Skinning

For the enchant, see [Skinning].

	Skinning (Profession)
	Quests • Techniques • Trainers • Equipment • Ingredients • Leather (List of leathers) • Hides (List of Hides) • Scales (List of scales)

Skinning allows players to gather leather, Hides and scales by skinning certain mobs (beasts, demon beasts, dragonkin, silithid, some nerubians and, very rarely, humanoids). Not all mobs of each type can be skinned, e.g. most birds cannot be skinned despite being beasts. Leather, hides and scales are used for leatherworking. Leather is also used for some blacksmithing, engineering, and tailoring recipes.

Skinning pointers:

in range of skinnable corpse

out of range of skinnable corpse

This is one of the most versatile gathering professions as it allows very frequent practice when hunting outdoors resulting in a great deal of leather and very frequent skillups. Additionally, a skinner can typically skin creatures much higher level than themself. In comparison, while mining or herbalism requires resource nodes, since a skinner can skin most animal mobs corpses, even ones killed by other players.

Official overview

Skinners ensure that nothing goes to waste by removing the hides of dead beasts and amassing piles of fur and leather. Skinning is a straightforward, convenient profession for those already engaged in hunting animals, but it's highly useful, too. Exotic leathers (such as dragonskin) can command high prices, and they are critical to leatherworking plans, as well as some of the recipes of other professions.

Skinners can easily remove a slain beast's hide by ensuring that they have a skinning knife in their inventory, then right-clicking on an animal's corpse. Though not all beasts can be skinned, the vast majority can - and you don't need to have killed an animal to skin it yourself.

As you skin more unusual and difficult creatures, your Skinning skill will improve. High skill values are required to successfully retrieve leather from high-level beasts.

As a gathering profession, Skinning is regularly paired with complementary crafting professions, particularly Leatherworking, though Tailoring also utilizes some leather.^[1]

Training

Proficiency	Level	Potential Skill	Cast
Classic	5	300	1.5 sec
Outland	58	75	1.5 sec
Northrend	58	75	1.5 sec
Cataclysm	78	75	1.5 sec
Pandaria	78	75	1.5 sec
Draenor	88	100	1.5 sec
Legion	100	100	1.5 sec
Battle for Azeroth %	-	150	1.5 sec

Aspiring skinners should first visit a skinning trainer, which can be found in the world and in every Capital City and train the profession for the cost of 10.
Skinners then need to purchase a skinning knife, which can be found most often at Profession-related item vendors. As a Profession equipment, it can be equipped in its respective slot in the Professions tab to save bag space while skinning.
Skinning most involves skinning beasts which yield leather or hide of some kind, but skinners have been able to skin other creature types for their materials as well, like like the Apex Proto-Dragon which yields [Adamant Scales].

When you gain enough Skinning skill points (and are at the appropriate level), you may need to revisit the skinning trainer to advance to the next skill level!

Skinning Skill Bonuses

Skinners can obtain enchants and certain weapons that increase their skinning skill above their current skill level. Worgen skinners recieve a bonus through their racial [Flayer].

+5 Skinning:
- [Skinning].
- [Gatherer] - also adds +5 to Herbalism and Mining.
- Enchant Gloves - Legion Skinning
- [Flayer] - Worgen Racial Ability.
+10 Skinning:
- [Pip's Skinner] - dropped by The Beast in Classic Upper Blackrock Spire.
  - [Pip's Flenser] - dropped by Kyrak in Upper Blackrock Spire.
  - [Pip's Shanker] - a now unobtainable event variant.
- [Zulian Slicer] - dropped by High Priest Thekal in Zul'Gurub, 5 no longer available to players.
- [Zulian Slasher] - 5 dropped by Zanzil in Zul'Gurub when in Heroic mode.
- [Gnomish Army Knife] now adds +10 skinning / mining / herbalism.
- [Skinning Knife] now adds +10 skinning (doesn't stack with the Gnomish Army Knife)
[Forager's Gloves] Allows faster gathering of resources in Pandaria. May not stack with worgen racial ability [Flayer]

Color codes

NPC Level	Skill Required	Formula
74	375	(lvl*5)+5
75	385	(lvl*5)+10
76	395	(lvl*5)+15
77	405	(lvl*5)+20
78	415	(lvl*5)+25
79	425	(lvl*5)+30
80	435	(lvl*5)+35
81	440	(lvl*5)+35
82	445	(lvl*5)+35
83	450	(lvl*5)+35
84	470	(lvl*5)+50
85	490	(lvl*5)+65
86	510	(lvl*5)+80
87	530†	(lvl*5)+95

Any skinnable corpse has a color code on the "Skinnable" tooltip text when hovered over:

Red: Not skinnable.
Orange: Difficult to skin; certain chance of increasing Skinning skill level.
Yellow: Moderately difficult to skin; moderate chance of increasing Skinning skill level.
Green: Easy to skin; low chance of increasing Skinning skill level.
Gray: Very easy to skin; no chance of increasing Skinning skill level.

Skinning skill required is:

1 for level 1-10 mobs.
(10 times mob level) minus 100 for level 11-20 mobs.
5 times level for level 21-73 mobs.
Wrath of the Lich King - Requires 5-point skill increases per mob level up to 73. Requires 10-point skill increases from 74-80.
Cataclysm - Requires 5-point skill increases per mob level from 80-83. Requires 20-point skill increases from 83+.

† Cataclysm Dungeon and Raid Bosses require 530 skinning to skin. Nefarian requires 550.

Up to skinning 100, you can find out the highest level mob you can skin by: ((Skinning skill)/10)+10.

Suggested 2nd professions

Leatherworking. Make your own armor (Druid, Rogue, Hunter or Shaman benefit from Leatherworking, doubly so for Hunters and Shamans), sell your wares, or get fodder for disenchanting.
Tailoring. Some Tailor recipes require leather, such as bags and boots. In the long run, Tailoring/Enchanting is a stronger combination, but Skinning/Tailoring is a good way to start out.
Mining or Herbalism. Having two gathering professions can ensure a strong income. Some people are willing to pay quite a bit of money for materials for crafting professions, in lieu of time to farm the materials.
Enchanting. It's good to have as a second profession for any that don't necessarily need another to work.
Blacksmithing or Engineering. While Blacksmithing and Engineering use leather in some plans and schematics, Mining is a much better match for blacksmiths and engineers in the long run.

What you gather

Leather

Leather is gathered by skinning beasts that have been slain and looted. Leathers can be used directly by the Leatherworking profession without prior processing or treatment. The type of leather is usually directly related to the level of animal being skinned.

Leather	Level	Notes
[Ruined Leather Scraps]	(lvl 5-17 mobs)
[Light Leather]	(lvl 5-27 mobs)	(with recipe, made from 3 Ruined Leather Scraps)
[Medium Leather]	(lvl 15-38 mobs)	(with recipe, made from 4 Light Leathers)
[Heavy Leather]	(lvl 26-46 mobs)	(with recipe, made from 5 Medium Leathers)
[Thick Leather]	(lvl 35-58 mobs)	(with recipe, made from 6 Heavy Leathers)
[Rugged Leather]	(lvl 45-60 mobs)	(with recipe, made from 6 Thick Leathers)
[Knothide Leather Scraps]	(lvl 58+ mobs, in Outland)
[Knothide Leather]	(lvl 58+ mobs, in Outland)	(with recipe, made from 5 Knothide Leather Scraps)
[Heavy Knothide Leather]		(with recipe, made from 5 Knothide Leathers)
[Borean Leather Scraps]	(lvl 68+ mobs, in Northrend)
[Borean Leather]	(lvl 73+ mobs, in Northrend)	(made from 5 Borean Leather Scraps)
[Heavy Borean Leather]		(with recipe, made from 6 Borean Leathers)
[Savage Leather Scraps]	(lvl 80+ mobs in new Cataclysm zones)
[Savage Leather]	(lvl 81+ mobs in new Cataclysm zones)	(made from 5 Savage Leather Scraps)
[Heavy Savage Leather]		(with recipe, made from 5 Savage Leather)
[Sha-Touched Leather]	(lvl 90+ mobs in new Pandaria zones)
[Exotic Leather]	(lvl 91+ mobs in new Pandaria zones)	(made from 5 Savage Leather Scraps)
[Burnished Leather]		(made from 20 Raw Beast Hides and 10 Gorgrond Flytraps)
[Stonehide Leather]	(lvl 100+ mobs in Broken Isles zones)
[Thin Kodo Leather]		Obtained from Kodos
[Devilsaur Leather]		Obtained from Devilsaurs
[Warbear Leather]		Obtained from high-level Bears
[Core Leather]		Obtained from core hounds in the Molten Core. Requires 310 Skinning.
[Crystal Infused Leather]		Obtained from basilisks and ravagers.
[Thick Clefthoof Leather]		Obtained from clefthooves and Elekk Demolishers
[Arctic Fur]		Obtained from beasts in Northrend

Hides

You get hides the same way you get skins, however the drop rate is lower, and they require curing via Leatherworking to before they can be used as materials for crafted items.

	Hide	Cures to
	[Light Hide]	[Cured Light Hide]
	[Medium Hide]	[Cured Medium Hide]
	[Heavy Hide]	[Cured Heavy Hide]
	[Thick Hide]	[Cured Thick Hide]
	[Rugged Hide]	[Cured Rugged Hide]

Scales

These are used in Leatherworking patterns, and drop when certain mobs are skinned, such as Dragonkin. Scales are used to create Mail armor with Leatherworking, which is useful for Hunters and Shamans beyond level 40.

	Scales	Notes
	[Black Whelp Scale]
	[Green Whelp Scale]
	[Worn Dragonscale]
	[Blue Dragonscale]
	[Green Dragonscale]
	[Black Dragonscale]
	[Red Dragonscale]
	[Scale of Onyxia]
	[Brilliant Chromatic Scale]
	[Dreamscale]
	[Nether Dragonscales]	Obtained from nether dragons and nether whelps.
	[Icy Dragonscale]	Obtained from dragons in Northrend.
	[Blackened Dragonscale]	Obtained from dragons affiliated with Deathwing.
	[Deviate Scale]
	[Perfect Deviate Scale]
	[Naga Scale]
	[Slimy Murloc Scale]
	[Thick Murloc Scale]
	[Turtle Scale]
	[Scorpid Scale]
	[Heavy Scorpid Scale]
	[Cobra Scales]	Obtained from serpent's and Coilskar Cobras.
	[Fel Scales]	Obtained from basilisks and ravagers.
	[Wind Scales]
	[Jormungar Scale]	Obtained from jormungars.
	[Nerubian Chitin]	Obtained from nerubians.
	[Deepsea Scale]	Obtained from crocolisks and other sea beasts in Cataclysm zones.
	[Prismatic Scale]	Obtained from turtles, mushan's and crocolisks in Pandaria Zones.
	[Stormscale]	Obtained from scaled beasts on the Broken Isles.

Volatile elements

This section concerns content related to Cataclysm.

When skinning Cataclysm mobs, there is a small chance of obtaining a [Strange Bloated Stomach] in addition to leather, hide or scale(s). These lootable containers contain a stack of one random volatile element (~20% chance of each), either 1-4 Volatile Air or 1-2 Volatile Earth, Fire, Life or Water.

Cloth

Cloth is used by tailors in patterns for cloth armor, and in First Aid for Bandages. Cloth drops off humanoids in the world, with the Cloth that drops determined by enemy level. Cloth can also be used by blacksmiths and engineers.

Frequently asked questions

Why can't I skin certain mobs?

There are several reasons:

While most beasts can be skinned, some can't. Also, most demons can't, while most dragons can. See the Creature Types page for more details.
All the items from a corpse must be looted before it can be skinned. This requirement can be somewhat annoying, since you basically end up filling your bags with worthless bits and pieces of whatever you're killing. You may want to get an addon, like LootDestroyer and ReagentHelper, to help you with figuring out what's worth keeping. Auctioneer is also worthwhile if you plan to sell the raw materials.
Any skinnable mobs will say "Skinnable" in their tooltip after they are dead and completely looted, and this is color coded in line with other gathering professions. If it is Red, you cannot skin that mob. If you attempt to skin it, you will receive an error telling you the required level: "Requires Skinning 110" for example. After the "Starting Levels", mobs require 5 Skinning ability per level, so a level 25 mob requires 125 skill points in Skinning for you to be able to skin its corpse.
Skinning follow the usual loot claiming rules for establishing whether a mob can be skinned at all: mobs killed exclusively by pets with no player damage contribution are not skinnable no matter what type they are, while mobs killed by guards will only be skinnable if the players initiated combat with the mob and did the majority of the damage to it.
If you're trying to skin something that is lootable by another player, that player must take all loot from the corpse, or you won't be able to skin it.
To prevent farming of easy leather, beasts found in starting areas cannot be skinned.
If another player has started to skin a mob, the corpse is "tapped", and you cannot attempt to skin it.

Toys

[Mother's Skinning Knife] a Toy that allows skinning up to 40 yd away. It is a quest reward from [10-45] Drakol'nir Must Die.

Patch changes

Patch 8.0.1 (2018-07-17): Each expansion now has a separate profession skill bar, with smaller caps for each expansion, instead of one gigantic profession skill bar for all expansions put together
Patch 6.0.2 (2014-10-14): [Master of Anatomy] was removed, along with all other profession bonuses.
Patch 3.2.0 (2009-08-04): Critters such as Sheep, Cows and Rabbits are no longer skinnable.
Patch 3.1.0 (2009-04-14): You can no longer fail when Mining, Herbing, and Skinning.
Patch 0.6 (2004-04-13):
- Skinning a beast will always produce a skin of some quality.
- Skill increases and time to skin have both been reduced.
- Some ambient creatures can now be skinned.
- You can now right click a creature that has no loot to skin it.