Leathercraft Guide 1-100Follow

Although this guide was originally created back in 2009, it's now Fall of 2012 and times sure have changed! The sub cap is now 70, and the high end cap is 110. There's Abyssea, Wings of the Goddess, etc. etc. etc. etc......it's high time this guide got a major overhaul! Please understand, this will be a slow work in progress. Also, I will be overhauling this guide with an emphasis on FARMING the materials on THF. Most people have Lv. 99 THF with Treasure Hunter 7 nowadays right? Why not put that THF to good use?

Without further ado! Lets begin!

Guild Test Items
8-10 Rabbit Mantle - Recruit
18-20 Lizard Cesti - Initiate
28-30 Dhalmel Mantle - Novice
38-40 Magic Belt - Apprentice
48-50 Cuir Bouilli - Journeyman
58-60 Raptor Jerkin - Craftsman
68-70 Battle Boots - Artisan
78-80 Tiger Gloves - Adept
88-90 Coeurl Mask - Veteran

Stuff to Increase your Leathercraft Skills! (Quest Information gleaned from wiki.ffxiclopedia.org)

Trainee's Needle - Stats: Lv. 1 (All Jobs) DMG: 1, Delay: 200, Latent Effect: Leathercraft Skill +1 (Latent is active when your Leathercraft skill is below Lv. 40)

Here's a Walkthrough on how to get the Trainee's Needle!
Quest Name: Say It with a Handbag
Walkthrough:
1. Speak with Hampu-Kampu at (G-8) in Windurst Waters (S) South Map.
2. Head to (K-4) in Windurst Waters (S) North Map and examine the Door:Acolyte Hostel on the second floor.
This will trigger a cutscene.
3. Return to Hampu-Kampu and after the cutscene you will receive Key Item: Torn Patches of Leather.
4. Go to the ground floor of the Tanners' Guild (San d'Oria) (D-8) in present day Southern San d'Oria, and talk to Kipopo to trigger a cutscene.
She will ask you to bring Laminated Ram Leather, Sheep Leather and a Silk Thread.
5. You will have to zone after trading the materials to Kipopo. Then speak with Kipopo to trigger another cutscene and receive the Repaired Handbag.
Return to Windurst Waters (S) and speak with Hampu-Kampu to trigger a cutscene.
6. Offer him the handbag to receive your reward.(Optional) Return back to Kipopo in Southern San d'Oria in the present with your Trainee's Needle equipped for an additional cutscene and more information about her father.

Guild Point Items(Information gleaned from wiki.ffxiclopedia.org)

10,000 - Tanner's Belt - Novice - Enchantment: Synthesis Image Support
10,000 - Tanning - Novice - This special leathercraft ability allows you to soak skins in a Tanning Vat, making it easier to process more leather with one crystal.
40,000 - Leather Ensorcellment - Novice - This special tanning ability allows you to enchant leather with the power of black magic.
40,000 - Leather Purification - Novice - This special tanning ability allows you to enchant leather with the power of white magic.
70,000 - Tanner's Gloves - Journeyman - A pair of gloves that gives +1 to your Leathercraft skill
80,000 - Tanner's Ring - Craftsman - Leathercraft Success Rate +1%. Cannot synthesize high quality items.
100,000 - Tanner's Apron - Artisan - An apron that gives +1 to your Leathercraft skill
150,000 - Golden Fleece - Veteran - A piece of Furniture that gives Moghancement: Leathercraft Skill.
200,000 - Tanner's Signboard - Veteran - A sign used by leatherworkers to indicate their guild's services to the public.
15,000 - TANNER'S EMBLEM - Veteran - Probably one of the most important things to get for a Leathercrafter. Used to make a Tanners' Stall, which gives you Leathercraft Skill +5 when placed inside your Mog House

Advanced Support NPCs

Orechiniel - Southern San d'Oria (E-8)
Zwaluh - Al Zahbi (G-11)

Leathercraft Skill Armor

Leatherworker's Torque: Obtained from brown Treasure Casket in Quicksand Caves. Gives +2 to Leathercraft skill. Lv. 70 to equip it, and it can be used right away from Lv. 0 Leathercraft all the way to the end. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED you obtain this!!!

Leathercrafting Basics (Note: All AH prices listed are current Shiva server sales as of 9/26/2012)

Since a lot of Leathercrafting involves turning hides into leather, the 3 main items you will need a lot of are Dark Crystals, Windurstian Tea Leaves, and Distilled Water. Distilled Water is cheap (12g each) and can be purchased at NPCs all over Vana'diel. However, the most convenient spot to buy it with regard to Leathercraft is at Raimbroy's Grocery which is near the Leathercraft Guild. Windy Tea Leaves stacks sell for around 500-1000g at the AH (Shiva server current price) or if you're not in a major rush, you can get them from Baehu-Faehu in Windurst Waters for 18g - 22g each. Dark Crystal stacks sell anywhere between 5000-6000g and are almost always available. However, you can get Dark Clusters off elementals in various locales across Vana'diel and save yourself from cutting into your potential profits!

The Guide Itself

The new "REVAMPED" guide will mention a few things. First, your target mob. Second, is "other notable drops." Third will be "potential profits". However, there will be points in the guide where I will say DO NOT SELL. This will be because the item/items in question will be used for another skill up synth in the future.

0-2 - Sheep Leather - Dark Crystal: Sheepskin, 1 Windy Tea Leaf, 1 Distilled Water - Target Monster: Broo (Beadeaux) Other Notable Drops: Selbina Milk - Simply go to Beadeaux and kill Broo. Take multiple stacks of synthesis materials with you, as you will be farming the skins and immediately converting them to leather in the field. DO NOT SELL the Sheep Leather, they will be used in the next two items in the list. Selbina Milk is a commonly used item for Cooking skill ups. They sell for 1500g per stack. Also, in the future, if you'd like to return here and farm Sheepskin and convert to Sheep Leather, a stack of Sheep Leather sells for 30,000g per stack. A terrific place to farm in the future, but FOR NOW, keep your Sheep Leather!
http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww183/YeagerRamuh/ffxi_20120929_005651.png

2-5 - Leather Bandanna - Wind Crystal: Sheep Leather - A very easy synth, and a good bridge synth to the next recepie which caps at 11. Wind Crystal stacks sell for about 4000g and are very common. Save yourself the gil and farm Wind Clusters. Best spot is Buburimu Peninsula as wind weather is common there. These don't NPC for very much, so it's better to Desynth these to get some of your Sheep Leather back. Farm Lightning Clusters in Konschtat Highlands during Thunderstorm weather, which comes up pretty often there.

5-11 - Solea - Wind Crystal: Sheep Leather x 2 - Another easy synth, but uses up twice the Sheep Leather. Synth and Desynth to get some of your Sheep Leather back. If you happen to run out of Sheep Leather, head back out to Beadeaux and farm/synth in the field. Take this to cap, and on the way, pick up a Rabbit Mantle for your first Guild test.

11-16 - Lizard Gloves - Earth Crystal: Lizard Skin, Leather Gloves - Go to Crawler's Nest for your Lizard Skins. Target mob: Labyrinth Lizard Other notable drops: Lizard Egg - Lizard Skins are a near 100% drop and can drop more than 1 skin too. Farm about 8-10 stacks of Lizard Skins at Crawler's Nest and then go to Southern San d'Oria's Armor Shop. Purchase Leather Gloves from the NPC (330 gil) and begin making Lizard Gloves right there. The resulting gloves do not sell well at the Auction House, so just sell them to the NPC at the Armor Shop. They sell to NPC for approximately 150 gil, so you're losing a small amount of gil doing that. However, stacks of Lizard Eggs sell very well at the Auction House ranging from 5,000g per stack up to 10,000g per stack. So whatever gil you lose selling the Lizard Gloves to the NPC is covered by the sales of the Lizard Eggs. Also, be sure to purchase or synth a Lizard Cesti for your next guild test.

16-21 - Dhalmel Leather - Dark Crystal: Dhalmel Hide, Windy Tea Leaf, Distilled Water - Target mob: Bull Dhalmel (Buburimu Peninsula) Other notable drops: Giant Femur, Dhalmel Meat: This is the point where you can really begin making a decent amount of gil. Kill any Dhalmel you come across. If a hide drops, convert it to leather right away. As you progress, the other drops will start to clog up your inventory. Dhalmel Meat doesn't sell very well at Auction House, so run over to Mhaura and sell it to NPC for 60g each. The meat is a near 100% drop rate by the way. Giant Femurs are used in multiple Bonecraft synths for skill ups. They sell quickly at the Auction House for 1,000g each. However, if you're not willing to wait for them to sell, or if you have other things up at the AH that hasn't sold, the Giant Femurs can sell to NPC for a little over 200g each. Potential profits: Dhalmel Leather is used in "Gobbiebag Part 1" quest and sell well individually. Currently 7,000g each. A full stack of Dhalmel Leather is a little slower to sell, but the current price range is 70,000 - 80,000. How you sell these is your choice, in the end, it's all profit!
http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww183/YeagerRamuh/ffxi_20120926_234303.png

21-24 - Bugard Leather - Dark Crystal: Bugard Skin, Windy Tea Leaf, Distilled Water - Target mob: Bugard / Gigantobugard (Misareaux Coast) - Other notable drops: Bugard Tusk, High-Quality Bugard Skin - The Bugard Skin is about a 40-50% drop rate. Farm and synth in the field and take it to the 24 cap. This synth is only good as a bridge, nothing more. Both the Bugard Tusk and HQ Bugard Skin are NPC fodder. 750g for the Tusk, 400g for the HQ Skin. The Bugard Leather also does not sell very well at all. They only sell as singles, and not stacks. 7000g for individual leathers currently. If you would rather not wait, they sell to NPC for about 450g each (5400g per stack) Not a whole lot of profit, but you do get to 24 doing this. Once you hit 24, purchase or synth a Dhalmel Mantle for the next Guild Test.
http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww183/YeagerRamuh/ffxi_20120928_181015.png

24-30 - Parchment - Dark Crystal: Rolanberry, Sheep Leather - Rolanberries can be purchased in Port Jeuno in the Duty Free Shop immediately next to the Auction House NPCs for 120g each. Go back to Beadeaux and farm the Sheep Leathers. Take this to 30 and sell the results if you can. Singles sell for about 4,000g each, as they are a required item to complete the BRD flag quest (to become a Bard). Stacks will not sell. If you sell the Parchments to NPC, they sell for 100-105g each, so you'll lose a little bit of gil. The next synth will more than make up for it.
http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww183/YeagerRamuh/ffxi_20120929_101614.png

30-35 - Ram Leather - Dark Crystal: Ram Skin, Windy Tea Leaf, Distilled Water - Target mob: Hammering Ram (Abyssea - La Thiene) - Other notable drops: Ram Horns - Ram Skins are a 100% drop. Enter Abyssea with a load of synthesis materials, kill Rams, get drops, synth to Ram Leather. Rinse/Repeat until you hit the cap at 35. DO NOT SELL the Ram Leather, as they will be needed for the next several levels. However, once you've become a high level Leathercrafter (or you hit the cap at 70) Ram Leather is an excellent source of income. Ram Horns are used in multiple Bonecraft recepies, they sell for 1,000-2,000g each. Individual Ram Leathers are needed for a Gobbiebag Quest, and stacks of Ram Leathers are often purchased for other high level synthesis recepies for various guilds. Individual Ram Leather sells for 5,000g each, and stacks of Ram Leather sell for 35,000g.
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35-43 - Waistbelt - Wind Crystal: x2 Ram Leather, Grass Thread - Grass Thread is incredibly easy to farm. Get a bunch of Wind Crystals together and head out to Giddeus. Murder any Yagudo you come across, as you are after their Yagudo Necklaces. It is a low level Clothcraft synth so you can make yourself multiple stacks of Grass Threads easily. Once you're done, head back to San d'Oria and begin making the Waistbelts. This is a bit of a jump, so I recommend you get HQ Support for the first few levels of this. (If you have the Leatherworker's Torque that also helps tremendously) If you run out of Ram Leather, simply head back to Abyssea: La Thiene and farm them up. The Waistbelts do not sell at the Auction House, so just sell directly to the NPC. With max fame, you will get around 1,700g each. At 38-40 buy or synth a Magic Belt for the next guild test.

(SPECIAL NOTE! - Now that you're over Lv. 40 Leathercraft the Trainee's Needle will no longer work)

43-49 - Ram Mantle - Ice Crystal: Ram Skin, Wool Thread - Wool Thread makes it's first appearance in your Leathercrafting career here. Sadly at this point it is pretty much unavoidable. If you have Clothcraft 35+ on your main, or on a mule, the best way to obtain Wool Threads is by desynthing Gigas Socks. Once you have about 5-6 stacks of Wool Threads, head back to Abyssea La Thiene and kill the Rams there. Since this is another slightly large level gap, farm as many Ram Skins as you can hold, return to Southern San d'Oria and get HQ support from the guild for the first few levels. Once you are able to make these comfortably without support, you can kill Rams, synth Mantles, rinse/repeat. Take this to the 49 cap at all costs. The next item on the list is a pain.

48-53 - Raptor Mantle - Earth Crystal: Grass Thread, Raptor Skin x 2 - If you buy everything from the Auction House, this can get very pricy. However, Grass Threads are very easy to get (see Yagudo Necklaces & Wind Crystals) and so are Raptor Skins. Unfortunately, the only spot to get a semi-decent (20%) drop rate with TH7 are the Raptors at Valley of Sorrows. The going will be slow, but will be worth it in the end. Take this up to 52. Although this caps at 53, stop at 52 and immediately go to Tiger Leathers. Raptor Mantles do sell at 20k a pop currently on the AH, as it is needed for a Mog House upgrade. The sell speed is somewhat slow though, so be wary of that. If you just want to offload your product, they sell to NPC for approximately 1.2k each.

53-61 - Tiger Leather - Dark Crystal: Tiger Hide, Windy Tea Leaf, Distilled Water - This is a huge money maker. Head out to Batallia Downs and hunt Tigers. Again, this is around a 20% drop rate, but at least with this you only need 1 hide per synth instead of 2 like the Raptor Mantle synth. For the first few levels, farm as many hides as you can possibly hold, then head to San d'Oria and use HQ support. Once you hit 55-56 on these, you can safely farm the hides and synth them in the field. Tiger Leather is VERY profitable so you can definitely make a lot of your gil back here. Singles sell well because they are needed for a Gobbiebag Quest. They go for 5k each. But the REAL profit is selling stacks. The price fluctuates slightly, but you can expect anywhere between 45-50k per stack.

61-63 - Beak Mantle - Earth Crystal: Grass Thread, Cockatrice Skin x 2 - Grass Thread yet again! Please see Daggers, Yagudo death, Giddeus, and Wind Crystals for further information on how to obtain Grass Threads. The best spot for your Cockatrice Skins will be Labyrinth of Onzozo. The skin drop rate is around 20%. Since you're at 60-61 and this caps at 63 you can simply farm the skins and synth in the field. Beak Mantles are better off NPC'd. You get 1.6k per Beak Mantle. The real prize here is the Cockatrice Meat. The stack sells for 4000g each and is a very fast sell.

63-71 - Coeurl Leather - Dark Crystal: Coeurl Hide, Windy Tea Leaf, Distilled Water - Target Mob: Master Coeurl - Location: The Sanctuary of Zi'tah - Farming wise, this is your best option for reaching the new sub cap of 70. Why do I say that? Master Coeurls have around a 25% drop rate on Hides, but the REAL prize is the Coeurl Meat. This is another large level gap, so for the first several levels of this, farm as many Hides as you can hold (and Coeurl Meat too) then head back to San d'Oria, get HQ support until you're around 66 or so. While you're in San d'Oria, drop off the Coeurl Meat at the Auction House to sell. Stacks of Coeurl Meat are selling for 25,000g per stack and are a very fast sell. IF YOU ARE ONLY TAKING LEATHERCRAFT TO 70, {Congratulations!} you're done! Good luck selling all those Coeurl Leathers! They aren't a fast sell at all. 4,000g for singles, 25,000g for a stack (slow sellers if at all) However, there's an "innovative" way to get rid of them and make a little gil in the process (next item on the list). However, IF YOU ARE CONTINUING TO 110, PROCEED TO TIGER MANTLES AND KEEP YOUR COEURL LEATHERS!!! THEY WILL BE USED IN A FUTURE SYNTH!!!

70-72 - Coeurl Cesti - Earth Crystal: Cesti, Coeurl Leather - This is a very simple synth. Various Weapon Shops in the 3 starter cities sell Cesti for around 150g each. If I recall, it depends on which nation is in 1st place in Conquest for that week. Find a shop selling Cesti, buy up a bunch, and begin making Coeurl Cestis. Since you're capped at 70, you can just make these right away without support. Sell these to NPC for a little over 2,000g each. Assuming you farmed all the Coeurl Hides yourself as you skilled up to this point, this is profit AND you don't have to wait for them to sell at the Auction House.

****FOR THOSE OF YOU STOPPING AT 70**** - Now that you're 70 (+1 with the Tanner's Gloves, you got them, right?) here's another fun thing you can make for some mad profits! You can also choose to skill on this up to 70 in place of the recommended Coeurl Leather!

63-71 - Lynx Leather: Dark Crystal, Windy Tea Leaf, Lynx Hide - Target Mob: War Lynx - Location: Meriphataud Mountains [S] - The Lynx are located to the north of the Campaign Battle area in a loop around a mountain. Go around and kill every War Lynx you come across. The drop rate on the Hide is actually pretty good! Around 40%. Lynx Leather is an AWESOME way to make some gil. They are used in some high level (105+) Clothcraft and Leathercraft items, and thus sell well. These do not sell as stacks, so don't list a stack of them accidentally. These sell individually for 30,000g each.

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71-75 - Tiger Mantle - Ice Crystal: Black Tiger Hide, Wool Thread - Here's Wool Thread again! If you can make your own, great! If not, it's 10-11k at the AH. Tiger Hides are 500-1000 at the AH unless you farm them yourself. Make this to cap and sell the results to NPC. These NPC for around 1.2k which will cover the cost of the hides if you bought at the AH. No need to get support here, since you're already within 4 levels of the cap, the +1 from the Tanner's Gloves will do just fine. Also, I hope you're working on getting the Tanner's Apron....

75-79 - Tiger Jerkin - Earth Crystal: Sheep Leather, Tiger Leather x 2 - Remember those Tiger Leathers I told you to save up? Use them here! Sheep Leather is easy enough to get as well, but if you want to get it from AH it's 7k-8k a stack. You're within 4 levels of the cap as well, so just the +1 from the Tanner's Gloves will do (another +1 from the Apron will also help tremendously if you get it at this point....like I haven't >.>) Sell your results to NPC for 1.9k a pop which will more than cover the costs of the Sheep Leathers, and partially cover the costs of all those Tiger Hides you bought from the AH which seems so long ago now! BTW, make a pair of Tiger Gloves for your next Guild Test!

75-80 - Manticore Leather - Dark Crystal: Manticore Hide, Windy Tea Leaf, Distilled Water - This is for those who, for some reason or another, chose to sell the Tiger Leathers that were made to get up to 61, OR if you did make Tiger Jerkins, but ran out of Tiger Leathers and haven't quite made it to the 79 cap. This synth will get you to 80 no problem. Manticore Hides sell for 1k each, or farmed off Manticore mobs in the Altepa Desert areas. If you choose to make Manticore Leathers, make this to cap and SAVE YOUR LEATHERS! They will be used for another synth here pretty soon.

78/79-81 - Peiste Leather - Dark Crystal: Peiste Skin, Windy Tea Leaf, Distilled Water - This item is now in high demand due to the recent April 2009 update. Be aware, though, that this item is a high risk/high reward type deal. The reason why? Peiste Skins are a pretty rare drop, and due to that rarity, the skins sell anywhere between 30,000-40,000 gil (Current Ramuh AH sales history as of 4/24/09) However, the Leather itself is selling anywhere between 40,000-50,000 gil each, so there is potential for a near 10k profit if your synths are successful. However, if you bust and lose the skin, that's a whole bunch of gil down the drain, so make these at your own risk. You CAN totally skip these if you wish and go straight to making Coeurl Mantles, but if you want to have a go at these, then be my guest!

79-85 - Coeurl Mantle - Ice Crystal: Coeurl Hide, Wool Thread - Wool Thread makes yet another appearance here! If you can make it yourself, great! If not, remember, 10-11k a stack. Farm the hides if you can, or just bite the bullet and buy them at the AH for 1500-2000 each. This is a slightly larger gap to start with, but with +2 from Gloves and Apron, this isn't bad at all. Sell all of the mantles you make to NPC! They NPC for just a shade under 2.1k which is excellent! It will actually cover the cost of the Hide (if you bought at the AH) and keep your loss to just the price of the Wool Thread that was used.

85-89 - Coeurl Jerkin - Earth Crystal: Sheep Leather, Coeurl Leather x 2 - Time to use up those Coeurl Leathers you made a while back! Sheep Leather makes yet another appearance too! Sheep Leather is 7000-8000g a stack. Since you're within 4 levels of the cap already, just the +2 from Apron and Gloves will do here. Make this to cap and sell the results to NPC for 2.8k each, which more than covers the cost of the Sheep Leathers if you purchased them from the AH. If by chance you happen to run out of Coeurl Leathers before reaching the Lv. 89 cap, they sell at AH for 30k a stack, so be mindful of that. *** IF YOU MADE MANTICORE LEATHERS TO GET TO 80, SAVE ALL THE COEURL JERKINS YOU MAKE! THEY WILL BE USED IN THE NEXT SYNTH ON THE LIST! *** Make a Coeurl Mask for your final Guild Test item.

85-90 - Ogre Jerkin - Earth Crystal: Coeurl Jerkin, Manticore Leather, Undead Skin - This will get you to 90, so do your best to make these to cap. The closer you can get to 91-92 the better off you will be! Trust me, Tiger Masks are annoying! Undead Skins sell for 1k each, and you should already have the other synthesis materials. The Ogre Jerkins do sell at the AH but pretty slowly. However, they sell to NPC for a good 4.8k each, so if you'd rather do that to unload your product and make some gil back, then be my guest.

89-91/92 - Tiger Mask - Ice Crystal: Tiger Hide x 2, Wool Thread, Wyvern Skin, Ram Leather - Ok, here we go....nitty gritty here. This thing looks painful. Wyvern Skins are going to be your worst enemy until you get to 100, they're 5k each and not easily farmed. The other stuff though, easy to farm, which helps a little. Make these to 91 or 92, and TRY to sell these at the AH. Currently on Ramuh they go for 4k each and sell slowly. If possible, /shout in Whitegate that you have a bunch of these available for sale, you MIGHT get someone to bite. If not, you could NPC them, but according to Wiki, they only sell to NPC for like, 1.3k. If you end up doing that, you'll lose at least a good 5k a synth. Although this recepie does cap at 95, there is a much more cost effective synth coming up that will get you to 97 easy!

91/92-97 - Square of Griffon Leather - Dark Crystal: Griffon Hide, Windy Tea Leaf, Distilled Water - Griffon Hides drop in Dynamis-San d'Oria, and people who obtain them will almost always put them up at the Auction House, currently between 4000-5000 gil each. Snap up whatever Griffon Hides you can off the Auction House, process them into Leather, and resell at the Auction House. Since they are now used in one of the new Gobbiebag quests from the recent April 2009 update, the demand is high, and will sell fast for almost as much as you bought the hide for (4000-5000 gil). If you are in a dynamis shell, ask your leaders if it is ok to buy the Hides off people who obtain them so that you can skill up off them. You can also speak to leaders of other dynamis shells, let them know that you will buy any Griffon Hides they obtain from them for skill up purposes, maybe you can get yourself a pretty good deal. Definitely take this to the Lv. 97 cap!

97-99 (Clothcraft sub 60? needs verification) - Chelona Boots - Earth Crystal: Karakul Thread, x3 Karakul Cloth, Platinum Thread, Amphiptere Leather - This is a new feet armor from the June 2012 update, and are in demand due to the "Fast Cast" on them. I am listing this here as an alternative option for skill ups, but I wouldn't go with spam making these up to 99. Only make some if you happen to have the materials laying around (or you farm them) because the feet armor themselves sell somewhat slow, and if you make too many of them, they will just clog up your inventory space. However, if you farm the Karakuls in Caedarva Mire and synth the threads and cloths in the field and also farm your own Amphiptere Hides, you can make a nice profit selling these at the Auction House.

97-100 - Urja Trousers - Earth Crystal: x2 Buffalo Leather, x2 Squamous Hide - This synth is required to get from Veteran rank to Expert rank, but you can also skill up on these! Buffalo Hides/Leather are somewhat common on the Auction House, so just buy them there. Here's the tricky part. The Squamous Hides are currently 50,000g for singles and 600k for stacks. I have a good LS and from time to time, we go out to North Gustaberg [S] and go on a murderous rampage killing every Drachenlizard we see. After about an hour or so of farming, we usually come away with about 2 full stacks (or close to it) of Squamous Hides. As long as the Squamous Hides are farmed, you are making gil!

97-100 - Panther Mask - Ice Crystal: Wool Thread, Ram Leather, Wyvern Skin, High-Quality Coeurl Hide x 2 - Here's Wyvern Skins again....5k a pop. Yeowch! Ram Leather is easy to farm/synth though, and Wool Threads too if you're able to make them yourself. HQ Coeurl Hides currently go for 3k each which isn't TOO bad. They can be farmed off Toramas in Labyrinth of Onzozo, but they're a pain to kill solo. One thing I would recommend is ask anyone in LS if they would like to go camp Ose with you while you farm the HQ hides. You'll probably get a couple of takers, which will help speed up the kills and drop rate of the HQ hides. As TH4 THF/BST I managed to farm 8 HQ hides in about an hour soloing them, so the drop rate isn't bad, it's just a while to kill them. Panther Masks currently sell for 5000g each and sell ok. They sell to NPC for 3.3k if you're in a hurry to unload your product.

Conclusion

Well, that's it! It's a long, hard road to get to 100 Leathercraft, and as of today, I'm still not quite done. I'm at 80 LC on my mule, but it will get done. I hope this guide is helpful to players in the future for as long as FFXI stays alive. Take care!

HOLD EVERYTHING!!!!!

Forget that "Conclusion" above, the new skill cap is 110! Here is what I've done so far!

100-102 - Panther Mask - Ice Crystal: Wool Thread, Ram Leather, Wyvern Skin, High-Quality Coeurl Hide x 2 - YES, Panther Masks......AGAIN! You thought you were done with them but OH NO.....you got 2 more levels of these! This is your best option for skill ups if you don't have any other skills up to the new sub cap of 70. HQ Coeurl Hides nowadays are quite common on the Auction House, as Summoners need to kill a bunch of them for one of their Summoner Garuda Staff trials. They've been going for a steady 3k each at the AH on Shiva (Yes, I'm on Shiva now) but you can save that gil by working on a SMN Garuda Staff (assuming you have SMN) and farm the HQ hides yourself. Wool Threads (assuming you have Clothcraft leveled) and Ram Leathers are easy to make as well. Make them yourself, and save the gil. I personally farmed everything except for Wyvern Skins, they were 2k at the AH. The Panther Mask sells to NPC for 3.3k. So if you farm everything except for the Wyvern Skins you make a 1.3k profit per synth.

102-104 - Sealord Leather - Dark Crystal: Sealord Skin, Windurstian Tea Leaf, Distilled Water - This is where Leathercraft starts to become VERY expensive. BUT you can stand to make a lot of gil too. This is another classic skin to leather synth involving a drop from "Bismarck" which is from Voidwatch T2 Tavnazian path. Unfortunately, you'll have to camp the Auction House for these, and buy them up as soon as you see them. On Shiva they go for a steady 150,000g. However, they sell on the Auction House for 200,000g. So you're making your gil back PLUS another 50k assuming you don't bust a synth and lose the skin. I hit 103 Leathercraft on these, and got another .1 up on the final synth I had so I know at the very least this is a 104 cap. I'm not 100% sure about it being 105, however that is a future edit as soon as I have the information handy.

102-104 - Urja Gloves - Earth Crystal: Buffalo Leather, x2 Squamous Hides - This is an EXCELLENT alternative for skill ups if you don't have the capital to purchase Sealord Skin en-masse. Here's the kicker....in order for this to be cheaper for you, you absolutely MUST farm the Squamous Hides yourself, or with LS mates. So head out with a small group (1 member with TH7 THF helps) and farm those Squamous Hides. Each hide that drops saves you from spending 50k (current Shiva server price) each. Buy the Buffalo Hides at AH and convert to leather, or buy already made Buffalo Leathers at AH. Urja Gloves sell to NPC for 3.5k each, so as long as you buy the Buffalo Leather for 3k or less, you are breaking even. A break even synth at such a high level is a freaking miracle at this point!

104-105 - Urja Ledelsens - (Smithing sub of 58-60 required) - Earth Crystal: x2 Squamous Hides, Buffalo Leather, Dark Bronze Sheet - I am able to confirm this is at least capped at 105, as it is still listed with the NPC that gives you recepies that are 1 to 4 levels above your current skill. Squamous Hides make yet another appearance. Get a bunch of friends together and farm the hides to save yourself from spending a ton of gil buying them at the Auction House. You can also choose to farm the Buffalo Hides yourself as well, or buy them at the Auction House for 2000-3000g each. Here's the problem. NO ONE makes Dark Bronze Sheets! You'll have to make them yourself. Here's the problem with that.......it is a Smithing Lv. 74 synth to make the Ingot, and 75 to convert to a Sheet. Bite the bullet and get your Smithing up to 67, then start making Dark Bronze Ingots up to 70 (you'll need it!), then to Sheets and use up the product to make the Urja Ledelsens. The ingots themselves aren't too expensive to make really. It's Fire Crystal: Darksteel Ore, Tin Ore, x2 Copper Ore. You can buy Darksteel Ores at the Auction House (current Shiva price is 3000-5000g) and the rest of the stuff can be purchased cheaply at the Smithing Guild Shop in Bastok's Metalworks. You can even get HQ support at the Smithing Guild to help ensure you successfully convert the Ingots to Sheets and minimize breaks that way. OH the things you have to go through just to get another level as cheaply as possible in Leathercraft......


*Made a correction on the farming location of Coeurl Hides*
*Added Griffon Hide/Leather information*
*Added Peiste Hide/Leather information*
*Spelling Corrections*
*Added Lizard Cesti, Himantes information*
*Added Bugard Leather, Bugard Leather Strap, Ram Leather (Willow Log) information*
*Added Manticore Leather, Ogre Jerkin information*
*Added continuation of Panther Mask*
*Added Sealord Leather information*
*Added Chelona Boots, Urja Trousers information*
*Added Urja Gloves information*
*Added addendum to Urja Gloves information*
*Updated level caps for Sealord Leather and Urja Gloves*
*Added Urja Ledelsens information*
***REVAMP UNDERWAY!!!! Updated items up to Ram Mantle***

Edited, Sep 30th 2012 1:30am by YeagertheBearded

Edited, Feb 27th 2013 12:09am by YeagertheBearded

Edited, Feb 28th 2013 10:41am by YeagertheBearded

Edited, Feb 28th 2013 11:21am by YeagertheBearded

Totally forgot about this lil' gem, now that it's used for one of the newer Gobbiebag quests, this stuff will be in much higher demand.

93-97 - Square of Griffon Leather - Dark Crystal: Griffon Hide, Windy Tea Leaf, Distilled Water - Griffon Hides drop in Dynamis-San d'Oria, and people who obtain them will almost always put them up at the Auction House, currently between 4000-5000 gil each. Snap up whatever Griffon Hides you can off the Auction House, process them into Leather, and resell at the Auction House. Since they are now used in one of the new Gobbiebag quests from the recent April 2009 update, the demand is high, and will sell fast for almost as much as you bought the hide for (4000-5000 gil). This will be a GREAT way to get yourself to 97 on the cheap!

Entry will be added into the OP between Tiger Mask and Panther Masks with some additional edits.

I recommend buying the guild point abilities of Leather Ensorcellment and Leather Purification. I made so much gil leveling through the 40s and 50s thanks to powder boots, haste belts and high breath mantles. On my server (Asura) it was well worth the investment.

I didn't take the "PAINFUL" route of raptor mantles which cap at level 53; instead I did buffalo hides to leather (49 cap) and then leather to laminated buffalo leather (53 cap). I made out like a bandit.

Very nice guide. This is very similar to what I did, with a couple of minor differences. Here are some alternatives:


Lizard Cesti 11-17
You can also buy Cesti from NPC in South Sandy, and they're cheaper than Leather Gloves. Not a big deal, but they also cap at 17 rather than 16. Also, for clarification, the Labyrinth Lizards in the Crawlers' Nest basement have a stupidly high drop rate, so be sure to farm those rather than the Maze Lizards in the scrota room.


Bugard Leather 21-24
I wanted to avoid wool thread in the early levels of Leathercraft, so I opted to farm bugards in Lufaise Meadows rather than fiddle with Dhalmel Mantles. Bugard skins have a very high drop rate from Gigantobugards, even with TH1. Bugard Leather sells well on AH in singles and in stacks.

I also skipped straight to Parchment at 24. I had no problem selling my stacks on AH, but I may have gotten lucky.


Ram Leather 35-36
You can take the Willow Log recipe up to 36. Lord knows you'll need as much Ram Leather as you can get.


Himantes 49-52
Himantes only uses one raptor skin per synth rather than two, so they're slightly less painful. Still not much fun. I skipped ahead to Tiger Leather at 52 just because the losses from the breaks were still less than the losses from buying Raptor Skins.


Bugard Strap 61-63
Once again, bugard skins drop real easy from Gigantobugards in Lufaise Meadows.


Ogre Jerkin 89-90
Making your Coeurl Jerkins into Ogre Jerkins will also increase its NPC value a bit. It's still a loss, but less of a loss than messing with Tiger Masks.

good guide yeager... only things you might want to add is that this one is perfect for speed if you have working capitol... however if you are low funds, you might want to skip the tiger jerkin portion and go maticore leather (from 74 or so to 80), which also will save you a level fo coeurl mantles as well.

The other route (since i have made the path three times now) is get the key item and make powder boots in low 40's, and then turn those ram mantles into high breath ones to bridge the gap instead of the much more expensive raptor mantles.

Added Lizard Cesti and Himantes.

Sorry, just now getting around to adding stuff to this. ><

Added Manticore Leather information
Added Ogre Jerkin information

Good luck in your quest for level 110. If you haven't seen the recent census, here's the short version: 11 characters have reached 110 fishing and 11 characters have reached 110 cooking across all servers, while 0 characters have reached 110 in any other craft. Whether that's still the case today is unknown. But either way, if you do manage to hit 110, you will be in very select company.