Top Goldsinks in WoW

Posted by Warcraftecon | August 12, 2009 .

Expensive Auctions

This is an article idea that spawned from some of our readers. A handful have made so much gold that there really is nothing left to spend it on. Some, including me, have more than enough gold to last us well into the next expansion, afterall, we were prepared way before Wotlk was released. We even made a video of goldsinks in the Wrath beta a long time ago. So what do you do with all that gold once you make it faster than you can spend it? Well there are only so many things that you can buy after the random mounts, pets, and items. So we will leave that up to the readers to comment on the creative ways to spend it. Blizzard does however have a few official goldsinks that are specifically designed to deplete gold out of the economy, these are usually obvious. There are also unofficial goldsinks that players just spend their gold on just because they can. Here are our top goldsinks in World of Warcraft in no particular order.

[Reins of the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth] 16,000-20,000g

One of the most costly single items in the game would be this multi-passenger mount. With its’ ability to carry two vendors with reagents and repairs, it gives you convenient access almost anywhere in the game. Being Exalted with the Kirin Tor reduces the price down to 16,000g

[Darkmoon Card: Greatness] 5000-10,000g

Still considered one of the best trinkets in the game. There were a few new ones introduced in 3.2 that surpass it, however the chances of getting one in a 25-man raid may be low.

Kirin Tor Rings 8500-10,900g

A very nice gold sink that boots your stats and can be upgraded to keep up with current rings after every major content patch. The base cost for these rings are 6800g at Exalted with the Kirin Tor and starts with an ilevel of 200. The first 1000g upgrade turns it into a 213 item and requires the previous ring. The 2nd 1000g upgrade requires the previous 213 version and will turn it into an ilevel 226. So the price break downs are 6800g + 1000g + 1000 = 8800g

[Mechano-hog] 12,500+

Just the materials from the vendor will cost you 12,500g and add that to the other required items, you are looking at a ballpark price of 15,000g. Consider this two seater mount a status symbol of how much gold you have, although 10,000g in Wrath isn’t all that hard to make.

[Reins of the Grand Ice Mammoth] 8000-10,000g

Considered the poor man’s mammoth, this multi-passenger mount is very similar to to the one that costs 16,000g. The main difference being that this one does not come with any vendors that sell reagents or offer repairs. This mount does however have seats for two of your friends to tag along.

BOE Epics ~150-10,000g

These epics that are available in the auction house ranged for just a few hundred gold all the way up to 10,000. The their ilevels are from 200-245 and makes gearing up your characters very easy if you have the gold. It can be easy to get carried away since you can almost buy a BOE epic for every slot the second you hit level 80. Items crafted with [Runed Orb] or [Crusader Orb] are usually the most desirable. There are a few low level epics that may still sell well, usually aimed at twinks.

Powerlevel Professions ~3000-7000g

Many of us who have leveled professions know that you either have to farm or buy the materials required to hit 450. So when powerleveling, the majority of materials are usually purchased off the auction house, expecially some of the rare materials required. Powerleveling a profession became popular among end-game raiders or Arena PvP’ers for the bonuses and stat upgrades.

Alts ~5000-15,000g

We believe that playing alts, especially more than one, are players biggest goldsinks in the game. With multiple epic flying training, enchants, gems, and gear across many characters can really add up. This amount really depends on how serious you are about alts, some don’t really bother with any of the high end stuff and play them casually.

Bank Alts ~5000-15,000g

Those that have serious bank alts with the need for large storage spaces because of the volume of items and materials they work with know how much you really can spend on a level 1 bank alt. A full 6-tab guild bank costs 9350g and the 7 personal bank slots of 111g, add that on top of all the bags you need for the 7 slots and your own 4 slots. All this can total over 10,000g just for bank storage. There is also gear, pets, and other random things you can add to your bank alt as well that will add to this cost.

Switching to Full Epic Gems ~1000-10,000g

At the moment it can be a goldsink to convert all your gems into epic ones with gems going from 200-500g each. It seems like the higher level gear you have, the more sockets that they come with, such as Ulduar hard mode loot. In almost full Ulduar best in slot, I have 14 sockets to put epic gems in. With an average price of 300g per epic gem in my economy, a full replacement will cost around 4200g. There’s also another 12 sockets in my PvP gear, so that figure now becomes 7800g. For other players, they might have a 3rd or 4th spec and even alts that could use epic gem upgrades.

Achievements ~10,000g+

Some achievements can take a serious amount of gold to complete along with lots of farming time. The most popular ones that come to mind are the 100 mount and 75 pet collection achievements. After all the purchases from the vendors, you may be hurting for gold especially the for the mount one. Then you either go farm for the rare ones or purchase them for high prices on the auction house. There is also the Insane title achievement that requires a lot of gold as well as farming tons of mobs. Specifically, the Darkmoon Faire reputation is raised by turning in lots of decks which will cost a fortune.

TCG items ~10,000g+

In patch 3.2, mounts from the card game are now BOE and can be sold on the auction house. Although I have yet to see one of these mounts on the auction house, we would assume that they would be very expensive.

Legendary Items ~10,000g+

Most players won’t pursue obtaining a legendary weapon from original WoW like [Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker] or [Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros] and their required crafting materials. Every once in a while some of these rare and epic materials are listen on the auction house for ridiculous prices. Even after obtaining the materials there is still a lot of farming and luck required for obtaining these legendaries.

So what are some interesting ideas from our readers on how to burn some of that large supply of gold?

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3 Comments so far

Daemon August 12, 2009 8:59 AM

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Just got my Kirrin Tor ring last night to get a nice raiding ring that doesn’t have hit on it (I’m so far over the hit cap its ridiculous). The extra hearth is hot too
zerohour August 12, 2009 1:25 PM

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Time doesn’t allow me to farm for the Thunderfury, which I would slap on my toon if I could get it.

But:
- Spectral Tiger mount, obvious choice. Or the rooster.
- Make a leveling guild for people that pays their repairs through leveling. Just remain anonymous.
- Buy a friend a motorcycle that doesn’t know how to make the gold for themselves. Or teach a friend how to make the gold off the AH. Take your pick.
- Find a 5v5 team willing to carry you until you get all the gear. I raid hardcore and schedule doesn’t allow for serious Arena. I suspect this would cost around 100k total.
- Nag Blizzard until they come out with a 100k and 250k mount, or implement player housing.
- Buy all the Crusader Orbs you can get to have your gear crafted, ride around on your Tundra Mammoth showing it off and go to starting zones after and offer rides into town for free.
Rajunn August 19, 2010 3:30 PM

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Many of these are not goldsinks. Only things that remove gold from the economy are. The mounts – yes. Bank tabs – yes. The BoE epics or anything else bought from the auction house are not. They are just transferring gold to another character.