If you're playing Last Epoch in the Merchant's Guild and feel like you're constantly broke while everyone else seems to be swimming in gold, you're not alone. With the current state of the economy, inflation is high, prices are wild, and many players are struggling to keep up-especially when it comes to Last Epoch gold high-demand endgame items like the Red Ring.

The good news? There is a reliable way to generate massive amounts of Last Epoch gold-potentially billions-without relying on lucky drops or flipping items nonstop. This strategy focuses on understanding market demand, farming efficiently, and leveraging systems that most Merchant's Guild players either overlook or use incorrectly.

Why the Red Ring Is the Key to Wealth

At the center of this strategy is the Red Ring, one of the most valuable items in the current endgame. Most top-tier builds require it, which keeps demand extremely high. As a result, even a zero-LP Red Ring can sell for tens of millions of gold, while 1 LP versions often sell for hundreds of millions.

The reason prices stay this high isn't just demand-it's supply. Many players simply don't know the most efficient way to acquire Red Rings, or they approach it incorrectly. That gap is where the profit comes from.

The Core Idea: Farm Runes, Not Rings

Instead of trying to directly farm Red Rings through drops, the smarter approach is to farm Runes of Ascendance and convert ring bases into Red Rings yourself. On average, players can expect roughly one Red Ring every 330–350 Runes of Ascendance, with about three Red Rings per 1,000 runes over time.

This means the real objective isn't the ring-it's maximizing rune acquisition.

The Fastest Method: Using Circle of Fortune (Even as a Merchant)

This may sound counterintuitive, but the fastest way to make gold in the Merchant's Guild is temporarily leveraging Circle of Fortune.

Circle of Fortune provides access to powerful Prophecies, which Merchant's Guild players lack. While most Circle of Fortune items can't be traded, crafting materials like Runes of Ascendance are not faction-locked, making them the perfect loophole.

The optimal setup looks like this:

Level a character in Circle of Fortune to Rank 8 or 9

Farm large amounts of Favor

Roll Prophecies that reward 14 Runes of Ascendance

Use lenses that double rewards when possible

Focus only on prophecies with easy conditions

With the right setup, it's possible to earn 200–300 Runes of Ascendance in just one to two hours.

Once you've collected enough runes, switch back to your Merchant's Guild character and start ascending tradeable ring bases.

Efficient Favor Farming With Woven Echoes

To sustain this process, you need Favor-lots of it. The most efficient method uses a Woven Echo strategy built around:

False Temples (easy shrine-based echoes)

Lost Wood Folly, which spreads Memory Amber to the surrounding echoes

A Weaver Tree focused on:

Experience nodes

Rune rewards

Memory Amber generation

By arranging False Temples around a Lost Wood Folly and rotating efficiently, you can sustain your echo purchases indefinitely while farming massive Favor and Runes at the same time.

This method is fast, repeatable, and works even at relatively low corruption levels.

A Slower Alternative (No Faction Swapping)

If you don't want to switch factions, there is a Merchant's Guild–only option-, but it's slower.

This approach uses a Weaver Tree focused entirely on:

Rune rewards

Champion density

Pack size

Tomb completion

By running Cenotaph of Worlds and focusing on echoes that spawn tombs, you can generate steady Rune income. Tombs count as echo completions, which means more rewards from echo-based passives.

This method also produces Runes of Havoc, which are becoming increasingly valuable as the meta shifts toward multi-exalted endgame items.

Turning Red Rings Into Even More Gold

Once you have a Red Ring, the next step is simple: always gamble it with Nemesis.

Why? Because even a single LP dramatically increases its value, and the odds heavily favor gambling. Zero-LP Red Rings still sell well, and you'd need to fail many attempts before you're at a loss.

Legendary Red Rings also sell consistently, meaning there's almost no downside to trying.

Selling Smart Without Wasting Time

One final tip: don't overthink pricing.

Instead of spending hours price-checking every exalted item:

List most items at a flat, low price (like 2 million gold)

Bulk sell consistently

Only manually price-check items you know are special

High corruption farming generates so much Favor that relisting items is trivial. Playing the game efficiently will always outperform obsessing over the market.

Final Thoughts

Yes, the economy is inflated. Yes, prices are wild. But that doesn't mean cheap Last Epoch gold is out of reach-far from it. By focusing on Rune generation, understanding demand, and playing efficiently, you can still afford everything you need and push toward true endgame goals.

The ceiling is higher now, not lower. Instead of chasing basic upgrades, the new endgame is about multiple exalted mods, LP legendaries, and infinite corruption scaling.

Adapt to the market, and it will work for you-not against you.

Last Epoch Leveling Guide: Fast Progression for Every Class
Leveling in Last Epoch can feel overwhelming, especially if you're planning to play multiple characters or push toward level 100. After taking several characters deep into endgame-including multiple level 100s and a few heartbreaking Hardcore deaths-it's clear that leveling efficiently comes down to understanding your options and knowing when to skip content.

This guide breaks down the best leveling paths, explains when you should skip parts of the campaign, and shares powerful tricks that dramatically speed up both early progression and endgame leveling. A large amount of Last Epoch gold can be very helpful to you.

Understanding Campaign Progression Options

There are four main ways to progress through the Last Epoch campaign. Each has its place depending on whether you're playing Softcore, Hardcore, or leveling alternate characters.

Full Campaign (Acts 1–9)

This is the most straightforward but also the slowest option. By completing the campaign normally, you'll naturally unlock all passive points and idol slots, which are mandatory for any build.

You can track missing rewards directly on the map screen, making cleanup easy if you miss something. While this path is great for new players learning the game, it's inefficient once you know what you're doing.

Acts 1–7: Kill the Tree Boss (Hardcore-Friendly)

A highly recommended option for Hardcore players and anyone who wants a no-thinking approach.

Play through Acts 1–7 and stop once you defeat the giant tree boss in the cold zone. By this point, you'll have completed enough key quests to buy Last Epoch gold fully unlock your passive points and idol slots-meaning you can head straight into the Monolith endgame.