Leatherworking Guide

Leatherworking Leveling Guide – Powerleveling Leather Working From 1 to 450

There are a few things you should know about leveling this profession. Most of a Leather-workers items are created by a mix of three different components; leather, hides or scales and thread bought from trade-skill vendors. In general, leather is obtained by skinning any animal of the appropriate level, while hides and scales are rare loot from skinning unique types of animals. On top of this, grand master leather working uses the rare material Arctic Fur which can appear as random loot from any Northrend skinning use.

Due to this reliance on skinned materials Leatherworking is traditionally accompanied by skinning but it is perfectly feasible to level it with materials bought from the Auction House or provided by an alt.

The most important thing to know when leveling a profession is that creating an item that is listed as orange will always yield a skill increase, a yellow listed item will still have a high chance of giving you skill and a green listed item will have a low chance with perhaps only one in three crafts granting you an increase to your abilities. Grey skills will grant no skill increase at all.

Obviously when leveling a profession you will want to increase it in the most efficient means possible; this generally means sticking to orange listed recipes that use the least materials until they have progressed around 10 points into yellow. It is generally assumed that when leveling a profession, most of the basic materials you use will come in stacks of 20. By paying a little attention to these criteria the following guide becomes the most efficient way of leveling Leatherworking from 1 to 450.

Apprentice Leatherworking

Learn your initial Leatherworking skill from any of the trainers located in the main cities.

1-30: 30 Light Armour Kit = 1 Light Leather each.

30 Light Leather

These armour kits are pretty much useless and can be sold to a vendor after you make them.

30-35: 5 Handstitched Leather Cloak = 2 Light Leather, 1 Coarse Thread each.

10 Light Leather
5 Coarse Thread

Again this item has almost zero demand so should just be sold to a vendor.

35-65: 40 Cured Light Hide = 1 Light Hide, 1 Salt each.

40 Light Hide
40 Salt

Cured Light Hide is used in later recipes so keep each you make.

Journeyman Leatherworking

Increases your maximum Leatherworking skill to 150

65-85: 20 Embossed Leather Gloves = 3 Light Leather, 2 Coarse Thread each.

60 Light Leather
40 Coarse Thread

Again these gloves are just vendor junk; sell them as before.

85-105: 20 Embossed Leather Pants = 1 Cured Light Hide, 6 Light Leather, 2 Coarse Thread each.

120 Light Leather
40 Coarse Thread

Your first useful recipe; since these items are of uncommon quality you can sell them on the Auction House to enchanters for disenchanting. You will use up half of your Cured Light Hide stock here. If you can get the recipe for Fine Leather Gloves cheaply you can reduce the leather requirement of this stage by 40 but will have to pay for the recipe off the Auction House which may make it a more expensive path to take.

105-115: 10 Cured Medium Hide = 1 Medium Hide, 1 Salt each.

10 Medium Hide
10 Salt

Keep each one you make for use later.

115-125: 10 Dark Leather Boots = 4 Medium Leather, 2 Fine Thread, 1 Grey Dye each.

40 Medium Leather
20 Fine Thread
10 Grey Dye

125-135: 10 Dark Leather Cloak = 8 Medium Leather, 1 Fine Thread, 1 Grey Dye each.

80 Medium Leather
10 Fine Thread
10 Grey Dye

Both these Dark Leather items are useless so sell them appropriately.

135-145: 10 Toughened Leather Armor = 10 Medium Leather, 2 Cured Light Hide, 2 Fine Thread each.

100 Medium Leather
20 Fine Thread

This stage will utilize the last of your Cured Light hides; sell the Toughened Leather Armor to a vendor as before.

Expert Leatherworking

Increases your maximum Leatherworking skill to 225. You must be level 20 to learn this.

145-155: 10 Hillmans Shoulder = 1 Cured Medium Hide, 4 Medium Leather, 1 Fine Thread each.

40 Medium Leather
10 Fine Thread

Not only are Hillmans Shoulder ideal to sell to enchanters for disenchanting but they are also one of the first pieces of shoulder armour available to many players so can sell well for their level; put them on the auction house.

155-170: 30 Cured Heavy Hide = 1 Heavy Hide, 3 Salt

30 Heavy Hide
90 Salt

You will need all 30 of these later and with this quantity made it should be relatively easy to turn the recipe grey at 170 skill.

170-180: 10 Guardian Pants = 12 Heavy Leather, 2 Bolt of Silk Cloth, 2 Fine Thread each.

120 Heavy Leather
20 Bolt of Silk Cloth
20 Fine Thread

If there are no Bolts of Silk Cloth on the Auction House they can be made from 4 Silk Cloth each by a tailor. Sell the items made on the Auction House for purchase by Enchanters.

180-190: 10 Barbaric Shoulders = 8 Heavy Leather, 1 Cured Heavy Hide, 2 Fine Thread each.

80 Heavy Leather
20 Fine Thread

A third of your Cured Heavy Hide stock gets used here, sell all you make on the Auction House for disenchanting.

190-210: 20 Guardian Glove = 4 Heavy Leather, 1 Cured Heavy Hide, 1 Silken Thread each.

80 Heavy Leather
20 Silken Thread

A nice cheap set of skill points, this will use up the last of your hide stocks. Sell each one you make to a vendor.

Artisan Leatherworking

Increases your maximum Leatherworking skill to 300. You must be level 35 to learn this.

At skill 200 and level 40 you can learn your specialisation (see specialization section below)

210-230: 20 Nightscape Headband = 5 Thick Leather, 2 Silken Thread each.

100 Thick Leather
40 Silken Thread

Nightscape Headbands can sell fairly well to twinks and enchanters so should be put up on the Auction House. You may fall short by a skill point or two and require a few more materials but these are cheap to make.

230-250: 20 Nightscape Pants = 14 Thick Leather, 4 Silken Thread each.

280 Thick Leather
80 Silken Thread

This recipe requires a lot of leather so if you want you can continue making Nightscape Headbands for a few more skill points before starting on these. As with all other uncommon items, place these on the Auction House for disenchanting.

250-260: 16 Rugged Armour Kit = 5 Rugged Leather

80 Rugged Leather

Unless you are very unlucky you should hit 260 skill on these without any problems; save or buy more leather as you require.

260-280: 20 Wicked Leather Gauntlets = 8 Rugged Leather, 1 Black Dye, 1 Rune Thread

160 Rugged Leather
20 Black Dye
20 Rune Thread

Sell for disenchanting as before; the recipe for these is purchased in Western Plaguelands for the Alliance and in the Stockades of Tirisfal Glades for the Horde. You may be able to purchase the pattern off the Auction House if you are feeling lazy.

280-285: 5 Wicked Leather Bracers = 8 Rugged Leather, 1 Black Dye, 1 Rune Thread

40 Rugged Leather
5 Black Dye
5 Rune Thread

285-300: 15 Wicked Leather Headband = 12 Rugged Leather, 1 Black Dye, 1 Rune Thread

180 Rugged Leather
15 Black Dye
15 Rune Thread

These two recipes will take you up to your skill limit; as before, sell the goods on the Auction House for disenchanting.

Master Leatherworking

Proceed into Outland and learn Master Leatherworking from trainers in Thrallmar or Honor Hold which will increase your maximum skill limit to 375. You must be level 50 to train this.

300-325: 35 Knothide Armor Kit = 4 Knothide Leather each.

140 Knothide Leather

As with previous armour kits, just sell these to a vendor.

325-330: 5 Thick Draenic Boots = 10 Knothide Leather, 3 Rune Thread each.

50 Knothide Leather
15 Rune Thread

330-350: 25 Thick Draenic Vest = 14 Knothide Leather, 3 Rune Thread each.

350 Knothide Leather
75 Rune Thread

You may need to make a couple more than listed depending on your luck but by following this path you can get to Northrend recipes in no time. Sell all uncommon items on the Auction house for disenchanting before moving to Northrend at 350 skill.

Grand Master Leatherworking

Grand Master trainers are located in Dalaran, Warsong Hold and Valiance Keep. You must be level 65 to train Grand Master Leatherworking and it will increase your skill cap to 450.

350-375: 25 Borean Armor Kit = 4 Borean Leather each.

100 Borean Leather

Unlike previous armor kits you may be able to sell a few of these on the Auction House but it is unlikely; your best option is still to vendor them.

375-390: 15 Arctic Gloves = 10 Borean Leather each.

150 Borean Leather

Sell these on the Auction House again for disenchanting.

390-405: 300-400 Heavy Borean Leather = 6 Borean Leather each.

1800-2400 Borean Leather

You will require A LOT of Heavy Borean Leather to fully level Leatherworking so make sure to make most of it now while you still get skill from it; this is where the real expense of levelling the profession lies.

405-420: 20 Dark X Leggings/Chestpiece = 4-6 Heavy Borean Leather, 4-5 Crystallised water orshadow each

80-120 Heavy Borean Leather
80-100 Crystallised water or shadow

While you can level this stage by making leg armor kits it is not feasible to do this without skinning. The blue items made by the “Dark” recipes are your next best bet. Keep an eye on the auction house for gaps in the market and make a good spread of items for sale to other players

420-440: 25 PvP Armor Items = 8-12 Heavy Borean Leather, 1 Eternal Air or Water

200-300 Heavy Borean Leather
25 Eternal Air or Water

This is where you truly need to keep an eye on the Auction house to see what is selling; there are many players out there interested in buying full sets of their PvP armour as it makes a nice starting baseline of equipment for the endgame so if you can make sets of this armour on commission from other players it would be ideal. By selling these items you can recoup much of the cost of making all the Heavy Borean Leather needed. The recipes for these items must be bought in Dalaran.

After 440 there is no real rush to get to 450 unless you get a recipe from raiding. Many of the new epic level recipes sell very well, although the mats are fairly prohibitive. If you’re into speculative crafting, it might be something you will want to experiment with, if not, enjoy the cheap leg armors and fur linings!

Total Materials

If you follow this path exactly the following should be the amount of materials required to raise your skill to the point of being capable of producing all of the professions items.

220 Light Leather
260 Medium Leather
280 Heavy Leather
380 Thick Leather
460 Rugged Leather
540 Knothide Leather
2050-2650 Borean Leather
40 Light Hide
10 Medium Hide
30 Heavy Hide
85 Coarse Thread
100 Fine Thread
140 Silken Thread
130 Rune Thread
140 Salt
20 Bolt of Silk Cloth
20 Grey Dye
40 Black Dye
80-100 Crystallised Water or Shadow
25 Eternal Air or Water

Specializations

At skill level 200 and level 40 you can specialise your Leatherworking profession in one of three areas, Dragonscale, Elemental or Tribal Leatherworking. Currently there is no benefit to doing this in the endgame so it is best to wait for new content before choosing your specialisation.
Should you wish to pick up a specialization anyway, they are obtained in the following methods.

Dragon Scale Leatherworking

You must create and hand in 2 Tough Scorpid Breastplates, 2 Tough Scorpid Gloves and 10 Worn Dragonscales to either Thorkaf Dragoneye in the Badlands for Horde characters or Peter Galen in Azhara for the Alliance. The recipes needed are drops off Wastewander mobs in Tanaris.

Elemental Leatherworking

You must obtain and hand in 2 Heart of Fire, 2 Core of Earth, 2 Globe of Water and 2 Breath of Wind to Brum Winterhoof in the Arathi Highlands for Horde characters and to Sarah Tanner in Searing Gorge for the Alliance.

Tribal Leatherworking

This is the most long winded chain for learning a specialisation and requires you to learn the Wild Leather patterns through a series of quests for Pratt McGrubben in Feathermoon Stronghold for the Alliance and Jangdor Swiftstrider in Camp Mojache for the Horde, both in Feralas.
Once you have obtained all the patterns you are required to make a Wild Leather Vest and Wild Leather Helmet and turn them in to Caryssia Moonhunter in Feralas for the Alliance and Se’Jib in Stranglethorn Vale for the Horde. Once done you will learn the specialization.

Changing Specializations

If you are unhappy with your specialization you can change it by visiting your specialization trainer and paying a 100 gold fee to unlearn it; you can then visit a house near Steamwheedle port in Tanaris and read the book “Soothsaying for Dummies” which will enable you to select a new specialization. Obviously this is the simplest way of obtaining many of the specializations as it is much easier to learn Elemental Leatherworking and then pay 100 gold to change specialization instead of having to do a long winded quest chain or farm for patterns.