Skinning is a gathering profession in WoW Classic that lets players collect leather, hides, and scales from dead beasts and certain humanoids. These materials are used in Leatherworking, Tailoring, and Blacksmithing, or sold for profit on the Auction House.
In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about WoW Classic Skinning, including:
- The best professions and classes to pair with Skinning
- How to level Skinning from 1 to 300 fast
- Where to find trainers and leather locations
- Important leather for endgame recipes
Skinning is a simple but profitable profession, ideal for players who want to gather materials while leveling or fund their adventures with easy gold.
WoW Classic Skinning Explained
Skinning is a straightforward but highly profitable gathering profession in WoW Classic. It lets players harvest leather, hides, and scales from beasts and certain monsters, providing essential materials for Leatherworking or easy gold on the Auction House.
Benefits of Skinning:
- Easy Gold-Making – Leather and scales sell well since they’re always needed for crafting.
- No Competition for Loot – Unlike Mining or Herbalism, multiple players can skin the same corpse.
- Great for Leveling – You can skin while questing, making extra money with little extra effort.
With its low effort and high rewards, Skinning is one of the best professions for players who want steady income or materials for crafting. Whether you’re leveling or farming endgame drops, Skinning always pays off.
Best Professions to Pair with Skinning
The natural partner for Skinning is Leatherworking, since every hide and scale you collect can be turned into armor and gear. This combo lets you outfit yourself while leveling and sell excess crafts for profit.
For pure money-making, pairing Skinning with Mining or Herbalism works better. While you’ll need to vendor or auction your skins, you’ll earn more overall by gathering two resources instead of one.
Best Classes for WoW Classic Skinning
Skinning is perfect for 
Hunters, 
Rogues, and 
Druids since these classes wear leather armor and can use Skinning materials for their own gear. Some of the most valuable leathers include:
- Thick Leather for leveling;
- Rugged Leather for endgame crafts;
- and rare Devilsaur Leather for high-end armor.
Warriors and Shamans also benefit from Skinning when paired with Leatherworking, as they can craft their own mail armor. Even casters can profit by selling leather on the Auction House – it’s always in demand for professions and first aid.
Summing up, whether you’re supplying materials for your own crafts, making steady gold, or preparing for raids, Skinning remains one of the most reliable professions in WoW Classic. Just remember your Skinning Knife!
The Fastest 1-300 Vanilla Skinning
If you want to level Skinning quickly, this method gets you to 300 skill with minimal effort. It’s especially good if you’re also leveling Leatherworking, since you’ll collect all the materials you need as you go.
The trick is to hunt in zones packed with skinnable beasts at each skill bracket:
- 1-100: Westfall (Light Leather)
- 100-200: Hillsbrad Foothills (Medium/Heavy Leather)
- 200-300: Un’Goro Crater (Thick/Rugged Leather)
For maximum efficiency, skin everything you kill while questing. Higher-level beasts give better skill-ups, so move to new zones when your current spot turns green.
If you’re leveling Leatherworking too, save your best hides for crafting. Otherwise, sell everything on the Auction House – even low-level leather sells well for first aid kits.
By following this route, you’ll max Skinning fast while building a stockpile of valuable materials. Just keep that Skinning Knife handy!
Pro tip: At 300 skill, farm Devilsaurs in Un’Goro for the ultra-valuable Devilsaur Leather – it sells for big gold to raiders and crafters.
Skinning 1 – 125 (Light Leather)
- Mob Levels: 6-25 (Sweet Spot: 11-20)
- Best Zones:
- Loch Modan (10-20) – West of the Loch for boars, bears, crocs
- Darkshore (10-20) – Striders, bears, cats, underwater threshers
- The Barrens (10-20) – Diverse beasts around Crossroads
Skinning 80 – 175 (Medium Leather)
- Mob Levels: 16-35 (Sweet Spot: 21-30)
- Best Zones:
- Stonetalon Mountains (15-27) – Pridewing Chimera and Basilisks
- Hillsbrad Foothills (20-30) – Bear camps and river turtles
- The Wetlands (20-30) – Crocolisks and raptors
Skinning 130 – 225 (Heavy Leather)
- Mob Levels: 26-45 (Sweet Spot: 31-40)
- Best Zones:
- Stranglethorn Vale (30-45) – Diverse beasts around Nesingwary’s Camp
- Arathi Highlands (30-40) – Excellent raptor farming
- Desolace (30-40) – Hyenas, scorpids, basilisks
Skinning 180 – 300 (Heavy Leather)
- Mob Levels: 36-60 (Sweet Spot: 41-50)
- Best Zones:
- The Hinterlands (40-50) – Wolves and Snapjaw turtles
- Tanaris (40-50) – Scorpids, basilisks, hyenas
- Feralas (40-50) – Bears, wolves, hippogryphs
Skinning Endgame (Rugged Leather)
- Mob Levels: 46-60 (Sweet Spot: 51-60)
- Best Zones:
- Un’Goro Crater (48-55) – Ravasaurs, diemetradons, gorillas
- Eastern Plaguelands (50-60) – Plaguehounds and plaguebats
- Winterspring (55-60) – Bears and chimera
Skinning Trainers (1-300 Skill)
Alliance Trainers:
- Balthus Stoneflayer – The Great Forge, Ironforge /way 39.8, 33.0
- Eladriel – Craftsmen’s Terrace, Darnassus /way 64.2, 21.8
- Helene Peltskinner – Goldshire, Elwynn Forest /way 46.2, 62.2
- Maris Granger – Old Town, Stormwind City /way 67.8, 49.0
- Radnaal Maneweaver – Road to Darnassus, Teldrassil /way 42.0, 50.0
- Wilma Ranthal – Redridge Mountains (Lakeshire) /way 88.8, 71.0
- Jayla – Silverwind Refuge, Ashenvale /way 50.0, 67.2
Horde Trainers:
- Killian Hagey – Rogue’s Quarter, Undercity /way 71.0, 59.4
- Kulleg Stonehorn – Camp Mojache, Feralas /way 74.4, 43.0
- Malux – Shadowprey Village, Desolace /way 23.2, 69.8
- Mooranta – Thunder Bluff /way 45.2, 43.6
- Rand Rhobart – Outside Undercity, Tirisfal Glades /way 65.6, 60.0
- Thuwd – The Drag, Orgrimmar /way 63.2, 45.2
- Yonn Deepcut – Bloodhoof Village, Mulgore /way 45.6, 57.8
- Dranh – Camp Taurajo, The Barrens /way 45.0, 59.0
Best Gold-Making Leather in WoW Classic
Skinning is one of the easiest ways to make gold, but not all leather sells equally. These are the most profitable hides & scales to farm:
| Leather Type | Best Farming Location | Avg Price | Primary Use | Notes |
| Devilsaur Leather | Un’Goro Crater (Devilsaurs) | 5-15 each |
Devilsaur Gauntlets/Leggings (BiS melee) | Highly contested area – watch for PvP |
| Rugged Leather | Winterspring (Yetis), EPL (Bats) | 50 -2/stack |
Tribal Leatherworking patterns | Consistent demand for leveling LW |
| Thick Leather | Tanaris (Basilisks), Feralas | 30-1/stack |
Mid-level Leatherworking crafts | Easy to farm while leveling |
| Black Dragonscales | Burning Steppes, BRS | 1-3 each |
Black Dragonscale armor | Elite mobs – bring a group |
| Core Leather | Molten Core (Core Hounds) | 3-10 each |
Epic Leatherworking recipes | Requires raid group access |
| Onyxia Scale Cloak | Onyxia‘s Lair | 5-20 each |
Onyxia Scale Cloak | Needs 315 Skinning skill |
| Scorpid Scales | Tanaris, Blasted Lands | 50-1 each |
Scorpid armor set | Needed for Dragonscale LW specialization |
| Green Dragonscales | Swamp of Sorrows | 1-2 each |
Green Dragonscale armor | Good for Hunters’ early gear |
WoW Classic Skinning Patterns Overview
| Recipe Name | Required Leather/Scales | Profession | Best Used For | Notes |
| Devilsaur Gauntlets | 12x Devilsaur Leather | Leatherworking | Melee DPS BiS (Hunters/Rogues/Warriors) | Un’Goro Crater farm only |
| Devilsaur Leggings | 16x Devilsaur Leather | Leatherworking | Melee DPS BiS | Pairs with gauntlets for set bonus |
| Black Dragonscale Boots | 30x Black Dragonscales | Leatherworking | Fire resistance gear | Drops in Burning Steppes/BRS |
| Onyxia Scale Cloak | 1x Onyxia Scale | Leatherworking | Frontal fire protection (Nefarian fight) | Requires 315 Skinning |
| Tough Scorpid Bracers | 8x Scorpid Scales | Leatherworking | Pre-raid mail gear | Tanaris/Blasted Lands farm |
| Green Dragonscale Gauntlets | 12x Green Dragonscales | Leatherworking | Nature resistance set | Swamp of Sorrows farm |
| Corehound Belt | 4x Core Leather | Leatherworking | Fire resistance belt | Molten Core drops only |
| Red Dragonscale Breastplate | 40x Red Dragonscales | Leatherworking | Caster chestpiece | Wetlands farm (rare) |
| Warbear Harness | 12x Thick Leather + 4x Rugged | Leatherworking | Tanking gear | Requires Warbear quest chain |
| Runic Leather Headband | 10x Rugged Leather | Leatherworking | Pre-raid caster helm | High demand for healers/casters |
