Skinning Re-Grind

[Zarathustra]

I recently decided my bank needed some cleaning, with such choice items as my Archivist's Cape of the Owl taking up space. With extra blues and epics, I figured it'd be a better idea to nuke the old stuff than vendor it. Dropped skinning, disenchanted the old gear, and picked skinning right back up.

This isn't really meant as a guide, but rather an account of how I made the grind back to 300 skinning. There may be better areas/methods out there, but here's what I came up with off the top of my head while trying to speed back to 300. I pretty much headed back to town whenever either my inventory was full or I needed to train skinning once more to progress.

And thus I embarked, aided with Finkle's Skinner (+10) and a skinning enchantment to gloves (+5)...

1-75 - Dun Morogh
Time: ~30 mins
Perks: A real reason to kill critters.
Notes: Rabbits fear me now.

75-115 - Croc Island in Loch Modan
Time: ~20 mins
Perks: Insane respawn time.
Notes: These things were popping faster than I could kill and skin them all. Additionally there are young threshadons in the waters surrounding, making for a few bonus points after I was done skinning the crocs.

115-150 - Wetlands Whelps
Time: ~25 mins
Perks: Red Whep Scales used in Red Whelp Gloves, and a shot at a Whelpling pet.
Notes: Decent respawns here as well, with a wide area to roam killing whelps.

150-225 - Stranglethorn Vale
Time: ~90 mins (ouch)
Perks: High-traffic area.
Notes: I often found myself running along behind people questing and simply skinning what they were leaving behind. So for the first 25 points or so, life was easy. The way STV is set up, I just worked my way south along the road, venturing off on either side to skin whatever animals I encountered along the way, lingering at each area just long enough to be able to skin them without using my skinner or gloves. I wrapped things up at the Crystalvein Mine, rounding up 6 or 7 Basilisks at a time and using AoE to take them down, then skinning the lot. Still, at 90 minutes in STV, I was reminded that this wasn't going to be a cakewalk like back in Dun Morogh. Skillups are not guaranteed, even on mobs that require skinning 15 above current skill level.

That's where I started nodding off at the keyboard. Current time is approximately 2 hours, 45 minutes to go from 1 to 225 skinning (not counting flying times and auction house perusal). Will edit this post with information on those last 75 points.

[Flymo]

I did something similar, and had the humiliation of a rabbit resisting my wand. :blush:

[Zarathustra]

225-300 - Un'Goro Crater
Time: ~4 hours
Perks: Tons of beasts. Vendor trash sells well.

I wandered back and forth, settling into the marshes of Un'Goro to take out the raptors through about 275, at which point I remembered the Fungal Cave in the northwest portion of the Crater. This reminded me that the trip to 300 is indeed a grind, even if the early stages seem to fly by. I didn't remember it being this much of a chore when I levelled skinning the first time, but then again that was during levelling just chopping up whatever I killed along the way.

Stackf of gorilla hair tufts, teeth, and those empty barrels sell very well in Marshall's Refuge. Additionally I walked away with 10 pieces of Devilsaur leather from those who tried to step on me while I was slicing up their smaller cousins.

I have to say the most fun I had, though, was rounding up 8 raptors and turning on Hurricane, watching each one of them die in a ring around me. Druids don't get many opportunities to use AoE like that. =o)


So there's 1-300. Would I do it again? Sure. It was quick enough, and the piles of leather I gained sold well or went towards crafts for friends. Next time I've got 20 or so items that need to be nuked, I'll have to rinse and repeat.