Economy
Gold drives progression — it buys gear, enchants, mythics, clans, and travel. Managing it (and not losing it) is a core skill.
Two kinds of gold
| Gold on hand | Banked gold | |
|---|---|---|
| Spendable | Yes | Must withdraw first |
| Lost on death | 100% | Never |
| Lootable in PvP | Yes (winner takes it) | No |
| Transferable to players | — | Yes |
New characters start with 100 gold banked and 0 on hand. The golden rule: bank early, bank often. Carry only what you need to spend; everything you're not about to use belongs in the bank.
Earning gold
- Kills — every monster drops gold on hand. Gold scales slowly with monster tier (×1.15/tier) compared to XP (×1.5/tier), so the XP:gold ratio widens as you climb — gold gets relatively scarcer at high level (see Monsters).
- Purses — one of the four drop channels; a purse is a gold bundle worth ~10× the monster's normal gold.
- Multipliers — Bonus Time, the Tithe-Coin accessory (+15%), Diamond gems (+gold %), the Merchant/Hero special monsters, and the Tollkeeper's Cut mythic all boost gold.
- Trading & selling — see below.
Shops
Each zone's Equipment Shop and Magic Shop stock gear in IC bands matched to the zone's level (Thornmere Verge 0–3 → Lanternwatch Cross 3–9 → Sunken Stairs 7–13 → Gallowfen Deep 11–20). Prices follow:
price(IC) = 50 × IC^2.2
So each IC tier costs much more than the last — budget for it. Selling back ("smashing") returns 50% of value (special item tiers have their own smash schedules).
Magic Shops also enchant and can locate players for a fee.
The Bank
Found in most zones (Rootvault, the Strongroot, the Grand Strongroot, etc.). Deposit, withdraw, and transfer banked gold to other players. Banked gold is immune to death and PvP — it's your real net worth.
The Trading Post
Player-to-player item marketplace (Crossroads Exchange, Lanternreach Exchange):
- Sellers list an item at a price; listings appear in a Sales feed.
- The seller is anonymous until the sale completes — no haggling, no name games.
- Buyers click Buy. Simple and safe.
- Separate from listings, you can gift/transfer items directly to a player via a pending-trade flow that auto-cancels after ~1 hour if not completed.
Big-ticket sinks
Know what you're saving for:
| Sink | Cost (launch) |
|---|---|
| Shrine teleport | 20,000g |
| Mastery Tester check | level × 100g |
| Gem disenchant | 100,000g/gem (risky) |
| Higher-grade gem unlocks | gated by very high level |
| Clan join / found | 1,000,000 / 10,000,000g |
| Kingdom structure | 5,000,000g each |
| Mythic forge | ~20–40 million per tier |
Gold tips
- Bank before every risk — logging off, entering PK, fighting above tier.
- Run a gold accessory/gems when saving for a big purchase; swap back to XP gear afterward.
- Farm purses & specials — Gallowfen Deep's ×1.5 drops plus Merchant/Hero specials are gold piñatas.
- Use the Trading Post to offload shadow/gem surplus you won't use.
Next: Drops & Bonus Time → Clans & Kingdoms → Death & Penalties