Leatherworker's Guide to Cataclysm Buyers

Our series of posts on crafted leveling gear seems to be getting a good response, so I'm going to keep posting until we've covered every profession. I hope that reading these guides encourages you to start farming mats and even go after some of these recipes that you may not have. I know I've been forced to review my own holdings, track down missing recipes, etc. I even spent last night farming some love in that there tunnel when I realized I was only Neutral with the Timbermaw. So I really look at this lull period as a time to shore up my crafting house without the pressure of squeezing it in between raids. It's been kind of nice to chill out and do old world stuff for a while. Plus I get a chance to revisit some places I haven't been in a loooonnggg time and enjoy them before they're gone.

I know that Leatherworking isn't a popular profession, but my main Kaliope has been a leatherworker since she was old enough to hold a skinning knife. Even though it doesn't have the glam of other professions, I always get a thrill when I'm able to craft and wear my own pieces. The upside to Leatherworking in Cataclysm is that I believe new worgen toons will revitalize this tradeskill for a while. I'm betting on Hunters, Rogues and Druids being the most popular classes for worgen alts. All of these classes wear leather, although Hunters move up the food chain eventually.

I've compiled a list of the most popular items for each 10 levels between 10 and 70. Once again the lower levels will be a much easier sell than expansion levels, purely due to the better itemization that came with Burning Crusade quest gear. If you prefer to stay out of the gear speculation you can still provide leg armor to leveling players. Also bear in mind that some players will be using heirloom gear, so you may want to avoid chest/shoulder items.

Higher ranking on this list means that item is a strong choice for more than one class. For example, the Deviate Scale Belt is BiS for Hunter/Shaman and #2 for Druid/Rogue. As a result, its average score is higher than all other crafted leather for 10-19 players, so it's in the top spot.

Levels 10-19
#1 Deviate Scale Belt (quest recipe, Wailing Caverns)
#2 Black Whelp Tunic (vendor recipe, limited supply)
#3 Nimble Leather Gloves
#4 Murloc Scale Breastplate (vendor recipe, limited supply)
#5 Dark Leather Pants
#6 Fine Leather Pants (world drop recipe)
#7 Dark Leather Boots
#8 Moonglow Vest (quest recipe, Darnassus trainer)
#9 Murloc Scale Belt (vendor recipe, limited supply)
#10 Dark Leather Cloak

Levels 20-29
#1 Thick Murloc Armor (vendor recipe, limited supply)
#2 Dusky Leather Leggings | Dark Leather Shoulders | Guardian Belt | Barbaric Bracers
#3 Green Leather Armor (vendor recipe, limited supply)
#4 Toughened Leather Gloves
#5 Barbaric Leggings (vendor recipe, limited supply)
#6 Green Leather Belt
#7 Pilferer's Gloves | Raptor Hide Belt | Heavy Earthen Gloves
(Three way tie at #2 and #7 results in shorter top 10 list)

Levels 30-39
#1 Nightscape Shoulders
#2 Barbaric Belt
#3 Dusky Bracers | Comfortable Leather Hat
#4 Green Whelp Bracers
#5 Nightscape Tunic
#6 Frost Leather Cloak | Dusky Boots | Nightscape Headband
#7 Dusky Leather Armor
(Ties at #3 and #7 result in a shorter top 10 list)

Levels 40-49
#1 Helm of Fire
#2 Wicked Leather Bracers
#3 Nightscape Cloak (listed as crafted item in Armory, but not in game atm)
#4 Gauntlets of the Sea
#5 Nightscape Pants
#6 Wicked Leather Gauntlets
#7 Nightscape Boots
#8 Big Voodoo Cloak
#9 Dragonscale Breastplate
#10 Dragonscale Gauntlets

Levels 50-59
#1 Thick Draenic Gloves
#2 Felscale Gloves
#3 Mongoose Boots
#4 Stormshroud Gloves
#5 Warbear Woolies
#6 Might of the Timbermaw
#7 Warbear Harness
#8 Stormshroud Pants
#9 Dawn Treaders | Wicked Leather Headband
#10 Wicked Leather Belt

Levels 60-67
#1 Fel Leather Gloves
#2 Thick Draenic Boots
#3 Felscale Boots
#4 Fel Leather Leggings
#5 Thick Draenic Pants

Honorable Mention
Clefthide Leg Armor | Cobrahide Leg Armor
Jormungar Leg Armor | Nerubian Leg Armor

This list should have plenty of options for Leatherworkers who want to sell gear when Cataclysm goes Live. Some recipes may require extra effort to acquire, but we have a few months to work on that. We also have time to collect mats and prepare for the wave of lowbies who'll need gear. I hope this list gives you something to think about, and hopefully motivates you to start farming :)
Posted by Kaliope at Saturday, May 22, 2010
Labels: ,

10 comments:

  1. I see that my LW needs to visit Wailing Caverns. Thanks!
    It is strange to me that the Barbaric Bracers aren't on the list, they're one of my better sellers. I think they're as good or better than the Green Whelp Bracers six levels higher. Perhaps it is the component list that reduces their popularity.
    ReplyDelete
  2. Tweel: You're totally right, I don't know how I missed them. Thanks for calling me on that :) I did a calculation for the bracers and fell right into the #2 spot with the other 3 items. I'll try to get those squeezed in.

    Feel free to toss out any other goodies I might have missed!
    ReplyDelete
  3. I make a bunch of niche items, the lower competition compensates for the lower demand. An item I like to sell is the Wolfshead Helm. It's limited to druids and really only useful for ferals, but some folks buy it just for the looks. Gotta love RP servers!
    ReplyDelete
  4. One last item that I have had success selling is the Gem-studded Leather Belt. http://wow.crafterstome.com/recipe/gemstudded-leather-belt.html
    This item sells well to rogues and hunters, druids and shamans have healing spells and so aren't as interested (although feral druids buy it for a heal they can use in animal form).
    The barbaric belt is great for rogues and feral druids, not so much for anyone else, not to mention that I don't have the recipe.
    ReplyDelete
  5. The Toughened Leather Gloves will sell like hot cake. Can't wait for Cataclysm to come. hehe! =)
    ReplyDelete
  6. shouldnt shoulders, and chests be dropped from this list as most alts will have heirlooms (also helmets and caps i believe in cataclysm) and most first time players wont be buying any BiS for leveling.
    ReplyDelete
  7. Gem-studded Leather Belt and Toughened Leather Gloves sell very well on my server as do Barbaric Bracers. Nightscape tunic sells well however there is periodically heavy competition on that particular piece. However I have sold 10 of those in a weekend at 10g each before.
    ReplyDelete
  8. @JaKing: I mention in the article that shoulder/chest slot items will face competition from heirlooms and can be skipped. I agree that most first time players aren't likely to spend lots of money on stronger gear, but I suspect most of the new worgens/goblins will be old players rolling alts. I expect those peeps know the value of getting a strong item that you can use for awhile vs a marginal piece that will be underpowered in a level or two.

    In general I think all crafters should make what they feel comfortable selling. This is just meant to be a guide on what the more powerful gear choices are in each bracket :)
    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey guys, not sure if you've noticed yet - but the Deviate Scale Belt quest NPC is no longer in the cave above WC. I haven't been able to find where they moved it yet, so if you have the pattern it may be worth a lot more now, especially with all the troll druids. :)
    ReplyDelete
  10. Good find! I'm sure there are other vendors who are still missing, hopefully everyone picked up the recipes they needed before the Shattering.
    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)