Spider Silk Farming Guide
Today I would like to discuss in-depth an often overlooked trade item that has the potential to earn you loads of gold whether you are level 20 or level 70: Spider Silk.
That%26#8217;s right, spider silk. This trade item is a vital component to some of the coolest crafted items in Azeroth or Draenor and is useful particularly for Tailoring, Leatherworking and Engineering. Plus, so many players either fail to loot it or vendor it off as trash, it is often worth a lot more than it probably should be on the auction house.
There are five main types of spider silk you can find in World of Warcraft:
Spider%26#8217;s Silk (WowEcon : Wowhead)
Notable grinding mobs:
- Deepmoss Venomspitter: Stonetalon Mountains
- Forest Moss Creeper: Hillsbrad
- Black Widow Hatchling: Duskwood
- Plains Creeper: Arathi Highlands
This stuff is great to start farming as soon as level 18, however the best mob to grind for this stuff, the Plains Creeper, isn%26#8217;t viable until you hit level 34. You can also see that these sell for 66 silver a piece and occasionally one gold in the general Alliance population.
This is a component of two huge low-level item sellers: Spidersilk Boots (WowEcon : Wowhead) and Toughened Leather Gloves (WowEcon | Wowhead). If you are a leatherworker or tailor you may want to farm this silk to craft these rather than sell it outright.
Thick Spider%26#8217;s Silk (WowEcon : Wowhead)
Notable grinding mobs:
- Darkfang Lurker: Dustwallow Marsh
- Sorrow Spinner: Swamp of Sorrows
- Witherbark Broodguard: The Hinterlands
- Glassweb Spider: Searing Gorge
- Greater Lava Spider: Searing Gorge
This is perhaps the most overlooked of the spider silks, as it doesn%26#8217;t have popular crafted items to go with it - and WowEcon prices reflect that with an average of only 11 silver per unit. While it is a component of Icy Cloak (WowEcon | Wowhead), that in%26#8217;t really a great cloak. Enchanter%26#8217;s Cowl (WowEcon | Wowhead) is nice, but you don%26#8217;t have players falling all over themselves (in the case of the undead this could be taken literally) to craft it. My favorite item this is used (along with Shadow Silk) to make is the Gnomish Net-o-Matic Projector (WowEcon | Wowhead), a Gnomish Engineering item that is very useful in PVP.
Shadow Silk (WowEcon : Wowhead)
Notable grinding mobs:
- Crypt Slayer: Eastern Plaguelands
- Plague Lurker: Western Plaguelands
- Crypt Walker: Eastern Plaguelands
- Carrion Lurker: Western Plaguelands
Like Thick Spider%26#8217;s Silk, Shadow Silk is rather overlooked at the auction house, with a WowEcon average of only 10 silver per unit. Shadow Silk, however, is a component of a great set of tailored items: the Shadoweave armor set - must-haves for Shadow Priests and Warlocks between levels 37-50, and very good money-makers for the intrepid tailor.
Ironweb Spider Silk (WowEcon | Wowhead)
Notable grinding mobs:
- Rock Stalker: Silithus
- Sand Skitterer: Silithus
- Plague Lurker: Western Plaguelands
- Venom Mist Lurker: Western Plaguelands
Ah, Ironweb Spider Silk, the grinding memories. This item is used in quite a few recipes (50 to be exact) and of those, a great many are (epic) purple items. Before Burning Crusade this item was any tailor, leatherworker or engineer%26#8217;s friend. You can still sell this item for a good profit, however, as Wowecon is putting the general Alliance average at 1.4 gold per unit. And if you are a crafter, don%26#8217;t just fly through your levels to get to 375, take some time to make some of those wonderful Goblin Jumper Cables XL, Satchel of Cenarius and Big Bag of Enchantment just to name a couple of awesome items Ironweb Spider Silk is used to make.
As a side note, this item is used by engineers to craft Delicate Arcanite Converters (WowEcon | Wowhead) - which are used for quite a few things in the game (like the Burning Crusade Zapthrottle Quest). Arcanite Converters alone are likely a big reason why Ironweb Spider Silk is worth so much.
Netherweb Spider Silk (WowEcon | Wowhead)
Notable grinding mobs:
- Dreadfang Lurker Terrokar Forest
- Dreadfang Widow Terrokar Forest
- Blackfang Tarantula The Black Morass
Netherweb Spider Silk is the Burning Crusade version of the previous four spider silks, and like all Burning Crusade items is worth a lot more than it%26#8217;s Azerothian cousins. With an Alliance general average of five gold per unit, this is an item to set your grinding sites on.
While it seems players each have their own favorite grinding spots (Black Morass is a BIG favorite), I personally recommend you give the area just west of Allerian Stronghold a shot. The Dreadfang mobs go down a lot quicker than the Black Tarantulas, and (despite Wowhead%26#8217;s data) actually have a drop rate that is not much lower.
This area can be difficult for Horde players on PVP realms, but not hopeless, and besides the Dreadfangs are located all over Terrokar - if you find another good spot in this zone, post a comment.
As far as crafting with Netherweb Spider Silk goes, there is a solid list of blue and purple items this is used for and, typical of Burning Crusade items, none are incredibly special but all are much better than their Azerothian counterparts. If I had to pick one item from this list to manufacture for the auction house, of course I%26#8217;d pick the Imbued Netherweave Bag (WowEcon | Wowhead) - with a WowEcon Alliance general average of 37 gold, who wouldn%26#8217;t?
For more comprehensive information about succeeding in the WoW gold game, I recommend reading up on Derek%26#8217;s Warcraft Riches Guide. It has in-depth profession leveling guides and a great general guide about how to master the flow of gold within your realm. Don%26#8217;t settle for second best - learn how to become the richest player in the World of Warcraft.