Leatherworking

Leatherworking is the crafting profession that turns hides and leather into leather and mail armor, cloaks, quivers, ammo pouches and armor kits. In Classic its products ranged from the cheap kits that every leveling character put on their gear to raid essentials like the [Onyxia Scale Cloak] and the Devilsaur set that hunters and rogues wore for most of the game. At skill 225 a leatherworker could specialize in Dragonscale, Elemental or Tribal leatherworking.

What leatherworking does

A leatherworker can craft almost anywhere; few recipes need anything beyond the materials and a trade supplier's thread and salt. The main material is leather, which skinners take from beasts: [Light Leather], [Medium Leather], [Heavy Leather], [Thick Leather] and [Rugged Leather], in rising order. Hides, the rarer and larger drops from skinning, are cured with [Salt] or [Refined Deeprock Salt] for some recipes.

Leatherworkers make:

• Leather armor for rogues, druids, and low-level hunters and shamans.
• Mail armor from scales, for hunters and shamans after level 40.
• Armor kits, like the [Light Armor Kit] up to the [Rugged Armor Kit], which add armor to a piece of gear permanently.
• Quivers and ammo pouches for hunters, such as the [Quickdraw Quiver] and the [Thick Leather Ammo Pouch].
• Cloaks and bags, including the [Onyxia Hide Backpack].
• [Enchanted Leather], used by tailors and others.

Trainers and skill ranks

Leatherworking uses the four Classic ranks: Apprentice (to 75, level 5), Journeyman (to 150, level 10), Expert (to 225, level 20) and Artisan (to 300, level 35). Artisan training is offered by Una in Thunder Bluff and Telonis in Darnassus, and by two master trainers in the wilds: Drakk Stonehand at Aerie Peak in The Hinterlands for the Alliance, and Hahrana Ironhide at Camp Mojache in Feralas for the Horde.

Leveling route in outline

1. 1 to 75: [Light Armor Kit], [Handstitched Leather Belt] and [Embossed Leather Vest] from Light Leather.
2. 75 to 150: [Medium Armor Kit], [Fine Leather Belt] and [Dark Leather Tunic] from Medium Leather.
3. 150 to 200: [Heavy Armor Kit], [Guardian Gloves] and [Barbaric Harness] from Heavy Leather.
4. 200 to 250: [Thick Armor Kit], Nightscape pieces and the [Wild Leather Helmet] from Thick Leather.
5. 250 to 300: [Rugged Armor Kit], [Wicked Leather Gauntlets] and Wicked Leather pieces from Rugged Leather, ending with [Runic Leather Armor].

Leatherworking is cheap to level for a player who also skins, because every beast on the road provides materials.

Specializations

At skill 225 and level 40, a leatherworker can take a quest from one of three pairs of specialty trainers. Each specialization teaches its own patterns and lets the leatherworker use certain dropped patterns that others could not learn in Classic.

Dragonscale leatherworkers make the Black Dragonscale mail set, such as [Black Dragonscale Breastplate], [Black Dragonscale Leggings] and [Black Dragonscale Shoulders], which give fire resistance and were prized by hunters. In Classic the Black Dragonscale patterns required this specialization, until patch 2.0.3 removed the requirement.

Elemental leatherworkers make the Volcanic set, like [Volcanic Breastplate] and [Volcanic Leggings], leather with fire resistance worn by rogues and druids in Molten Core.

Tribal leatherworkers make leather with spirit and intellect for druid healers, such as [Feathered Breastplate]. Their best Classic recipe was the epic cloak [Hide of the Wild].

Most players chose by what their class could use, but in practice the choice mattered less than it seemed. Many of the most valuable leatherworking recipes required no specialization at all.

Best-known recipes and products

• Devilsaur set: [Devilsaur Gauntlets] and [Devilsaur Leggings], made from [Devilsaur Leather] skinned from devilsaurs in Un'Goro Crater. The pair gave attack power and critical strike chance, with a bonus to hit for wearing both, and were part of nearly every hunter's and rogue's gear until well into raiding. [Pattern: Devilsaur Gauntlets] is sold by Nergal in Un'Goro. Devilsaurs were contested on every server, with hunters and rogues camping them.
• [Onyxia Scale Cloak]: made from a [Scale of Onyxia] dropped by Onyxia, it protects the wearer from Shadow Flame, the breath attack of Nefarian and his drakes. Without one, Shadow Flame kills almost anyone, so every raider in Blackwing Lair needed one.
• Thorium Brotherhood patterns: [Molten Helm], [Black Dragonscale Boots] and [Corehound Boots], made from [Core Leather] and other Molten Core materials, sold by Lokhtos Darkbargainer in Thorium Point.
• [Core Armor Kit]: an armor kit that adds 3 defense to a chest, legs, hands or feet item, popular with tanks.
• Zul'Gurub and reputation gear: [Primal Batskin Jerkin] from the Zandalar Tribe and [Mantle of the Timbermaw] from Timbermaw Hold.
• The [Gordok Ogre Suit]: a disguise that fools the Gordok ogres in Dire Maul.

Leatherworking and skinning

Skinning supplies every leather a leatherworker needs, and skinning and leatherworking are one of the most common profession pairs. Skinners also sell their spare leather, scales and Devilsaur Leather on the auction house, so many players took skinning alone to make money. Leatherworkers who raid often needed materials from other professions too: Enchanted Leather from enchanters, Fiery Cores and Lava Cores from Molten Core, and Mooncloth for some patterns.

Sources

• Leatherworking on Warcraft Wiki
• Leatherworking specialization on Warcraft Wiki