ArcheAge trade route guide: all domestic and intercontinental routes

ArcheAge trade routes

In ArcheAge there are several different trade routes players can take in order to get gold, gilda, or resources.

Gilda stars and resources can only be earned from trading from one continent to the other, or freedich Isle. Gold on the other hand is acquired from gold traders when trading between regions on the same continent.

Let's start off with the basics though. Be sure to use the map (M key) to search for things if needed.

A black donkey

How to get a donkey from Mirage Isle

Getting a donkey!

Trading takes unrealistically long if players don't have a donkey. Normal mounts like horses and snowlions move slower with a trade pack than players do. The only exceptions are farm carts, cars, etc.

A donkey only costs 5 gilda stars, or players can do the Blue Salt Brotherhood trading quests, which also eventually lead to getting a 16x16 farm. The best option is to just buy the donkey, it makes getting the questline donkey literally up to an hour faster.

Players can obtain a donkey at Mirage Isle, which players can teleport to by certain auctioneers. Once inside, immediately turn left. There should be gliders on the winding path down, and then once players reach the ground level that has houses on it, they should turn left. There should be an opening between the cliff and some small structures. On the right hand side there should be some horses and then after that three donkey choices.

After picking a donkey, players have to return home using another Mirage Isle portal. Next players need to find any seed merchant. Buy a vita seed from the last page on one of these characters and grow one, just like players had to in order to get the mount they acquired through leveling.

Plant the vita seed, then get the vita root. It only takes 30 seconds for the vita root to mature. Next, place the donkey on the ground and keep interacting with it until it's fully grown, make sure to have some water.

At level 20 donkeys unlock an ability to eat a carrot for a 30% speed buff for 60 seconds. In some situations donkey trading can make more money then farm cart trading.

Video evidence of the legendary mount: Carrot Dash

Carrot Dash

At least in the north american servers, a few players have a rare donkey mount named carrot dash that can swim faster than a clipper with a special speed buff combination. This mount was obtained from a chest that could be bought with gems. Carrot dash was the rarest item in the chest, extremely few of these exist.

Songcraft buffing

When doing land trades with donkeys it's advised for players to switch out one of their classes for songcraft, especially if they intend to do several land trades. Songcraft has an ability to buff movement speed and can be played while on the back of the donkey. This ability does in fact buff a donkeys movement speed while carrying a pack.

At class level 50, this buff gives around 40% movement speed. It increases as the soncraft class levels up.

How to make a trade pack

Making a trade pack

In order to make a trade pack players must find a "specialty workbench" in any of the different regions of either the west, or east continents. There is at least one workbench in every region excluding freedich isle and auroria.

Scroll to Continue

The Deep Meaning Behind Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Collar at President Donald Trump's Second Inauguration

The Flexible 2000 Year-Old Mummy and a Philosopher in a Display Case: 6 Famous Preserved Corpses

Why it doesn’t pay to gripe about politics

By default it costs 60 labor points to craft a pack, and another 60 labor points to turn the pack in at a gold trader, resource trader, or gilda star trader. ArcheAge trade routes give more gold per labor than anything else in the game.

As far as materials, each region has two different trade packs to craft, each one uses different resources to craft. Generally there are ideal trade packs for each region, but it depends on the prices of the materials on each specific region. It's best to just buy the resources from the auctioneer, a trade pack should generally cost 1.5 to 3 gold to make including the quality certificate. Anything below 1.5 is extremely cheap for a trade pack.

Each pack requires one quality certificate as well. These items can be bought from any "general merchant."

Next, after crafting a pack players must then decide where to deliver it. Below is a picture showcasing all the trade routes and their rough returns. These numbers are not 100% accurate, but an extremely good guideline.

Deciding on a trade route

In ArcheAge, trade routes give varying amounts of gold, resources, and gilda stars depending on where players crafted the trade pack, and where they deliver it. The general rule of the thumb is that the further players have to travel, by paths: the more reward obtained. Be mindful that airships can give extreme leverage on prices obtained per time spent.

Also trade packs start with a turn-in value of 130% for every combination of region. As players do a trade that percent goes down, giving players less and less return for the pack. Every hour or so the percent goes back up some, but if too many players trade too rapidly it can go all the way down to 70%.

In other words if hundreds of players trade from one region to another that gives 10 gold; after enough trades players could start to receive as low as 5.38 gold per trade pack instead. If everyone stopped trading at that point, after a few hours the trade would be worth 10 gold again.

All ArcheAge trade routes in one image (click to enlarge)

Best intracontinental ArcheAge trade routes

Quiz yourself to make sure you're ready to move on

For each question, choose the best answer. The answer key is below.

1. How much gilda does a donkey cost?
   • 10
   • 13
   • 5
   • 7
2. The game decides how much gold an intracontinental trade is worth by:
   • Straight line distance from the workbench to the gold trader
   • By the closest possible way to walk there
   • By the lengths of the in-game roads, no matter how ridiculous they are
3. Trade routes start at 130%. If too many players trade it too fast, how far can it fall?
   • 50%
   • 70%
   • 0%
   • 25%
4. How many basic trade packs can players craft per region?
   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
5. At level 20 donkeys get a special ability that lets them move faster at the cost of eating an item. Which item?
   • Bean
   • Cornflower
   • Carrot
   • Vita Root

Answer Key

1. 5
2. By the lengths of the in-game roads, no matter how ridiculous they are
3. 70%
4. 2
5. Carrot

When just looking for gold, there are a few trade routes that are ideal for making gold. The most notable of these trade are Falcorth to Rockborne and Hacylona to Sanddeep. There are more good trade routes than these, but these are a great starting point.

The two trades above only take around 5 minutes to complete and offer a fairly large amount of gold. The catch with both of the above trade routes is that players must be mindful of peace periods in the PvP zones of Rockborne, Hacylona, and Sanddeep in order to not lose their packs to other players. Peace happens after a war, and lasts for one hour and thirty minutes, except for Hacylona which lasts for around four hours.

Falcorth plains to Rookborne Basin

Archage secret expert trade route: Falcorth to Rockborne

Falcorth Plains to Rockborne trade route

This trade can only be completed safely when Rockborne is at peace. This trade also can only be completed by members of the Haranyan faction, which include the Haranya and the Firran.

When Rockborne goes to peace players can make a pack at falcorth (whichever is cheaper, prices vary by server), and then wait for the airship that goes to rockborne.

Watch the video to the right to see the trick for making this trade route fast.

The trick with this trade is to jump off the airship once it crosses over the river in rockborne, and then let the river take the player most of the way through rockborne. If done correctly players can complete this trade so quickly that they can have enough time to open a portal afterwards back to "Oxion Clan" in Falcorth Plains, make another pack, and be able to catch the airship before it leaves for the next run.

The reward for this pack is around 7-8 gold, and takes around 5 minutes. Again, this one can only be done during peace at Rockborne, or else players will steal trade packs.

Hacylona to Sanddeep

Hacylona to Sanddeep trade route

This one requires that both Sanddeep and Hacylona be in a peace period, but if they are, this trade is the fastest way to grind the commerce profession.

Players can start at the workbench in Hacylona, and then follow the mountains to the east until it drops off into Sanddeep. From there players can walk straight to the gold trader and complete this trade route in under 5 minutes, even faster with carrots and songcraft.

This trade should yield around 5-6 gold, and does not require getting on an airship for each trade. This trade is also a great way to proc the negotiation bonus for players with high enough commerce skill, because of the quantities involved in the trade.

This trade can be done during peace at a higher efficiency using farm tractors (4 packs) and merchant boats (20 packs) and filling up at the coast and so on.

Cinderstone Moor to Sanddeep

Cinderstone Moor to Sanddeep trade route

This trade route is rare because it requires that Cinderstone moore, Hacylona, and Sanddeep all be at peace. If this ever does happen, players can craft packs from the southwestern workbench in Cinderstone, load up merchant boats and galleons with packs, and follow the shore to Sanddeep.

With this trade route west continent players cannot be attacked the entire way and get around 7-8 gold per trade pack.

Intercontinental trade routes

Intercontinental ArcheAge trade routes

There are two different kinds of intercontinental trade routes when it comes to doing good ones: Gilda star trade routes, and resource trade routes. Prices vary per server but generally the trade routes for getting charcoal stabilizers are the best, followed by rock salt stabilizers.

Below are some good trade routes for both gilda stars and resources.

A gilda star

Trade routes for gilda stars

For starters, any trade pack that goes to freedich isle gets 4 gilda stars, regardless of where it came from. People tend to think this is the only trade route that gives gilda stars but they're wrong.

If players don't want to have to PvP to trade for gilda stars there are two other options: Cinderstone and Ynystere. Both of these regions give 2 gilda stars from the gilda star traders regardless of which region the pack came from on the other continent.

Also note that both these zones are PvP zones, and after a war they go to peace for two hours. During this time the only risk players have to take is crossing the ocean to get to the continent. Once along the shore, players cannot attack each other anymore or bloodlust.

It's best to go in groups for these trades anyway, in case sea pirates attack.

Cinderstone gilda star trade routes

Cinderstone Moore gilda star trade routes

The absolute best place to start from when heading to Cinderstone moor is Solis Headlands on the east continent. There's a workbench on the north side of the region, right near the water. This is the perfect place to load up ships and head out, also it provides the shortest travel time out of any other trade route to cinderstone.

If the materials are too expensive for the trade route above on a players server, they can also leave from either of Mahadevi's workbenches or Villanelle's southern workbench. These two are dramatically slower, therefore riskier trades.

Ynystere gilda star trade routes

Ynystere gilda star trade routes

For when Ynystere goes to peace, the best place to start from is the northern workbench in Solzreed Peninsula. From here the trades take the shortest time and are players are the least likely to be spotted from here.

If the materials for the Solzreed trade packs are too expensive on a server, players can also start from the northern cinderstone workbench, or Lilyut Hills, but leaving out of the eastern continent bay is extremely dangerous. West continent players often stalk the straight and then follow players who leave. Be careful when leaving from these regions.

Did you catch all that about gilda stars?

For each question, choose the best answer. The answer key is below.

1. How many gilda stars do gilda star traders give at Cinderstone Moore and Ynystere?
   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
2. How many gilda stars do players get by taking packs to Freedich?
   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
3. How many gilda stars do players get at the gilda traders at Villanelle, Solis Headlands, Two Crowns, and Solzreed?
   • 0
   • 1
   • 2
   • 3

Answer Key

1. 2
2. 4
3. 1

Stabilizers or, well, stabilizers?

Trade routes for resources

Trading for resources is an extremely lucrative business; however, figuring out which trade routes are the best require market knowledge. The prices of stabilizers go up and down, and are worth different amounts on each server each week/month. Depending on what the prices are at, different trade routes could become profitable that were previously not worth the time/risk.

First off there are only 7 resource traders in the entire game. Also there are only 4 different types of resources players can acquire from these. Here is a table explaining which resources from where.

Charcoal stabilizers

Charcoal stabilizer trade routes

On a fair amount of servers, charcoal stabilizer is the most lucrative trading resource. Not only does this resource get turned in for large quantities, it's usually worth around the same as the other resources, only slightly less sometimes.

Usually the best way for players to get charcoal stabilizers is to start from the enemies PvP zones during a peace period. There are three different types of trades like this that are actually good: Ynystere to Two Crowns, Hacylona to Solis Headlands, and Sanddeep to Solis Headlands.

First let's start with the trade route for west continent players.

Ynystere to Two Crowns trade route

Ynystere to Two Crowns trade route

West continent players have a disadvantage when it comes to charcoal stabilizer trades. Ynystere is the only East continent PvP zone that connects to the ocean, therefore it is the only safe one to trade from, thanks to peace periods.

After war is over on a server, during the two hour peace period players can load up galleons and merchant boats with packs at ynystere and leave for Solzreed Peninsula. Once players reach the shore of Solzreed they're completely safe from pirates.

Players then have two options at this point. Head west into the bay, then take the packs by land through Two Crowns over to the resource trader. Head south along the eastern shore of Cinderstone Moore in order to reach Two Crowns. If Ynystere and Cinderstone Moore go to peace at the same time then this is easy. If Cinderstone is in conflict or war, chances are there will be east continent pirates all over the shores searching for ships.

The ideal tactic is trade during a double peace period of Ynystere and Cinderstone Moore, otherwise it takes drastically longer per trade, especially if players don't have farm wagons (4 packs).

Next up, let's look at charcoal stabilizer trade routes for east continent players.

ArcheAge trade routes: Hacylona to Solis Headlands

Hacylona to Solis Headlands trade route

Hacylona to Solis Headlands trade route

This trade route is extremely lucrative; however, it's extremely difficult to leave without getting stalked. By the time players are done loading a merchant boat, chances are a bunch of players are going to be waiting for them to leave.

Players can either leave on a clipper with the pack on their back, load up a galleon and leave quickly, or get a big bunch of players together and just go with a merchant boat and fight off the enemy players.

The last of those options is the most lucrative. On some servers a full merchant boat from Hacylona to Solis Headlands can fetch around 200 gold after trading fees and the cost to craft the packs.

No matter how this trade is done, the only danger is crossing the ocean. Once players get to the shores of Solis Headlands they're safe, enemy players cannot attack, and allied players cannot bloodlust at this point.

Excluding the time to load the ship, this trade only takes around 10 minutes, making it one of the most profitable, if not the most profitable, trades in the entire game.

Next up, Sanddeep to Solis Headlands.

ArcheAge trade routes: Sanddeep to Solis Headlands

Sanddeep to Solis Headlands trade route

Sanddeep to Solis Headlands trade route

This trade is just as good as the one from Hacylona and should yield an extra Charcoal Stabilizer too. On top of all that, on some servers it's easier to leave from Sanddeep without being detected than it is to leave from Hacylona.

This trade honestly is better than the Hacylona trade, but peace in Sanddeep is much less common than peace in Hacylona. Also peace periods in Sanddeep only last two hours, whereas in Hacylona they last for four.

This trade should take an extra two or three minutes over the Hacylona trade, but it's worth it if it's the difference between getting stalked out to sea or not.

Rock Salt stabilizers

Rock Salt stabilizer trade routes

There really are no perfect trade routes for rock salt stabilizers. No matter where players start from and end up, all trades are roughly the same. It's best to just start from somewhere east, like Solis Headlands to Solzreed Peninsula, Ynystere to Solzreed, Cinderstone Moore to Villanelle, or Solzreed Peninsula to Villanelle.

All these types of trades yield 7 to 10 rock salt stabilizers, and they all match pretty proportionally to how far the players have to travel. Just do whatever works for the server. People play differently on each server and camp different areas, so just work around that when trying to get rock salt stabilizers.

Which do you prefer?

In conclusion

These are some of the best trade routes in the game; however, they're not the only trade routes. There are plenty of other trade routes out there in ArcheAge, but the ones above are fantastic for players who are just starting out and don't know where to start, or any new trade for that matter.

Also with each trade players gain commerce skill. At the highest levels of commerce it only costs players around 40 labor to craft a trade pack, and turn it in.

Thanks for reading

If you like my work follow me on Facebook. I don't only write about Archeage, but when I do, I post about it on that facebook page. I also post other video game related topics as well.

Thanks for reading, check back for more!