Here’s the usual gold drill: Grind a few primals (or other items,) sell them off, and make upwards of a couple hundred gold an hour if you’re really good at it and there’s no competition. It’s about the same for the daily quests, plus you get the rep items. If you’re good at playing Auction House games you can double that.

Now consider for a moment what it takes to hit the gold cap: that limit being currently set at 214,748 gold, 36 silver, 48 copper, and once reached will prevent you from receiving any more cash. At 300 gold an hour that’s a measly 716 hours of pure gold making activity.

Brad, of Warcraft Millionaire, has hit that cap on four separate characters.

How was it that this guy had managed to do what is seemingly impossible when millions of other players have been at it for just as long and are nowhere close? You can see the video proof on his home page, which really drives the point home.

When you watch it you will see Brad clicking between several characters he has on the same server, each of which had reached that gold cap of 214,748 gold, 36 silver, 48 copper. It’s rare enough to see one character at the cap, much less several characters.

So how did he do it?

What has Brad done that very few, if any, have done before? What did see in the game that others had missed? His strategy must surely be superior, right?

It seems that Brad’s friends and fellow players have been asking the same question of him for some time and so, instead of constantly answering questions, he has put together a collection of resources at his website that promises to guide the casual or even hardcore player through the same process he used to reach the upper echelons of gaming.

The truth of the matter

is that it’s not some special secret, as you might think. The “secret”  is entirely in his understanding of how the WoW market works.  It’s all in the Auction House (AH.) We all know that; we’ve been to the Auction House and we’ve seen what kind of gold it can provide, someone’s putting up all that stuff for sale, but none of us would have guessed that there was quite that much gold in it.

Want to learn how to do that, too?  Brad provides concise, well written advice on how to use the Auction House to make a lot of gold. I think that hitting the gold cap, four times, provides some serious credibility, don’t you?

While I won’t reach a million gold anytime soon, I definitely feel much more confident in my ability to make hundreds of gold on demand and pretty much all of it it with my low level bank alts. I’ve accumulated a nice little stash since Wrath went live:

A nice gold stash, taken on 3/18/09

Not Just the AH

Now, while the real gold is made at the auction house, and Brad emphasizes learning to use the AH, there are people who would, for whatever reason, rather do something else to earn their WoW cash. So, I’ll open up my copy of Warcraft Millionaire and note that, in addition to the Auction House domination guide, Brad includes the following:

• All of the Daily Quests - listed, rated (1 to 5 stars,) with notes on the gold and the rep that you will earn, and linked to WoWdb.com for more info. Of course, you do need to be level 70+ to do these. All of the daily quest from Wrath of the Lich King, including the PvP quests, are also part of the list.

• The Grinding Guide – Want to just mindlessly kill hordes of mobs and fill your bags with goodies? This is the guide for you. It includes where to find certain special items, grinding instances, various locations, and recommended addons to make you grinding easier (besides plugging a case of Mountain Dew into your brain.) Locations and infor are provided for all levels, 1-80. Brad hates the grind, I hate the grind, but if you’re Ok with it then this guide is for you.

• A limited items listing - This is a big list of vendors who sell all sorts of limited items. General locations of the vendors are provided, but it would have been nice to see exact locations. For items found in Azeroth the list is sorted by specific item, who sells it, and how much you’ll pay. How much you can sell it for will depend on the economy of your particular server. The Outlands and Northrend listings list vendors by zone, plus the items they sell and the cost. Make a loop of these vendors, grab the items that are available as you hit them, ship them to your banker, and sell for a very nice profit.

• 1-60,  60-70, and 71-80 gold guides – As you level you should keep an eye peeled for certain items and these two guides cover those items. You can make a lot of gold in the leveling process (beyond taking Herbalism and/or Mining) and these guides will show you what to look for. Naturally the best stuff requires higher level characters.

• A special bonus, is the Warcraft Basics Guide, which covers the basics of the WoW economy, principles, gold making, questing, professions, etc. New players will find this guide to be very useful, experienced players can skim much of it, but will find some useful tips as well.

All Up to Date, Including WotLK

Since Millionaire is one of the newest gold guides it neatly cuts out one of the problems of the older guides, none of the info is out of date. You won’t find references to the level 60 cap or to items and mobs that are no longer in game or of value. It’s also updated for Wrath.

You don’t have to have level 80 characters, either. In the video on the home page Brad notes that his level 1 bank alt does most of his trading, buying, and selling. Yes, it’s at the gold cap. You will also get an idea of what he buys and sells.

You won’t just be given a set of grinding locations either, though you do get those in addition to everything else. What you will get and learn is a set of techniques that will massively boost your gold stash.

Whether you are just starting or have conquered Northrend you’ll find something in here that fits what you want to do.

Just One Thing…

There is one section lacking:

While Brad includes a ton of stuff that will do wonderful things for your gold stash, he basically skips Inscription. That profession is what I used to make the bulk of the stash in the image above. Not a major oversight, though. Scan glyph prices (especially with the new dual talent builds) and use what you learn from the AH section of the guide and you’ll figure it out quickly.

You can snag your copy of Warcraft Millionaire here.