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 Leatherworking (Profession)
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| Ingredients • Quests • Patterns • Trainers • Equipment |
Leatherworking is one of the primary professions. Your character can only have 2 primary professions at any time.
The leatherworking profession allows players to utilize the leather gathered through the skinning profession to create a variety of items, including cloaks, leather and mail armors, armor kits, quivers, and ammo pouches. The armor produced by leatherworking is chiefly of use to the leather and mail wearing classes: the druid, hunter, shaman, and rogue.
While they can create a variety of items, they strangely cannot repair these items when damaged, and must still use the services of a repair vendor.
At later levels, players can choose from one of three specializations within the leatherworking profession to create certain higher quality items. These three specializations are: Dragonscale Leatherworking, Elemental Leatherworking, or Tribal Leatherworking. Each specialization grants the crafter the ability to create and equip special soulbound armor sets at higher levels in The Burning Crusade.
Getting started
- Getting started with leatherworking
- Places to farm
Requirements
Unlike other professions, such as blacksmithing, which requires both a purchased item and a world location for creation of items, leatherworkers do not require any special equipment or locations to process their materials into finished products. As long as the leatherworker has all of the required materials for the creation of an item, it can be made anywhere in the world at any time.
There is an exception to this in the case of the curing component, [Refined Deeprock Salt]. This can only be made by leatherworkers with 250 Skill or higher who have acquired a [Salt Shaker] from an engineer.
Note that since the 
Burning Crusade, the items crafted with Refined Deeprock Salt are not much in demand anymore and you can level without the salt shaker.
Suggested 2nd profession
Since leatherworking is almost exclusively dependent upon materials gathered from skinning creatures around the world, skinning is the most recommended profession to pair with it. Attempting to level leatherworking to 450 exclusively through purchasing leather through the Auction House is not recommended on some servers, as some materials are not usually available in great quantity and it can be prohibitively expensive. That is not to say it is impossible, however, especially if an alternate character is used to farm leather for your leatherworker. If you do choose to level through the AH, be prepared to spend a few thousand gold doing it. Also, leatherworking is unique in a few ways that makes skinning almost invaluable that most people don't see:
- Endgame recipes are bought in Dalaran for skins and furs. Unlike jewelcrafters, for example, that have to do dailies to earn a specific currency for their recipes, we can literally farm patterns.
- Skins aren't nodes. Even a maxed level miner or herbalist still picks up a node they pass by when in Elwynn and sells the materials. Few people will kill and skin low-level mobs when they could farm higher level mobs with a greater yield. Low-level leatherworkers without skinning can find themselves in a standstill when no leathers are up for sale.
- This can also turn into a profit for you if you do farm these leathers as they are top dollar due to rarity.
Suggested classes
Training in leatherworking
There are leatherworking trainers in most of the capital cities that can teach you the basic leatherworking profession. As with most of the professions in the game, there are several ranks of leatherworking, each trainable upon acquiring an appropriate skill and class level, and are trained from the next higher up trainer.
| Rank | Skill Levels | Required Level | Required Skill | Cost | Honored Cost | Exalted Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apprentice | 1-75 | 5 | None | 10 |
9 |
8
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| Journeyman | 75-150 | 10 | 50 | 5 |
4 50 |
4
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| Expert | 150-225 | 20 | 125 | 50 |
45 |
40
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| Artisan | 225-300 | 35 | 200 | 5 |
4 50 |
4
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| Master
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300-375 | 50 | 275 | 10 |
9 |
8
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Grand Master 
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375-450 | 65 | 350 | 35 |
31 50 |
28
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- See leatherworking trainers for trainer names and locations.
Faction recipes
Some recipes are only learnable after achieving a certain reputation level with a particular faction. These are listed at the faction recipes entry.
Leather conversions
Leatherworkers are also able to take lower quality leather materials gathered through skinning and convert them into higher quality items. As the quality increases, for example, from light to medium, the number of lower quality materials required to make one higher quality material increases. The table below shows the conversions between all types of leather. Conversions taught by trainers are shown in bold green text. (The fractions are for comparison only. Leather cannot be split into lower grades.)
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To create [Refined Deeprock Salt] for curing [Rugged Hide], you'll need an Engineering-made [Salt Shaker]. This item requires a skill of 250 in leatherworking to use, and now has a short cooldown timer similar to an armor kit.
About relative leatherworking skill levels
When you open the leatherworking window or go to a trainer, you'll notice that the items in the list are colorized. The color used for the name of the item to be made has the following meanings:
- Red: You're not yet able to learn to make this item (you'll only see this on pattern items).
- Orange: You will always gain a skill point making the item (unless you're already at the maximum).
- Yellow: You will probably gain a skill point making the item, but might not.
- Green: You will most likely not gain a skill point making an item, but you could. (unlikely)
- Gray: You won't gain any skill points making an item. In most cases, you'll probably just want to ignore gray skills completely (though don't forget that you can always use them as needed; for example, to turn leather scraps into light leather...)
As your leatherworking skill level increases (by making items), patterns will go from Red to Orange, Orange to Yellow, Yellow to Green, and Green to Gray. This means you must keep learning new leatherworking patterns to continue advancing in skill.
Specialized leatherworking
In Burning Crusade you have the option to specialize your leatherworking. Each specialization will give access to a specific set of patterns.
Gaining a specialization
When you reach 225 skill and level 40, you unlock a set of quests. These quests allow you to specialize in various types of armor, which you can make for yourself only (all BoP). Refer to the table below for a list of quest givers and their locations.
Take note that each specialization allows you to produce only a handful of different items. These selections are arranged in a progression of better items for a few gear slots, so specialization amounts to being able to produce a nice partial set of BoP gear for yourself. You should pick the one that suits your class and play style.
Also note that none of the specializations is particularly well suited to a hunter; none produce mail armor with a major agility boost. A leatherworking hunter wanting to specialize will have to decide between good agility in Elemental Leatherworking or mail armor in Dragonscale Leatherworking. The mail Netherscale Armor set is slanted towards AP and stamina, which will also benefit hunter pets, as well as crit rating and some intellect and MP5. Hunters desiring agility for this set will have to gem for it.
Switching a specialization
As of patch 2.1.3, you can switch your leatherworking specialization without losing any skill points and without doing the specialization quest.
First you must unlearn your current specialization. To do that, go back to the original quest giver for your leatherworking specialization and pay 100 to remove your specialization (this cost varies depending on your level, 25 at 49 for instance. See here for more.) You will lose patterns that require that specialization. (Note: you will not lose any patterns available prior to The Burning Crusade since their specialization requirements were removed when the expansion was released.) You will also lose the ability to equip the items that require that specialization.
You can then learn a new specialization by going to Narain Soothfancy and reading a book. He is located north of Steamwheedle Port in Tanaris. The book on his table will teach you either the Dragonscale, Elemental or Tribal leatherworking specialization skill.
Note that there is little point to switching your leatherworking specialization unless you chose poorly in the first place and are looking to remedy that choice. You are changing out the ability to wear one set of BoP gear tailored for one class for another set of BoP gear tailored for a different class.
Specializations and trainers
[55] 
High-level leatherworking
Trainers only have a limited selection of patterns for the highest levels. The best are available from Braeg Stoutbeard who stands outside the Legendary Leathers shop in the Magus Commerce Exchange area in Dalaran. For a few Heavy Borean Leathers or Arctic Furs he will give you a pattern for a rare or epic item of leather or mail.
Fur Lining and Leg Reinforcements
In Wrath of the Lich King, leatherworkers can apply Fur Lining to their own bracers and Leg Reinforcements to their own leg armor. Since these augments are meant for the leatherworker's personal use only, applying them causes the equipment to become soulbound.
Each type of Fur Lining requires 400 leatherworking and requires 1 [Arctic Fur]. The resulting bracer enchant is equivalent to the best "self-only" enchants provided by other tradeskills and better than any enchant you can buy or otherwise acquire.
Both types of Leg Reinforcements require 405 leatherworking. They provide exactly the same enchant as the [Icescale Leg Armor] and [Frosthide Leg Armor], but at a vastly reduced cost, and available at level 70 (as opposed to 80 for the epic leg armors).
| Name | Stats | Recipe source |
|---|---|---|
| Resistance Fur Linings | ||
 [Fur Lining - Arcane Resist] |
70 Arcane resistance | BoP drop (Icecrown - Cult Researcher, Frostbrood Spawn) |
| [Fur Lining - Fire Resist] |
70 Fire resistance | BoP drop (Icecrown - Skeletal Runesmith) |
| [Fur Lining - Frost Resist] |
70 Frost resistance | BoP drop (Icecrown - Damned Apothecary) |
| [Fur Lining - Nature Resist] |
70 Nature resistance | BoP drop (Icecrown - Cult Alchemist) |
| [Fur Lining - Shadow Resist] |
70 Shadow resistance | BoP drop (Icecrown - Cultist Shard Watcher) |
| Other Fur Linings | ||
| [Fur Lining - Attack Power] |
130 attack power | Trainer |
| Fur Lining - Spell Power | 76 spell power | Trainer |
| Fur Lining - Stamina | 102 Stamina | Trainer |
| Name | Stats | Materials | Recipe source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leg Reinforcements | |||
| [Jormungar Leg Reinforcements] |
55 Stamina, 22 Agility | 2 Jormungar Scales | Trainer |
| [Nerubian Leg Reinforcements] |
75 attack power, 22 critical strike rating | 2  [Nerubian Chitin] |
Trainer |
Patch changes
- Patch 1.5.0 (2005-06-07): Tribal Leatherworkers who have restarted their profession are now able to relearn the various Wild Leather patterns if they've already completed the quests prior to restarting the profession. Speak with Pratt McGrubben (Alliance) or Jangdor Swiftstrider (Horde) in Feralas to relearn what you once knew!
See also
- Farming Hinterland turtles
- List of BC leatherworking crafted items still useful at level 70
External links
- For leveling guides please visit Tradeskill leveling guides
AHseller.com Discover most profitable Leatherworking recipes. Online database for making gold.
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