Skinning

Route from skill 1 to 300 for Classic Era. The leather is ideal for your own leatherworking.

Trainers and requirements

Apprentice: at any skinning trainer, a Skinning Knife in your bags is enough.
Journeyman: Thuwd (Orgrimmar) or Balthus Stoneflayer (Ironforge).
Expert (from skill 125): Horde Dranh at Camp Taurajo, Alliance Balthus in Ironforge.
Artisan (from skill 205): Horde Kulleg Stonehorn (Camp Mojache, Feralas), Alliance Balthus in Ironforge.

Route Classic Era (1-300)

Skill	What	Where
1-75	Animals in Durotar or Dun Morogh	Horde: from Sen’jin Village to Orgrimmar. Alliance: lake near Ironforge.
75-155	Barrens, Loch Modan, Wetlands	You must reach skill 125 before Camp Taurajo.
155-205	Thousand Needles, Arathi Highlands	Raptors up to level 37 can only be skinned from 180.
205-230	Feralas, Camp Mojache	Suitable for both factions.
230-280	Yeti cave and hippogryphs in Feralas	Second yeti cave for skill 260 to 280.
280-300	Un’Goro Crater	Or keep killing animals in front of the yeti cave in Feralas.

Route from skill 300 to 375 for TBC Classic. The route for 1-300 is in the Classic Era tab.

Trainers and requirements

Trainers: Moorutu (Thrallmar, Horde), Jelena Nightsky (Honor Hold, Alliance) and Seymour (Shattrath, both).
Requirement: Skinning 300.

Route TBC Classic (300-375)

Skill	What	Where
300-305	Starving Helboars	Zeth’gor
305-310	Deranged Helboars	Area next to Zeth’gor
310-330	Razorfang Hatchlings and Razorfang Ravagers	Next area on Hellfire Peninsula
330-360	Talbuks and Clefthoofs	Nagrand
360-375	All creatures of Outland	Free choice

Source: Compiled from the MoP Classic guide on wow-professions.com (skill 1-600).

Trainers and requirements

Start (1-70): Horde Thuwd (Orgrimmar), Alliance Helene Peltskinner (Elwynn Forest). A Skinning Knife (Horde at the trainer, Alliance from Tharynn Bouden in Goldshire) does not need to be equipped but gives +10 skill.
125-225: Horde Killian Hagey (Undercity), Alliance Balthus Stoneflayer (Ironforge). Master (300-350): Moorutu (Thrallmar, Horde) or Jelena Nightsky (Honor Hold, Alliance).
Grand Master (350-425): Tiponi Stormwhisper (Horde) or Trapper Jack (Alliance), Borean Tundra. Illustrious (425-500): the same trainers. MoP (500-600): Trapper Ri (Honeydew Village, Horde) or Hao of the Stag’s Horns (Paw’don Village, Alliance), Jade Forest.
For 225-300 the Horde can use the portal in Orgrimmar to the Twilight Highlands and fly to the Badlands. Instances (Uldaman, Oculus) are reset by right-clicking your portrait and choosing Reset All Instances.

MoP Classic route (1-600)

Skill	What	Where
1-70	Boars	Durotar (Horde): shuttle between the two pig farms. Alliance: Stonetusk Boars in Maclure Vineyards, Elwynn Forest. With ranged AoE kill groups for about a minute, then loot and skin.
70-125	Marsh Crocolisks (Silverpine), Mudbelly Boars and Loch Crocolisks (Loch Modan)	Silverpine Forest, Loch Modan (marked area). In Silverpine only level 18 mobs can be skinned at first, at least 10 kills for skill 80. Always 4-5 crocolisks, respawns often right next to you.
125-185	Dragonmaw Whelpstealers and Ebon Slavehunters	Wetlands, road east of Greenwarden’s Grove. Kill all 5 mobs with AoE, loot, skin the Ebon Slavehunters. After the 2nd skinning 2 new ones are there. Empty your bags first.
185-225	All beasts in the marked area	Badlands, Uldaman (entrance on the map, the marked one is easier). One full clear usually reaches 225, at least 200 is needed for the next rank. Leave through the same entrance.
225-250	Uldaman again	Reset the instance first.
250-300	Dragonkin and beasts in the marked area	Burning Steppes. Farm the area shown on the map.
300-320	Razorfang Hatchlings and Razorfang Ravagers	Hellfire Peninsula. A Skinning Knife is needed for level 61 mobs if you have not bought one yet.
320-350	Talbuks and Clefthoofs	Nagrand (marked area). Farm the area shown on the map.
350-395	Wooly Rhino Matriarchs and Wooly Rhino Calves	Borean Tundra, north and south of Warsong Hold. The north is usually better, the south when the north is taken. Fast respawn.
395-425	Hardknuckle Foragers and Hardknuckle Chargers	Sholazar Basin, around Frenzyheart Hill. Farm the area shown on the map.
425-500	Mobs in the Oculus (first floor)	Borean Tundra, The Oculus (portal in the middle of the entrance). 3-4 instance resets needed.
500-550	Wyrmhorn Turtles	Valley of the Four Winds, near the small lake. Farm the area shown on the map.
550-590	Longshadow Mushans, Longshadow Bulls, Fluttering Moths	Townlong Steppes, around the Kri’vess tree. Farm the area shown on the map.
590-600	Stout Shaghorns (packs of six, not hostile)	Valley of the Four Winds, only reachable with a flying mount. Without a flying mount use scorpions in the Dread Wastes instead.

Beta data. WoW Forever has not been released yet. This route is based on the beta data from wow-professions.com and may change before launch.

Trainers and requirements

Journeyman: Skinning 50 (not taught by junior trainers). Expert: 125. Artisan: 200.
You need a Skinning Knife in your bags. Mobs can be skinned up to 5 x their level in skill (different scale under level 20).
Enchant Gloves – Skinning lets you skin mobs one level higher. Skyborne: quest Harvesting Windstones teaches Skinning.

WoW Forever route (1-300)

Skill	What	Where
1-75	Mottled Boars (Valley of Trials, Horde), Young Wolves (Northshire, Alliance)	Starter-zone mobs, level 1-2 up to about level 10
75-125	Elder Mountain Boar, Black Bear Patriarch, Loch Crocolisk (Loch Modan)	Pull crocolisks on the coast, level 16-17
75-150	Raptor camp west of Northwatch Hold (The Barrens)	Sunscale Scytheclaw, Zhevra Charger, mob level 16-18, fast respawn
125-150	Mottled Scytheclaw, Mottled Razormaw (Wetlands)	Whelgar’s Excavation Site, level 25-27
150-225	Cave Yeti, Ferocious Yeti (Hillsbrad Foothills)	Foothill Caverns, level 30-32, very fast respawn. Alternative: Duskwood (Nightbane Worgen, level 26-29).
225-280	Feral Scar Yetis (Feralas)	Yeti cave in Feral Scar Vale, level 43-46. Horde from Camp Mojache, Alliance from Feathermoon Stronghold.
280-300	Diemetradons, Pterrordaxes (Un’Goro Crater)	Western part, level 50-55, arrive from Marshal’s Refuge