WoW SoD: Full Skinning profession guide for WoW Classic Season of Discovery

Gathering professions is one of the most reliable and valuable ways you can make gold in World of Warcraft—and there’s a case to be made that no other gathering profession has as much versatility as Skinning. 

During the Season of Discovery, you’re going to be endlessly farming mobs that yield leather, and as long as you have a Skinning knife in hand, you have a great way to make gold. 

Although you won’t be able to max out your professions beyond the skill cap of 125 during the first phase of SoD, you can still farm an unlimited number of materials and get yourself ahead of the profession leveling curve by the time phase two rolls around. There’s no better time to start grinding Skinning in WoW SoD than right now. Here’s everything you need to know about the profession. 

All Skinning Trainer locations in WoW Classic

All Alliance Skinning Trainers in WoW Classic

• Balthus Stoneflayer, Ironforge
  • Found in the northeast corner of the Great Forge.
• Eladriel, Darnassus
  • On the south side of the Craftsmen’s Terrace.
• Helene Peltskinner, Goldshire
  • In a building on the road between Goldshire and Northshire.
• Jayla, Ashenvale
  • Located at Silverwing Refuge, on the lake southeast of Astranaar.
• Maris Granger, Stormwind City
  • Located in Stormwind’s Old Town District.
• Wilma Ranthal, Redridge Mountains
  • Cornered off in the southeast section of Redridge, off the road south of the Tower of Ilgalar.

All Horde WoW Classic Skinning trainers

• Yonn Deepcut, Bloodhoof Village
  • Found in the first town most Tauren players will visit after leaving their starting zone.
• Mooranta, Thunder Bluff
  • Located in the center of the city on the path leading into the Spirit Rise.
• Killian Hagey, Undercity
  • Found in the Rogues’ Quarter.
• Rand Rhobart, Tirisfal Glades
  • Found on the east road leading into the Undercity.
• Thuwd, Orgrimmar
  • Located in the last building on the right in the Drag, just before the Valley of Honor. 
• Dranh, The Barrens
  • Found in Camp Taurajo.
• Malux, Desolace
  • It’s a bit of a hike, but if you find yourself in Desolace, this trainer can be found on the coast of Shadowprey Village. 

How to level Skinning quickly in WoW Classic SoD

During the early stages of your Skinning grind, you’re going to be searching for Light Leather, which is the main reagent in most early-game Leatherworking recipes. Light Leather can be farmed off most mobs in your faction’s first two zones, with the Alliance and Horde each having rich hotspots of skinnable mobs during their respective leveling processes. All of the game’s starting zones are filled with wolves, bears, and big cats that you can skin, making the first section of your grind relatively straightforward. You’ll want to visit one of the trainers listed above as soon as possible so that you don’t miss out on any potential Skinning skill points while leveling out in the wild. 

Alliance players will want to farm Light Leather in Loch Modan, while Horde players will want to head over to the Barrens for their Skinning endeavors. Both of these zones have plenty of beasts that you can skin while leveling there. We recommend starting these zones around level 10 so that you can easily level up your character and their Skinning profession at the same time, successfully killing two birds with one stone. 

Once you have about 100 points in Skinning and are a high enough level to progress into a new zone, we recommend that Horde players head into the Hillsbrad Foothills while the Alliance goes into the Wetlands. These two zones have countless mobs that yield Medium Leather and will be of value to you as you level up your Skinning skill to 125. 

What to do with leather you’ve skinned 

Once you’ve skinned leather off of mobs in WoW Classic, you’ve got a couple of options, the first of which is to use that leather for crafting purposes. One of the oldest and most reliable profession combinations in WoW history is Skinning/Leatherworking, and in SoD, there are plenty of recipes you can craft up with the leather you farm.

Alternatively, you can sell the leather you skinned on the Auction House. While it’s not the hottest commodity, you can definitely sell a lot of your Light and Medium Leather in bulk for an effective way to make gold.