In Fire Emblem Awakening, winning a battle pays you no gold. You make money by selling items, mostly Bullion. A Bullion (S) sells for 1,000 G, (M) for 5,000 G and (L) for 10,000 G. On Normal, the cheapest repeatable farm is a 500 G Reeking Box from the Longfort shop, which calls a Risen skirmish to the world map. On Hard and Lunatic the same box costs 4,800 G, so it doesn't reliably pay for itself; Despoil or Leif's Blade, which can turn each kill on your own turn into a Bullion (S), helps close the gap. If you already own the downloadable episode The Golden Gaffe, rerun it: its 18 Risen flee from you carrying 1,000 to 7,000 G each. The 3DS eShop stopped selling it on 27 March 2023, so new players can't buy it.
Every way to get gold, ranked
| Method | Opens | Pays | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|
 The Golden Gaffe | After Chapter 4, from the Outrealm Gate | Up to 126,000 G per clear; about 72,000 G if the four amounts are equally common | The DLC already on your 3DS. No longer sold. |
 Story Bullion | Chapter 5 onward | Up to 210,000 G over the whole game, once each | Visiting villages, opening chests, killing the bosses who carry it |
 Reeking Box on Normal | After Chapter 3 | Costs 500 G; random Bullion drops usually cover it | Normal difficulty |
 Despoil or Leif's Blade | A unit at level 10, or Leif's Blade | 1,000 G × Luck% per kill on your turn | A male unit who can become a Barbarian, or the blade |
| Reeking Box on Hard or Lunatic | After Chapter 3 | Costs 4,800 G; profit isn't guaranteed | A strong Despoil unit |
 Renown rewards | As Renown builds up | A Bullion (L) at 1,000 Renown | One claim per save file |
Use the calculator at the top of the page to set your difficulty, your killer's Luck and how many kills it gets on a map, and see which line pays best.
Why winning maps doesn't pay you
Many Fire Emblem games hand out gold for clearing a chapter. Awakening doesn't. Your army starts with one gold pool shared by everyone, and after that it only grows when you sell something at an Armory, an item shop or a traveling merchant. Killing ordinary enemies pays nothing. The one exception is a few enemies that carry gold as an item, which is how The Golden Gaffe works.
Items sell for half their value. Fifty special items sell for a quarter: named weapons, Leif's Blade, the Reeking Box, the Rift Door and other rare items. The Bullion items exist only to be sold. Their own help text says it plainly: "Fetches 1,000 gold at market."
| Item | Sells for | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Bullion (S) | 1,000 G | Despoil, Leif's Blade, random drops from Risen in skirmishes |
| Bullion (M) | 5,000 G | Bosses, thieves, chests, paralogue rewards |
| Bullion (L) | 10,000 G | Bosses, chests, villages, the 1,000 Renown reward |
| Supreme Emblem | 99,999 G | The last Renown reward, at 99,999 Renown |
The 1,000, 3,000, 5,000 and 7,000 G items carried by The Golden Gaffe's Risen don't go into your convoy. They add their gold to your pool as soon as you take them, and in battle they show the Bullion (S) and (M) icons.
One-time Bullion in the story
The story and paralogues hide about 210,000 G of Bullion. Each is in a chest, a village or an event, or carried by an enemy who drops it when killed. The drops are the easiest to lose. Thieves run for the map edge, so kill them before they escape. Whoever lands the killing blow on a carrier gets the Bullion.
| Chapter | How | Bullion |
|---|---|---|
| Chapter 5 | Dropped by Orton, the boss | M |
| Chapter 7 | Dropped by a Plegian thief | M |
| Chapter 10 | Dropped by a Ruffian thief | M |
| Chapter 11 | Chest | L |
| Chapter 12 | Dropped by Dalton, the boss at Port Ferox | L |
| Chapter 14 | Chest | M |
| Chapter 15 | Village | L |
| Chapter 16 | Dropped by Cervantes, the boss, and by a Ruffian thief | M ×2 |
| Chapter 17 | Chest | L |
| Chapter 18 | Chest | M |
| Chapter 20 | Dropped by Walhart | L |
| Chapter 21 | Chest | L |
| Chapter 24 | Dropped by the Risen Chief | M |
| Paralogue 4 | Chest | L |
| Paralogue 6 | Reward if Inigo defeats at least 4 enemies | M |
| Paralogue 7 | Reward if 3 or more villagers survive | M |
| Paralogue 8 | Chest | M |
| Paralogue 9 | Dropped by Ruger | L |
| Paralogue 10 | Chest | M |
| Paralogue 11 | Dropped by Morristan, plus a reward if 4 or more villagers survive | M ×2 |
| Paralogue 12 | Chest | M |
| Paralogue 13 | Dropped by Gyral and by Dalen, the two rival leaders | M ×2 |
| Paralogue 14 | Village | L |
| Paralogue 15 | Dropped by a Falcon Knight | M |
| Paralogue 16 | Chest | M |
| Paralogue 18 | Dropped by Zanth | L |
| Paralogue 20 | Dropped by a Grimleal Dark Flier | M |
| Paralogue 22 | Given when the map ends | L |
The carriers and chest contents are the same on every difficulty. The Bullion (L) given at a map's end comes with a Spirit Dust in Paralogue 22, The Wellspring of Truth, not in Chapter 22 as some lists say.
Before you can buy a Reeking Box
The Reeking Box first goes on sale on the Longfort's world-map space, so the early game runs on your starting gold and whatever you pick up. Until then:
- Visit every village and open every chest. Early chapters give weapons and staves, which you can sell if you don't need them.
- Don't forge yet. A forge costs a share of the weapon's value for each stat point, so it eats an early budget fast.
- Master Seals and Second Seals cost 2,500 G each. Early on they only turn up when a traveling merchant happens to carry them. The first shops that always stock them are Port Ferox (Chapter 12) for the Master Seal and the Mila Tree (Chapter 16) for the Second Seal. Several paralogue spaces stock one or the other too.
- Sell spare weapons you'll never use. Keep the Reeking Box and Rift Door, because they sell for only a quarter.
Reeking Box farming: Normal vs Hard
A Reeking Box "calls Risen to the World Map. Strength varies by location." Use it from the world map and a Risen group appears there. Fight it like any skirmish. Risen in skirmishes sometimes carry a Bullion (S) or (M), and those are your profit.
Only three world-map spaces always stock the box. Each space also has a pool of extra goods that a traveling merchant there may or may not carry, so don't count on those being for sale:
| Space | Chapter | Always in stock | Merchant may add |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Longfort | Chapter 3, Warrior Realm | Heal, Vulnerary, Strength Tonic, Defense Tonic, Reeking Box | Iron weapons, Rescue, Concoction, HP Tonic, Master and Second Seals |
| Carrion Isle | Chapter 13, Of Sacred Blood | Elfire, Elthunder, Elwind, Nosferatu, Reeking Box | Silver weapons, Arcwind, Armorslayer, Blessed Lance, Short Axe, Elixir |
| Origin Peak | Chapter 25, To Slay a God | Brave Sword, Lance, Axe and Bow, Reeking Box | Every stat booster, Hammerne, Arms Scroll |
Why the box costs 4,800 G on Hard
The Reeking Box is the only item whose price changes with difficulty. Weapons, seals and stat boosters cost the same on every difficulty. On Normal the box costs 500 G. On Hard and Lunatic it costs 4,800 G, and a Silver Card halves that to 2,400 G. A skirmish that drops only one Bullion (S) leaves you 3,800 G short, while a lucky Bullion (M) covers the box on its own. Drops are random, so on Hard treat boxes as a way to get experience that may also pay for itself, not as a dependable money farm.
A quick box loop
- Buy boxes at the Longfort, Carrion Isle or Origin Peak.
- Open one from the world map. The Risen group's strength depends on where you open it.
- Give the killing blows to your Despoil or Leif's Blade unit on your own turn.
- Take every glowing tile you pass. They hold random items, experience or weapon experience.
- Sell the Bullion at any shop, then open the next box.
Despoil and Leif's Blade (no DLC needed)
| Source | Effect | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Despoil | "Get a Bullion (S) if the unit's target falls. Trigger % = (Lck stat)" | Barbarian, learned at level 1 |
 Leif's Blade | The same effect while equipped. A rank D sword with 20 uses that sells for 205 G with all uses left. | The 1,500 Renown reward, or a random find |
With 30 Luck, each kill has a 30% chance at a Bullion (S), which averages 300 G per kill. Rightful King adds 10 to the rate. Despoil only rolls when your unit starts the fight and lands the kill, so kills on the enemy's turn don't count. Don't count on Despoil and Leif's Blade together giving two rolls: the blade gives the same skill.
Who can become a Barbarian
Barbarian is a male class, reached with a Second Seal (a base class at level 10 or higher, or an advanced class at any level). These units have it in their class set:
- Robin (male), Vaike, Gregor, Henry, Basilio and Gangrel
- The sons of Lissa, Miriel, Panne and Olivia (Owain, Laurent, Yarne and Inigo), and any son whose father is on the list above
Donnel is not on the list. His set is Villager, Fighter and Mercenary, so he gets Armsthrift (Luck × 2% to not use up a weapon) but not Despoil. Women and Donnel farm with Leif's Blade instead. A Barbarian has very low Def and Res, so on a Classic file don't send one alone into a pack of Risen mages.
The Golden Gaffe, if you already own it
This episode, from the Golden Pack DLC, fills its map with Risen who don't start fights. They run for the exit carrying gold, but they do counter when you attack them. There are 12 Risen types, each in two weapon versions, and every run fills the map's 18 spots at random from that pool:
| Risen | Gold carried |
|---|---|
| Barbarian, Thief, Dark Mage (weaker version) | 1,000 G |
| Barbarian, Thief, Dark Mage (stronger version) | 3,000 G |
| Berserker, Trickster, Sorcerer (weaker version) | 5,000 G |
| Berserker, Trickster, Sorcerer (stronger version) | 7,000 G |
Eighteen carriers at 1,000 to 7,000 G each put the ceiling at 126,000 G. If the four amounts are equally common, a clear averages about 72,000 G, in line with the roughly 70,000 G players report. Most of these Risen have Pass, so they slip past your units and you can't wall off the exits. Instead, move first toward the ones carrying 5,000 and 7,000 G and kill them in one round. They counterattack, and some stronger ones have skills like Vantage, so don't send fragile units at a Berserker or Sorcerer on a Classic file.
Nintendo stopped selling 3DS downloadable content on 27 March 2023. If you bought it before then, you can still download it again from the eShop on a 3DS linked to the same Nintendo Network ID you bought it with. Otherwise, skip this section and use the methods above.
What no longer works
- Buying any downloadable episode, including The Golden Gaffe and Infinite Regalia (the Silver Card's episode). Sales ended in March 2023.
- Receiving new SpotPass teams, bonus gifts from Nintendo and other online deliveries. Nintendo's 3DS online services shut down on 8 April 2024. Bonus Teams already saved on your game stay usable; you just can't get new ones.
- StreetPass still works between two 3DS systems in the same room, but it's not a farm you can repeat.
What the gold is for
Most players want gold for three things, so spend in this order:
| Item | Price | Why |
|---|---|---|
 Master Seal | 2,500 G | Promotes a base class at level 10 |
 Second Seal | 2,500 G | Changes class, which is how you reach Barbarian for Despoil |
| Reeking Box | 500 G Normal / 4,800 G Hard and Lunatic | Calls a skirmish for experience and drops |
 Silver Card | DLC reward | Halves every shop price while it's in the convoy |
Forging comes last. Each forge step on a weapon costs more than the one before, and the price scales with the weapon's value, so forging an expensive weapon adds up quickly. Buy the seals your army needs first.
