Skin WoW
So you want to learn skinning? The sound is sure to be great, and you’ll be running around cleaning up your own mess. Then why not! And I totally agree.
But before you start running around to skin any furry little crowd you see on sight, read this one first, to give you an idea of how to level up skinning even faster! Because the only thing better than leveling up your skinning, is leveling it up faster.
where to start
The main thing you need to know here is, trainers, items (bags) and leather types. Let’s cover the basics.
Trainers:
They are everywhere, for both the Alliance and the Horde. So where do you find them? Here’s a list of the starting locations for both the Alliance and Horde and their respective skinning trainers.
Ranks you can learn from these trainers:
(Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, Craftsman)
NB: These are all the skinners you should find in the original World of Warcraft game.
Alliance Skinning Trainers
o NightElf (m), Radnaal Maneweaver – Northwest of Ban’ethil Hollow – Teldrassil
o NightElf (f), Eladriel – Terrace of the Craftsmen – Darnassus
or Human (f), Helene Peltskinner – Goldshire – Elwynn Forest
or Human (f), Maris Granger – Old City – Stormwind
o Dwarf (m), Balthus Stoneflayer – The Great Forge – Ironforge
or Human (f), Wilma Ranthal – Stone Watcher Falls – Redridge Mountains
o NightElf (f), Jayla – Silverwind Haven – Ashenvale
World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade (solo)
o Furblog, Gurf – Seedhold – Azuremyst Isle
o Draenei (f), Remere – Trader Tier – The Exodar
Horde Skinning Trainers
o Undead (m), Rand Rhobart – Southeast of Brill – Tirisfal Glades
o Undead (m), Killian Hagey – Rogue’s Quarter – Undercity
o Tauren (m), Yonn Deepcut – Bloodhoof Village – Mulgore
o Tauren (f), Mooranta – Mid-elevation – Thunder Bluff
or Orc (m), Thuwd – The Drag – Orgrimmar
o Tauren (m), Dranh – Camp Taurajo – The Barrens
o Troll (m), Malux – Shadowprey Village – Desolace
or Tauren (m), Kulleg Stonehorn – Mojache Camp – Feralas
World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade (solo)
o BloodElf (m), Mathreyn (until official only) – Silvermoon West Entrance – Eversong Woods
or BloodElf (f), Tyn – alk of Elders – Silvermoon
Tools (articles):
Good, now you have learned your skinning ability and you are ready to skin some mobs. Wait, wait, wait a second. You need some tools. or in the terms of the game, items.
o (Required) Skinning Knife
o (Suggested, but optional) Leather work bag such as the ‘Bag of Many Furs’
You can escape without a skinning knife by attacking with an axe, knife, or sword. But only up to a certain level, and this only frees up 1 bag slot. And YES, you MUST bring the skinning knife with you.
That’s why the ‘Bag of Many Skins’ is so cool, it can be used to store all your leather and skinning knife, and it’s BIG. Another big plus. Definitely worth the gold.
Leather types:
I saw this somewhere, and I thought it was very interesting. A list of all the leather types available in the original World of Warcraft and at what level you can expect to see them. In the expansions, there is only 1 type of skinnable leather from mobs.
o Ruined Leather Remains – expected mob level: 1-16
o Light Leather – expected mob level: 1-27
o Light Hide – expected mob level: 10-27
o Medium leather – expected mob level: 15-36
o Medium skin – expected mob level: 15-36
o Heavy Leather – expected mob level: 25-46
o Heavy skin: expected mob level: 25-46
o Thick Leather: expected mob level: 35-63
o Thick skin: expected mob level: 40-59
o Tough Leather – expected mob level: 43-63
o Tough Skin – expected mob level: 47-63
Note: You can enhance your leather with Leather Working. Sometimes I would ask a guild or friend to do this for me in exchange for some leather goods.
Let’s skin!
Well, we have the skill, the tools, we learned a little about how to skin leather. So now we have to know where to start. Well, if you’re doing this with a new toon, then pretty much the first place you can kill a mob, you can skin a mob. But here is a list of suggested areas that can really help speed up this process.
Level your skinning from 1 to 25
Horde
o Undead – Hounds around Brill
o Orcs and Trolls: Speckled and Scorpid Boars around Sen’Jin Village
o Tauren: Marauders and Striders of Bloodhoof Village
alliance
o Humans – Boards around Goldshire
o Gnomes and Dwarves – Crag Boars and Wendigo’s South of Kharanos
o Night Elves: Night Sabers and Bugs Around Dolanaar
Level your skinning from 25 to 50
Horde
o Undead: Moonrage wargs and wolverines around Silverpine
o Orcs and Trolls: Boars, Scorpids, Crocolisks, and Birds of Prey in Orgrimmar
o Tauren – Marauders and prairie wolves around Thunderbluff
alliance
o Human: Marauders and Bears in the Eastvale Logging Camp
o Gnomes and Dwarves – Wolves around Brenwall Village
o Night Elves – Moonstalkers and Bears around Auberdine
Level your skinning from 50 to 100Horde
o Most Horde races: Plainstriders, Raptors and Prowlers in Crossroads
alliance
o Humans – Bloodfangs all over Sentinel Hill
o Gnomes and Dwarves – Bears and Crocolisks around Thelsamar
o Night Elves – Moonstalkers and Bears north of Auberdine
Level your skinning from 100 to 130
Horde
o Most Horde races: Stormsnouts and Thunderhawks around Camp Taurajo
alliance
o Most Alliance races: crocolisks and birds of prey around Bluegill Marsh and Whelgar’s Excavation Site
o Alternative: puppies and wild boars in Lakeshire
Level your Skinning from 130-150
Alliance and Horde have 3 areas to level up now
o Bears and Mountain Lions around Hillsbrad Foothills
o Ravagers and Wolves in Duskwood
o Bears, Stags, and Ghostly Paws in Ashenvale
Level your skinning from 150 to 170
Alliance and Horde
o Yeti Cave in the Hillsbrad Fields
o Mountain lions in the “Daggers”
NB: These are the pieces of land between Hillsbrad and the Alterac Mountains, one is called Corrans Dagger, hence the nickname
o Hyenas, Lions, Wyverns and Thunderhawks in Thousand Needles
o Bears, Stags, and Ghostly Paws in Ashenvale
Level your skinning from 170 to 180
Alliance and Horde
o Raptors in the Arathi Highlands
o Turtles and Basilisks at The Shimmering Flats
Level your skinning from 180 to 220
Alliance and Horde
o Raptors, panthers and tigers around Nessingwarys Camp in Stranglethorn Vale
NB: You could actually get your skinning level up to 300 in and around STV, as mobs go from level 34 to level 50
o Birds of prey and crocodiles in Dustwallow Marsh
o Thunder Lizards, Kodos, Basilisks, Scorpids, and Hyenas in Desolace
o Cubs in the Swamp of Sorrows
Level your Skinning from 220-250
Alliance and Horde
o Raptors and gorillas around the Gurabashi Arena
o Panthers, Jaguars and Crocodiles in Pantano de las Penas
o Dragonkin, Coyotes, and Ridge Stalkers/Huntresses in the Badlands
o Wolves around Feathermoon Stronghold in Feralas
Level your skinning from 250 to 275
Alliance and Horde
or Snickerfangs and Boars in the North Blasted Lands
or Silvermanees and Gryphons in The Hinterlands
o Deer and Hippogriffs in Azshara
o Hippogriffs, Apes, Bears, Wolves, Screechers and Yetis in Feralas
Level your skinning from 275 to 300
Alliance and Horde, many options here, test your skills in:
o Jagueros and Gorillas on Jaguero Island
NB: large island east of Booty Bay where Princess Poobah is located
o Yetis, chimeras and bears in Winterspring
o Bears in the Western Plaguelands
o Plaguehounds and Plaguebats in Eastern Plaguelands
o Raventusk Village Turtles in The Hinterlands
o Turtles and Chimeras in Azshara
o Dragonkin, Wargs, and Scorpids in the Burning Steppes
Okay, I said I’d take you up to level 450, right? Well, here you have the Burning Crusade Skinning Guide. From now on, it is the same for both factions.
Level your Skinning from 300-330
o Hellboards and Ravagers around Hellfire Peninsula
Level your Skinning from 330-350
o Talbuk and clefthoof all over Nagrand
NB: It’s possible to continue to skin 375 here unless you want a change of scenery.
Level your Skinning from 350-375
o Nether Drakes around Stormspire in Netherstorm
o Nether Drakes around the Netherwing Fields in Shadowmoon Valley
o Raptors and Wind Serpents around Blades Edge Mountains
And here is my World of Warcraft Skinning guide for Wrath of the Lich King.
Level your skinning from 375 to 405
o Shoveltusks around the Howling Fjord
Level your skinning from 375 to 405
o Mammoths around the Borean Tundra
NB: Usually there are also piles of dead lying around here.
Level your skinning from 405 to 430
o Infected deer, grizzly bears, wolves, and everything else in Grizzly Hills
Level your Skinning from 430-450
o Giraffes, Mangal Crocolisks, Gorillas and just about anything in the Sholazar Basin
OK, and those are some of the best places to level up the skinning profession from 1 to 450 pretty quickly. I think the fastest I’ve seen someone do this is about 9 hours. Feel free to tell me your score! And if you can prove it, I’ll do a special article about your techniques!
MS in Anatomy
I remembered I was going to mention this, and since WotLK, there are no longer skill level versus character level restrictions. So if you want to twink @19, you can still cunningly level your skin up to 450!
o (75-149) Master of Anatomy Rank 1: Increases Critical Strike by 3
o (150-224) Master of Anatomy Rank 2: Increases Critical Strike by 6
o (225-229) Master of Anatomy Rank 3: Increases Critical Strike by 9
o (300-374) Master of Anatomy Rank 4: Increases Critical Strike by 12
o (375-449) Master of Anatomy Rank 5: Increases Critical Strike by 20
o (450+) Master of Anatomy Rank 6: Increases Critical Strike by 32
Well that’s it for now, I hope this guide has been helpful to you and your skinning efforts in World of Warcraft.
