Playable Heroes can also be purchased with in-game gold but earning it in substantial amounts can be a very time-consuming process, something which the game has been quite criticized about.

If you’re a new player and don’t have any heroes unlocked, you are restricted to playing 5 characters which rotate every week (or 7 with certain account-wide levels). Permanently unlocking a Hero will require either Gold or real-world money, and unsurprisingly most players much prefer the free option.

How to get Gold

There are four different ways you can get Gold in Heroes:

• Reach certain account level thresholds – a total of 16,000 gold for level 40
• Win a game – 10 gold for every match you win against bots, 30g in competitive modes
• Reach level 5 with any Hero – 500 gold for every one
• Daily quests – 300-800 gold per quest

In the guide below we’ll take a look and provide more insight into how each of these ways works and how you can maximize your gold gains!

Account experience and leveling

Simply by playing games, your HotS account also receives experience and levels. It’s referred to as “Player Progression”, and there are a total of 40 levels your account can achieve. Each level will require progressively more experience. An average “Cooperative” game (against A.I. controlled bots) will net you around 60,000 experience, and it will take hundreds of matches played to reach level 40.

Leveling your account is essentially done passively just by playing lots of matches, but certain levels are very important to achieve. On level 6 you will unlock daily quests, which are the bread and butter of gold-gains in this game. At level 10 you get a free 7-day Stimpack, boosting your experience and gold gain substantially for every match you play.

Considering this is the first and only free Stimpack you will get it’s very important to use it wisely. Meaning, for the next 7 days you will want to play as many matches as you possibly can.

Cooperative game wins will net you 25 Gold instead of the usual 10 (150% increase), and while it doesn’t seem like much it adds up after a few dozen (or hundred) games during that week.

Furthermore, the experience your Heroes get for playing a match is doubled, so this is the perfect opportunity to play as many different characters as you possibly can and get them to level 5, therefore getting 500 extra Gold each time.

It will take about 8 matches played with every Hero to bring them up to level 5 with an active Stimpack, so try to play every hero available during the weekly free-to-play rotation, even if you don’t like their playstyle. With “only” ten level 5 Heroes you could get extra 5,000 gold!

Playing games

There’s not much to talk about here: just by playing and winning games you gain more gold. This is a passive way to get gold, and just by playing a few matches per day you can eventually get enough gold for some cheaper champions, though it will take quite awhile.

For new players and even others who play certain Heroes for the first time, Cooperative games are a great way to quickly grab a few wins and more experience. The matches will rarely last longer than 20 minutes, and it’s highly unlikely you will lose any of them. For Co-Op games you gain 10 gold per win, and for competitive Quick-Match mode you get 30 gold per win or 20 per defeat.

Leveling Heroes

As mentioned above, leveling every Hero in the game to level 5 will give you a one-time boost of 500 gold. At the time of writing this there are 35 Heroes in total in Heroes of the Storm, which means you can get 17,500 gold just for reaching level 5 with each of them. Reaching level 2 requires 100,000 XP, reaching level 3 and 4 the same, and from level 4 to level 5 you will need 475,000 XP.

So, a total of 775,000 XP is needed to get a Hero to level 5, which equals to an average of 6 Cooperative games with an active Stimpack, or 12 games without. Losing against bots in Co-op mode is unlikely to happen so this is a great way to learn the basics of new Heroes, unlock all of their Talents, and get some experience and gold in the process.

Below is a list of all Hero unlocks you get by leveling them:

• Level 2 – second Heroic ability
• Level 3 – Advanced talents
• Level 4 – Expert (all) Talents
• Level 5 – 500 Gold
• Level 6 – mount variation and Hero portrait
• Level 7 – skin variation
• Level 8 – second skin variation
• Level 9 – second mount variation and Master profile Portrait
• Level 10 – Master skin
• Level 15 – 1250 gold
• Level 20 – 2500 gold

At Hero levels 15 and 20 you also gain gold rewards: 1250 and 2500 gold, respectively. Though it will take a bit longer to reach those levels, when you truly fall in love with a particular Hero you will have no trouble reaching it eventually.

Daily quests

The most important and easiest way to farm gold in HotS is by doing daily quests. Simply by logging in every day and playing a few games you can get really good amounts of gold, and the game really loves to award you for doing it. There are 9 different Daily Quests you can get:

1. 200g – Play 2 games as a Warcraft Hero
2. 200g – Play 2 games as a Diablo Hero
3. 200g – Play 2 game as a Starcraft Hero
4. 300g – Play 3 games as Assassin
5. 300g – Play 3 games as Specialist
6. 300g – Play 3 game as Support
7. 300g – Play 3 games as Warrior
8. 600g – Win 3 games
9. 800g – Play 8 games

You can have up to 3 daily quests active at any given time: even if you don’t complete the quest today, it will remain in your Daily Quest log until you do. I love this system as I don’t necessarily have to “force” myself to play every day if I can’t find the time,  I can just log in to grab the quest and complete it some other time. On average you get 355 gold per quest, which require you to play an average of 3,5 games (assuming you always win).

Note: you may need the level 12 and 15 Hero Rotation Slots unlocked, otherwise certain Hero archetypes will not be available to you in the weekly free-to-play hero rotation.

If you played for a month every day just to complete your Daily Quests, it would take 105 games and net you 10,650 gold. As you can see objectives of some quests also overlap, so if you keep 2-3 quests in your log all the time you would play even less, averaging to about 3 games a day.

For casual players who only want to play for about an hour every day, this is an amazing system and will allow you to purchase at least one Hero a month (prices vary from 2,000 to 10,000 gold per Hero).

That of course doesn’t take into account gold bonuses from leveling your account or certain Heroes! Playing 105 Cooperative games would give you another 1,050 gold, and assuming my calculation about an average of 6 co-op wins needed to reach champion level 5, you would have 17 level 5 Heroes each awarding you with 500g, or in other words another 8,500 gold.

TL;DR: Playing Co-op games for 30 days every day and completing daily quests with different free-to-play Heroes would get you 20,200 gold.

Depressing fact: 35 currently available champions to purchase cost a total of 223,000 gold. That’s 11 months of daily quests and 1150 matches played! Assuming an average match time of 18 minutes, it’s 345 hours or just over 14 days spent playing.

Recommended Ranked play Heroes

You don’t need all Heroes unlocked to play ranked. In fact just buying a dozen of them is enough to jump into competitive play. Below is a quick list of viable heroes and their prices!

Warriors:

• Stitches -7,000g
• Tyrael -7,000g
• Arthas -7,000g

Assassins:

• Thrall – 10,000g
• Valla – 2,000g
• Tychus – 4,000g
• Zerathul – 10,000g

Supports:

• Brightwing – 10,000g
• Uther – 7,000g
• Tassadar – 4,000g
• Li Li – 2,000g

Specialist:

• Nazeebo – 10,000g

This is by no means a must-have list, rather a good starting point for new players with current top-tier heroes. Note that hero viability may change with various patches and nerfs.

Purchasing all of the above heroes would cost a grand total of 80,000g.

Final tips and thoughts

• Consider purchasing a Stimpack early on. 7-day Stimpack costs $3,99, and 30-day Stimpack is $9,99. For the price equivalent of a 30-day Stimpack you can purchase only one 10,000 gold Hero, making Stimpacks a much better investment if you intend to play a lot during that month. You will probably make up most of the gold to purchase said hero, but also gain double the usual experience.
• Grouping up with other players gives you a 50% XP bonus. If you don’t have any, just add a few good ones after a match and queue together with them. 50% XP is a fixed bonus regardless of party size.
• Don’t purchase champions before you try them at least once. Their abilities or theme may seem appealing at first, but you may end up disliking their gameplay after awhile. Try to level them up to level 4 at least and see all of their talents before you make the purchase.
• You cannot have 2 identical quests at the same time. An interesting tactic is to try and avoid completing low-value quests (like “Play 2 games as a Warcraft hero” for 200g) for as long as you can, making sure your quest log always has 2 low-value quests. This increases your chances of getting a higher value quest (600g or 800g ones). It can total to about 45 extra gold per day.
• Never buy heroes the first two weeks after release. Their initial release prices are set to 15,000g, but are reduced to 10,000g after two weeks. They may seem awesome and fun, but a bit of patience can easily save you a substantial amount of gold.

Conclusion

For casual players Heroes of the Storm has a lot to offer. Grinding gold by playing countless matches is viable, but Daily Quests are your main source of gold gain. Despite players being very vocal about stingy gold gains in HotS, the game’s main competitor League of Legends requires far more matches (which are also far more frustrating, and last twice as long) if you wanted to unlock every Hero.

Of course, you absolutely don’t need to unlock every hero to play Heroes of the Storm, even if you intend to play Ranked games exclusively. The ranked Hero League game mode requires you to have at least 10 heroes unlocked to even play it, and some of the most popular and powerful ones aren’t in the most expensive 10,000 gold price tier. In fact you’d need only about 70,000 – 80,000 gold to unlock viable ranked heroes, which you can farm in just 4 months of very casual play time.

Afterwards, you should always try to be at the very least the same level as monsters in a particular area otherwise progression might get difficult, especially if you prefer playing solo and not in groups. Some skill tree builds also aren’t as strong until level 50 or so (dual totems or Freezing Pulse for example) so it’s highly recommended to stay a few levels above the mobs in the zone you’re in. You can take a look at the table below for a quick overview of the monster levels in every zone.

I included the waypoint information just in case you need to know which zones have them. If you’re looking for specific quest walkthroughs read this article.

Where to grind levels?

Below are my absolutely favorite areas to grind experience, so if you’re looking to gain some quick levels I suggest you do it here.

Act I: The Ledge

Probably the best of all areas, The Ledge is really straightforward. Monsters include mostly Skeletons which are slow and really easy to mow down either one by one or with AoE skills. There’s also a waypoint in the middle of the zone so you don’t have to spend too many Portal Scrolls if you wish to clear your inventory.

Tip: the “sharp” tip of the waypoint always points towards Kuduku and the next area (Rocky Climb).

In The Ledge I recommend you simply run from one end to another and clear everything along the way. Reset the instance and repeat. Really easy, fast, and like everything else in Path of Exile best done in groups.

Act II: Fellshrine Ruins

There are actually a few areas which are equally good for grinding levels in Act II, but Fellshrine Ruins is probably my favorite zone. Take a waypoint to Church Dungeon Level 1, and take the exit to Fellshrine Ruins immediately next to it. In Fellshrine I found it best to simply follow the road, and once you get to Crossroads exit just reset the instance. Rinse and repeat. If you don’t have Church Dungeon waypoints go to Crossroads and just follow the road east.

Monsters in Fellshrine mostly include skeletons and zombies which are both extremely easy to kill, and when you come across Hulking Titans you can easily skip them if you find them hard to kill.

Alternatively Church Dungeon, Western Forest, Pools and Streams and Pyramid are all just as good for farming, so take your pick.

Act III: The Docks

Without a doubt The Docks is the best area for experience grinds in Act III on any difficulty. Another area littered with skeletons and zombies who won’t cause you any trouble. There’s plenty of room for kiting, and ranged classes will certainly enjoy killing monsters from safe spots over ledges.

If you’re level 30 or so after finishing Act II, press the magic “S” button and find a group for The Docks. You’ll be level 35 in just a bit over an hour, making progression through early Cruel difficulty much easier. If you’re trying to go on Merciless, you can easily farm this zone until level 60 if you wish and still get plenty of experience.

Docks may be my favorite Act III grinding spot, though it isn’t the most optimal. The typical progression players do (especially in Merciless) is City of Sarn > Catacombs > Library > Lunaris. In Cruel and Normal difficulties I tend to over-farm in Act I & II so I can completely skip XP grinding in Act III.

Endgame Leveling

If you really wanted to you can finish Merciless by the time you hit level 50, although there’s not much point. You can just open up Docks and farm there until you’re level 74 with ease. It’s one of the easiest area to farm, has decent drops so you can upgrade your equipment, and you can even get quite a few maps there to get you started. If you’re around level 62 you should still be getting almost 20% of your level by doing just one full Docks run which takes no longer than 10 minutes in the worst of groups. At level 73 if I remember correctly you’ll get about 8% of your level with one full run which is still a decent amount.

Before doing level 66 maps I would recommend you try and hit at least the same level in non-map areas: it’s extremely easy and even though it’s a grind, that’s what Path of Exile endgame looks like so you might as well get used to it. As for equipment and defenses you should try and max your elemental resistances and get at least 2,000 health (or 3,000 energy shield), otherwise you might end up dying far too often to continuously get experience.

Leveling really slows down after you hit 75, in which case you’ll want to do maps at least level 67, or find a group for Lunaris Temple. By the time you hit level 80 I’m sure you’ll already know what your preferred way of leveling is. Realistically you shouldn’t expect to hit level 100 anytime soon as it takes a tremendous amount of time and effort, but in case you’re planning your character skill tree build you can expect to be level 90 at most.

General leveling tips:

1. Try grouping up with other players if you’re having trouble progressing, or find a group that just grinds the same area over and over again and farm experience. Once you’re 3-4 levels above the monster’s level in a particular area you should have no problems clearing it alone.
2. Farming experience in groups for a couple of hours may be boring, but it’s definitely better than dying constantly. Remember that dying on Cruel and Merciless difficulty levels will decrease your experience by 5% and 10% respectively, meaning you’ll eventually have to farm that XP anyway.
3. Also it doesn’t really matter what level you decide to go grind for experience, you will have to catch up in levels sooner or later. Simply progressing through quests in harder difficulties won’t give you enough experience points and you WILL have to grind. I suggest you do it early while you’re about the same level as monsters in order to maximize your experience gain and loot.
4. On Cruel and Merciless difficulties try not to have a full XP bar before you engage bosses. In fact I recommend you go attempt to kill bosses just after you gained a level to make sure you lose as little as possible if (or rather when) you die.
5. It’s always best, fastest and safest to do maps with a full group. If your defenses or damage is lacking don’t be afraid to run in and out of fights and play more passively and safely. Once you figure out you gain 1-3% XP for a full 66 map run dying and losing 10% of your experience is a significant amount of farming.

I do hope this post helps you at least a little bit to powerlevel your characters as quickly as possible, or at the very least make sure you know where to catch up with levels. If you have any other great areas for farming you like or other leveling tips be sure to post them in the comments below.