How gold farming works in WoW Forever
WoW Forever uses the same gold economy as Classic WoW: you earn gold from vendoring trash drops, selling trade goods and crafting materials on the auction house, and farming mobs that drop valuable items. The new zones and dungeons add new farming spots, but the fundamentals have not changed.
The key to gold farming is matching your level to the right spot. Mobs within 5 levels of you drop loot at full rate. Below that, drop rates drop sharply. A spot that paid 200g/hour at level 40 might pay 60g/hour at level 55 because the mobs went gray. This guide organizes spots by level range so you are always farming where the gold is.
WoW Forever also adds 9 new dungeons where every boss drops blue-quality items and some bosses drop crafting recipes. Those recipes and blues are likely to sell well in the first weeks after launch, which makes dungeon farming more worthwhile than it was in original Classic.
Levels 20-30: Westfall, The Barrens, and Wetlands
At this level range, your gold comes from vendoring trash and selling low-level trade goods. The goal is building toward your level 40 mount, which costs around 100 gold in WoW Forever (mostly for the riding training), so every bit of gold you bank now counts.
Westfall (Alliance): Harvest Watchers (scarecrow mobs) drop linen cloth and sometimes decent greens. The Defias mobs in Moonbrook drop linen and wool cloth, which sells on the auction house to tailors and first-aid levelers. A 2-hour session here at level 22-25 can net 2-3 gold from vendor trash plus cloth sales.
The Barrens (Horde): Raptors and Plainstriders drop beaks, claws, and eggs that vendor for decent silver. The Oasis mobs drop useful greens. Skinning here is profitable — light leather and medium leather sell steadily on the auction house.
Wetlands (both factions): Crocolisks drop crocolisk skins that skinners want. The murlocs along the coast drop clams that sometimes contain pearls — small pearls sell for a few silver each, and they add up over a session. The whelplings in the eastern Wetlands are a known cloth-and-green farming spot.
If you have skinning, every spot in this range is better. Skinning adds 2-3 silver per kill in leather value with zero extra effort.
Levels 30-40: Stranglethorn Vale and Arathi Highlands
This is where gold farming starts paying real money. Mobs drop more silver per kill, greens become more valuable, and trade goods (silk cloth, mageweave) sell well.
Stranglethorn Vale (both factions): The premier farming zone for this level range. Tigers, panthers, and raptors drop claws and fangs that vendor well, plus thick leather for skinners. The Venture Company mobs drop engineering parts and coins. The Bloodscalp Trolls drop mageweave cloth and sometimes jungle remedy potions. STV is crowded, so run it during off-peak hours if you can.
Arathi Highlands (both factions): The Witherbark Trolls and ogres drop mageweave cloth and greens. The Syndicate mobs drop silk cloth. The elementals in the Circle of Inner Binding drop elemental earth, which sells well to alchemists.
Desolace (both factions): Centaurs drop heavy and thick leather for skinners, plus greens and coins. The kodo beasts drop kodo leather, which is used in leatherworking and sells well.
WoW Forever adds the new Riverglades zone (mid-30s to mid-40s) as an alternative to STV. Less crowded means less competition for mobs, which means more kills per hour.
Levels 40-50: Tanaris, Feralas, and the Hinterlands
At 40, your mount makes farming faster — you travel between spots in half the time. This level range is where farming starts generating serious gold.
Tanaris (both factions): The Wastewander Bandits and nomads drop silk and mageweave cloth, silver, and greens. The pirates along the coast drop good vendor trash and sometimes valuable greens. The Roc mobs drop tenderloin that cooks into food buffs. Tanaris is a consistent farming zone because mob density is high and respawn is fast.
Feralas (both factions): The Yetis in the caves drop thick leather (skinning) and sometimes valuable whites. The Harpies drop vibrant plumes, which are used in crafting and sell on the auction house. The ogres drop runecloth at the higher end of this range.
The Hinterlands (both factions): The Trolls drop wildkin feathers and mageweave. The wolves and owls drop thick leather. The Jade Oozes drop globules of water used in crafting.
Felwood (both factions, levels 48-52): The Irontree Stompers drop Living Essence, which has a low drop rate (around 2%) but sells for a high price on the auction house because it is used in multiple endgame crafting recipes. The satyrs in northern Felwood drop Felcloth, which is used in warlock and tailoring recipes and is one of the most valuable farming materials in the game.
Levels 50-60: Un'Goro Crater, Blasted Lands, and endgame spots
This is where farming pays the most. Mobs drop runecloth, valuable whites, and blues. Trade goods in this range sell for gold each, not silver.
Un'Goro Crater (both factions, levels 50-55): The premier late-game farming zone. Devilsaurs drop thick and rugged leather (skinning) and the Devilsaur Leather set is crafted and sold for significant gold. The gorillas drop gorilla fangs that vendor well. The elementals around the crater drop essence of earth and living essence. Un'Goro is dangerous but pays consistently.
Blasted Lands (both factions, levels 50-55): The Blasted Lands quest items are a unique farm. Five repeatable quests require body parts dropped by local mobs — Boar Lungs, Basilisk Brains, Scorpok Pincers, Snickerfang Jowls, and Vulture Gizzards. These items are used for buff consumables and sell on the auction house to players who want the buffs without farming.
Winterspring (both factions, levels 55-60): The ghosts and demons drop ghost essence and felcloth. The chimeras drop thick leather. The elite demons in the south drop Felcloth and runecloth — dangerous but very profitable.
Western Plaguelands (both factions, levels 55-60): The undead mobs drop runecloth, illusion dust, and greater eternal essences used in high-level enchanting. These disenchanting materials sell consistently on the auction house.
Eastern Plaguelands (both factions, levels 57-60): The Plaguebats drop living essence and evil bat eyes used in crafting. The Scarlet mobs drop runecloth and valuable blues. The mobs around Tyr's Hand drop coin and high-value trash — this is one of the best gold-per-hour spots in the game at 60.
Gathering as a gold source
Mining, herbalism, and skinning are consistent gold earners while leveling because they require no extra travel — you gather nodes you pass during questing.
Mining: Copper sells steadily from levels 1-75 skill. Tin and silver at 75-125. Iron at 125-175. Mithril at 175-225. Thorium at 225-300. The auction house price scales with skill tier — thorium bars sell for gold per stack, not silver. The gathering bot guide covers automated gathering.
Herbalism: Herbs sell well at every tier. Peacebloom and silverleaf sell in bulk to alchemists leveling their craft. Mid-tier herbs like Fadeleaf and Goldthorn sell for more because fewer people farm them. High-tier herbs like Black Lotus and Dreamfoil are endgame gold mines — Black Lotus is used in flasks and is one of the most expensive regular materials on the auction house.
Skinning: The most efficient gathering profession because it runs on top of combat. Every skinnable mob you kill is free leather. Light leather at low levels, thick leather at mid levels, rugged leather at high levels. The leather sells consistently to leatherworkers leveling their craft.
Auction house basics for farmers
Selling on the auction house is how you turn farmed materials into gold. The basics: check the current price before listing, list in stacks of 5 or 10 (not singles), and set your buyout price slightly below the cheapest current listing.
Timing matters. List on Friday or Saturday — that is when the most buyers are online. Listings that expire during the week relist for free, but you lose the deposit.
Do not vendor items that sell on the auction house for more than their vendor price. Greens that disenchant into useful materials are worth more as auction house listings or as disenchant fodder than as vendor trash. If you have an enchanter alt, mail greens to them, disenchant, and sell the materials.
The most common mistake: vendoring cloth. Cloth is the backbone of the auction house economy. Mageweave and runecloth sell in bulk to tailors, first-aid levelers, and reputation grinders. Always auction cloth.
Measuring gold per hour the simple way
Kill mobs for 10 minutes. Count the silver you earned from vendor drops, estimate the auction house value of the trade goods, and multiply by 6. That is your rough gold per hour. It is not exact, but it is close enough to compare spots.
Factor in travel time. A spot that pays 10% more but takes 4 minutes to fly to is usually worse than the spot you are already at — unless you are running a long session where the travel cost is spread over hours.
Track your results over a few sessions. After 3-4 nights at different spots, you will have real data showing which one pays the most for your level, your class, and your play time. This is what separates farmers who make 200g/hour from farmers who make 80g/hour and cannot figure out why.
When farming becomes a grind worth automating
Manual farming is fun for the first few hours. By hour four of the same spot, it becomes a chore. By hour twenty, you are wondering why you play the game. That is the point where a farming bot changes the math.
WowForeverBot runs farming sessions on your schedule — start at 2 AM, stop at 7 AM, skip Tuesdays — with randomized timing so it does not look mechanical. It tracks gold per session per spot, so after a few nights you have real data showing which spots pay the most. It handles full bags by mailing valuable items to your auction alt and vendoring trash.
The farming bot does not replace the fun parts of the game. It replaces the part where you kill mob number 4,000 in the same spot for the same drops. You set it up, walk away, and wake up to a bag full of farmed materials. The farming bot guide covers how to set it up, and the safety guide covers how to do it without getting banned.
Pricing is $20/month or $120 for a lifetime license — see the pricing page. If a single overnight farming session earns you more gold than $20 worth of tokens would buy, the bot pays for itself in one night.
Quick answers
What is the best way to make gold while leveling in WoW Forever?
Take two gathering professions (for example mining or herbalism plus skinning), sell the materials on the auction house, and vendor gray items. Always auction cloth instead of vendoring it.
How much gold do I need for my first mount?
Around 100 gold at level 40 in WoW Forever, most of which is the riding training.
When is the best time to sell on the auction house?
Friday and Saturday, when the most buyers are online. List in stacks and price slightly under the cheapest current listing.