Several search results use modern live-service terms such as coins, gems, diamonds, and materials. Those terms do not match the verified Defense Grid 2 economy. Gold medals are also not a spendable currency.
Fast answer
The answer before the background
You cannot farm a persistent coin balance in Defense Grid 2 because the game does not have a verified account-wide coin, diamond, gem, or crystal currency. The important resources are temporary mission resources and gold medals. Earn resources during a mission by waiting for the income tick, killing aliens, collecting wave bonuses, and protecting cores. For medals, replay accessible maps in Practice or other forgiving modes, spend as little as possible, keep every core safe, and finish with a large resource reserve. Use Resource Reinforcement on a dense group of aliens when available, but treat its exact payout as undocumented.
Verified system
What you can actually farm
Defense Grid 2 has two different progression concepts that are easy to mix up. Mission resources are the money-like number shown during a level. You spend them on towers, upgrades, and some map-section actions. They do not become a permanent wallet after the mission ends.
Gold, silver, and bronze medals are results awarded for your performance. They are tied to score and completion quality, not to a shop. The game also tracks tower items, special weapons, achievements, and community maps, but the available sources do not verify a persistent resource named coins, gold, crystals, diamonds, or gems.
- Use mission resources to build, upgrade, reposition, or unlock map sections where the level allows it.
- Keep a reserve whenever possible because your current resource total contributes to score.
- Do not search for a gem shop or conversion menu; no verified system of that type is documented for the game.
- The 100 Gold Medals achievement is a completion target, not a stockpile you can spend.
| Term | What it means | How to obtain it |
|---|---|---|
| Resources | Temporary mission spending power and a score factor | Time income, alien kills, wave bonuses, and special effects |
| Gold medal | Mission performance award | Reach the gold score threshold |
| Tower items | Loadout upgrades and augmentations | Unlock and upgrade through play |
| Coins, gems, diamonds, crystals | Not verified as Defense Grid 2 currencies | No reliable farming route exists |
The official Steam listing describes a tower-defense game with tower loadout items and missions, while the developer’s support material does not document a persistent currency wallet. Treat guides that promise diamonds or gems as referring to another game unless they show in-game evidence.
Repeatable loop
How to farm mission resources efficiently
The most reliable resource loop is to begin a mission with a simple defense, let the game generate income, and delay optional spending until the next wave proves it is necessary. Resources arrive over time and through alien kills and wave bonuses. Special or boss waves can provide larger bonuses, so avoid spending your entire bank before those waves unless the defense would otherwise fail.
A practical route is to replay a map whose lanes you already understand. Build only the towers needed to control the route, upgrade the strongest damage points first, and use rewind to correct an overbuild instead of permanently buying extra towers. When the last wave has entered, resource accumulation can stop, so late saving is mainly about score rather than generating unlimited income.
- Start with the minimum coverage that handles the first wave safely.
- Allow ordinary waves to fund later upgrades instead of prebuilding every possible slot.
- Protect cores: losing one reduces both immediate and later score potential.
- Keep useful towers placed and avoid buying expensive options merely to finish faster.
- On Classic Open-style missions, be cautious with old scoring and interest behavior; community reports describe quirks that are not fully explained in current official documentation.
| Goal | Recommended action | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Build a reserve | Delay nonessential upgrades | A larger bank improves the score calculation |
| Increase income safely | Kill aliens while preserving all cores | Kills and wave bonuses add resources without sacrificing medal quality |
| Farm quickly | Repeat a familiar Practice map | Practice provides generous starting and in-game resources |
| Exploit Resource Reinforcement | Target a dense group, not a lone alien | The special weapon is intended to add resources immediately |
A community discussion quotes internal data as a 100-resource base plus 25 per affected alien, but this is not presented as an official player-facing formula. Use the dependable advice instead: fire it over as many aliens as possible, and do not plan a route around an exact payout.
Recommendation
Best gold medal farming route
For a practical gold medal farm, choose a map with a route you can stabilize cheaply, then test it in Practice mode. Practice is recommended because it gives more starting resources and faster resource generation than stricter modes. Once the defense is stable, replay the same map in another available mode or difficulty when you need more medal combinations.
Grinder and Super Grinder are useful alternatives because their enemy patterns can be easier to control than a mixed campaign wave set. Fixed Resources is also useful for testing a build because it gives the budget at the beginning rather than asking you to manage income throughout the mission. These are recommendations, not guaranteed gold thresholds: map layout, difficulty, tower items, and execution still determine the result.
- Use the Prologue for its Story-mode medal, but do not expect it to provide every mode combination.
- For a first attempt, choose Easy or Practice and prioritize zero core losses.
- Create one efficient kill zone instead of covering every build slot.
- Keep the bank high near boss waves, since the score calculation benefits from resources and tower sell value.
- Check the end-of-mission breakdown and adjust only the section that cost too many resources.
| Mode | Best use | Caution |
|---|---|---|
| Practice | Safest first gold attempts and build testing | A result here may not transfer directly to harder modes |
| Grinder | Repeatable runs with a narrower enemy mix | Still requires a route that handles the mode’s pacing |
| Super Grinder | Longer endurance and strategy practice | More waves can expose weak late-game economy |
| Fixed Resources | Testing a complete opening plan | Does not teach normal income timing |
The achievement requires 100 gold medals across missions. Community guides disagree on how every platform counts repeated combinations, so the safest plan is to earn medals on distinct map, mode, and difficulty combinations rather than assuming one easy replay will count indefinitely.
Progression advice
What to spend and what not to chase
There is no persistent shop economy to optimize. Spend mission resources only when they improve survival or score. A tower that is unnecessary for the current wave is usually a worse purchase than keeping the resources in reserve. This is especially important when aiming for gold because score reflects efficiency as well as core protection.
Tower augmentations and special weapons are progression tools, not crafting materials. Resource Reinforcement is the obvious choice when the goal is to increase the current mission bank. Other special weapons may improve damage or control, but a faster kill is not automatically a better resource result if it encourages excessive spending or costs an opportunity to preserve cores.
- Prioritize a stable route over a large tower count.
- Use rewind to remove experimental spending from a failed attempt.
- Treat score boosts as score tools, not income tools.
- Do not buy or farm supposed gems, crystals, or diamonds without confirming that the item appears in your version’s actual menus.
- For achievement progress, record the map, mode, and difficulty of each gold result so you do not rely on uncertain counting behavior.
The advice to save resources and limit tower spending is supported by the documented scoring model. The suggested mode order is a farming recommendation based on mode characteristics and community testing, not an official ranking.
FAQ
Common questions
How do I get coins in Defense Grid 2?
You do not earn a verified persistent coin currency. During missions, earn temporary resources from time income, alien kills, wave bonuses, and resource-focused special weapons. Those resources reset as mission spending power rather than entering an account-wide wallet.
How do I get diamonds, gems, or crystals?
No reliable Defense Grid 2 source verifies diamonds, gems, or crystals as currencies. If a guide uses those terms, it is probably describing another game or confusing mission resources with a persistent currency.
What is the best gold farm?
For repeatable gold attempts, start with a familiar map in Practice mode, preserve every core, build only what is necessary, and finish with a large resource reserve. Grinder, Super Grinder, and Fixed Resources are useful alternatives for additional medal combinations.
Can I farm 100 gold medals on the Prologue?
The Prologue is available in Story mode, but community achievement guides identify it as having fewer available combinations than the later missions. Use it for its Story result, then earn the rest across distinct maps and modes.
Does Resource Reinforcement permanently increase my resources?
No. It affects the current mission. Fire it over a dense group of aliens for the best practical return, but do not rely on an exact payout because the player-facing formula is not officially documented.
Sources
What we checked
Official listings establish current availability and product facts. Community pages are used for mechanics and build history, then labeled separately.
- OfficialDefense Grid 2 on Steam, developer and update information
- OfficialHidden Path Entertainment Defense Grid 2 launcher and product notes
- ReferenceOfficial scoring FAQ reposted on the Defense Grid 2 Steam community
- CommunityDefense Grid 2 achievement and 100-medal route reference
- CommunityResource Reinforcement discussion and quoted configuration values