Guide to gathering
Updated December 2023
Gathering is one of the joys of New World and something you probably encountered on your very first day, wandering in the wilds of Aeternum. All levels of material are useful all the way to the end game, and the special materials (or cooldown mats) that you can make at the highest levels of refining are in demand for crafted items. The raw resources hold a good market value, as players will often buy them to do their cooldowns, so it’s beneficial for you to raise your gathering skill. With the whole world to choose from, it can be daunting to decide the best course of action, so we’ve put together a guide to help you level up your gathering skills and find the resources you need.
Introduction
Before we delve into the details of each gathering type, there are some global modifiers that impact gathering which are activated through holding forts in certain territories. If you’re serious about doing some gathering and are a member of a faction, it’s worth seeing whether you can get take the following forts first:
- Brimstone Sands: Gathering quantity +10%
- Cutlass Keys: Increase global gathering luck by 10%
- Monarchs Bluff: Increase all experience gains by 5%
There are also some songs that will help you while you’re gathering:
- Fortune’s Favor – increase yield when gathering – 10% for 60 mins
- Luck’s Labor – increases luck when gathering – 5% for 90 mins
- Decidedly Dexterous – increases gathering speed – 75% for 90 mins
- Song in Your Step – reduces encumbrance – 100 weight capacity increase for 120 mins
You can also consume a crafted Proficiency Boost potion for up to 15% increased resources for 30 mins, or use a Proficiency Booster from the Cash shop or Season Pass to increase your yield by 10% for 90 minutes.
Table of Contents
In order to mine, you will need a pickaxe. As part of the beginner questline, you are asked to make a pickaxe, so you’ll probably already have a basic one. The higher gear score on your tools, the faster you will gather resources, so it’s worth upgrading if your level allows.
A 200GS Iron Mining Pickaxe provides 200% gather speed, while at the other end of the spectrum, a 700GS Mythril Mining Pick has 1100% gather speed.
Your attributes also play a role in gathering, with milestone bonuses. Mining uses Strength, which you can increase with gear, attribute food or by respeccing attribute points.
- 25 Str = +10% mining speed
- 150 Str = -10% weight of mined items
- 200 Str = +20% mining speed
- 250 Str = +10% yield when mining
- 300 Str = 25% chance to one-tap a mining node
- 350 Str = 10% chance at finding rare items while mining
If you’re gathering while levelling your character, just get the the highest gear score tools you can equip, as you will outlevel them fairly quickly. Once you are at least level 60, you can start shopping for decent tools. The most useful perks are:
- Mining Luck
- Mining Yield
- Prospector’s Discipline
- Gathering Alacrity (while not strictly necessary, the speed you get from this makes gathering fun, and you won’t want to go back!)
A special mention goes to the elemental Alignment perks. Any tool that is 600-625 or 675-700 gear score should have this perk, and it’s a random chance which one will roll when crafting. I would take a 625 tool with alignment over a 674 tool without it, despite the speed difference. The Alignment perk means that every time you use the tool, you have a chance of picking up motes of that element, which increases your overall profit and just feels good.
While mining, there is a chance that you will find other items, such as gems and other crafting components. The chance you have to receive these is modified by your Mining Luck, which you can increase through armor with Reinforced Mining Luck on it, such as the Miner set. You can also get an amulet with Adored Mining Luck.
There is also a new 700GS* Miner set that can only be made using patterns found in T3 Aptitude crates. These have a yield bonus as well as a luck bonus, however at the time of writing this article, the Mining Yield bonus is limited to a stack of 1.
You can also raise your mining luck with food.
| Salted Roasted Vegetables | +2000 | 40 mins | Lvl 60 |
| Poultry with Roasted Potatoes | +1900 | 35 mins | Lvl 40 |
| Boiled Potatoes | +1700 | 30 mins | Lvl 20 |
| Herb-roasted Potatoes | +1400 | 25 mins | Lvl 5 |
| Roasted Potatoes | +1000 | 20 mins | Lvl 0 |
The final goal for mining is to refine your materials into Asmodeum, which is the main ingredient in top level jewelry, heavy armour, and metal weapons, and included in most other top tier recipes. A master smelter is limited to crafting 10 Asmodeum per day, which requires 400 Orichalcum ore, 600 Starmetal ore and 2400 Iron ore to be mined.
Note: platinum ingots can also be used to make orichalcum ingots, which requires 900 platinum ore, 1500 gold ore and 2400 silver ore per 10 Asmo, plus the 400 orichalcum ore.
Raising Mining Skill
As your mining skill increases, you can harvest different types of resources. The speed of your mining also increases, culminating in a 220% gathering speed bonus at level 250.
You can increase the amount of mining XP you receive through the Prospector’s Discipline perk on your pickaxe, as well as the 5% global experience gain buff from the Monarch’s Bluff fort.
Levels 1-45: Iron Ore
Iron Ore is always needed and it’s a good idea to mine every node you see. You need a lot of Iron for smelting, so you’ll probably go back to your Iron run regularly even after you reach level 45. Stone gives less XP than Iron but is pretty much everywhere, so if you don’t want to stray too far from town, you can gain skill mining it. You’ll need stone to level up your Stonecutting skill, which is independent of Smelting.
| Iron XP | Stone XP | |
| Small | 105 | 53 |
| Med | 158 | 79 |
| Large | 237 | 105 |
Levels 20-45 – Oil
Oil is a unique resource used in Arcana, Furnishing, and Town Boards, and can command a decent price on the market. Most of Aeternum’s oil can be found in Weaver’s Fen, which is going to be a good place for you to hang out for the next few levels. Oil gives the same amount of XP as Iron, so feel free to just continue your iron runs for these levels, unless you’d like a change of scenery.
| Oil XP | |
| Small | 105 |
| Med | 158 |
| Large | 237 |
Levels 45-100 – Gold Ore
Once you hit level 45, you can move up to Gold, which gives a little more XP. Conveniently, there is a nice gold run in Weaver’s Fen, just south-west of the oil fields.
| Silver XP | Gold XP | |
| Small | 105 | 158 |
| Med | 158 | 237 |
| Large | 237 | 355 |
Levels 75-100 – Lodestone
Despite requiring level 75 to mine it, Lodestone actually gives less XP than Gold, just the same as the iron, silver, and oil that we can already mine. However, it is a unique resource required for high level stonecutting and the creation of valuable items like Honing Stones and Siren Tuning Orbs, so once you hit level 75, you could collect some for variety. Most Lodestone nodes are medium.
| Lodestone XP | |
| Small | 105 |
| Med | 158 |
| Large | 237 |
Levels 100-150 – Starmetal ore
Level 100 feels like a milestone and is appropriately rewarded with the ability to mine Starmetal. This will give you a boost in XP, as well as being required for higher level smelting recipes. Starmetal can be found in a number of locations, but we recommend this long run from Brightwood to Weaver’s Fen (clearly the best zone!). When you get to 110 mining skill, you can also mine Platinum, which gives the same amount of XP as Starmetal.
| Starmetal/Platinum XP | |
| Small | 263 |
| Med | 394 |
| Large | 591 |
Levels 130-150 – Brimstone
Brimstone is the main way to get Sulfur chunks, which is the only reason we mention it here. It is found in the acid pools of Brimstone Sands and is dangerous to mine, with a small yield, and as little XP as iron, oil, silver and lodestone. It takes 130 skill to be able to mine it, but we recommend sticking with Starmetal and Platinum for your XP gains.
| Brimstone XP | |
| Small | 105 |
| Med | 158 |
| Large | 237 |
Levels 150-205 – Orichalcum ore
At level 150, you gain the ability to mine the final resource type – Orichalcum. This is refined into ingots and used to make pretty much everything, from arrows to furniture, and of course, Asmodeum. There are quite a few good places to mine Orichalcum and it is often seen near corruption. We have recommended the Imperial Shrine run in Ebonscale but there are a number of other good places for you to find. If your combat level is a bit lower, you might want to look around Mourningdale. Orichalcum is still in high demand even though there is a new higher level of ore.
| Orichalcum XP | |
| Small | 657 |
| Med | 984 |
| Large | 1406 |
Levels 205-250 – Mythril*
Mythril is the newest level of ore, added with the Rise of the Angry Earth expansion. It requires 205 skill to be able to mine it and can be found all over Aeternum but especially in level 60+ zones. On release of the expansion, spawn rates for Mythril were increased, resulting in a bit of a market glut, but they are back to normal now so should gain value. Mythril gives the most XP for mining, so you can finish off your final levels quickly.
| Mythril XP | |
| Small | 1182 |
| Med | 1775 |
| Large | 2657 |
Really weird Ore
While you are mining, there is a chance you will find a special resource that can be taken to a Smelter and refined for Mining XP. You can also purchase Mastery Caches from the Faction vendor that contain these.
| Name | Gather from | Cache | Mining XP |
| Strange Ore | Iron and Silver | Minor Mining Mastery | 2250 |
| Abnormal Ore | Starmetal and Gold | Major Mining Mastery | 5250 |
| Unusual Ore | Orichalcum and Platinum | Greater/Grand Mining Mastery | 11250 |
| Bizarre Ore | Mythril | Mentor Mining Mastery* | 18500 |
In order to harvest, you will need a sickle. As part of the beginner questline, you are asked to make a sickle, so you’ll probably already have a basic one. The higher gear score on your tools, the faster you will gather resources, so it’s worth upgrading if your level allows.
A GS200 Iron Harvesting Sickle provides 200% gather speed, while at the other end of the spectrum, a 700GS Mythril Sickle has 1100% gather speed.
If you’re gathering while levelling your character, just get the the highest gear score tools you can equip, as you will outlevel them fairly quickly. Once you are at least level 60, you can start shopping for decent tools. The most useful perks are:
- Harvesting Luck
- Harvesting Yield
- Horticulture Discipline
- Gathering Alacrity (while not strictly necessary, the speed you get from this makes gathering fun, and you won’t want to go back!)
A special mention goes to the elemental Alignment perks. Any tool that is 600-625 or 675-700 gear score should have this perk, and it’s a random chance which one will roll when crafting. I would take a 625 tool with alignment over a 674 tool without it, despite the speed difference. The Alignment perk means that every time you use the tool, you have a chance of picking up motes of that element, which increases your overall profit and just feels good.
Your attributes also play a role in gathering, with milestone bonuses. Harvesting uses Intelligence, which you can increase with gear, attribute food or by respeccing attribute points.
- 25 Int = +10% harvest speed
- 50 Int = 5% chance for 1 azoth when harvesting
- 150 Int = -10% weight of harvested items
- 200 Int = +20% harvest speed
- 250 Int = +10% yield when harvesting
- 350 Int = +10% chance at finding rare items while harvesting
While harvesting, there is a chance that you will find other items, such as Dead Dryad Vine and other crafting components. The chance you have to receive these is modified by your Harvesting Luck, which you can increase through armor with Reinforced Harvesting Luck on it, such as the Harvester set. You can also get an amulet with Adored Harvesting Luck.
There is also a new 700GS* Harvester set that can only be made using patterns found in T3 Aptitude crates. These have a yield bonus as well as a luck bonus, however at the time of writing this article, the Harvesting Yield bonus is limited to a stack of 1.
You can also raise your harvesting luck with food.
| Spicy Steak Pie | +2000 | 40 mins | Lvl 60 |
| Breakfast Bread | +1900 | 35 mins | Lvl 40 |
| Herb-Crusted Corn on the Cob | +1700 | 30 mins | Lvl 20 |
| Cornbread | +1400 | 25 mins | Lvl 5 |
| Cooked Corn | +1000 | 20 mins | Lvl 0 |
The final goal for harvesting is to refine your materials into Phoenixweave, which is the main ingredient in cloth armour, and included in most other top-tier recipes. A master weaver is limited to crafting 10 Phoenixweave per day, which requires 400 Wirefiber, 600 Silkweed and 3200 Fibers to be harvested.
Harvesting is also used for collecting herbs and motes, which are useful for Cooking and Arcana.
Raising Harvesting Skill
As your harvesting skill increases, you can harvest different types of resources.
You can increase the amount of harvesting XP you receive through the Horticulture Discipline perk on your harvesting sickle, as well as the 5% global experience gain buff from the Monarch’s Bluff fort.
Levels 1-100 – Hemp
Harvesting hemp in the gentle fields of Windsward is one way to fall in love with New World. Your harvesting skill should increase quite quickly and the large volumes of Fibers you will collect can be refined to raise your Weaving skill, or sold on the market for a profit.
| Hemp XP | |
| Small | 98 |
| Med | 147 |
| Large | 195 |
Levels 30-100 – Magical plants
Once you hit level 30, you can start gathering motes from magical plants. Motes are needed in large volumes for Arcana and Gemcutting, so it’s worth picking up every one you see.
At level 60, you can get Legendary gathering tools with an Alignment perk on them, that has a chance to gain a particular type of mote after gathering a node. These can be expensive but worth having.
Levels 100-150 – Silkweed
When you get to level 100, you can add Silkweed to your repertoire. As well as giving more XP, Silkweed sells for more on the market and can be used to level up your Weaving skill. I can’t think of anywhere better than south Mourningdale/north Restless Shore for silk, although if you find yourself around the Dunkelberg shrine in Weaver’s Fen, there’s a good patch there as well.
| Silkweed XP | |
| Small | 244 |
| Med | 365 |
| Large | 487 |
Levels 150-205 – Wirefiber
The next resource in the gathering skill tree is Wirefiber. This fine red fiber will grant you a considerable bump in XP per harvest and is in high demand, being used raw as well as in infused silk to make a certain popular rug. There is wirefiber scattered all around Aeternum, but the most concentrated spot is in the north of Edengrove. Just beware of the Angry Earth and the blight.
| Wirefiber XP | |
| Small | 610 |
| Med | 957 |
| Large | 1277 |
Levels 205-250 – Spinfiber*
The final resource in the gathering skill tree is Spinfiber. This pretty purple flower grows in wet lush areas, such as rainy Mourningdale, Brimstone oasis, and the Elysian Wilds. Spinfiber gives a nice chunk of harvesting XP and will get you to 250 in no time. You might even get to clean up some corruption while you’re there.
| Spinfiber XP | |
| Small | 1006 |
| Med | 1506 |
| Large | 2010 |
Really weird Pollen
While you are harvesting, there is a chance you will find a special resource that can be taken to a Loom and refined for Harvesting XP. You can also purchase Mastery Caches from the Faction vendor that contain these.
| Name | Gather from | Cache | Harvesting XP |
| Strange Pollen | Hemp | Minor Harvesting Mastery | 1450 |
| Abnormal Pollen | Silkweed | Major Harvesting Mastery | 3750 |
| Unusual Pollen | Wirefiber | Greater/Grand Harvesting Mastery | 9500 |
| Bizarre Pollen | Spinfiber | Mentor Harvesting Mastery* | 14500 |
In order to go logging, you will need a logging axe. As part of the beginner questline, you are asked to make a logging axe, so you’ll probably already have a basic one. The higher gear score on your tools, the faster you will gather resources, so it’s worth upgrading if your level allows.
A 200GS Iron Logging Axe provides 200% gather speed, while at the other end of the spectrum, a 700GS Mythril Logging Axe has 1100% gather speed.
If you’re gathering while levelling your character, just get the the highest gear score tools you can equip, as you will outlevel them fairly quickly. Once you are at least level 60, you can start shopping for decent tools. The most useful perks are:
- Logging Luck
- Logging Yield
- Lumberjack’s Discipline
- Gathering Alacrity (while not strictly necessary, the speed you get from this makes gathering fun, and you won’t want to go back!)
A special mention goes to the elemental Alignment perks. Any tool that is 600-625 or 675-700 gear score should have this perk, and it’s a random chance which one will roll when crafting. I would take a 625 tool with alignment over a 674 tool without it, despite the speed difference. The Alignment perk means that every time you use the tool, you have a chance of picking up motes of that element, which increases your overall profit and just feels good.
Your attributes also play a role in gathering, with milestone bonuses. Logging uses Constitution, which you can increase with gear, attribute food or by respeccing attribute points.
- 25 Con = +10% logging speed
- 150 Con = -10% weight of logging items
- 200 Con = +20% logging speed
- 250 Con = +10% yield when logging
- 300 Con = 25% chance to one-tap a logging node
- 350 Con = +10% chance at finding rare items when logging
While logging, there is a chance that you will find other items, such as Wildwood or Draught of Ironwood Sap and other crafting components. The chance you have to receive these is modified by your Logging Luck, which you can increase through armor with Reinforced Logging Luck on it, such as the Lumberjack set. You can also get an amulet with Adored Logging Luck. You can also raise your logging luck with food.
| Salted Poultry with Cabbage | +2000 | 40 mins | Lvl 60 |
| Cabbage-Wrapped Roasted Fish | +1900 | 35 mins | Lvl 40 |
| Herb-Roasted Cabbage | +1700 | 30 mins | Lvl 20 |
| Boiled Cabbage | +1400 | 25 mins | Lvl 5 |
| Roasted Cabbage | +1000 | 20 mins | Lvl 0 |
The final goal for logging is to refine your materials into Glittering Ebony, which is the main ingredient in many weapons, and included in some other top-tier recipes. A master woodworker is limited to crafting 10 Glittering Ebony per day, which requires 400 Ironwood, 600 Wyrdwood, 800 Aged wood, and 1600 Green wood to be harvested.
You might also want to use your wood as Ironwood planks, to make arrows and furniture.
Raising Logging Skill
As your logging skill increases, you can chop different types of trees.
You can increase the amount of logging XP you receive through the Lumberjack’s Discipline perk on your logging axe, as well as the 5% global experience gain buff from the Monarch’s Bluff fort.
Levels 1-50 – Young tree
Young trees abound and you will find them just outside most settlements. If you are a higher level adventurer, a good place to go for primarily young trees is the Lover’s Shrine in Ebonscale Reach. If you haven’t ventured far into the map yet, the land around Everfall has a good mix of young and mature trees.
| Young Trees XP | |
| Twig | 40 |
| Small | 79 |
| Med | 153 |
Levels 50-100 – Mature tree
Once you get to level 50, you’ll be able to chop those frustrating mature trees! If you were using the Lover’s Shrine forest, travel east toward Brightwood and when the trunks go brown, there is a large patch of mostly mature trees.
| Mature Trees XP | |
| Large | 181 |
| X-Large | 241 |
Levels 100-150 – Wyrdwood
When you get to 100 Logging, you can finally chop down those glowing blue trees you’ve been seeing! There are patches of Wyrdwood in most zones, with Brightwood and Mourningdale being quite good. The best place is Eridanus in Restless Shore, as the trees respawn fast. Just be ready to take down the Angry Earth who guard them.
| Wyrdwood XP | |
| Twig | 152 |
| Small | 302 |
| Med | 602 |
| Large | 902 |
| X-Large | 1202 |
Levels 150-205 – Ironwood
Once you make it to 150 logging, the next 50 points will go fast quickly, as long as you can find Ironwood trees. The XP boost is huge, especially if you’re using modifiers. You will have noticed some Ironwood at Eridanus and in the Lover’s Shrine forest, but if you’re looking specifically for it, you could head to Edengrove.
| Ironwood XP | |
| Twig | 752 |
| Small | 1502 |
| Med | 3003 |
| Large | 4503 |
| X-Large | 6004 |
Levels 205-250 – Runewood*
The final type of tree is the beautiful purple Runewood, which gives a significantly higher amount of XP per tree. These tend to be found around the edges of the map, with the exception being Edengrove, Brimstone oasis, and the Skysong Lagoon.
| Runewood XP | |
| Twig | 1242 |
| Small | 2482 |
| Med | 4962 |
| Large | 7442 |
| X-Large | 9923 |
Really weird Resin
While you are logging, there is a chance you will find a special resource that can be taken to a Woodshop and refined for Logging XP. You can also purchase Mastery Caches from the Faction vendor that contain these.
| Name | Gather from | Cache | Logging XP |
| Strange Resin | Young/Mature tree | Minor Logging Mastery | 1400 |
| Abnormal Resin | Wyrdwood tree | Major Logging Mastery | 7850 |
| Unusual Resin | Ironwood tree | Greater/Grand Logging Mastery | 32500 |
| Bizarre Resin | Runewood tree | Mentor Logging Mastery* | 42500 |
In order to go skinning, you will need a skinning knife. As part of the beginner questline, you are asked to make a skinning knife, so you’ll probably already have a basic one. The higher gear score on your tools, the faster you will gather resources, so it’s worth upgrading if your level allows.
A 200GS Iron Skinning Knife provides 200% gather speed, while at the other end of the spectrum, a 700GS Mythril Skinning Knife has 1100% gather speed.
If you’re gathering while levelling your character, just get the the highest gear score tools you can equip, as you will outlevel them fairly quickly. Once you are at least level 60, you can start shopping for decent tools. The most useful perks are:
- Skinning Luck
- Skinning Yield
- Tanner’s Discipline
- Gathering Alacrity (while not strictly necessary, the speed you get from this makes gathering fun, and you won’t want to go back!)
A special mention goes to the elemental Alignment perks. Any tool that is 600-625 or 675-700 gear score should have this perk, and it’s a random chance which one will roll when crafting. I would take a 625 tool with alignment over a 674 tool without it, despite the speed difference. The Alignment perk means that every time you use the tool, you have a chance of picking up motes of that element, which increases your overall profit and just feels good.
Your attributes also play a role in gathering, with milestone bonuses. Skinning uses Dexterity, which you can increase with gear, attribute food or by respeccing attribute points.
- 25 Dex = +10% skinning speed
- 50 Dex = 20% haste for 3 secs after skinning
- 150 Dex = -10% weight of skinned items
- 200 Dex = +20% skinning speed
- 250 Dex = +10% yield when skinning
- 350 Dex = +10% chance of finding rare items while skinning
While skinning, there is a chance that you will find other items, such as the Sumptuous Rabbit and other crafting components. The chance you have to receive these is modified by your Skinning Luck, which you can increase through armor with Reinforced Skinning Luck on it, such as the Skinner set. You can also get an amulet with Adored Skinning Luck. You can also raise your skinning luck with food.
| Savory Fish Cake | +2000 | 40 mins | Lvl 60 |
| Vegetable Boil | +1900 | 35 mins | Lvl 40 |
| Carrot Soup | +1700 | 30 mins | Lvl 20 |
| Herb-roasted Carrots | +1400 | 25 mins | Lvl 5 |
| Roasted Carrots | +1000 | 20 mins | Lvl 0 |
The final goal for skinning is to refine your materials into Runic Leather, which is the main ingredient in medium armour and bags, and included in many other top-tier recipes. A master tanner is limited to crafting 10 Runic Leather per day, which requires 400 Iron Hide, 600 Thick Hide and 3200 Rawhide to be harvested.
You can increase the amount of skinning XP you receive through the Skinner’s Discipline perk on your skinning knife, as well as the 5% global experience gain buff from the Monarch’s Bluff fort. As your skinning skill increases, you can skin and track different animals.
Raising Skinning Skill
When it comes to levelling skinning, your best option is to just skin everything you kill. Sometimes you will come across dead creatures that someone has left behind, have a quick look to see if a ranged player might be coming to claim their kill and if not, skin it too. It’s all skill and you have the chance to get rare cooking ingredients or trophy mats from some animals.
The level of animal you can skin is dependent on your skinning skill. By the time you reach level 50 skinning, you will be able to skin up to level 30 animals, when you get to 100, you can skin up to level 45 animals and once you hit 150 you can skin all animals up to level 60. From 150 to 205 skinning skill, you gain the ability to skin animals up to level 65, then at 205 skill you can skin animals to level 70. You can see what level animals you can curremtly skin up to in Character (K) > Trade Skills > Tracking and Skinning
There are too many animals to list to experience provided by each one, but a general rule is the higher level and larger the animal, the more XP.
Rawhide – Creature Level 1 – 30
Following the same pattern as every other gathering and refining skill, there will always be a use for rawhide, all the way to the end game. While you can find this on animals throughout the home counties, there are a few places that give more rawhide or skill gain than others. Once your skill hits around 50, you should be able to head to the Salty Marshes in Cutlass Keys. The Streaked Alligators in this area yield a high amount of hides. Brightwood is also good for rawhide, especially the elk. Prey animals can be a challenge, as they run away if you get too close or don’t kill them in one shot. Ranged weapons are pretty much essential.
| Lvl | XP | Salt Hollow Cat | 21 | 266 |
| Streaked Alligator | 30 | 412 |
| Eldritch Elk | 29 | 623 |
Thick Hide – Creature Level 31 – 50
You can find thick hide on creatures in the intermediate zones, such as Restless Shore, Mourningdale, and Ebonscale Reach, as well as parts of Cutlass Keys and Brightwood. The old rawhide farm at Fort Ramos now drops thick hide but the yield is quite low as it’s an entry level mob in its category now. A good place to farm thick hide is Mourningdale, especially if you can get the Bison. Another place people like to farm thick hide from is in Edengrove, killing the Strange Boars. These creatures are not aggressive until you attack them, meaning you can control how many you have to fight at one time.
| Lvl | XP | |
| Irate Boar | 44 | 740 |
| Mourning Bison | 45 | 1284 |
| Strange Boar | 50 | 947 |
Iron Hide – Creature Level 51 to 62
Iron hide is found on creatures in high level zones and you will need to wait until your skill is close to or above 150. One place to gather iron hide is in the acid pools of Brimstone Sands. The Highlands Hellmouth give Iron Hide if they are below 62 and Dark Hide if they are above, so you can farm a mix. You can also find good quantities of Iron hide from Reekwater and Shattered Mountain bison and deer.
| Lvl | XP | |
| Black Alligator | 51 | 1383 |
| Shattered Bison | 60 | 2300 |
| Highlands Hellmouth | 61 | 1432 |
Dark Hide – Creature 62+
You can find Dark Hide in large amounts through Elysian Wilds, and to a lesser extent in the old high level zones. A great spot for farming is The Beastlands, as the mammoths give a huge amount of XP and will have you reach 250 skinning in no time. Beware, this is a level 65+ zone and requires the Rise of the Angry Earth expansion to access. Interestingly, the very popular Tribunal Mammoths only give 157 skinning XP, while they do yield around 70 Dark Hide. You can also get a good mix of Iron hide and Dark hide in the Acid pools of Brimstone Sands, fighting Hellmouths.
| Lvl | XP | |
| Highlands Hellmouth | 63 | 1533 |
| Steppes Mammoth | 67 | 2908 |
| Tribunal Mammoth | 70 | 157 |
Really weird Bones
While you are logging, there is a chance you will find a special resource that can be taken to a Tannery and refined for Skinning XP. You can also purchase Mastery Caches from the Faction vendor that contain these.
| Name | Gather from | Cache | Skinning XP |
| Strange Bone | Level 1-39 animals | Minor Skinning Mastery | 800 |
| Abnormal Bone | Level 35-54 animals | Major Skinning Mastery | 1550 |
| Unusual Bone | Level 50-63 animals | Greater/Grand Skinning Mastery | 4500 |
| Bizarre Bone | Level 59+ animals | Mentor Skinning Mastery* | 8500 |
* Note: Any gear over 625GS, Tier 6 Faction items, and trade skills over 200 will require the Rise of the Angry Earth expansion to access. To be honest, if you’ve read the entire article, you’re probably invested enough to just buy it. You’ll be able to do mutations and craft top level gear, plus you get a mount. Worth it.
