- Author: Luxrah
- Date: March 9, 2024
- Updated: March 9, 2024
- Expansion: WoW Classic
Season of Discovery has added a few recipes for the Leatherworking profession, but otherwise the skill remains largely unchanged from Vanilla or Classic WoW. The main difference is the lower level caps for the first two phases. In Phase 2, your Leatherworking skill will max out at 225 instead of 300.
For a look at the best items you can craft at 225 Leatherworking skill, check out our Season of Discovery Leatherworking Overview. This guide will focus on how to level your Leatherworking to get to that point.
How to Level Leatherworking in Season of Discovery
As the name suggests, the Leatherworking profession makes work of leather! This leather will be found on beasts all across Azeroth and can be collected using the Skinning skill. You’ll also need hides and cloth to make specific recipes, but those will all be covered more below. Although the name does only mention leather, high level leatherworkers can also make mail armor for Shaman and Hunter characters.
Trainer Locations
Finding a trainer for Leatherworking is fairly straightforward; you won’t even need to leave a major city to train until Phase 3. For convenience, Alliance players should train in Darnassus, while Horde players should train in Thunder Bluff. Here’s where you can find trainers for each level:
- Apprentice (1-75) – Like most other professions, simply ask a guard in any major city where you can find the Leatherworking Trainer.
- Alliance should head to Stormwind, Ironforge, or Darnassus.
- Horde can go to Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, or Undercity.
- Journeyman (75-150) – Keep training in any major city like you did for Apprentice Blacksmithing.
- Expert (150-225) – Now you’ll need to head to a specific city to continue training.
Tips and Tricks
There are a few things you should know when considering Leatherworking. You’ll want to keep in mind what profession you’ll pair with it, while also considering what specialization to choose later on. Here’s what you need to know:
Paired Profession
You certainly can pick any profession to pair, but your best choice is undoubtedly Skinning. Leatherworking requires literally thousands of leather to reach 225, so you’ll probably want to have the skill that allows you to gather them (unless you’re filthy rich!) It is often helpful to level Leatherworking while you’re leveling Skinning so that you have a good idea of how far you need to go.
Specialization
In Phase 3 you’ll be able to unlock your choice of Leatherworking specializations: Dragonscale, Elemental, or Tribal. Each choice has a similar set of core recipes, but also allows for the creation of several unique recipes to that specialization. You won’t be able to do this yet, however.
Total Materials You’ll Need
Although some new recipes have been added for Leatherworking in Season of Discovery, they are more involved to make and require more expensive materials, so we’ll be sticking with Vanilla recipes for leveling. All of the recipes used in this guide are learned from Leatherworking Trainers, so you will not need to purchase any patterns from vendors or the Auction House to reach 225.
The total amount of materials that you’ll end up needing will ultimately vary based on your luck, but this should serve as a good starting point for what you’ll need. There are a couple of odd things you’ll need, mainly iron buckles and bolts of silk cloth. Everything else is fairly standard and comes from a vendor or is skinned off beasts. Here’s what you should be prepared to collect:
- Light Leather – x290
- Heavy Leather – x385
- Thick Leather – x100
- Light Hide – x15
- Medium Hide – x20
- Heavy Hide – x10
- Salt – x65
- Coarse Thread – x130
- Fine Thread – x75
- Silken Thread – x50
- Gray Dye – x15
- Black Dye – x25
- Iron Buckle – x10
- Bolt of Silk Cloth – x20
1-75: Apprentice Leatherworking
Mats Required:
- Light Leather – x110
- Light Hide – x15
- Salt – x15
- Coarse Thread – x40
To get started, learn the Apprentice Leatherworking skill from any Leatherworking Trainer.
1-45: Light Armor Kit x50
For your very first recipe, you’ll make an iconic craft of the Leatherworking profession: armor kits! You’ll want to make a grand total of around 50, or enough to get you up to 45 Leatherworking.
45-55: Cured Light Hide x15
- 1x Light Hide
- 1x Salt
Now that you’ve hit 45, you’re going to feel like a true leatherworker on this next recipe. You’ll need to cure 15 Light Hides, using Salt to do the trick.
55-75: Embossed Leather Gloves x20
- 3x Light Leather
- 2x Coarse Thread
It is now time to make your first piece of armor! You can make some nice and comfy gloves, 20 of them should be enough.
75-150: Journeyman Leatherworking
Mats Required:
- Light Leather – x180
- Coarse Thread – x90
- Medium Hide – x20
- Salt – x20
- Fine Leather Belt* – x15
- Cured Medium Hide* – x15
- Fine Thread – x30
- Gray Dye – x15
* = These are crafted during this guide from other materials, but included in this list for convenience.
Be sure to train Journeyman Leatherworking from any Leatherworking Trainer before you continue.
75-100: Embossed Leather Gloves x30
- 3x Light Leather
- 2x Coarse Thread
Now that you’re at 75 Leatherworking, you can keep making those warm gloves! You’ll need to make a lot, probably 30 more to reach 100 Leatherworking. Just think of how happy you’ll make people with your nice and warm, hand-stitched gloves!
100-120: Cured Medium Hide x20
- 1x Medium Hide
- 1x Salt
Okay, enough with the gloves. It is time to cure some more hides! This time you’ll cure Medium Hides. Be sure to save these as you’ll need them in a few levels!
120-135: Fine Leather Belt x15
- 6x Light Leather
- 2x Coarse Thread
Now you’re finally going to make another piece of armor! This time you’ll make some Fine Leather Belts. Once you’ve got 15 nice and fine belts, don’t forget to save them because you’ll actually turn them into even fancier belts with the next recipe!
The Fine Leather Belt does go to green at about 125. This can make getting your Leatherworking to 135 slightly more difficult than one might expect. It can also increase the amount of materials you will need to get there. If you’d like an alternative, you can get the pattern for the Light Leather Pants at the same trainer as the Fine Leather Belt. If you do this, you will need to adjust your material amounts accordingly, as the pants require 10 Light Leather, 1 Cured Light Hide and 1 Fine Thread each to craft.
135-150: Dark Leather Belt x15
- 1x Fine Leather Belt
- 1x Cured Medium Hide
- 2x Fine Thread
- 1x Gray Dye
Are you ready for some leatherworking magic? Turn your fine leather belts into Dark Leather Belts! All you need to do is add a Cured Medium Hide, some Gray Dye, and some more Fine Thread!
If you used the alternative recipe above, you will not have any Fine Leather Belts to make the Dark Leather Belt! In this case, your next best option, which may even be a better one, are the Hillman’s Shoulders. Remember that you will again need to adjust your materials budget, as the shoulders require 4 Medium Leather, 1 Cured Medium Hide and 1 Fine Thread each.
150-225: Expert Leatherworking
Mats Required:
- Heavy Hide – x10
- Salt – x30
- Heavy Leather – x385
- Fine Thread – x45
- Cured Heavy Hide* – x10
- Silken Thread – x50
- Black Dye – x25
- Iron Buckle – x10
- Bolt of Silk Cloth – x20
- Thick Leather – x100
* = These are crafted during this guide from other materials, but included in this list for convenience.
To continue on from 150, you’ll need to train Expert Leatherworking, which can only be learned from trainers in Darnassus and Thunder Bluff.
150-160: Cured Heavy Hide x10
- 1x Heavy Hide
- 3x Salt
Now that you’re an Expert in Leatherworking, you get to up the ante when it comes to curing hides. Now that you can cure Heavy Hides, you’ll need a whopping 3 Salt for each cure! Altogether you’ll want to cure 10 Heavy Hides, and like before, save them for later!
160-180: Heavy Armor Kit x25
- 5x Heavy Leather
- 1x Fine Thread
Up next are some Heavy Armor Kits. These are actually very useful, so use them on your own armor and give them to allies! Make enough of them to get to 180 Leatherworking.
180-190: Barbaric Shoulders x10
- 8x Heavy Leather
- 1x Cured Heavy Hide
- 2x Fine Thread
Now that you’re 180 in Leatherworking, take your Cured Heavy Hides from earlier to make some Barbaric Shoulders. These are some nice looking shoulderpads, and are sure to fetch a pretty penny on the Auction House. You’ll need to make 10 of them for our purposes.
190-195: Dusky Bracers x5
- 16x Heavy Leather
- 2x Silken Thread
- 1x Black Dye
The next recipe calls for some Dusky Bracers. If you’re in a dark room, you might not even be able to see them! That’s because you’ll need some black dye to give these bad boys a sneaky dark appeal. 5 of these bracers should do the trick.
195-205: Dusky Belt x10
- 10x Heavy Leather
- 2x Bolt of Silk Cloth
- 2x Black Dye
- 1x Iron Buckle
Moving on from the bracers, you should now make some Dusky Belts to match! This recipe does require some Iron Buckles, which can be made with the Blacksmithing skill or purchased on the Auction House. Likewise, Bolt of Silk Cloth can be made by Tailoring or bought from the AH. Either way, find 10 of them to make 10 belts.
205-225: Nightscape Headband / Tunic x20
- 5x Thick Leather
- 2x Silken Thread
At 205 Leatherworking, you can craft the iconic Nightscape Headband! These often sell well on the Auction House, serving as a great mid-level helmet. Alternatively, you can also craft the tunic if you want some variation. Make enough of them to reach 225 and cap your skill for Phase 2.
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