Skinning

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:
 * [[File:Pointer skin on 32x32.png]] in range of skinnable corpse
 * [[File:Pointer skin off 32x32.png]] out of range of skinnable corpse

This is one of the better gathering professions, since a skinner can skin mob corpses left behind by other characters as long as they've looted all the items from the corpse. Unlike the mining or herb gathering, skinning allows very frequent practice when outdoor hunting resulting in a great deal of leather and very rapid training. You will typically be able to skin creatures much higher level than you can kill.

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.

Training
Such 'uncommon' skins generally only have specific recipes, such as the Black Whelp Scales, which has a recipe that needs to be obtained from sources other than a trainer.
 * You will first need to purchase a skinning knife. You can find skinning knives at Profession-related item merchants (or simply at the General trader). Remember to keep the skinning knife in your bag at all times (if you want to gain leather/hides/scales from the beasts you kill).
 * Keep in mind that skinning most beasts will result in you getting leather or hide of some kind. Frenzy and other fish give you shiny fish scales, dragonkin of various types (such as Black Whelps) which give you scales or special skins not found among other monsters or beasts, etc.

When you gain enough Skinning skill points (and are the appropriate level), you will need to visit a Skinning trainer to advance to the next skill level!

Skinning Past Your Skill Level
You can obtain enchants and certain weapons that increase your skinning skill above your current skill level. You could also elect to be a Worgen to benefit from a passive racial ability they have.

See Skinning equipment for more details.
 * +5 Skinning:
 * Skinning (enchant).
 * Gatherer - also adds +5 to Herbalism and Mining.
 * +10 Skinning:
 * Finkle's Skinner - dropped by The Beast in Upper Blackrock Spire.
 * Zulian Slicer - dropped by High Priest Thekal in Zul'Gurub, no longer available to players.
 * Zulian Slasher - 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)
 * +15 Skinning:
 * Flayer - Worgen Racial Ability.


 * Forager's Gloves Allows faster gathering of resources in Pandaria. May not stack with Worgen Racial Ability Flayer

Color codes
Any skinnable corpse will have a color code on the "Skinnable" property when you move your pointer over it:
 * 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: † Cataclysm Dungeon and Raid Bosses require 530 skinning to skin. Nefarian requires 550.
 * 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+.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Volatile elements
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.


 * Where are some good places to farm for certain types of skins?
 * See the Places to farm page.