Forge of Empires Earning Gold Guide

Welcome to the Gold Super Guide! This handy guide will say exactly how to effectively earn money, the effectiveness of every gold producing building, and tips on optimization!

We will first start with gold coin producing buildings.

Gold Producing Buildings – Effectiveness

There are many different gold producing buildings, all of which are suited towards players of different activity times and gold production efficiency. This part will cover every house, their associated age, and tips. Keep in mind that this part of the guide does not provide statistics on Enthusiastic Status (120% Production).

Bronze Age

Huts – Huts produce 6 gold within 5 minutes. This is arguably the best house to start the game with and to keep until you reach the Iron Age. Confused why? You will find out soon. Huts provide only 14 units of population, so it is not advisable to use it in massive quantities after some progression, due to the lack of population to produce all necessary buildings.
Hyper Active

Stilt Houses – Stilt Houses is considered to be better than the Hut in every way by most people. However, they do not understand the kicker. Stilt houses produce 13 gold within 15 minutes, and thus they do not need great activity in order to be proven effective, although 15 minutes is still considered to be very active. Stilt Houses provide 22 population units. Now, why are Huts better than Stilt Houses despite the stats saying otherwise? Well, considering total income, Huts provide 18 gold every 15 minutes, opposed to 13 hold every 15 minutes. That is a 5 gold difference. You will be using houses in large quantities, so 5 gold is now a big matter, especially over time. Also, since Huts produce more gold over time, Huts give more points overtime than Stilt Houses do. The only reason why you should replace all Huts with Stilt Houses is if you are desperately in need of extra population.
Very active

Chalets – Chalets are very useful if you do not check in very often, and the best overnight income during the Bronze Age before researching Clapboard Houses much later. Chalets provide 32 population units and 80 gold over a period of 4 hours. The good part is that it provides the most population out of all gold producing buildings in the Bronze Age. The bad part is it is also the slowest and smallest producer in the entire game. If used very often, Huts can outrace gold production within 70 minutes with 84 gold, when a Chalet produces only 80 gold in 240 minutes. Do not build these in large quantities if you are looking for money. Only keep 5-10 Chalets for extra population and effective overnight income.
Mildly Active

Thatched Houses – Thatched houses are behind Stilt Houses in terms of production, however can outrace Chalets in 3/4 the time a Chalet needs to produce 80 gold. A Thatched House provides 32 gold over a period of 1 hour and 27 units of population. Handy for people who do not go on as actively as how much a Hut needs to be cared to be effective, but are still for the active person. Use in normal quantities. These are not effective for overnight income, however are better than Huts and Stilt Houses in this term.
Active

Summary – Huts are the best gold producers, coming with 288 gold in 4 constant hours. Stilt Houses are next with more population, but with less gold: 208 hold per 4 hours. Thatched Houses are a step up in terms of population, however losing even more gold, with 128 gold in 4 hours. Chalets are “Tank Houses” with a great boost in population, however lacking in gold production with only 80 gold in 4 hours.

Iron Age

Roof Tile Houses – An upgraded version of the Hut, Roof Tile Houses produce the same exact amount of money in the same time, however require 15 minutes before collection. This house provides 18 gold within 15 minutes and includes 44 units of population. This is generally an upgrade of Huts, since it provides more population and does not require as much activity as Huts need for effectiveness. However, with better buildings comes larger prices, where Roof Tile Houses cost 10 times more materials than Huts need. Highly recommended early in the age, and recommended to be the first Iron Age technology to be researched. This is the last house that needs less than an hour for banking. After that, it is all 1 hour to 8 hour houses.
Very active

Cottages – A massive step up in terms of population, the Cottage is the one and ONLY recommended gold producer to be used overnight during the Iron Age. Cottages bring in 73 units of population and provide 110 gold in 4 hours, a meager upgrade to Chalets. Again, do not use this solely for gold production. Include this in your city for population and some overnight gold production.
Mildly active

Premium-Villa – The Premium way to farm money, Villas provide 87 population to your city and produce 100 gold in 1 hour, with the downfall being the cost of 200 diamonds each, or around $4. Filling your city with this will cost you dearly. However, this is the best provider and producer the Iron Age offers.
Active

Summary – Replacing all Huts, Stilt Houses, and Thatched Houses is wise after unlocking Roof Tile Houses, which provide 44 units of population and 288 gold per 4 hours. Cottages, the “Tank House” of the Iron Age, provide 73 population but suffer a much smaller income of 110 gold every 4 hours. This is all dashed through by Villas, which provide 87 units of population and 400 gold per 4 hours.

Early Middle Age

Frame Houses – Frame houses are somewhat better than Roof Tile Houses. Gold production is not one of them. Frame Houses add 67 units of population and provide 60 gold per hour. I would only recommend to replace half or less of your Roof Tile Houses until you run out of population. Nevertheless, still a general upgrade in terms of population. Whether you are broke or left without workers, its your call which one to pick.
Active

Premium-Multistory Houses – This house is a bit weird. These provide 89 units of population and produce 200 gold in 4 hours. The weird part about this is although it costs regular materials to construct Multistory Houses, they require 600 diamonds, or $13, to be researched beforehand. This building is considered to be premium because of that.
Mildly active

Clapboard Houses – Clapboard houses are the first “Super-tank Houses” you will encounter. These provide 111 units of population and turn in 240 gold every 8 hours. The best part about this is that it is a highly effective overnight income generator and provides a large amount of population. The bad thing is this house provides so little cash, this is barely a cash upgrade from Cottages. However, it is wise to replace Cottages with Clapboard Houses after acquiring sufficient materials for such, as it is a tiny cash upgrade but also a large population upgrade.
Mildly inactive

Summary – Frame Houses are generally an upgrade to Roof Tile Houses, however it is up to the players decision to either keep the gold-flowing Roof Tile Houses or high-capacity Frame Houses. Frame houses provide 480 gold in 8 hours and 67 people. Clapboard houses must replace all existing Cottages to accompany even more people in the player’s city. These houses are poor in terms of money, with only 240 gold per 8 hours, however can fit a large amount of people, exactly 111 units of population. The weird premium Multistory House is, ironically, not the superior of the trio in the Early Middle Age, providing 89 people, but suffer less gold, with 400 per 8 hours. It is up to the player whether or not they want population over gold production, and should think over the hefty cost of $13 to research this. Building this DOES NOT require diamonds; they are built with gold and materials.

High Middle Age

Brownstone Houses – Brownstone Houses are nice upgrades to Frame Houses in both population and gold income. These now provide 94 population units and produce 90 gold per hour. This is actually the FIRST NON-PREMIUM house to actually bypass the production of Huts and Roof Tile Houses, so you must be happy at this point. And it exceeds at a nice sum of 72 gold.
Active

Town Houses – The next upgrade in “Super-tank Houses,” Town Houses are, like always, slow but big. Town Houses can fit an incredible 156 people, but slowly produces gold at a rate of 340 gold every 8 hours. Replace Clapboard houses with these.
Mildly inactive

Premium-Mansion – Once again the cool premium way to win, Mansions provide even more people. Mansions can fit in 188 people, and slightly suffer less gold than Brownstone Houses, but have double the amount than Town Houses, with 340 gold produced in 4 hours. However, like any other premium building, this costs diamonds, and now, instead of 200 from Villas, it is 300 diamonds. Again, this WILL cost you dearly…
Mildly active

Summary – Replacing all Frame Houses with Brownstone houses is wise, as they will now provide 720 gold per 8 hours and can fit 94 people. The next “Super-Tank House” of the age, the Town House can fit 156 people, but are sluggish in gold production, turning in only 340 gold per 8 hours, which is only 100 more than the 8 hour Clapboard Houses. The superior premium house provides even more benefits, fitting 188 people but losing some gold to the Town House, with 680 gold in the end. This is can be easily ignored, as it is only 40 gold less than Brownstone Houses provide. However, this IS after all a premium building, so it will take your entire wallet to fill your city with this.

Late Middle Age

You are at the end of a long road, merchant. Just a few and you may announce the full completion of your city.

Estate House – The best house of hourly income, and complete income, Estate Houses are great producers. Estate Houses bring in 123 people to your city and net you 120 gold every hour. This is 10 gold more than how much a Cottage can produce… in 4 hours. And the better? Enthusiasm nets you 24 more gold! It’s good to be in this age, isn’t it? Well… the cost can screw you over. Nevertheless, a worthy investment which must replace all existing Brownstone Houses.
Active

Apartment House – The biggest of the “Super Tank Houses,” Apartment Houses fit a whopping 205 people! These houses also net you 440 gold every 8 hours, which is 40 gold shorter than twice the amount a Clapboard House can produce. With big tanks costs big money and materials. Don’t expect to build a lot of these quickly.
Mildly inactive

Premium-Manor – The best of the best. Absolutely splendid, Manors can fit an astonishing 246 people and brings in 400 gold every 4 hours! That’s almost the amount Apartment Houses bring in. However, the best house costs the most, as being a premium house. Each costs 300 diamonds, which is pretty much the same as a Mansion costs. The production time is outrun by the mighty Estate House.
Mildly active

Summary – The best gold producing house is unlocked at the beginning of the Late Middle Age, the Estate House. These fit 123 people and produce an incredibly 960 gold every 8 hours, beating all other houses in terms of production! The biggest non-premium fitting house award goes to the Apartment House, which can fit 205 people, but is still quite sluggish in production, reeling 440 gold every 8 hours. That is still better than most of the junk you get thrown at in the early ages. Manors are truly large, with the capacity of 246 people and producing 800 gold every 8 hours, however with the downfall being the cost of diamonds. The best houses are now under your possession. Treat them with care, and keep an eye on those resources; these houses are not very cheap!

Houses are the best sources of gold income in the entire game. However, there are other sources that are not proven to be useful, and can even bring more loss than profit!

Other Methods of Collecting Gold

Raids/Conquest

Every time you attack an NPC sector of a province, you get a set amount of gold or materials for winning the battle. We will not talk about materials, however they also have the same problem as what we will talk about gold. Let’s take an accurate look, shall we?

After conquering this territory, the player will receive a bonus of 800 gold. The player might think this is worthwhile. However, think again…

Yes, you might start to be getting to where I am at. After defeating all units in this particular sector, you may lose at least 3 units. Given the gold reward to this sector, which is 140, it is only worth going after this sector if you do not rebuild your army afterwards, which may take at least twice the reward, meaning you only lose gold instead of gain gold. Now repeat this 4 more times for this province, with each sector having varying units you must kill. You will quickly lose more gold than you gain because of rebuilding your army, and not even the 800 bonus gold helps. The cost of 100 gold to infiltrate is worthless, so don’t even bother wasting your gold on that. It is better to negotiate, unless you are hell bent on being in PvP tournaments.
This may also apply to REAL PvP. Attacking another player and losing a few units is not worth it. The only exception is if you are dead sure one of their 4 hour or 8 hour houses are full. That is still not good reason enough to lose 4 units that cost over 100 gold to get an extra 120 from sabotaging a Cottage.

Support/Polishing

Another thing. This time, it is only a profit and no loss. This is, however, the true meaning of “tedium.”

A butcher costs 4,100 gold. Help 205 people and you get a free butcher. It is quite long and dumb to support people just for a pity point of 20 gold. 20 gold is only enough for 1 path. Help 50 people and you probably have enough to change all of the trails in your city. Too much time in combination with a puny reward does not make this exceptionally effective in getting gold.

Town Hall Income

Don’t over-rely on your town hall to produce much money.

This is an Iron Age Town Hall, and it still provides as much money as a Bronze Age Town Hall: 500 gold every 24 hours. A Hut can race through that in 7 hours when a Town Hall needs 24 hours. It is only good for the Bronze Age. After that, it is just not so, especially the Late Middle Age, where an Estate House can run through that money in only 5 hours.

Over-using 4 Hour and 8 Hour Production Houses

4 Hour and 8 Hour production houses net the smallest amount of money in the game, and a Hut can outrace even the mighty Apartment House in the Late Middle Age! These are worth only for the population and for overnight income, so don’t fill more than half your city with these unless you desperately need population.

Using Goods Buildings without Proper Deposits

You can produce 1 Stone, or marble, or whatever for 100 gold, when if you have a deposit of that material, you can produce 5 of them for the same cost. It is a waste of money producing materials without their respective deposit, worse yet it is also a waste of gold to actually build the goods building you don’t have a deposit for.

This is pretty much all the tips I can give you. If you have any tips, post a reply with it, and I will include it in this guide along with your name. The charts are next if they work…

Here will be all data charts if requested. Please tell me if you need any other chart regarding gold posted here.

HaekelHansi’s Excellent Table of Gold and Population Values Without Enthusiasm (100 Percent Happiness)

My Table of Gold Production and Population Without Enthusiasm (100 Percent Happiness)

My Table of Gold Production at 120 Percent Enthusiasm Status