World of Warcraft Skinning Power leveling guide.

Skinning is a popular gathering profession in World of Warcraft as it provides plenty of opportunities to make gold while grinding off of mobs – you can combine the best of two worlds and double your income in some cases.

To get started in Skinning, you must first find a trainer – they can usually be located in and around the area you start. After training in Skinning for 10 copper, you need to buy a skinning knife and then you can start skinning lower level mobs for their hides.

Essentially, you will be killing mobs the same as you always have but now, after you have killed and looted them, a small skin symbol will appear over their corpse if they are skinnable. For the most part, only beasts are skinnable, with the exception of the occasional humanoid beast such as Yetis and Furlbog. If it has a fur or leathery skink you can almost guarantee it is skinnable.

One of the best ways to level up your skinning skill quickly without having to kill every mob yourself is to visit a region where quests are being performed. When people have to kill mobs for a quest (Kill 10 of these and return), they will often leave the bodies, especially if they are not skinners. You can then swoop in and skin the hides they leave behind, leveling up your skill faster without having to spend time looking for mobs to kill.

Basic Information
Use the following information as a basis for your decision whether to choose Skinning as your primary profession in World of Warcraft. Additional money making tips for this profession are available below as well.

Recommended Profession to Pair With:

• Leatherworking (for materials)
• Mining (for gold)
• Herbalism (for gold)

Skinning is generally observed as a gold making profession because of how much gold making potential there is in the ability to skin the mobs you are already killing. However, even if you are not interested in making gold, skinning is a must have for anyone with Leatherworking as a primary production profession.

Trainers

Alliance Trainers (1 - 300, Including Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, Artisan)

• Gurf – Azuremyst Isle
• Remere – The Exodar
• Jayla – Ashenvale
• Eladriel - Darnassus
• Balthus Stoneflayer - Ironforge
• Wilma Ranthal – Redridge Mountains
• Maris Granger – Stormwind
• Radnaal Maneweaver – Teldrassil

Master Trainer (300 - 375)

• Jelena Nightsky – Hellfire Peninsula

Grand Master Trainers (375 - 450)

• Trapper Jack
• Frederic Burrhus
• Tiponi Stormwhisper

Hord Trainers (1 - 300, including Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, Artisan)

• Mathreyn – Eversong Woods
• Tyn – Silvermoon City
• Dranh – Barrens
• Malux – Desolace
• Kulleg Stonehorn – Feralas
• Thuwd – Orgrimmar
• Mooranta – Thunder Bluff
• Rand Rhobart – Trisfal Glades
• Killian Hagey – Undercity

Master Trainer (300 - 375)

• Moorotu – Hellfire Peninsula

Grand Master Trainer (375 - 450)

• Roberta Jacks
• Derik Marks

Getting Started

In the early portions of the game, there are many different mobs you can skin that other people will leave laying around. Probably the best example of this is in Stranglethorn Vale where the Expedition camp gives out more than 12 different such quests. You can find tigers, panthers and raptors laying everywhere, waiting to be skinned by you.

Another valuable target when starting out is Turtles. A prime location to find and skin turtles is near Theramore. Just outside the city, across the bridge and near the coast, you will find turtles that respawn very quickly. Another good location is near Steamwheedle Port in Tanaris where turtles freely roam the coastline.

Another valuable target for early level skinners is Yetis, such as those located near Southshore near the Alterac Mountains. There is a solid cave located just north of Southshore where many Yetis are located.

In Outland

When you reach Outland in World of Warcraft, you can start making solid gold by grinding Helboars in Helfire Peninsula. These mobs are usually located alone and there are multiple quests requiring players to kill them, so you may find plenty of the mobs just waiting to be skinned as well. They are also solid grinding mobs if you are behind on XP or if you need a bit of gold to go with your skinning.

Nagrand is the Stranglethorn Vale of Outland, providing the same kind of big game hunting with 9 different hunting quests, each requiring 30 kills – there are hundreds of mobs in this region to kill and plenty of gold to be made in the process.

It is hard to give specific advice for skinners in this World of Warcraft guide. There are too many different mobs to choose from and too many locations to go. However, if you see mobs in an area that are skinnable and drop solid loot, you can bet the area is ripe for grinding.

In Northrend

When you reach Northrend ni World of Warcraft, you will once again have a whole new set of mobs to hunt down for their skins. When you first get started, there are a few good spots to farm from and make solid profits. The pit outside of Warsong Hold in the Borean Tundra dnt he boar farm near here are both great spots to look. Also, you can find worgs in the southwest corner of Howling Fjord that are good for farming on right away. Azjol Nerub in Dragonblight will be one of your best friends as well when you start skinning there.

For the most part, you will find the first three zones very useful for skinning. After that, you will want to get to Grizzly Hills and especially Sholazar Basin (where you will finish leveling to 450 later on). In general Northrend is a great place to skin, but the competition will be fiercer in some places than others, so be ready for a burst in the number of people around at any given time.

Power Leveling Skinning from 1 - 450

After training as an Apprentice skinner from your starting location’s skinning trainer and buying your skinning knife, it is time to start leveling up your early skinning skills. The early levels will obviously vary between factions and classes. Follow the below information to get going.

Level 1 - 180 (Alliance)

Skin Crag Boars and Wendigos in Dun Morogh until you reach skill Level 25. After you have reached level 25, it is best to swith can start skinning Wolves in Dun Morogh until you reach skill Level 50. After this, you will need to travel to Westfall and start focusing your skinning on Goretusks. This will last until you are level 100 in this world of warcraft skinning guide, but you should ensure you return to your skill trainer to level up your skinning ability to Journeyman as soon as your each Level 75 as there will be mobs very soon that require you to be at least journeyman.

After you reach Level 100, travel Northe to the Wetlands and focus your efforts on Crocolisks and Mottled Raptors until you reach Level 130. Next, travel to Hillsbrad Foothills and start skinning Starving Mountain Lions and Gray Bears until you reach Level 150.

At Level 150, return to a skinning trainer and level up to an Expert Skinner. Now that you are an expert skinner, remain in Hillsbrad Foothills and kill both Cave and Ferocious Yetis until you reach Level 170. To finish up Alliance only leveling, travel East to the Arathi Highlands and skin Raptors until your each Level 180.

Level 1 - 180 (Horde)

For Horde players, start in Durotar and focus on skinning Boars and Scorpids in the Southern part of the zone until you reach Level 25. When you reach Level 25, travel North in the zone and start skinning Elder Mottled Boars until you are skill Level 50.

Travel next to the Barrens and focus your energies around the Crossroads area and skin Plainstriders and Prowlers. You will remain here until you reach Level 100, but remember to return to your trainer at Level 75 to train as a Journeyman Skinner for this World of Warcraft skinning guide.

Travel to Camp Taurajo and start skinning Stormsnouts and Thunderhawks until you reach level 130 and then go to Thousand Needles and skin all of the following until you reach Level 170:

• Thunderhawks
• Lions
• Hyenas
• Wyverns

Make sure to return to your skinning trainer when you reach skill Level 150 and train to be an Expert Skinner before continuing as well.

Finally, before completing the Horde only skinning zones, skin Basilsks and Turtles in the Shimmering Flats until you reach skill Level 180.

Level 180 - 250

At skill Level 180, travel to Stranglethorn Vale; you will spend the better part of the next 75 skill levels training here, so become familiar with the area. Start by skinning the lower level Panthers, Raptors, and Tigers in the Northern part of the zone near the Expedition Camp.

When you reach level 220, start skinning Gorillas and Raptors in the southern part of the region. Make sure to stop at Level 225 and train as an Artisan Skinner and then continue skinning here until you reach skill Level 250.

Level 250 - 300

Travel to Azshara and start skinning Hippogryphs and Stags until you reach skill Level 270. Remain in this zone but travel to where the Turtles and Chimeras are located and start skinning them until your each skill Level 300. When you reach Level 300, travel to Outland.

Level 300 - 375

Train your Master Skinner ability with the Horde trainer in Thrallmar and the Alliance trainer in Honor Hold and then proceed to start skinning Helboars in Hellfire Peninsula until you reach Level 310.

Similar to Stranglethorn Vale, you will spend a lot of time in Nagrand now, skinning the beasts being hunted by Nesingway. Focus your efforts on the Clefthoofs and Talbuks in Nagrand now until you reach skill Level 350. I recommend focusing on the lower level mobs here (neutral with no aggro) as they are closer together and can get you to 335 without a problem. After 335 or 340, focus on the Talbuk Thorngrazers and Clefthoof Bulls to get you to 350.

Finally, when you reach skill Level 350, travel to Netherstorm and start skinning Netherdragons until you reach skill Level 375.

Skinning is unique in World of Warcraft because there are so many mobs you can focus your attentions on. This list makes it possible to skin the highest possible level as early as possible while also finding areas with mobs that other characters may have already killed and left the corpses of. If you can find unskinned corpses that you don’t have to kill, you can cut your leveling time down by a substantial amount very early on.

Level 375 – 450

After training your Grand Master skinning abilities, you can start farming for skins in either starting location. As mentioned above, you will find a great deal of good mob hotspots in both starting zones. If you are Horde though, it is almost required to go to Borean Tundra and sit outside Warsong Hold to get your skins from the huge number of mobs there. Alliance characters will have a better time of things in Howling Fjord on those aforementioned Worgs.

You should be able to get to skill level 400 in the starting zones before heading off to Dragonblight. In Dragonblight, you will find hundreds of Azjol Nerub spider mobs as well as the occasional drake and whelp to skin. In this zone, you should be able to reach level 415 or 420 before heading off to Grizzly Hills, another great location to skin.

Grizzly Hills is a bit of a shame because it should be one of the best locations to skin, but most people are already at leve 420 or so when they get here and Sholazar Basin is even better for those final few levels, so get what you need here to reach Level 425 and then head to Sholazar Basin where you will find everything from Rhinos to Crocolisks ready to be skinned. If you get stalled here (the last five or so levels can be tough in this zone), head to Stormpeaks and skin a few of the mobs here to max out your skills to 450.