Profession Guide · Prices from November 11, 2026 (10:43 PM scan)
The cheapest way to level Leatherworking from 1 to 300 in World of Warcraft: Forever. I went through every Leatherworking recipe in the game and priced each material at whichever is cheaper: the auction house on the US PvP ruleset, or a vendor. Each step uses the recipe with the lowest cost per skill point, counting the crafts that don’t give a point.
At a glance
1–300 ~177gFrom 194 ~162gSteps 14
- Thread and dye are always cheaper from a trade-supplies vendor, so buy them there.
- Cure your own hides (hide plus Salt). It costs less than buying cured hides and gives skill points too.
- Train the next rank before you reach each cap at 75, 150 and 225.
- Skinners can gather most of the leather themselves and cut the cost a lot.
Where Oils is now: 194 / 225. Next up: Thick Armor Kit (191–198), then Nightscape Headband at 198.
Skinners: Guardian Gloves stay yellow until 195 and green until 205. If you skin your own Heavy Leather and hides, they cost you almost nothing, so keep making them past 191 instead of buying Thick Leather for the armor kits. Switch once they turn green.
1–150: Apprentice and Journeyman
Light and Medium Leather. Under 5g for all of it.
1–52Light Armor Kit
- Craft: about 67
- Each needs: 1 Light Leather
- Buy: Light Leather: auction house, 45c
- Recipe: Trainer
- Est. cost: 30s 29c (45c per craft)
52–87Embossed Leather Gloves
- Craft: about 42
- Each needs: 3 Light Leather, 2 Coarse Thread
- Buy: Light Leather: auction house, 45c; Coarse Thread: vendor, 9c
- Recipe: Trainer
- Est. cost: 64s 94c (1s 53c per craft)
87–110Fine Leather Boots
- Craft: about 28
- Each needs: 7 Light Leather, 2 Coarse Thread
- Buy: Light Leather: auction house, 45c; Coarse Thread: vendor, 9c
- Recipe: Pattern: Fine Leather Boots, from the auction house (about 2s)
- Est. cost: 96s 25c (3s 33c per craft)
110–138Hillman's Shoulders
- Craft: about 29
- Each needs: 1 Cured Medium Hide, 4 Medium Leather, 1 Fine Thread
- Buy: Cured Medium Hide: cure it yourself (1 Medium Hide + 1 Salt), about 2s 59c; Medium Leather: auction house, 75c; Fine Thread: vendor, 90c
- Recipe: Trainer
- Est. cost: 1g 90s (6s 49c per craft)
138–158Heavy Armor Kit
- Craft: about 27
- Each needs: 5 Heavy Leather, 1 Fine Thread
- Buy: Heavy Leather: auction house, 1s 72c; Fine Thread: vendor, 90c
- Recipe: Trainer
- Est. cost: 2g 57s (9s 50c per craft)
150–225: Expert
Heavy and Thick Leather. Guardian Gloves, Thick Armor Kits and Nightscape gear give steady skill points here.
158–165Barbaric Shoulders
- Craft: about 7
- Each needs: 8 Heavy Leather, 1 Cured Heavy Hide, 2 Fine Thread
- Buy: Heavy Leather: auction house, 1s 72c; Cured Heavy Hide: cure it yourself (1 Heavy Hide + 3 Salt), about 9s 84c; Fine Thread: vendor, 90c
- Recipe: Trainer
- Est. cost: 1g 77s (25s 40c per craft)
165–191Guardian Gloves
- Craft: about 27
- Each needs: 4 Heavy Leather, 1 Cured Heavy Hide, 1 Silken Thread
- Buy: Heavy Leather: auction house, 1s 72c; Cured Heavy Hide: cure it yourself (1 Heavy Hide + 3 Salt), about 9s 84c; Silken Thread: vendor, 4s 50c
- Recipe: Trainer
- Est. cost: 5g 71s (21s 22c per craft)
191–198Thick Armor KitOils is here
- Craft: about 7
- Each needs: 5 Thick Leather, 1 Silken Thread
- Buy: Thick Leather: auction house, 5s; Silken Thread: vendor, 4s 50c
- Recipe: Trainer
- Est. cost: 2g 11s (29s 50c per craft)
198–213Nightscape Headband
- Craft: about 22
- Each needs: 5 Thick Leather, 2 Silken Thread
- Buy: Thick Leather: auction house, 5s; Silken Thread: vendor, 4s 50c
- Recipe: Trainer
- Est. cost: 7g 51s (34s per craft)
213–225Nightscape Pants
- Craft: about 12
- Each needs: 14 Thick Leather, 4 Silken Thread
- Buy: Thick Leather: auction house, 5s; Silken Thread: vendor, 4s 50c
- Recipe: Trainer
- Est. cost: 10g 56s (88s per craft)
225–300: Artisan
Unlocking Artisan
- Trainer: Hahrana Ironhide, Camp Mojache, Feralas
- Needs: character level 35 and skill 200
- When to go: as soon as you reach 200. You can’t go past 225 until you train Artisan.
- Oils: at 186, so 14 more points before Hahrana will train him.
- Forever is new, so confirm in game.
Rugged Leather makes up most of the cost. Buy the Blue Suede Gloves, Shoulders and Hat patterns (about 14g together) before you start.
225–240Rugged Armor Kit
- Craft: about 26
- Each needs: 5 Rugged Leather
- Buy: Rugged Leather: auction house, 12s 99c
- Recipe: Trainer
- Est. cost: 17g 7s (64s 95c per craft)
240–264Blue Suede Gloves
- Craft: about 24
- Each needs: 8 Rugged Leather, 1 Rune Thread, 1 Blue Dye
- Buy: Rugged Leather: auction house, 12s 99c; Rune Thread: vendor, 45s; Blue Dye: vendor, 45c
- Recipe: Pattern: Blue Suede Gloves, from the auction house (about 1g)
- Est. cost: 37g 35s (1g 49s per craft)
264–287Blue Suede Shoulders
- Craft: about 24
- Each needs: 10 Rugged Leather, 1 Rune Thread, 2 Blue Dye
- Buy: Rugged Leather: auction house, 12s 99c; Rune Thread: vendor, 45s; Blue Dye: vendor, 45c
- Recipe: Pattern: Blue Suede Shoulders, from the auction house (about 5g 76s)
- Est. cost: 48g 57s (1g 75s per craft)
287–300Blue Suede Hat
- Craft: about 13
- Each needs: 16 Rugged Leather, 1 Rune Thread, 4 Blue Dye
- Buy: Rugged Leather: auction house, 12s 99c; Rune Thread: vendor, 45s; Blue Dye: vendor, 45c
- Recipe: Pattern: Blue Suede Hat, from the auction house (about 7g 55s)
- Est. cost: 40g 65s (2g 54s per craft)
Shopping list: 194 to 300
Everything Oils still needs, rounded up.
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Rugged Leather | 770 |
| Thick Leather | 298 |
| Blue Dye | 124 |
| Silken Thread | 96 |
| Rune Thread | 61 |
Shopping list: 1 to 300
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Rugged Leather | 770 |
| Light Leather | 389 |
| Thick Leather | 313 |
| Heavy Leather | 299 |
| Coarse Thread | 140 |
| Salt | 131 |
| Silken Thread | 126 |
| Blue Dye | 124 |
| Medium Leather | 116 |
| Fine Thread | 70 |
| Rune Thread | 61 |
| Heavy Hide | 34 |
| Medium Hide | 29 |
How the costs are worked out: material prices come from the latest auction house scan on the US PvP ruleset (the 7-day typical price for anything not seen in the last few days), or the vendor price where that’s cheaper. Orange recipes always give a point; yellow and green ones give a point less often as your skill rises, so the craft counts and costs include the extra crafts that don’t give a point. Recipe colors are the ones Forever uses, which run about 20 to 25 points lower than in classic. These are averages, so your counts may differ by a few.