Elwynn Forest Gold Farming Route (Levels 5–12)

Nobody gets rich in Elwynn Forest, but nobody has to arrive in Westfall with twelve silver and four empty bag slots either. Between the wolves behind Goldshire, two kobold mines lined with copper, the murlocs on the lake shore and the gnoll camps in the south-west corner, the zone holds enough linen, ore and vendor junk to pay for your first bags and your level 10 skills. This elwynn forest gold farming route strings all of it into one counter-clockwise lap from Goldshire, built for a level 5–12 character on a vanilla-era realm such as WoW Forever, with the copper veins, Peacebloom and Silverleaf sitting right on the path.

Where and what you need

Levels. Stops 2 and 8 (wolves, boars and the near lake shore) are fine from level 5. The two mines want level 7: the kobolds inside sit around 6–9 and stand close together. The gnoll camps at stop 3 are level 10 content with an elite chief who needs a group, so walk past at 8 or 9. By 12 the zone turns gray and it is time for the Westfall farming route.

Professions. Mining and Herbalism are the real money. Copper veins stand in both mines and along the eastern hills, Peacebloom grows in every meadow and Silverleaf under almost every tree, and the zone carries both skills from 1 to roughly 50. Skinning turns every wolf, boar and bear into Light Leather or scraps.

Gear. Whatever the Goldshire quests hand you; a weapon upgrade matters most, because kill speed is everything here. Bring twenty food and twenty water.

Bag space. Linen, ore, stone, leather, herbs and gray junk all stack separately, so two extra bags are the minimum. Set your hearth at the Goldshire inn, where the lap starts and ends.

The route

Run it counter-clockwise; the numbers match the map.

1. Goldshire. Start at the inn: hearth, sell, repair, and pick up the village's kobold, boar and gnoll quests. Leave west along the Westfall road and step into the grass after the first fences.
2. The western meadows. Wolves, prowlers and stonetusk boars in the 5–7 band roam between the road and the hills, with Peacebloom in the open and Silverleaf under the trees. Work a slow arc south along the hedges.
3. The gnoll camps. Keep going south-west into the corner of the zone, where the Riverpaw gnolls camp around the hills: Hogger's territory. They sit around level 10–11 in pairs; pull one at a time to the trail and leave the elite to a group.
4. Fargodeep Mine. Turn east along the southern edge to the kobold mine south of Goldshire. Tunnelers and miners in the 6–8 band crowd the entrance, with copper veins outside and in; clear the mouth, then work in to the first fork.
5. The pumpkin patch. Follow the southern road east to the pumpkin fields in the south-east corner. Defias bandits and a few hostile spellcasters in the 9–12 band stand in groups among the vines, and the linen piles up.
6. The eastern woods. Head north through the trees toward the logging camp. Young forest bears and spiders in the 7–9 band are spread thin, so this is the quiet stretch; Silverleaf is everywhere, and Earthroot appears once your Herbalism passes 15.
7. Jasperlode Mine. Climb the hill north-east of the big lake to the second kobold mine. Geomancers and miners in the 8–10 band hold the tunnels, with spiders deeper in and copper along the walls; geomancers hit harder, so pull them out one at a time.
8. The lake shore. Come back west down the river to the lake east of Goldshire. Murlocs in the 7–9 band stand in threes along the shore; fight them on the grass, never with the water at your back. The road then leads into Goldshire: empty your bags and go again.

What you get

Source	Drops and nodes	Why it sells
Wolves, boars and bears	Light Leather, Ruined Leather Scraps, wolf and boar meat, gray teeth	Leatherworkers level on Light Leather from their first point
Kobolds in both mines	Linen Cloth, gray mining junk, gold dust for a Goldshire quest, the odd small bag	Tailors and First Aid burn linen by the stack; the bags are your first extra slots
Copper veins	Copper Ore, Rough Stone, the odd Malachite or Tigerseye	Every blacksmith and engineer starts on copper bars, so ore sells on any realm
Murlocs on the lake shore	Linen Cloth, gray scales and fins, a little more coin	Steady linen with no walking between groups
Riverpaw gnolls and Defias bandits	Linen Cloth, gray weapons, silver, gnoll paws for a Goldshire quest, the odd green	The best coin drops in the zone, plus quest silver
Peacebloom, Silverleaf and Earthroot	Herbs	Alchemists need all three for the first potions

Gold per hour

Be honest with yourself; this is a starting zone. A level 5–8 running the short western half (stops 1, 2 and 8) makes roughly 20–50 silver an hour, almost all of it vendor junk and linen. A level 9–12 clearing the whole loop, both mines included, makes roughly 50 silver to 1 gold 20 silver an hour before the auction house.

Gathering changes the picture more than levels do. Mining adds roughly 50 silver to 1 gold 50 silver an hour depending on copper prices, Herbalism roughly 30–80 silver, Skinning roughly 30–60 silver. A miner-herbalist at 10–12 on a healthy realm therefore sees roughly 1.5–3 gold an hour, enough for the level 10 skills and a cushion for Westfall.

What moves the number: realm age (copper and linen cost the most in the first weeks), how many players share the mines, your class's downtime, and whether you vendor stacks or auction them.

Tips

• Hearth in Goldshire, not Stormwind: the lap starts and ends at the inn.
• Loot everything, including one-copper grays; at this level gray junk is roughly a third of your income.
• Carry the Goldshire quests for kobolds, boars, gnoll paws and gold dust; the loop overlaps all of them.
• Do not try the elite gnoll alone; ask the zone for a group or walk past.
• Mine the veins at both mine mouths even when someone is camping the kobolds; nobody owns an entrance.
• Sell linen in full stacks of twenty at the auction house and vendor the leftovers.
• Rest at the tunnel entrance, not in the deep rooms; dying at the bottom of a mine is a long walk for little loot.

Running it with ForeverBot

Open the Farming section. The Route list already carries Goldshire boars, Fargodeep Mine and Jasperlode kobolds, which cover stops 2, 4 and 7; for the whole lap walk it once with Record loop on. Build the Targets list with + Current target as you meet each type (Stonetusk Boar, Kobold Tunneler, Young Forest Bear, Murloc Streamrunner) and leave the gnoll chief unticked. Tick Go to a vendor when bags are full and Repair at vendors, and in Loot and bags switch on Sell gray items, Auto loot and Buy food and water. The Kills, Gold and Gold/hour counters then show which half of the lap is paying.

In Professions, tick Mining and Herbalism, keep Remember nodes on, and switch on Skip nodes above your skill until Earthroot is in reach. In Settings, set the Navigator Route mode to safest so the path past the gnoll camps hugs the trail, lower the Arrival radius for the mine tunnels, and raise the Food/water stock if your class rests a lot. Both sections are part of every plan; see plans and pricing.

FAQ

Is Elwynn Forest worth farming, or should I just level out of it?

Both, in that order. Running this loop from 8 to 12 levels you about as fast as questing while filling your bags. If experience is all you care about, the Alliance leveling route 1–20 gets you out faster.

Which profession pays best in Elwynn?

Mining, by a clear margin. Both kobold mines are copper veins first and kobolds second, and ore sells on every realm because blacksmiths and engineers need bars by the hundred. Herbalism is a close second; Skinning here pays mostly in scraps.

Can I run this loop at level 5?

Only the western half: Goldshire, the meadows and the near lake shore. The mines are a level 7 job, the pumpkin patch and the far mine want 9, and the gnoll camps are level 10 content. Add stops as you level; the full lap is yours by 12.