Diablo 4 in-game Currency Explained - Gold, Runes, Obols, Red Dust, and More!

In the hellish world of Diablo 4, you will come across multiple currencies to help you achieve your perfect build. It can be Gold, Runes, Obols, Red Dust, or even Premium Currencies, made specifically for certain things. Here in our guide, we will be taking a closer look at all of those and giving you a detailed description of what’s their use and also, how to get them.

What is an in-game currency?

Just as the name suggests, the in-game currency is a system through which you can earn something to exchange for another thing. It can be Gold, Silver, or something else. Much like the currency we use nowadays as means of doing work, earning that currency, and then exchanging it for something else.

In Diablo 4, that same currency is typically known as Gold, but there are other things as well that you can utilize to get something else in return. As you go above the tier, the currency gets more premium and hard to find in the game, while its use also becomes narrower.

Gold in Diablo 4

The main currency of Diablo 4 is gold and the most common one as well. Nearly all the in-game gear and mechanisms that cost you in-game currency are expressed in gold itself. You can call it the Dollar of Diablo 4 because of how versatile it can be.

Your job in the Sanctuary is to get as much gold as possible, either through killing monsters, opening chests, or simply trading stuff around. The legendaries can give you a handful of gold if you are up for that exchange.

Mainly, gold is used for;

• Trading

• Crafting

• Purchase and Upgrade of Gear

• Extracting Powers

• Applying Powers

• Removing Skill Points

• Etc.

Obols

Murmuring obols or simply obols are the second most famous currency in Diablo 4. Sometimes, players may even refer to them as the premium currency. It is used specifically to get the whispering keys and various items that are unidentified. 

In order to get your hands on some, you need to participate in the events (orange circle on minimap or triangle symbol). Through these events and doing the missions like defeating enemies, destroying totems, and saving others, you will be rewarded with obols.

There is a gambling shop as well in the game known as Purveyor of Curiosities that utilizes only obols as means of getting random pieces of equipment. You can also participate in the Dungeons to get obols through the cursed chest event.

One more thing here; you can use the obols to get legendary aspects, which is the easiest and most efficient way to do so.

Runes

Diablo 4 has a new mechanism where you can use sockets on your equipment to further enhance it. Putting gems on the socket can give it various elemental abilities. Runes are socket-able items in the game. 

You can put the runes into the items that have sockets available and it will further enhance that weapon with some magical abilities. There is nothing random here as runes are present in multiple varieties and each one shows different attributes.

Furthermore, there are two types of Runes;

• Condition Runes - These are combined with the second type of runes to make Runeword

• Effect Runes - These are simply the base of making the Runeword through the use of condition runes.

Runewords

A random game in which you have to put the rune combination in a certain order on an item (having available sockets) and that item turns unique. Symbolized by having “unique” written beside it and showcased in gold. 

What’s the use of unique? Well, the item itself will have extra power on top that totally depends on the runeword used on it. Using runeword will allow the magical abilities to apply directly to the item if it has that many sockets available.

There are various limitations here like, you can’t use an axe in place of a sword. If the runeword formula requires a sword, it has to be a sword, with the right amount of sockets available. If you possibly did manage to make a correct formula, the weapon simply becomes overpowered.

Platinum

Just like gold, platinum is an in-game currency (premium) that you can utilize to get certain cosmetics, mounts, emotes, armors, and headstones. You can go to the shop and give them platinum in exchange for these cosmetics. 

The best thing about platinum is that it is bound to your account and also available as a cross-platform. Irrespective of the fact that you are on multiple accounts, you can simply use it to wear cosmetics on multiple platforms.

Did you know, you can bypass all of this and save your time by Buying Cheap Diablo 4 Gold from MMOPixel.com. Furthermore, you can purchase Items, Gems, and Elixirs here at cheap rates.

Red Dust

Another Diablo 4 in-game currency that you can get specifically from the seeds of hatred. Seeds of Hatred are themselves a form of currency in the game, but not famous to be counted as one. So, unlike them, you can get the red dust from the characters that died in fields of hatred. 

After you get some, you can give them to the vendors of the mount and PvP cosmetics to get certain rewards that can enhance your appearance. You can also go the other way around and convert the seeds of hatred to red dust. But, for that, you will have to go to the Altar of Extraction. After conversion, even death in PvP combat won’t take away red dust from you.

Shards of Hatred

Just like the whispering keys that are specifically available in the open world, the shards of hatred are PvP currency. You can get it through fields of hatred, where you clear the area with your team members, kill demons and participate in events. 

After you have a bunch of shards of hatred, you can go to the altar of extraction to purify them and convert them to red dust. In this way, you won’t drop them after facing death.

Cinders

The latest and newest addition to the Diablo 4 in-game currency set is Cinders. No other currency can open helltide chests except cinders. In each respective region, you will find special chests known as hell tide chests that are opened through their use.

In the helltide chests, you will find special rewards like the torso, two-handed weapons, legs, item slots, and so on. One thing to note, however, is that you drop the cinders after falling in combat and dying. 

They drop at the same place, so you can go back and pick them up if you like. You always don’t have to carry cinders a long way because there are monsters around the area of helltide that also drop them.

Smoldering Ashes

Smoldering ashes are specifically used to upgrade seasonal blessings in Diablo 4. Then again, these blessings will give you a boost on your drops (obols, gold), gain (XP), and various other benefits as well.

The strange news about smoldering ashes is that you can’t have multiple at once, but that is completely false. You can have multiple active at once, but one thing to understand is that they last till the end of that season only. After that, they are completely useless and can’t be used on the next one.

Whispering Keys

A simple currency in the world of Diablo 4, used to open the silent chests in the open world. There is some expensive equipment found in these chests along with a bunch of gold, so that automatically makes it important. 

Get your hands on some whispering keys and open these chests around the areas of the open world. 

Grim Favors

Lastly, complete the whispers of dead bounties you get daily in Diablo 4 to earn grim favors. When you have 10 of these, you can go to the tree of whispers and offer them the grim favors (10x). In exchange, you will get massive experience.

Conclusion

Diablo 4 offers you multiple currencies to enhance the user experience. Although some are specifically used for certain aspects, Gold remains the main in-game currency by far. Everything in the game is based on gold, whether you are selling something or purchasing it. Here in our Diablo 4 in-game currency explanation guide, we went through all of them in detail, what’s their use and how to get them. Let’s go through the name of all of these currencies below;

• Gold

• Obols

• Runes

• Runewords

• Platinum

• Red Dust

• Shards of Hatred

• Cinders

• Smoldering Ashes

• Whispering Keys

• Grim Favor

Not all of these are termed “important” in the sense that most of the in-game currencies are just there to open chests or participate in events. Some of them also drop upon death like Red Dust and there are those you can use to simply fill in the sockets for weapon enhancements. Hope this guide helps you understand them all in detail.