The War Within Skinning Specialization Guide and Builds

This guide is here to help you navigate the different Skinning specializations in War Within, so you can get the most out of your Skinning efforts.

War Within brings three new Skinning specializations that you unlock at levels 25, 50, and 75. Each one offers unique perks that can really change up how you approach Skinning.

I'll break down each specialization, showing you the best ways to spend your points and pointing out which paths might not be worth your time. By the end, you'll have a few example builds to kickstart your own setup, or tweak to fit your Skinning style.

Table of contents

#Tanning

Tanning is where you'll gain most of your extra skill in Skinning. With 40 points invested, the center node grants you a +50 skill boost for all leather types and unlocks the ability to refine hides and carapaces into higher quality materials.

You will also gain 2 additional Sharpen Your Knife. The Sharpen Your Knife ability guarantees that your next skinning attempt will yield a hide or carapace. However, it comes with a 1-hour cooldown.

This spec is one of the best value for your knowledge points, and regardless of what you're Skinning, this will give you a solid boost. The two extra Sharpen Your Knife charges can be super useful for alts. You can just log in daily, skin three mobs, sell the hides, and then log off.

Sub-specializations

Concrete Chitin and Luxurious Leathers are pretty straightforward. They boost your skill with the two main types of leather and let you refine them into higher quality versions.

Since you can choose which mobs to target while farming, it's best to only put points into one of these two at first. I'd max out the other one last.

#Harvesting

Harvesting center node is very weak, it only gives Deftness and some small amount of Perception and Finesse. But, two of the three sub-specializations might be worth investing points into.

Trophy Taker

The Trophy Taker sub-specializations have the most potential to be good. It increases your chances of gathering species-specific leathers right from the start, and when fully maxed, it grants a total of +300 Perception boost. You'll also get a small amount of Finesse and Deftness.

If species-specific leathers turn out to be expensive, this specialization could be quite profitable.

Fishing Friend

The fish you can catch with these baits aren't used in any high-level cooking recipes, and I couldn't find any recipe that calls for these specific fish. I'd recommend avoiding this one altogether.

Meat Carver

You'll mainly want to put points Meat Carver for the extra Finesse. When fully maxed, it grants a total of +160 Finesse boost and a small amount of perception and deftness. The additional meat is a nice bonus, but it's not a game-changer unless meat prices stay high. Typically, meat prices drop quickly after the expansion launches.

In War Within, all types of meat are essentially the same. There are no rare meats used for specific food buffs. You start with various meats, but they all get turned into the same ingredient during the cooking process. So, hunting for "rare" meats doesn't offer much advantage.

#Luring

The Luring specialization's center node on its own isn't particularly impressive, but its sub-specializations offer significant benefits, making it worthwhile to invest at least some points to unlock them.

When investing 40 points, the last perk doubles the amount of cooldown refunded for your Elusive Creature bait when skinning Elite or Rare creatures. I don't think it's that good in itself, but it's worth noting that this applies after the Trained Tracker sub-specializations CD reduction. So, if you max out both trees you can get 40 minutes CD reduction for Skinning rare and elite creature. (Default is 10 minutes)

Trained Tracker

This sub-specialization is excellent, especially for alts, and many players will prioritize maxing it out first.

Trained Tracker stands out as a unique sub-specialization because it provides access to Superb Beast Fang, a high-level crafting reagent used in nearly every Blacksmithing weapon and several Leatherworking recipes.

By investing 40 points into Trained Tracker, you'll unlock the Supreme Beast Lure. This lure can be used in The Rumbling Wastes within The Ringing Deeps to summon Slatefang, a rare mob that drops a Superb Beast Fang. You can obtain one Fang per day with a 100% drop rate—based on my experience, you'll always get one when you use the lure.

Additionally, fully maxing out this specialization will double the cooldown reduction for your Elusive Creature bait, extending it from 10 minutes to 20 minutes.

Impressive Infuser

The Impressive Infuser sub-specialization provides three different elemental bait recipes. You will unlock the Crystal bait as you learn the sub-specializations, Spores Bait at 20 and Writhing bait at 40.

The creatures summoned by these baits will drop the same reagents used in crafting the bait.

You'll typically receive 3-5x of the elemental reagents, which sometimes means you only get back what you used to craft the bait. In my tests, I crafted Crystal bait 24 times and collected 97x Crystalline Powder. The reagent cost was 72x, resulting in a profit of 25x Crystalline Powder

Infusion: Writhing stands out as the most cost-effective option because it only requires 1x Writhing Sample. I haven't extensively tested Writhing bait, but based on my observations, it likely drops the same number as the other baits making it much more profitable. (This seems unusual, so it might be just an oversight)

Recommended Specialization Builds

There are really only two paths worth taking: either start with Tanning to focus on getting more Q3 materials, or go with Luring to quickly reach the daily Beast Fang cooldown. Harvesting just doesn't offer enough benefits to prioritize early on, so I'd only start putting points into it a bit later.

1. Tanning Specialization Build

This specialization is recommended for players who farm a lot. While you might miss out on the Beast Fang cooldown, you'll make up for it with a significant increase in Q3 materials. You'll gather considerably more high-quality resources compared to those who choose to go with Luring first.

2. Luring Specialization Build

This build is ideal for players who don't focus heavily on skinning outside of their usual WoW activities. If skinning has always been more of a side profession for you, this approach will suit your playstyle perfectly.

Build 1: Tanning Specialization Build

This specialization is recommended for players who farm a lot. While you might miss out on the Beast Fang cooldown, you'll make up for it with a significant increase in Q3 materials. You'll gather considerably more high-quality resources compared to those who choose to go with Luring first.

First 80 points

Go for Tanning (40) first then Concrete Chitin (40) or Luxurious Leathers(40). Choose just one and focus on creatures that drop that specific type of leather. This way, you'll maximize your efficiency and get the most out of your chosen path.

Next 160 points

Now that you've maxed out everything that boosts your skill for leathers, it's time to shift your focus to other specializations.

  1. Luring (10) - To unlock the first sub-specialization.
  2. Trained Tracker (40) - You'll unlock the Supreme Beast Lure. This lure can be used in The Rumbling Wastes within The Ringing Deeps to summon Slatefang. Fully maxing out Trained Tracker will double the cooldown reduction for your Elusive Creature bait, extending it from 10 minutes to 20 minutes, so you can use your baits a lot more often.
  3. Harvesting(10) - To unlock a sub-specialization
  4. Trophy Taker (40) - To get more Perception
  5. Luring (10 -> 30) - To unlock the second sub-specialization
  6. Impressive Infuser (40) - To get some extra perception and better baits.

After this, fill out your talent tree based on your needs. I'd start with Meat Carver for extra Finesse, then pick up the remaining leather skill in Tanning. Finally, invest in Deftness to boost your gathering speed and complete your build.

Build 2: Luring Specialization Build

This build is ideal for players who don't focus heavily on skinning outside of their usual WoW activities. If skinning has always been more of a side profession for you, this approach will suit your playstyle perfectly.

The main focus of this build is to get Superb Beast Fang CD early on.

First 50 points

Put ten points into Luring (10) then go for Trained Tracker (40).

You'll unlock the Supreme Beast Lure. This lure can be used in The Rumbling Wastes within The Ringing Deeps to summon a rare mob that drops a Superb Beast Fang. You can obtain one Fang per day with a 100% drop rate—based on my experience, you'll always get one when you use the lure.

Next 40 points

Go for Tanning (40) to get the 2 additional Sharpen Your Knife charges and to get more Q3 leathers.

Next 50 points

Luring (30) to unlock the second sub-specialization and then max out Impressive Infuser (40)

Now at this point your build is basically done. Here's what to do daily:

  • Log in to collect your Beast Fang.
  • Use the 3x Sharpen Your Knife CDs.
  • Use the Writhing bait to gather extra Writhing Sample.

Spending the rest of your points

The rest of the tree is up to you, but here's how I would personally fill it out:

  1. Luxurious Leathers (40) or Concrete Chitin (40)
  2. Trophy Taker (40)
  3. Meat Carver (40)
  4. Anything that's left.