Leatherworking is one of the primary professions. Your character can only have 2 primary professions at any time.
The leatherworking profession allows players to utilize the leather gathered through the skinning profession to create a variety of items, including cloaks, leather and mail armor, and armor kits. The armor produced by leatherworking is chiefly of use to the leather and mail wearing classes: druid, hunter, shaman, monk, and rogue.
While Leatherworking used to offer specializations at later levels, most recipes that used to require those can now be trained by all leatherworkers and many of the items made are now bind on equip.
Leatherworkers take the rough, spiny or sturdy hides of beasts everywhere and turn them into useful products. First and foremost among these creations are lighter armors - leather and mail - as well as cloaks, bags, and unique patches and stitching that improve the defensive values of armor. The craft of Leatherworking is useful to those who want to outfit themselves and others with suitable armors, as well as those who want to proft from selling their rare creations.
Most Leatherworking can be done anywhere, provided you've got the necessary materials. It's not uncommon for Leatherworkers to also specialize in Skinning - the most efficient way to ensure that they have all the leather they need for their creations.[1]
Leatherworking is taught by various leatherworking trainers located throughout the world. Prospective leatherworkers must be at least level 5. Initial training costs 10, granting the Apprentice level with a potential skill of 75 and access to a few starting leatherworking patterns. More patterns can be learned from trainers or found throughout the world as the leatherworker raises their skill level.
The following are the required levels and potential skill of each stage of the profession:
‡ Shadowlands proficiency is only available after purchasing the expansionShadowlands.
Advancing as a Leatherworker[]
Unlike some professions, such as blacksmithing, which requires both a purchased item and a world location for creation of items, leatherworkers do not require any special equipment or locations to process their materials into finished products. As long as the leatherworker has all of the required materials for the creation of an item, patterns can be crafted anywhere in the world at any time.
Crafting items is the only way to progress through the stages. Patterns will appear as one of four colors in the profession window, with a certain chance for a skill up (gaining a point):
Red: You're not yet able to learn to make this item (you'll only see this on pattern items).
Orange: You will always gain a skill point making the item (unless you're already at the maximum). When indicated (with a number and up arrow to the right of the pattern name), pattern will skill up by the shown number for each craft.
Yellow: You will probably gain a skill point making the item, but might not.
Green: You will most likely not gain a skill point making an item, but you could. (unlikely)
Gray: You will never skill up.
As leatherworking skill increases, patterns will eventually change from orange to yellow, yellow to green and green to grey. Only by finding higher skill patterns can one continue to progress through the profession. Approximately every 5-10 points, new patterns will become available to learn from the trainers. Alternatively, patterns can be looted from corpses or purchased either from vendors or from the auction house. All patterns have a requisite leatherworking skill to be able to be learned and crafted. Additionally, some patterns cannot be gotten until you have a certain reputation standing with a particular faction. These are listed at the faction recipes entry.
Suggested 2nd profession[]
Since leatherworking is almost exclusively dependent upon materials gathered from skinning creatures around the world, skinning is the most recommended profession to pair with it. Attempting to level leatherworking to max level exclusively through purchasing leather through the Auction House is not recommended unless you are on a high population server and have a lot of extra gold, as some materials are not usually available in great quantity and it can be prohibitively expensive. An alternative is to use a second character to farm leather for your leatherworker. If you do choose to level through the AH, be prepared to spend thousands of gold doing it. Also, leatherworking is unique in a few ways that makes skinning almost invaluable that most people don't see:
High-end recipes are bought from leatherworking vendors, located near leatherworking trainers, in the major cities for skins and furs. Unlike jewelcrafters, for example, that have to do dailies to earn a specific currency for their recipes, we can literally farm patterns.
Skins aren't nodes. Even a maxed level miner or herbalist still picks up a node they pass by when in Elwynn and sells the materials. Few people will kill and skin low-level mobs when they could farm higher level mobs with a greater yield. Low-level leatherworkers without skinning can find themselves in a standstill when no leathers are up for sale. This can be turned to your advantage if you do farm these low-level leathers as they are sometimes top dollar due to rarity.
Leather conversions[]
Leatherworkers are also able to take lower quality leather materials gathered through skinning and convert them into higher quality items. As the quality increases, for example, from light to medium, the number of lower quality materials required to make one higher quality material increases. The table below shows the conversions between all types of leather. Conversions taught by trainers are shown in bold green text. (The fractions are for comparison only. Leather cannot be split into lower grades.) Leathers cannot be converted across expansions; no amount of Knothide Leather, for example, can be converted to Borean Leather.
Standard Leather
Ruined
Light
Medium
Heavy
Thick
Rugged
Ruined
1
3
12
60
360
2160
Light
1/3
1
4
20
120
720
Medium
1/12
1/4
1
5
30
180
Heavy
1/60
1/20
1/5
1
6
36
Thick
1/360
1/120
1/30
1/6
1
6
Rugged
1/2160
1/720
1/180
1/36
1/6
1
Knothide Leather
Scraps
Leather
Heavy
Scraps
1
5
25
Leather
1/5
1
5
Heavy
1/25
1/5
1
Borean Leather
Scraps
Leather
Heavy
Scraps
1
5
30
Leather
1/5
1
6
Heavy
1/30
1/6
1
Savage Leather
Scraps
Leather
Heavy
Scraps
1
5
25
Leather
1/5
1
5
Heavy
1/25
1/5
1
Exotic Leather
Sha-Touched
Exotic
Magnificent Hide
Sha-Touched
1
4
200
Exotic
1/4
1
50
Magnificent Hide
1/200
1/50
1
Beast Hide
Beast Hide Scraps
Raw Beast Hide
Burnished Leather
Beast Hide Scraps
1
10
200
Raw Beast Hide
1/10
1
20
Burnished Leather
1/200
1/20
1
Specialized leatherworking[]
In patch 4.0.1 leatherworking specializations were removed from the game. There were previously three specializations: Elemental Leatherworking for Agility leather gear, Tribal Leatherworking for Intellect leather gear, and Dragonscale Leatherworking for Intellect mail gear. Patterns that required a specialization were either made craftable by anyone or removed from the game. An article preserving information on the now-removed specializations can be found at the Leatherworking proficiencies page.
Leatherworker-only Benefits[]
Fur Lining and Leg Reinforcements[]
At higher skill level, leatherworkers can apply Fur Lining to their own bracers and Leg Reinforcements to their own leg armor. Since these augments are meant for the leatherworker's personal use only, applying them causes the equipment to become soulbound. The resulting enchants are generally better than any enchant you can buy or otherwise acquire.
Fur Lining and Leg Reinforcements require at least 400 leatherworking to remain active. Leg Reinforcements also have a minimum character level requirement.
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 7.0.3 (2016-07-19): New mail patterns for level 8-35 were added to accommodate the armor change to mail wearing classes such as hunters and shamans.
Patch 6.0.2 (2014-10-14): Rugged Leather now requires [Deeprock Salt], new patterns for exotic leather fragments added.
Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28): Fur lining and leg enchants updated.
Patch 4.0.1 (2010-10-12): Leatherworking specializations no longer exist.
Patch 1.5.0 (2005-06-07): Tribal Leatherworkers who have restarted their profession are now able to relearn the various Wild Leather patterns if they've already completed the quests prior to restarting the profession. Speak with Pratt McGrubben (Alliance) or Jangdor Swiftstrider (Horde) in Feralas to relearn what you once knew!
Patch 0.6 (2004-04-13): Nearly 30 new recipes added.
Leatherworking (Profession)
, granting the Apprentice level with a potential skill of 75 and access to a few starting leatherworking patterns. More patterns can be learned from trainers or found throughout the world as the leatherworker raises their skill level.
[10-40] Cut 'Em Out! / 
[10-40] Fair Trade
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 
[Deeprock Salt], new patterns for exotic leather fragments added. 
