Leatherworking

This Profession allows players to work various leathers and pelts into leather armors as well as patches integral to the creation of higher-level, metallic armors and enhanced weapons. Leatherworkers are responsible for creating leather items for leather wearing classes: Druid, Hunter, Shaman, and Rogue. At high levels leatherworkers can create specialized gear useful to high level players.

Becoming a Leatherworker

You should already be a skinner since you will need hides and leather to create your items. It is possible to be a leatherworker without being a skinner if you buy or are given the required ingredients by other players but is not recommended.
Leatherworkers do not require any special equipment to create their items such as blacksmiths require anvils. Leatherworkers can create wherever they want as long as they have the proper required ingredients.

Recipe Ingredients

The main staple for leatherworkers is obviously leather as well as hides. These are found by skinning animals. You will likely not get enough leather and hides on your own so you are encouraged to buy leather and hides as well as have your friends collect them for you. Recipes also require various other ingredients such as dyes and thread purchased from a Profession merchant. You might also need rare gems which are found from monster drops, treasure chests, mining, fishing, and Rogue pick pocketing.

Conversions
You can combine lesser leather to convert it to higher leather. Check out the table below for a list of conversions.

Leather Result

3 Ruined Leather Scraps 1 Light Leather
4 Light Leather 1 Medium Leather
5 Medium Leather 1 Heavy Leather
6 Heavy Leather 1 Thick Leather
6 Thick Leather 1 Rugged Leather

Recipes
Recipes can be found at trainers, as limited items on special vendors, as rewards for reputations, monster drops, quest rewards, powerful boss drops, and in the auction house. Ask around if you can't find a particular recipe.

Armor Kits

Leatherworkers can create armor kits which are alternatives to Enchanting. Players must choose whether they want armor kits or enchantments on items to which both can be applied, such as chest pieces. Armor kits are permanent. You can place an enchantment over an armor kit or place a more powerful armor kit over a weaker one. Armor kits can only be applied to boots, chest pieces, gloves, and pants.

Specialization

At high levels, players have the ability to specialize as a Dragonscale Leatherworker, Elemental Leatherworker, or Tribal Leatherworker. These specialists can create very powerful and valuable items. Your decision as to which to pick depends on how the items appeal to you. Another thing to consider is filling a role in a guild among other leatherworkers.

Additional Information

Leather patches' effects do not stack. They will overwrite each other when applied. You can only have one patch on an item at a time.
Enchants/Imbues and armor patches do not stack. They will overwrite each other.
At high levels, players have the ability to specialize as a Dragonscale Leatherworker, Elemental Leatherworker, or Tribal Leatherworker. These specialists can create very powerful and valuable items.
There is a recipe at leatherworking trainers that allows Thick Leather to be turned into Rugged Leather.
Leatherworkers can make throwing balls (as a toy).
There is Silithid armor that can be made by leatherworkers. The recipes require Cenarion Circle faction to learn.

Rank Skill level (min - max) Min. Character Level

Apprentice 1 - 75---- Level 5

Journeyman 50 - 150---- level 10

Expert 125 - 225 ----Level 20

Artisan 200 - 300 ----Level 35

Tribal, Elemental or Dragonscale Leatherworking 200 - 300 ----Level 40

Powerleveling:

For those like me that decide to switch to this profession at high level. I won´t list the exact way I did it, there are plenty of good guides out there on the official boards. I want to share a few tips with you though I learned about:

- When you plan your way, take into account not only the crafts with the least reagents, but also that some reagents are generally less wanted, therefore cheaper to buy (e.g. Chimera Leather instead of Rugged Leather)
- Not only plan with trainer skills, but also take into consideration recipes that are limited supply at any vendor out there, and cheap and easy-to-get world drop recipes
- Try to "re-use" crafted stuff, like crafting Fine Leather Belt, which later on can be used to craft Dark Leather Belt
- Craft the items you need for various Leatherworking quests while they still give you a skill point
- For each kind of leather calculate an additional amount equal to 2 more crafts, to be on the safe side and don´t have to quickly buy overpriced at the AH (for example my 35 Knothide Leather combines only gave me 9 points, not 10 like I had planned)
- If you store the leather on a mule until you relearn, make sure to send stuff intelligently to your new LWer, for example send all the stuff for the "Heavy Leather-phase" after eachother, otherwise you keep wasting time searching through your mailbox.
- Learning every skill the trainer(s) can teach you from level 1 - 375 will cost you approximately 100g, including the crafts from your Specialisation trainer
- Buying all the threads and dyes and salt you´ll need for the crafts add up as well. Even with exalted discount I ended up at about 80g for those.
- Empty your inventory as good as possible when you start, saves you time by travelling between mailbox and trainer less often.

Hope that helps some of you :-)