There are a few resources in New World that are foundational pieces of virtually every crafting recipe. Alongside metal ingots and cloth, you’ll need to get your hands on plenty of leather if you look to craft weapons, armor, tools, bags, and more.
This means you’ll likely be upgrading your Leatherworking skill while exploring Aeternum. And with all the Rawhide you get from carving creatures, you’ll have plenty of materials to work on that skill.
Here’s a guide to Leatherworking in New World, including the basics of Skinning and what you’ll need to craft higher qualities of leather.
Gathering Rawhide
Before you start Leatherworking, you’ll need to gather Rawhide from the creatures roaming Aeternum. To do so, you’ll need a skinning knife and a recently fallen animal. Your Skinning skill level determines what level of animal you can skin, and you can track larger and larger animals as that level increases. Each animal can only be skinned once, so make sure no one’s after your kill.
The larger the creature, the more Rawhide you get from skinning them. Creatures like elk, bears, and wolves will be your best source of Rawhide.
Crafting Leather
Take your Rawhide to a Leatherworking station in any town to turn four pieces of Rawhide into a single piece of Coarse Leather. If you make Coarse Leather in bulk and have a high skill level, you get an increased chance of crafting additional pieces.
At Leatherworking skill level 50, you can take four pieces of Coarse Leather, add one Tannin (a refining material you can get from supply containers), and craft a piece of Rugged Leather. As your Leatherworking level increases, you’ll be able to craft even higher quality pieces of Leather: Layered Leather and Infused Leather. Those will be helpful for making better equipment, including improved bags that increase your carrying space.
Tips and Tricks
There are a collection of items you can use to make the most of your Leatherworking skill progression. Higher-quality skinning knives will increase your Skinning speed and may give you a chance at rare items. You can increase the amount of Rawhide you gather with Proficiency Booster potions you can craft at the Workshop using water and motes. Some crafted meals will also increase your Skinning Luck.
You can also craft or purchase bags that reduce the weight of hides, leather, and skinning knives in your inventory, letting you skin more animals before needing to go back to town to unload.
