Gold panning is a Mining-based gathering system that lets you pan for gold nuggets in any body of water, smelt them into gold bars, and sell those bars to a trader for serious profit. It's a relaxing alternative to dungeon crawling and a reliable way to earn gold — but watch your back, because the gold can attract unwanted attention.
Overview
The gold panning pipeline works like this:
Pan nuggets → Smelt nuggets into bars → Sell bars for gold
Each step requires different tools and locations, and the whole process rewards patience and a decent Mining skill. A single gold bar sells for 100,000 gold — and with the streamlined smelting chain, they're very achievable.
Getting Started
What You Need
- A Gold Pan — purchased from players or made with carpentry skill.
- Mining skill — panning uses the Mining skill for success checks. You'll need at least 75 Mining to find small nuggets, 90 for medium nuggets, and 105 for large nuggets.
- Access to water — any ocean, lake, or river tile works.
How to Pan
- Double-click your Gold Pan.
- Target a water tile within 2 tiles of your character.
- Your character will perform a panning animation.
- If successful, a nugget is placed directly into your backpack.
You cannot pan while mounted — dismount first. Each water area has a limited resource bank (5–10 nuggets per 8×8 tile area) that respawns every 10–20 minutes, so if a spot runs dry, move to a new area or wait for it to replenish.
Nugget Types
The type of nugget you find depends on your Mining skill and a bit of luck:
| Nugget | Mining Skill Required | Drop Chance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Gold Nugget | 75+ | ~70% | Most common find |
| Medium Gold Nugget | 90+ | ~20% | Requires higher skill; fails downgrade to small |
| Large Gold Nugget | 105+ | ~10% | Rarest pan result; fails downgrade to small |
If you attempt to pan for a medium or large nugget and fail the skill check, you'll receive a small nugget instead — you never come up completely empty-handed (as long as nuggets remain in the area).
Bonus Gems
While panning, you have a small chance to find rare gems alongside your gold nuggets. These are bonus drops and include:
| Gem | Approximate Chance |
|---|---|
| Blue Diamond | ~2% |
| Dark Sapphire | ~2% |
| Ecru Citrine | ~2% |
| Fire Ruby | ~2% |
| Perfect Emerald | ~2% |
| Turquoise | ~2% |
| Delicate Scales | ~2% |
| Brilliant Amber | ~2% |
| White Pearl | ~2% |
There's an 88% chance of no bonus gem on any given pan, so don't count on them — but they're a nice surprise when they show up. These gems are used in various high-end crafting recipes.
Danger: The Midas Elemental
Panning for gold isn't entirely risk-free. There is a 5% chance after each successful pan that a Midas Elemental will spawn right next to you and attack.
These golden elementals are serious threats that require a specific approach to take down:
| Stat | Details |
|---|---|
| Hit Points | 1,136 – 1,153 |
| Damage | 33 (split evenly across Physical, Fire, Cold, and Energy) |
| Resists | Physical 75-85, Fire/Cold/Poison 60-70, Energy 50-60 |
| Special | Auto-Dispel, Bleed Immune, Spell Reflection |
Important combat notes:
- Immune to pet damage — tamed and controlled creatures deal 0 damage to the Midas Elemental. You must fight it yourself.
- Immune to provocation — you cannot provoke other creatures onto it.
- Reflects all spells — every spell cast at it bounces back to the caster. Pure mages beware.
- Auto-dispels summons — energy vortexes and blade spirits won't last.
- Melee is king — the Midas Elemental is designed to be killed with melee weapons and melee-based skills.
Midas Elemental Loot
Defeating a Midas Elemental is well worth the effort:
- Large Gold Nugget — 25% drop chance (skips two smelting steps)
- Medium Gold Nugget — 5% drop chance
- Reward Scroll — 5% drop chance
- Filthy Rich loot and 4 gems
The Large Gold Nugget drop alone makes killing Midas Elementals one of the most efficient ways to accelerate the gold bar pipeline.
Smelting Nuggets into Gold Bars
Raw nuggets aren't worth much on their own. To turn them into real wealth, you need to smelt them up through a chain of increasingly valuable forms using a Gold Smelter.
The Smelting Chain
| Step | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 Small Gold Nuggets | 1 Medium Gold Nugget |
| 2 | 3 Medium Gold Nuggets | 1 Large Gold Nugget |
| 3 | 2 Large Gold Nuggets | 1 Unrefined Gold Brick |
| 4 | 2 Unrefined Gold Bricks | 1 Gold Bar |
Using the Gold Smelter
The Gold Smelter is a house addon that can be placed inside your home. It is purchased from other players or made with the carpentry skill. Double-click it to open the smelting interface, then select which conversion you want to perform. The smelter will consume the required nuggets from your backpack and produce the result. Any extra nuggets beyond what's needed stay in your pack.
You must be within 2 tiles of the smelter to use it.
Total Cost Per Gold Bar
Working backwards from the smelting chain, here's what it takes to produce a single gold bar from scratch:
| Stage | Quantity Needed |
|---|---|
| Gold Bar | 1 |
| Unrefined Gold Bricks | 2 |
| Large Gold Nuggets | 4 (2 per brick × 2 bricks) |
| Medium Gold Nuggets | 12 (3 per large × 4 large) |
| Small Gold Nuggets | 60 (5 per medium × 12 medium) |
That's 60 small gold nuggets to produce 1 gold bar if you're starting entirely from small nuggets — very achievable across a couple of panning sessions.
In practice, you'll find a mix of small, medium, and large nuggets while panning, and Midas Elemental kills can drop large nuggets directly, both of which significantly reduce the total panning time.
Selling Gold Bars
Harry Johnson — Trader of Gold Bars
Harry Johnson is an NPC trader who buys gold bars. To sell, simply drag and drop a gold bar (or a stack of gold bars) onto him. He pays 100,000 gold per bar, delivered as a bank check directly into your backpack.
Harry is hard to miss — he'll shout about buying gold bars as you walk by. He usually hangs around the Main Street Bank.
He only accepts gold bars. Nuggets, bricks, and other items will be refused.
Gold Panning Tips
- Higher Mining skill is better. At 105+ Mining you have a chance at large nuggets on every pan, which dramatically cuts down the number of pans needed per gold bar.
- Be ready to fight. The 5% Midas Elemental spawn chance means you'll encounter one roughly every 20 pans. Bring melee weapons and be prepared — don't rely on pets, summons, or spells.
- Kill every Midas Elemental. The 25% chance at a Large Gold Nugget makes them a major shortcut in the smelting pipeline. Don't run from them.
- Find a good water spot and rotate. Each 8×8 area has 5–10 nuggets before it's depleted. Pan an area dry, move 8+ tiles to a new spot, then circle back once the first area has respawned (10–20 minutes).
- Coastal areas work great. Long stretches of coastline give you plenty of water tiles to work through before needing to double back.
- Bring multiple gold pans. They wear out over time. Having spares means you don't have to interrupt a session to go buy a new one.
- Place a Gold Smelter in your house. Having the smelter at home means you can pan a full session's worth of nuggets, recall home, smelt everything at once, and head back out.
- Don't ignore the bonus gems. Blue Diamonds, Fire Rubies, and the other rare gems have value in high-end crafting. They're a free bonus on top of your gold income.
Quick Reference
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| Tool required | Gold Pan (crafted or purchased from other players) |
| Skill used | Mining (75 minimum, 105 for best results) |
| Nuggets per area | 5–10 per 8×8 tile bank |
| Respawn time | 10–20 minutes per area |
| Midas Elemental spawn | 5% chance per successful pan (melee only — immune to pets, spells, provocation) |
| Gold bar value | 100,000 gold (sold to Harry Johnson) |
| Small nuggets per bar | 60 (if converting only smalls) |
| Smelter | House addon, must be within 2 tiles--crafted or purchased from other players |