Glove’s TTC’s sampling size is 450 listings with an average listing price of 1500 gold, lowest listing price of 700 gold and highest listing price of 5000 gold. MM’s sampling size is just 2, with sold price coming in at 500 gold.” In this scenario I would list the glove anywhere between 500g and 1500g depending on how fast I want to sell it. Since this is a low value “junk” I might want to just list it at 500g to clear my inventory. 700g might work just as well too since your item will still be THE lowest in the market unless someone recently listed at a price lower than 700g that TTC did not capture yet.

Scenario 2: “Infused Spriggan Dagger’s TTC sampling size is 150 listings with an average listing price of 90,000 gold, lowest listing price of 75,000 gold and highest listing price of 200,000 gold. No MM data available.” In this scenario I would list the dagger anywhere between 88,000 and 110,000 gold depending on how fast I want to sell and also which guild trader I belong in. Unlike the aforementioned Green Pact glove because this is a high value item I’m willing to sit on it for a while. If your guild trader is in the most popular spot, you might be able to sell the dagger at higher price than 110,000 but I like to unload my inventory as soon as possible, but everyone is different. Some might be willing to gamble and also afford the time.

Methods:

1. Buy low, sell high: Always works in any MMO you play. It’s a gamble that pays off if you are market trend savvy. Payoff is biggest during patch transitions, see PTS section below for more info.
a. Pro tip: If you aren’t actively farming, buy popular mats such as Kuta and Tempering Alloy cheap and sell them for small profit. They are very easy to sell and you’ll find undervalued mats readily available in random guild traders you may come across as you farm Skyshards or whatever you may be doing. This alone will most likely take care of guild trader requirements. Easy to do and win-win situation for all parties involved.


2. Farm popular motifs/recipes. Currently thieving/murdering NPC’s in Vivec City gives you a chance of looting very valuable motifs (Hlaalu, Redoran, Telvanni). Farming chests in Vvardenfell also has a very small chance of dropping Buoyant Armiger motifs, which can sell for as much as 500k. Farming urns in Vvardenfell (i.e. Dreloth Ancestral Tomb) can net you valuable Morrowind Furnishing recipes as well. Note that current inflated prices are temporary and as with all motifs/recipes there will be a gradual price drop.

3. Farm chests: In general I found this to be the second or third most effective and more entertaining way to make gold, though currently (and temporarily) farming the new motifs above are probably better.
a. Target a zone with high value items such as Spriggan or Spinner sets.
b. Develop a treasure chest route that is most efficient. Note that in certain zones chests are concentrated in certain parts of respective zones. For example if you are farming Spinners there is a cluster of chests concentrated in northernmost part.
c. If you have enough Champion Points have at least one character with 75 points invested in The Shadow to unlock “Treasure Hunter” passive. This allows you to get better quality loots.

4. Farm Dolmens, World Bosses and Public Dungeon Bosses: I tried farming each, but chances of getting what you want is very low and you end up with too many of certain categories of loots. Take Public Dungeon for example. These bosses only drop gloves, shoulders, weapons and shields. Weapons and shields are VERY rare, so you’ll end up with ton of just gloves and shoulders. To be fair the same is true with chests, but they have a chance of dropping everything so your loots will be much more evenly spread out.
a. Delve Bosses: Drops waist or feet set piece
b. Dolmens: 100% chance to drop a ring or amulet set piece. Purple drops are very rare.
c. World Bosses: 100% chance to drop head, chest, legs or weapon set piece. Weapon set pieces are very rare.
d. Public Dungeon Bosses: Have chance to drop shoulder, hand, or weapon set piece. Weapon set pieces are very rare.

5. Farming mats: With recent patch crafted sets became valuable, which means mats became valuable. This has always been a reliable way to make money as they are easy to farm and sell quickly. Until Clockwork City patch (or after) this method might be the best way to make money. Make sure to farm using a character with max craft skills because 50% of the time the mats you see scales to your crafting skill (i.e. Metalworking). Note that Nirncrux has a small chance of dropping from clothing, woodworking and blacksmithing nodes in Craiglorn. Potent Nirncrux can fetch over 10k while Fortified Nirncrux is worth about 2k~3k.
i. Kuta, Tempering Alloy, Ancient Silk and Rosin in particular became valuable.
ii. Dreugh Wax is also valuable but is often farmed by bots and therefore less profitable than others.
iii. Certain Alchemy mats such as Columbine, Corn Flower, Lady's Smock, Mountain Flower and Nirnroot are worth gathering for own use or to sell. Personally I gather all of them because they are always useful.

PTS Server:

• Monitor this forum for potential nerfs/buffs that could make a huge difference in your profitability: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/categories/pts

• PTS notes are subject to change, so take below advices:
o Any changes to PTS notes may drastically increase or decrease certain items. Immediately buy now valuable items on the cheap and sell them, but only for a few days. With each day there is a danger of more changes that may nerf the items that you invested in. Mother’s Sorrow was a good example where it became BiS, then unpopular in a matter of days. If you aren’t sure, don’t stress and just wait for patch to become live.
o Don’t go around unloading everything you have that was valuable due to PTS changes. Sharpened Spriggan weapons for example took a huge hit as people started going off on selling frenzy, but the price bounced back once people figured out that it’s still going to be one of BiS items. If you were one of those people you lost a great deal of money. Even if Spriggan weapons did become no longer valuable you still would not have lost too much gold and therefore would have been worth the risk.

• Any changes to sets or others that affect value of certain items can have dramatic changes to the market. Take below for example:
o With recent changes crafted sets became valuable.
- As soon as I saw this I knew raw mats would become valuable so I invested in Kuta and Tempers. I bought about 300 Kuta’s for about 2000g each and sold them for 3500g-4000g each. That alone was about half a mil profit.
o Sharpened became less valuable while Infused and Precise became more valuable.
- I invested in a bunch of Infused/Precise Necropotence & Red Mountain weapons to sell later. However Red Mountain no longer became popular and Necropotence took some hit as well. My investment here was a wash, and my point here is to reinforce the notion that playing with PTS patch notes is a gamble. You can make money, but you can also lose money. Knowledge is key here but the rest is just dumb luck.

Other Tips:

• Most people have this skill but if you don’t, get the Rapid Maneuver skill. It’s from Assault skill line and gives you Major Expedition and more importantly Major Gallop skill which increases your mount speed. You can unlock this skill just by completing a Cyrodiil tutorial quest available at lvl 10. Godsend for farming and also new characters.
• Off-peak hours are generally better for farming, but not always. You aren’t the only person with the same idea.
• Invest in speed sets such as Jailbreaker (Minor expedition stacks with Major expedition), Fiord’s. Being Orc, having Steed mundus w/ full divine helps as well.
• If you have popular mats, sell now and buy them back later because the mats are currently inflated though they have been gradually coming down since the patch. Keep some if you feel that you may need them, but unload the rest. Conversely try to farm your own mats rather than buying them.

SugaComa

Now do one for console players

Megabear

SugaComa wrote: »

Now do one for console players

Same guide applies minus the addons.

Nerouyn

Megabear wrote: »

Use zone chat and/or forums to join a guild with a guild trader...

No.

Requiring players to join a guild to sell stuff is one of ZO's stupid ham-fisted attempts to force players to join guilds. Because belonging to a guild enhances player retention.

Here's the thing though - trying to annoy people into doing what you want often backfires. Annoyed people often just completely avoid the source of annoyance.

I will join a guild a) if I decide a game is worth that level of investment b) I'm likely to play it a lot and c) the guild seems good, not because the game denies me something unless I do.

ESO hasn't reached point a) for me yet and one of the reasons is stupid annoying stuff like this.

sevomd69

My gold making guide:

Sell Stuffs...All Stuffs...

MLGProPlayer

Harvest Map does more than just mark the nodes you pick up.

It shows you the location of every single node in the game. It can also show you a "heat map" which highlights areas of high node density on maps. You can also enable 3D pins which will appear in-game, marking all nodes (unlike the passive ability which causes nodes to glow, 3D pins can be seen from any distance).

Farming mats is by far the most reliable way to make gold. If you have the right gear/skills, you can make 100k+ an hour (150-200k+ on console).

MLGProPlayer

Nerouyn wrote: »

Megabear wrote: »

Use zone chat and/or forums to join a guild with a guild trader...

No.

Requiring players to join a guild to sell stuff is one of ZO's stupid ham-fisted attempts to force players to join guilds. Because belonging to a guild enhances player retention.

Here's the thing though - trying to annoy people into doing what you want often backfires. Annoyed people often just completely avoid the source of annoyance.

I will join a guild a) if I decide a game is worth that level of investment b) I'm likely to play it a lot and c) the guild seems good, not because the game denies me something unless I do.

ESO hasn't reached point a) for me yet and one of the reasons is stupid annoying stuff like this.

ok

MLGProPlayer

SugaComa wrote: »

Now do one for console players

Farming is the way to go for console users.

Sure you don't have add-ons to mark nodes, but your mats sells for 2-3x as much as they do on PC. I'm sure you can easily make 150-200k+ an hour farming mats on console. The add-ons are just a convenience. They definitely aren't required.

anitajoneb17_ESO

Nerouyn wrote: »

I will join a guild a) if I decide a game is worth that level of investment b) I'm likely to play it a lot and c) the guild seems good, not because the game denies me something unless I do.

ESO hasn't reached point a) for me yet and one of the reasons is stupid annoying stuff like this.

Please explain how joining a TRADING guild is an "investment" ?
I would understand if you were referring to a social guild, but a trading guild does not require you to invest anything : time, presence, social interaction : it's all optional in any trading guild.

MLGProPlayer

anitajoneb17_ESO wrote: »

Nerouyn wrote: »

I will join a guild a) if I decide a game is worth that level of investment b) I'm likely to play it a lot and c) the guild seems good, not because the game denies me something unless I do.

ESO hasn't reached point a) for me yet and one of the reasons is stupid annoying stuff like this.

Please explain how joining a TRADING guild is an "investment" ?
I would understand if you were referring to a social guild, but a trading guild does not require you to invest anything : time, presence, social interaction : it's all optional in any trading guild.

Good trading guilds have a 7-day login policy and a high weekly sales/donation requirement.

Having said that, you can almost always negotiate to pay for a few months upfront. Or if you don't want to do that, just friend some of the GMs and ask for a re-invite when you get back to the game.

Cpt_Teemo

Farm chests for BA motifs !

anitajoneb17_ESO

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Good trading guilds have a 7-day login policy and a high weekly sales/donation requirement.

Having said that, you can almost always negotiate to pay for a few months upfront. Or if you don't want to do that, just friend some of the GMs and ask for a re-invite when you get back to the game.

Correct. Which means that you can always find a trading guild suited to your particular needs (join one week, gone the next, back the third, etc.. depending on what you have to sell). Trading guilds allow for total opportunistic behaviour if you wish so. Noone has to invest anything. All that's ask is to participate to financing the guild trader for the time you're there.

Megabear

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Harvest Map does more than just mark the nodes you pick up.

It shows you the location of every single node in the game. It can also show you a "heat map" which highlights areas of high node density on maps. You can also enable 3D pins which will appear in-game, marking all nodes (unlike the passive ability which causes nodes to glow, 3D pins can be seen from any distance).

Farming mats is by far the most reliable way to make gold. If you have the right gear/skills, you can make 100k+ an hour (150-200k+ on console).

That was my guess and I'm glad for this post. I haven't farmed just the mats extensively enough to be 100% sure but I will believe you. Also I had no idea it shows you the location of every single node, I thought it was only the nodes I farmed! I'll definitely have to look into that.

MLGProPlayer

Megabear wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Harvest Map does more than just mark the nodes you pick up.

It shows you the location of every single node in the game. It can also show you a "heat map" which highlights areas of high node density on maps. You can also enable 3D pins which will appear in-game, marking all nodes (unlike the passive ability which causes nodes to glow, 3D pins can be seen from any distance).

Farming mats is by far the most reliable way to make gold. If you have the right gear/skills, you can make 100k+ an hour (150-200k+ on console).

That was my guess and I'm glad for this post. I haven't farmed just the mats extensively enough to be 100% sure but I will believe you. Also I had no idea it shows you the location of every single node, I thought it was only the nodes I farmed! I'll definitely have to look into that.

By default it only shows you your nodes, but you can download the complete map.

Just follow step #9 on the ESOUI page: http://www.esoui.com/downloads/info57-HarvestMapEsoheadMarkers.html

For optimal farming you need:

1. Major expedition
2. Gap closer (like "Streak")
3. Farming gear (like Fiord + Jailbreaker)
4. Steed mundus stone

You can still farm efficiently without a gap closer, but you'll be making quite a bit less per hour than someone with a gap closer (basically, sorcs are OP at farming too). Stamina classes are also obviously much better at this (you can always just respec a magicka class if that's all you have though; race doesn't matter).

Megabear

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Megabear wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Harvest Map does more than just mark the nodes you pick up.

It shows you the location of every single node in the game. It can also show you a "heat map" which highlights areas of high node density on maps. You can also enable 3D pins which will appear in-game, marking all nodes (unlike the passive ability which causes nodes to glow, 3D pins can be seen from any distance).

Farming mats is by far the most reliable way to make gold. If you have the right gear/skills, you can make 100k+ an hour (150-200k+ on console).

That was my guess and I'm glad for this post. I haven't farmed just the mats extensively enough to be 100% sure but I will believe you. Also I had no idea it shows you the location of every single node, I thought it was only the nodes I farmed! I'll definitely have to look into that.

By default it only shows you your nodes, but you can download the complete map.

Just follow step #9 on the ESOUI page: http://www.esoui.com/downloads/info57-HarvestMapEsoheadMarkers.html

For optimal farming you need:

1. Major expedition
2. Gap closer (like "Streak")
3. Farming gear (like Fiord + Jailbreaker)
4. Steed mundus stone

You can still farm efficiently without a gap closer, but you'll be making quite a bit less per hour than someone with a gap closer (basically, sorcs are OP at farming too). Stamina classes are also obviously much better at this (you can always just respec a magicka class if that's all you have though; race doesn't matter).

Thanks man, I'll check it out! I'm guessing Orc Stam Sorc is best for resource farming right?

victoriana-blue

Useful guide! I want to highlight the differences in kinds of mats: gear mats rise and fall in price according to how close we are to a patch, but alchemy mats and roe are always in demand. And if you're a new player, you see the same kinds of plants and fungi that max level players use in their potions. I find alchemy mats sell best in groups of 3-25 per listing, but space it out: if you flood a trader with fifteen identical listings, you're only going to sell to the people looking for e.g. thistle, as opposed to selling to all the people looking for fifteen different alchemy mats.

When deciding how much to charge for mats, look at the listings already on your trader too: TTC might say price $X is average, but if there are already five listings on your trader for $X-50 and they've been there for two weeks, you can try undercutting to $X-75 or simply listing another thing instead.

Re harvest map, the add-on tracks thieves troves and treasure chests as "nodes" too. It's glorious.

If you have a spare character slot, it can be worth making an inventory mule to hold nice things you don't think you can sell right away, or which you can't decide if you want to keep or not. If something later becomes meta and/or rare, you can make a tidy sum. (Like the time I found some divines necro I'd stashed away before One Tamriel. That was a profitable day. XD) Alternately, it means you won't have to pay meta prices if you later decide to try it out n

Nightblades are pretty awesome for farming too: cloak and some restore magicka potions mean that I can run past mobs without having to fight (or to drag them across the map behind me), then I can use line of sight to pick that sweet sweet columbine.

Vimora

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

anitajoneb17_ESO wrote: »

Nerouyn wrote: »

I will join a guild a) if I decide a game is worth that level of investment b) I'm likely to play it a lot and c) the guild seems good, not because the game denies me something unless I do.

ESO hasn't reached point a) for me yet and one of the reasons is stupid annoying stuff like this.

Please explain how joining a TRADING guild is an "investment" ?
I would understand if you were referring to a social guild, but a trading guild does not require you to invest anything : time, presence, social interaction : it's all optional in any trading guild.

Good trading guilds have a 7-day login policy and a high weekly sales/donation requirement.

Fortunately, untrue. According to the OP's ordered list of places, the best spot in Rawl’kha (closest to wayshrine) might be the best spot in the game. The guild that holds it forever has a 5k weekly requirement. A guild doesn't have to be elitistic to do well.

Ir0nB34r

Nerouyn wrote: »

Megabear wrote: »

Use zone chat and/or forums to join a guild with a guild trader...

No.

Requiring players to join a guild to sell stuff is one of ZO's stupid ham-fisted attempts to force players to join guilds. Because belonging to a guild enhances player retention.

Here's the thing though - trying to annoy people into doing what you want often backfires. Annoyed people often just completely avoid the source of annoyance.

I will join a guild a) if I decide a game is worth that level of investment b) I'm likely to play it a lot and c) the guild seems good, not because the game denies me something unless I do.

ESO hasn't reached point a) for me yet and one of the reasons is stupid annoying stuff like this.

Actually, I would say the more annoying thing is seeing my chat window fill up because everyone and their moms are hawking all the junk in their inventory. Makes it hell trying to communicate with guild and/or group members.

CMFan1966

@Megabear, you mentioned crafting writs somewhere in your guide. I just want to tell you that my Imperial maxed out crafter gets exactly 4020 total gold every single day for fulfilling all six daily writs. I'm not sure what the other races get each day because I keep forgetting to look! Imperials get slightly more though.

anitajoneb17_ESO

Ir0nB34r wrote: »

Actually, I would say the more annoying thing is seeing my chat window fill up because everyone and their moms are hawking all the junk in their inventory. Makes it hell trying to communicate with guild and/or group members.

Don't you know you can customize your chat window ?

Megabear

victoriana-blue wrote: »

Useful guide! I want to highlight the differences in kinds of mats: gear mats rise and fall in price according to how close we are to a patch, but alchemy mats and roe are always in demand. And if you're a new player, you see the same kinds of plants and fungi that max level players use in their potions. I find alchemy mats sell best in groups of 3-25 per listing, but space it out: if you flood a trader with fifteen identical listings, you're only going to sell to the people looking for e.g. thistle, as opposed to selling to all the people looking for fifteen different alchemy mats.

When deciding how much to charge for mats, look at the listings already on your trader too: TTC might say price $X is average, but if there are already five listings on your trader for $X-50 and they've been there for two weeks, you can try undercutting to $X-75 or simply listing another thing instead.

Re harvest map, the add-on tracks thieves troves and treasure chests as "nodes" too. It's glorious.

If you have a spare character slot, it can be worth making an inventory mule to hold nice things you don't think you can sell right away, or which you can't decide if you want to keep or not. If something later becomes meta and/or rare, you can make a tidy sum. (Like the time I found some divines necro I'd stashed away before One Tamriel. That was a profitable day. XD) Alternately, it means you won't have to pay meta prices if you later decide to try it out n

Nightblades are pretty awesome for farming too: cloak and some restore magicka potions mean that I can run past mobs without having to fight (or to drag them across the map behind me), then I can use line of sight to pick that sweet sweet columbine.

This is useful, thanks for the supplemental info!

SirAndy

Megabear wrote: »

TL:DR

Short version: Buy low, sell high

Karmanorway

SugaComa wrote: »

Now do one for console players

Tel var farming

Megabear

Edited the post regarding Harvest Map add-on and included info regarding two additional Add-ons and using hirelings to get mats.

Pops_ND_Irish

Nerouyn wrote: »

Megabear wrote: »

Use zone chat and/or forums to join a guild with a guild trader...

No.

Requiring players to join a guild to sell stuff is one of ZO's stupid ham-fisted attempts to force players to join guilds. Because belonging to a guild enhances player retention.

Here's the thing though - trying to annoy people into doing what you want often backfires. Annoyed people often just completely avoid the source of annoyance.

I will join a guild a) if I decide a game is worth that level of investment b) I'm likely to play it a lot and c) the guild seems good, not because the game denies me something unless I do.

ESO hasn't reached point a) for me yet and one of the reasons is stupid annoying stuff like this.

Geez

SirBaldrick

For farming I equip 5 pieces Darkstride and 5 pieces Cowards Gear all in well-fitted which causes Major Expedition to be always up and I never seem to run out of stamina even on a fully magicka char.

Both these sets are very cheap in guildstores.

Romp3rStomp3r69

Will the prices that come up for pc be much different from console on the tamriel trade checker?

Respect4Elders

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Farming mats is by far the most reliable way to make gold. If you have the right gear/skills, you can make 100k+ an hour (150-200k+ on console).

Specifically, which mats would yield this high of a return after collecting for just an hour? 200 of anything usually takes me several hours or days to farm.

Megabear

Respect4Elders wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Farming mats is by far the most reliable way to make gold. If you have the right gear/skills, you can make 100k+ an hour (150-200k+ on console).

Specifically, which mats would yield this high of a return after collecting for just an hour? 200 of anything usually takes me several hours or days to farm.

Ancient Spider Silk, Raw Rubedite Ores, Columbine and Corn Flower have the highest return. Make sure to process the spider silk and ore, then sell the finished product and also gold temper.

Respect4Elders

Megabear wrote: »

Respect4Elders wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Farming mats is by far the most reliable way to make gold. If you have the right gear/skills, you can make 100k+ an hour (150-200k+ on console).

Specifically, which mats would yield this high of a return after collecting for just an hour? 200 of anything usually takes me several hours or days to farm.

Ancient Spider Silk, Raw Rubedite Ores, Columbine and Corn Flower have the highest return. Make sure to process the spider silk and ore, then sell the finished product and also gold temper.

Thanks, I'll give it a shot.

Inval1d

It is better to sell raw mats or refine then and sell the refined stuff + maybe some gold upgrade mat?