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Gold isn't the end-all-be-all resource of Baldur's Gate 3, but it is important to keep a lot on-hand for certain moments. Some of the game's best armors and equipment are only sold by vendors, and there are areas where having a lot of Gold can make things much easier – like bribing guards who saw you commit a crime.
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When it comes to the best methods to make Gold in BG3, players have a few options. The most obvious ways to make money are to sell items to vendors and complete quests, but it's a lot more nuanced than that. Make even more Gold in Baldur's Gate 3 by following these Gold farming methods and tips for saving (or recovering) money along the way.
Updated March 20, 2024 by Erik Petrovich: The best ways to make money in BG3 ultimately come down to two things: selling items, and completing quests. There aren't necessarily any BG3 Gold Farm locations, but by being smart with your money (and by taking full advantage of the game's systems), you'll have more in your wallet than someone who has no plan to make gold. This guide has been updated to more clearly explain some of these BG3 money making methods, as well as to explain how improving Vendors' attitude towards you can end up being a good way to hoard your money more efficiently, too.
Improve Vendors' Attitude With Gifts To Get Better Prices
One of the best ways to efficiently "Gold farm" in BG3 is to reduce the Gold needed to buy items from vendors. The only way to do this is to improve your relationship with them. For the most part, the only way to increase vendor Attitude directly in BG3 is to give them gifts – though some vendors also act as quest givers, or respond to the events of other quests. These vendors' Attitude is much more easily increased, though they are far fewer in number.
The amount of Attitude improvement you get with a vendor depends on the value of the good, or the amount of Gold, given to them. It's better to bribe vendors into a better relationship than to give them items as gifts, as you can still sell those items later on when your Attitude is maxed out, and they will offer significantly more for it, allowing you to more easily recoup your losses.
At the beginning of the game, it's not a bad idea to focus on improving your relationships with vendors who will re-appear later in the game. For instance, Dammon, the Tiefling blacksmith, offers wares all the way into Act 3, as does Mattis. If you improve your standing early, you won't have to worry about it later on.
Loot Every Body...
One of the best ways to earn Gold quickly throughout all of Baldur's Gate 3 is to constantly pick up and sell items to vendors – and not just the ones that are worth a lot. Common armor pieces and weapons sell for a decent chunk of money – most equipment from the humble Goblin Scimitar to Heavy Armor pieces are worth much more than their weight in Gold.
Once the party reaches its maximum carry capacity, head to a vendor, sell off the junk, and get back to looting. The fastest way to earn Gold in BG3 is to loot and vendor off everything that can be picked up with a decent weight-to-value ratio – and that includes stolen goods.
...And Steal Everything That Isn't Nailed Down
But equipment aside, even environmental items and other decorations can be picked up and sold. Silver Plates and Platters can be found on many dining tables, and are worth 30 gold at least with a minuscule weight, and Paintings are often worth hundreds and weigh less than 1 lb.
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As long as no one can see the thieving companion (press Shift, or use the Hide action, to see vision cones), items stolen from chests can be sold without worry of being arrested. If you're caught, though, be prepared to talk your way out of it, pay a bribe, or head to Prison.
Sell Unused Items – Ingots, Jewels, Books, Scrolls, Potions, Arrows, etc.
Once players have done a bit of looting as they progress through the game, they may notice that some items have been sitting there, untouched, for much longer than other items. Some Potions just don't really do much for a Class, some Scrolls offer the same spells taken up by Cantrips in the party, and Ingots and Jewels have little purpose outside of specific questlines (with uniquely named items).
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Pause your adventure through BG3 every dozen hours or so to take a look at the inventory and prune anything that isn't worth holding onto. If you have more than five Arrows, Scrolls, Potions (aside from Healing potions), or Throwables of the same type, it's worth trading some off for Gold. Chances are, the party won't miss those items if you weren't using them anyway. The only exceptions here are Rare and Very Rare items, which sometimes can't be acquired again after being sold.
Find Treasure, Unlock Chests, and Complete Quests
If acting like a loot goblin and selling literally everything companions can fit in their pockets doesn't sound like a very engaging way to make money, consider the adventuring life instead. Though not every side quest in the game offers a tangible reward, most will reward players with either a magical item or a chunk of Gold upon completion.
After completing a major end-of-act boss fight in Act 2, for example, players can speak with several NPCs whose questlines ended with this character's death – each of these characters rewards players with hundreds of Gold as thanks. Quests that reward a magical item instead of a hunk of Gold are still worth completing because equipment your party can't use can still be sold for a profit.
Aside from quests, though, players can find Chests out in the open world and in dungeons, most of which contain a lump sum of Gold alongside other items. One of the best ways to get gold in BG3 is to have a high Survival skill and keep a Shovel on hand, which can be used to dig up Dirt Mounds and Chests revealed by Survival checks. Of course, players with a high Lockpicking and Sleight of Hand skill can always break into locked chests – locked chests often hold better loot, and more gold, than chests found through Survival checks.
Earn an Honest Living Performing For Tips, Or...
One unique way Baldur's Gate 3 Gold can be earned is through the Performance skill. When an Instrument is equipped (preferably alongside Musical Instrument Proficiency), the Perform skill can be used to draw in crowd – a crowd that will pay, if players' Performance checks are up to the task.
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To earn gold while playing an instrument, just sit back and watch as the audience tosses Gold on the ground towards the performing player. As long as they continue to pass Performance checks, the crowd will continue to leave Tips. It's not the fastest way to earn money in BG3, nor is it the most efficient gold farming method, but it's a nice way to get a few dozen Gold and cause a distraction at the same time.
...Pickpocket Merchants & Withers For Your Money Back
Players who aren't feeling particularly up to the task of performing songs for a crowd, or who would rather take what they want rather than deal with pesky merchants, can always try out the Pickpocket skill. Pickpocketing in Baldur's Gate 3 requires a high Sleight of Hand skill to be successful, which typically makes Rogues the class most suited for this sort of work.
When a character sneaks, the ability to talk to NPCs is replaced with the Pickpocket prompt. Pickpocket an NPC to bring up their inventory, and click on each individual item to see what the dice roll needed to successfully steal it is. Smaller, cheaper items are typically easier to steal, though Gold itself is not as hard of a check to beat as one might think.
There are two particularly lucrative ways to pickpocket and earn Gold in Baldur's Gate 3: stealing from Merchants to take back money spent on their wares, or stealing from Withers to take back money spent on respeccing and hiring hirelings. When players buy something from an NPC, the Gold cost goes straight into that NPC's inventory. Just sneak around, Hide, and pickpocket it back. Withers, the respec NPC, offers services for 100 and 200 Gold, but keeps this stash of Gold on his person at all times. For some reason, possibly because of a bug, Withers doesn't care if players pickpocket their money back from him, no matter how many attempts it takes. This essentially makes Withers' services free, saving hundreds in Gold for more expensive purchases – like a custom statue of the player character.
Baldur's Gate 3
- Platform(s)
- PC , macOS , PS5 , Xbox Series X
- Released
- August 3, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
