This WoW Skinning Guide will lead you through what has traditionally been one of the best professions to make gold within World of Warcraft. In Shadowlands, there are tons of new hot spots that you need to take advantage of if you want to farm extra gold in WoW!
While the other professions haven’t been so “blessed,” Skinning has been thriving ever since the expansion came out. And we’re here to talk about why it is so and how to best utilize the Skinning profession to make the most amount of gold in WoW. Here is your complete Skinning guide for WoW: Shadowlands!
Making Gold with our WoW Skinning Guide
Why is Skinning so Profitable?
Well, why is Skinning such an essential tool for making gold in WoW? And why does it generate more gold than the other professions?
In short, Skinning is responsible for creating some of the most useful and, therefore, most demanding items in World of Warcraft. First of all, it is a necessary piece for leveling up the Leatherworking profession. WoW players with skinning in their hands provide the key components for crafting everything with Leatherworking. And those crafted items from Leatherworking are used by all players, from mythic raiders to casual subscribers. So, the Skinning materials are always needed, which makes it a sure investment of time.
Additionally, Leatherworking plays a part in the Legendary system in Shadowlands. Here we’re talking about entire stacks of leather just for one item. So, be aware of the overall demand for the Skinning materials.
Next, Skinning doesn’t require any previous knowledge of gold-making in WoW. It is perhaps the easiest and the quickest way of farming gold, and you can start doing it right away. The reason for that is because you skin dead mobs. As you level up and progress through Shadowlands, you’ll be killing a lot of beasts. And if you don’t have Skinning as a profession, you basically leave behind “free gold” with every corpse.
On top of that, all the Skinning materials can be found in any zone and looted from any beast. The different types of leather aren’t tied to a specific spot, like herbalism and fishing, for example. You can literally pick any place in Shadowlands that you like and spend your time farming without care. But let’s see which items you can loot exactly and what you can do with them.
What Are the Skinning Materials You Get From Skinning, and What Are They Used for?
Here is a list of all the items you can loot from Skinning in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands.
- [Desolate Leather Scraps]
- [Desolate Leather]
- [Callous Hide]
- [Pallid Bone]
- [Gaunt Sinew]
- [Heavy Desolate Leather]
- [Heavy Callous Hide]
Now, all of these materials serve a unique function and can be used for crafting different things. For example, Desolate Leather is the primary element for creating [Novice Crafter’s Mark], which upgrades the gear’s item level. Callous Hide can be used for creating [Comfortable Rider’s Barding], and Pallid Bone for [Drums of Deathly Ferocity], which is essential for any raid, dungeon, and battleground.
Then, with Gaunt Sinew, you can upgrade your Crafter’s Mark, and with Heavy Desolate Leather, you can make [Articulated Ectoplasmic Specs], a beneficial Engineering item. And lastly, Heavy Callous Hide is responsible for crafting blue quality items.
Obviously, these aren’t all the applications of the Skinning materials. In the next patches of Shadowlands, expect these to gain even more uses, so it’s wise to start farming them now. If you have Skinning, you’d want to stock on leather as much as possible, then either continue with Leatherworking or sell it all on the Auction House.
WoW Skinning Guide: What Do You Need to Do Before Starting with Skinning?
Preparing for farming gold with Skinning is actually very easy. The first thing that you need to do is, of course, to learn the profession itself. To acquire Shadowlands Skinning, head over to the Hall of Shapes in Oribos. You’ll find the Skinning Trainer right next to the Leatherworking one, near the Hall of Shapes’ exit. It only takes a few gold to learn it, and it gives you access to Skinning for the rest of the expansion.
Next, you’d want to get your gloves enchanted with [Shadowlands Gathering]. This is a low-level recipe in Shadowlands, and every Enchanter has it as soon as they learn the profession. If you don’t have a friend that can do this for free, then head over to the Auction House and purchase it from there. It’s very cheap, and it will save you a ton of time. But if you have stocks of [Darkmoon Firewater] in your bags, you can use that as a substitute.
Then, if you aren’t sure about which class to play for making gold in WoW with Skinning, then think of this. If you’re farming solo, then you want a class that is both self-sufficient and great with AOE damage. To make the most gold possible with our skinning guide in WoW, you need to “hyperspawn” the mobs at your spots, so you get more and more leather faster. We suggest going for a Druid because it is the go-to class for any serious gold farmer in WoW. However, if Druid doesn’t fit your style, then Mage and Demon Hunters are also excellent at nuking mobs. And Hunter, Monk, and Rogue, all acceptable options as well.
The covenant choice can also impact some classes’ farming speed, especially if it’s a heavy AOE cooldown. But know that your choice isn’t a limitation. And if you don’t care about optimizing every second of your gold farming, then you can go for literally any combination of race, class, spec, and covenant.
But don’t forget to purchase a [Skinning Knife]!
Where to Farm Skinning in Shadowlands and What Are the Top Locations?
WoW Shadowlands introduced many incredible and highly profitable locations for Skinning. The two primary zones for farming are Ardenweald and Bastion. That’s because these zones have the biggest amount of beasts near each other, so you can slay and loot them without relocating all day long. However, Revendreth has a few fantastic spots that you need to check out as well.
These are the best locations for farming Skinning in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands.
The Caves in Bastion
In the center of Bastion, in the cliffs around Hero’s Rest, there are a couple of caves that make excellent farming spots. These caves are built with entirely new models in WoW and are usually on two floors. The only mobs that you’ll encounter there are Agitated Etherwyrms. These serpentine creatures are beasts and, of course, skinnable.
We suggest bringing a friend there because one of you can clear the upper floor, while the other one is busy on the bottom. Don’t be confused if you only find around ten mobs in total there. These caves are hyperspawn locations, so the more mobs you kill, the faster they will spawn. You have the potential of making over 80k gold per hour if you really commit yourself.
Some consider the cave in the upper right cliff to be the single-best spot for skinning in Shadowlands. And that is why it’s very likely that you’ll encounter other gold farmers there, so expect some competition.
The Northern Parts of Bastion
Bastion, in general, has an abundance of free beasts just roaming around the zone. But the road between Hero’s Rest and The Eternal Forge in Bastion is perhaps one of the most profitable farms you can do. In this drawn area, you can take over 100 mobs in 5-7 pulls, depending on how tanky you are.
The beasts are varied, from vulpins to unicorns, lions, and moths. Most of them aren’t even hostile, so you can aggro as many as you want. But the best part about this spot is the fact that there is no waiting time at all. You can literally start from one end, kill and skin everything, and by the time you get back, the mobs will be all respawned. It’s a very profitable and a very chill farm that you can do solo.
The Glimmerfur Denwatchers in Ardenweald
North of the entrance to the Mists of Tirna Scithe dungeon in Ardenweald, there is a small area that’s overcrowded with Glimmerfur Denwatchers and Glimmerfur Vulpins. Similar to the previous farm, these beasts aren’t hostile but are more than plentiful. You can pull up to 15 or more mobs at once, time after time. And with enough speed, you can trigger an insane hyperspawn that can get you a profit well over 80-90k gold per hour.
This might be the most optimal guide location for making gold with skinning in WoW because the mobs are grouped together in a tight spot. So you won’t be spending too much time running around, but instead actually profiting.
The Gormhive in Ardenweald
Gormhive is one of those places that’s like Heaven to farm gold in WoW. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of Gorm Rampagers just walking around. But the reason why this is one of the best spots for skinning in Shadowlands is that there are also tons of quests, world quests, and covenant objectives that other people are doing all the time. They’re constantly killing the beasts, without even having Skinning as a profession.
You don’t have to enter a group or anything of that sort. Just tag all the mobs that you see and collect the leather after everyone is gone. Also, there are smaller mobs called Evolving Mites, which are skinnable as well, and you can one-shot them with every class. The place is practically swarming with them.
The Pond Below Darkhaven in Revendreth
If you jump under the bridge in the pond just below Darkhaven, you’ll spot many spiders. These are called Ebon Crawlers and are accompanied by their Hatchlings. Note that the Ebon Crawler Hatchlings aren’t skinnable. Still, there are more than enough big spiders for you to be very profitable.
This skinning spot requires minimal movement and can be done solo. There are no elite enemies, and you’ll find yourself clearing it very quickly. If you ever run out of mobs to kill, just move north and south of the pond, and you’ll encounter many more spiders. From our experience, there isn’t much competition here, and you can comfortably farm alone.
Wanecrypt Hill in Revendreth
And the last spot we have for you is located near Wanecrypt Hill in Revenedreth. This is a huge area that hosts various additional objectives, among which the world quest “A Curious Cache.” People are required to kill 10 mobs around there, so you’ll also get some free corpses to skin.
There are different mobs that you can find down there, all from spiders to hydras and bears. They are all very easy to kill, but since the place is vast and spread out, the farm is best suited for a class with a lot of mobility. Demon Hunters, Monks, and Druids can easily get up to 100k gold per hour in this spot.
WoW Skinning Guide Final Words
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is a remarkable expansion for skinning in general since there are so many different farming spots. The 6 we’ve covered here might be the most popular ones thus far, but know that there might be over 20 locations that could be considered the “best” for farming gold with skinning in WoW.
Take Bastion or Ardenweald, for example. Whenever you go for a world quest or anything else, you pass by so many groups of mobs. The lands are just flooded with them, so you can pick any spot and make it a profitable farm. We’ll continue to discover the most optimal ones, so keep an eye out for that.
Skinning is perhaps the most rewarding of the gathering professions, and you’ll be wise to take advantage of it. The materials are in high demand and are sold every minute and every hour. If you stock the Auction House, chances are that you’ll get your gold on the same day! How many professions can say that as well?
Good luck with your gold farming in World of Warcraft, use this WoW Skinning guide and check some of our other guides if you need directions about anything in the game!