- For the magic prefix, see Gold.
Gold is the currency in the Diablo Series. Prices of items and repairs are expressed in gold generally. However, gold is virtually worthless when trading with other players, where items are valued much higher.
Description
Gold has long served as the sole reliable currency in the world of Sanctuary. This precious metal is melted into small gold slugs, which are then pressed and stamped with the heraldry of the kingdom that created them. Each coin throughout the realms possesses the same value, regardless of the coin's shape or size.
In-game mechanics
Diablo/Hellfire
Gold is represented at its most limiting form in Diablo and Hellfire. Used for buying potions, scrolls, gear, and other items, just like it would be in its sequel and its expansion, gold is something sought out for until a certain amount is achieved. Unlike later installments in the series, however, gold itself takes up inventory at the rate of 5000 gold per 1 box, leading to a frustrating decision for the player to make; should they hoard gold at the expense of having to go to town earlier just to pawn items, or should they only go with the essential amount for repairs. At the end, the second option is more favorable; the player eventually reaches a point where Griswold will not be able to offer up gear that is an upgrade to their own. As such, endgame players only need enough gold to cover the costs of potions and item status.
Hellfire did very little about gold's effects on a hero's inventory. Only one way exists to lessen the burden of gold, and even then, a player must sacrifice a good amulet to utilize that one way. When you use the Rune Bomb on the entrance to the Nest, return to Lester the Farmer, and he will drop the Auric Amulet. This allows you to double gold capacity per 1 box of inventory, at the cost of the Amulet slot.
Diablo 2/Lord of Destruction
Your character can carry 10,000 gold per level. For example, a 10th-level character can carry up to 100,000 gold. A level 99 character can carry 990,000 gold. The maximum amount of gold a character can carry with stash is 3,490,000, at level 99. Gold does not share space with items or weapons in your backpack as it did in Diablo.
If you are killed, your character will lose a percentage of the total gold both carried and stored in the Stash. This percentage is equal to your character's level but will not exceed 20%. After this 'death penalty' is deducted, the remaining gold your character was carrying falls to the ground in a pile. If the penalty exceeds the amount of gold you were carrying, the remainder of the penalty is deducted from your Stash.
In Single-Player, dying will not deplete your entire gold supply. No gold is lost from your Stash, and 500 gold per character level is exempt from the death penalty. For example, if a 10th level Single-Player character with 5,000 gold dies, he will lose no gold.
In terms of player-to-player interaction, the value of gold is much lower than items and socketable items. This is because other players are also able to generate gold easily by killing monsters and selling items.
Diablo III
Gold returns in Diablo III, with exactly the same functions it had in the earlier installments of the series. Prior to March 18th of 2014, players were able to spend gold in the game's Gold Auction House for weaponry, materials, and other items. However, there are certain items that Bind to Account on Acquire. These items are not allowed trading priviledges, Auction House or otherwise.
As far as the values of items go at ingame vendors, the item's resale value is 1/25th of its buying price; to name an example, a Health Potion costs 500 in gold to buy from a vendor. If the player were to try to sell the same potion, he/she would be given 20 in gold for the exchange.
As a first for the series, gold can be picked up simply by walking over to the drop. A player can pick up gold from further distances by finding equipment that gives him/her an increase in pickup radius. And much like in Diablo II/Lord of Destruction, players can increase gold quantity by finding items that give a % increase in Gold Find.
Sadly, much like Diablo II/Lord of Destruction, gold is not very valuable in player/player interactions. The costs of repairing one's equipment also seem to have gone down with the 2 decades of time between Lord of Destruction and Diablo III- for one death alone, even at the level cap, it would be considered expensive if the costs broke 6000 gold just from the death.
Other items used as money/currency
Players tend to use Perfect Gems as very valuable currency. These items are useful in many ways - most notably for Horadric Cube combinations and socketed weapons and armor.
The Stone of Jordan, considered by many players as the best available ring in Diablo II, was often duplicated and hacked. It lost its former value and was used like money, as players often had many of these "rare" rings in their inventories. Eventually, they became incredibly numerous - and worthless. Blizzard included in patch 1.10 a few uses for this ring with the Horadric Cube and "World Event" to encourage players to use their Stones of Jordan to get rid of large amounts of these items from player inventories.