Echoes of Aincrad Col Farming Guide: How to Get Col Fast in Town of Beginnings
If there’s one thing that caught me off guard during my time with Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad, it wasn’t the combat, the bosses, or even the brutal survival atmosphere. It was the economy. Col disappears from your inventory faster than your HP during an unexpected elite encounter.
One minute you’re feeling rich after clearing a few quests, and the next you’re staring at the blacksmith wondering where all your money went after upgrading a single weapon.
That’s exactly why learning an efficient farming routine early is one of the smartest things you can do. Floor 1 may look peaceful compared to what awaits higher in Aincrad, but it’s actually packed with opportunities to build a healthy bankroll before the difficulty curve starts punishing every mistake.
After spending countless hours exploring every corner of the Town of Beginnings, comparing strategies shared by experienced players, and testing different farming loops myself, I’ve settled on several methods that consistently provide the best return for your time.
Why Col Is So Important During the Opening Hours
Unlike many RPGs where money only matters when buying an occasional potion, Echoes of Aincrad constantly asks you to invest your earnings.
Nearly every stage of progression requires Col.
- Weapon upgrades
- Armor improvements
- Healing supplies
- Crafting materials
- Weapon synthesis
- Equipment experimentation
The biggest money sink is undoubtedly the blacksmith. Every enhancement costs materials alongside a growing amount of Col, and those prices climb surprisingly fast.
Trying multiple weapon types makes things even more expensive. Maybe you enjoy the speed of Daggers, then decide to switch to a Two-Handed Sword after finding a rare drop. Suddenly you’re upgrading two completely different builds instead of one.
Without a reliable income, progression slows to a crawl.
The Grasslands Wolf Route Is Still the King of Early Farming
If someone asked me where to earn your first serious pile of Col, I wouldn’t hesitate.
Leave the Town of Beginnings through the main gate and head directly toward the nearby Grasslands.
This farming route checks every box:
- Constant enemy spawns
- Fast kills
- Reliable Col drops
- Valuable crafting materials
- Great experience gains
How to Run the Loop Efficiently
Before leaving town, empty unnecessary inventory items, store junk inside the Inn storage if needed, and bring enough healing items for several runs.
- Reach the first nearby checkpoint.
- Unlock it for easier resets.
- Continue into the wolf territory.
- Pull several wolves together.
- Eliminate the group with wide attacks.
- Collect everything before resetting the area.
Area-of-effect weapons perform incredibly well here. Personally, I found One-Handed Swords and Greatswords to be the smoothest options because they can clear multiple enemies without constantly repositioning.
Every wolf has the chance to drop useful rewards.
| Drop | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Col | Direct currency income. |
| Wolf Fangs | Useful for crafting or selling. |
| Animal Hides | Required for various upgrades. |
| Miscellaneous Loot | Extra vendor profit. |
The materials become surprisingly valuable once stacked in larger quantities. Rather than selling every single drop immediately, I recommend building a decent inventory first before unloading everything back in town. Watching your Col jump by several thousand at once is oddly satisfying.
Sell Smart Instead of Buying Everything
One mistake I see many new players making is treating every merchant like a shopping spree.
Don’t.
Most early weapons sold in Market Alley become obsolete surprisingly quickly.
Instead, save your money for upgrades instead of replacements. A good field weapon upgraded multiple times often performs better than an expensive shop purchase.
That simple mindset alone can save thousands of Col throughout Floor 1.
Hidden Undermap Area Can Be Surprisingly Profitable
One of the strangest discoveries made during early testing involves an unintended underground section hidden beneath the Town of Beginnings.
Near the Clock Tower and the outer residential walls, careful movement around certain collision points allows players to reach an unfinished subterranean area. It’s clearly content that wasn’t meant to be explored this early.
The interesting part is that several treasure chests may appear there depending on the current build.
Those chests have been reported to contain:
- Large Col rewards
- Rare equipment
- Valuable gear suitable for selling
Naturally, this falls into exploit territory. If you’re comfortable experimenting with map boundaries, it can provide a massive financial boost. Just don’t build your entire strategy around it, since future updates could easily remove the collision issue altogether.
Stack Side Quests Instead of Grinding Mindlessly
Grinding random enemies works. Grinding while completing multiple quests works much better.
The Town of Beginnings features several NPCs whose objectives naturally overlap with the same monsters and exploration routes you’ll already be taking. That means every fight contributes toward multiple rewards simultaneously.
| NPC | Quest Focus |
|---|---|
| Warren Peace | Beginner combat objectives. |
| Grace Cynthia | Gathering and exploration. |
| Christian Lynwood | Elite monster hunts. |
| Milo Maximilian | Higher-level combat contracts. |
This creates an efficient gameplay loop. Accept every compatible quest before leaving town, complete them during a single farming trip, return once, collect multiple payouts, and repeat. It’s significantly more rewarding than accepting missions individually.
Difficulty Settings Can Increase Your Income
This is something many players overlook.
Difficulty isn’t just about making enemies stronger. It also affects overall farming efficiency.
If your build melts enemies without much effort, increasing the difficulty to Hard or Very Hard can dramatically improve loot quality and overall Col gains. Higher risks usually come with better rewards.
On the other hand, don’t force yourself into difficult fights if every encounter takes forever. Sometimes Story Mode actually generates more money over time simply because you’re clearing enemies three times faster.
Think about Col earned per minute, not Col earned per monster. That’s a huge difference.
Build Choices Affect Farming Speed More Than You Think
People often blame bad drop rates when their income feels slow. Sometimes the real issue is their character build.
If your weapon scales primarily from Dexterity but you’ve invested heavily into Strength, you’re effectively lowering your own damage output.
Lower damage means:
- Longer battles.
- More healing consumed.
- Fewer kills each hour.
- Less overall income.
Whenever you gain Growth Points, double-check your weapon scaling before assigning attributes. Efficient damage translates directly into efficient farming.
Bring Your Companion Everywhere
Never underestimate companion characters. They’re much more than extra damage.
A reliable partner can:
- Pull enemy attention.
- Interrupt dangerous attacks.
- Increase overall DPS.
- Reduce healing costs.
- Make larger enemy pulls much safer.
The faster enemies disappear, the faster your Col starts piling up. Simple math.
Save Your Teleport Resources
Teleport Crystals feel incredibly convenient during the opening chapters. They’re also surprisingly expensive to replace.
If your farming route stays close to the Town of Beginnings, simply run back instead of teleporting. The trip isn’t long, and saving those crystals now means having them available later when the game starts sending you across much larger sections of Aincrad.
Small Habits That Generate More Col Over Time
These tiny optimizations don’t seem impressive individually, but together they make a noticeable difference.
- Always loot everything. Even low-value materials become profitable in bulk.
- Avoid unnecessary potion purchases. Craft whenever possible.
- Upgrade one primary weapon first. Splitting resources across multiple weapon types slows progression.
- Keep inventory organized. Returning to town because your bags filled too early wastes valuable farming time.
- Use checkpoints wisely. Resetting nearby enemy groups is much faster than waiting for natural respawns.
Recommended Early Farming Routine
After experimenting with different methods, this is the routine that consistently gave me the highest income.
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Accept every available side quest. |
| 2 | Organize inventory. |
| 3 | Exit toward the Grasslands. |
| 4 | Activate the nearest checkpoint. |
| 5 | Farm wolf packs using AoE attacks. |
| 6 | Loot every material. |
| 7 | Reset the farming area. |
| 8 | Return only after inventory fills or quests finish. |
| 9 | Sell excess materials. |
| 10 | Invest Col into weapon upgrades. |
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Final Thoughts
The opening chapters of Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad do an excellent job of teaching players that survival isn’t only about winning battles—it’s about managing resources wisely. Col fuels nearly every aspect of character progression, and players who establish a strong farming routine during Floor 1 will have a much easier time once Aincrad’s later floors begin throwing tougher enemies, more expensive upgrades, and increasingly demanding encounters their way.
For me, the Grasslands wolf route remains the standout strategy thanks to its balance of speed, consistency, and excellent material drops. Pair that with smart quest stacking, sensible spending habits, careful stat allocation, and the occasional hidden discovery around the Town of Beginnings, and you’ll rarely find yourself short on cash.
The best advice I can give is simple: don’t chase flashy purchases early. Invest in upgrades that strengthen your main build, keep your farming loop efficient, and let your savings grow naturally. Before long, you’ll have more than enough Col to experiment with powerful weapons, enhance your favorite gear, and tackle the next floors of Aincrad with confidence instead of worrying about an empty wallet.
