Gold Runs: Gearing Up Toons the Fast Way
Just hit the level cap in World of Warcraft? Now the real game begins.
When you reach the level 80 cap (soon to be 85 in the Cataclysm expansion), a new world opens up to players, one that no longer requires constant experience grinding and leveling up. Suddenly, your main goal is climbing the gear ladder.
Commonly called the “end-game grind,” your freshly level capped toon begins the long process of gathering epics through dungeons and raids. Each dungeon or raid promises a potential upgrade for one of 20 gear slots and the challenge is simple enough: Defeat the boss to get his treasured loot.
Dungeons get progressively harder with loot quality climbing along with the difficulty. But due to low drop rates and weekly lockouts, the end-game grind can take months to finish.
But then came the Gold run.
What are Gold runs?
An alternative to traditional dungeon grinding, a Gold run is a 25-man raid where all item loot is auctioned off among its members. Each raid member—yes, even your alt who just hit level 80 two hours ago—can get an item for a Gold price.
All auction sales are lumped to a single Gold pot that will be split evenly across the raid. For example, a rare trinket drops and is sold for a bid of 5,000 Gold. This gets added to the accumulated pot and gets distributed among the 25 players in the raid. So for the trinket sale alone, a participating raider gets 200 Gold each.
Incentives for Fresh 80s and Veterans
The Gold run is effective because it gives fresh 80s and veterans great incentives.
Your toon can purchase the best upgrades in a matter of hours instead of spending months applying for a raiding guild spot. Meanwhile, geared players who have all the epics will earn quick WoW Gold in a matter of hours.
Tips on Joining a Gold run
Gold runs are becoming more popular across all servers and might be called different names such as Gold-DKP, GDKP or Cash runs.
Before joining a Gold run, there are some basic rules to keep in mind. First is to bring a lot of WoW Gold with your character because this will be traded for the item right after winning the bid. Bring more if you expect to fight for key pieces that will last you well into the next expansion, or what are known as Best-in-Slot gear.
Second, chat up the Gold run leader who will have all the details on what bosses will be tackled and the general strategy in defeating them. It’s wrong to think that just because you’re there to spend tons of WoW Gold, you won’t have to contribute to the team effort. You’ll still be expected to avoid deadly fires and perform your role to the best that your current gear allows.
Lastly, do a little research on market prices for your desired items. This is important for Bind-on-Equip epics and mounts that will drop during the Gold run. Knowing how much these items are selling at the auction house helps you make a purchasing priority and make the right decision on how much more to bid.
Gold runs have rates of raid success that rival even the most organized guilds so start scouting for invitations now and give it a try. Sooner than later, your fresh 80 toon will be uber geared to your liking.
Jess Mitchel is an avid World of Warcraft player who loves to write about game, WoW gold and other game updates. You can also catch me at WoWGoldPig.com. Love to buy wow gold from the cheapest and secured and most trusted store. Buy cheap wow gold at WoWgoldpig!
