Leathercraft 0-60 by Ctownwoody

Leathercrafting Guide 1.0 0-60 by Ctownwoody of Asura Sons of Valkrum Linkshell Disclaimer: This worked for me and is based on my research and efforts on Asura. Prices have increasingly normalized in the last 18 months, but I still suggest going to ffxiah.com to research your particular server.

Leathercrafting Tips
1. The guildshop in Sandy is rarely camped for good reason. You can get better prices at the AH most of the time. Dhalmels and Windurstian Tea Leaves aside, there's nothing you'll need that's not within 3 zones (Selbina or Jugner Forest) to get you all the way to 60.

2. Skins are decently farmable and some drop multiple hides. Sheep can be farmed easily at level 10, Dhalmels at 20, Rams at 30-35 (depending on job), and Tigers at 40. Lizard Skins are not the easiest to get, though. (See Discussion tab for a comment.)

3. Tremor Ram and Battering Ram both drop multiple skins and Ram Horns, which are great for Bonecrafting and sell quickly. Partner up with others, especially Theives with Treasure Hunter, for more drops.

4. Leather-making uses either Windurstian Tea Leaves or Willow Logs. Tea is better because it is cheaper and stacks, except with Ram Leather, where you can get an extra level of Skill out of Willow Logs.

5. Seer/Noct Gear aside, there are not a lot of good clothcraft/leatherworking recipies in the 0-60 range (by good, i mean profitable) but does make the gloves/boots for Fishing, Chocobo and Field Gear.

6. Leather-making Skins are not stackable (and non-Leather-making Skins are). When farming for skins for leather, bring along the stackable materials (Tea Leaves, Water and Dark Crystals) to make leather and then stack the leather to save inventory space.

0-10

 * Sheep Leather (2)-Dark Crystal, Distilled Water, Windurstian Tea Leaves, Sheepskin--Make these to cap and either sell them or save them for later. These sell quickly, profitably and are a good source for profit whenever you get some skins or get bored.


 * Sheep Wool (4)-Wind Crystal, Sheepskin x2--These recent are no longer worth the effort because prices have tanked for Wool Thread and Wool Cloth. You can make these if you want (if you are going slowly or trying to use random drops), or if you can make your own Wool Thread or Wool Cloth from them, but it might just save time and gil to skip ahead.


 * Rabbit Mantle (7)-Earth Crystal, Grass Thread, 5x Rabbit Hide--Make to cap, NPC them in batches. Lather, rinse, repeat.  If you get lucky and make an HQ, sell it AH for a tidy profit. Save one as a TEST ITEM.

11-20

 * Solea (11)-Wind Crystal, Sheep Leather x2--You can try desynthing these to get the leather back or you can NPC them. Your choice, but make them to cap.  Nothing good (stackables, sells quickly and/or profitably) or cheap between 7 and 21.


 * Fisherman's Gloves (14)-Earth Crystal, Lizard Skin x2, Cotton Cloth--Make these for yourself and/or friends who want them, but they don't sell anywhere close to a profit and there are cheaper synths for this bridge.


 * Lizard Gloves (16)-Earth Crystal, Lizard Skin, Leather Gloves--Use this, along with Wolf Fur, Lizard Cesti and Fishing Gloves/Boots, to bridge up to around 15 or 16 before starting Dhalmel Leather.


 * Lizard Cesti (17)-Earth Crystal, Lizard Skin, Cesti--Although you can use these again around level 46-50, get rid of them however you can. TEST ITEM for the record.


 * Lizard Jerkin (19)-Earth Crystal, Lizard Skin x3, Sheep Leather--These sell fast and at a profit, but that's about it for this stretch. I'd combine lizard gear and fishing boots/gloves to bridge, unless you want to try your hand at items with a sub-skill of Leathercraft 20 like Noct or Seer's sets (that doesn't skill-up as quickly).


 * Fisherman's Boots (20)-Earth Crystal, Lizard Skin x2, Grass Cloth, Bronze Scales--Same as the gloves, but if you fish at all, it's worth the chance of a skill-up to make your own. It also helps you get used to making your own stuff anyway.

21-30

 * Dhalmel Leather (21)-Dark Crystal, Distilled Water, Windurstian Tea Leaves, Dhalmel Hide--Another bread-and-butter leather. This one is for Gobbiebag I, so they sell well in stacks or singly in Jeuno.  Make to cap and make for profit.


 * Bugard Leather (24)-Dark Crystal, Distilled Water, Windurstian Tea Leaves, Bugard Skin--Leather Purification aside, this is only used for Gobbiebag V quest, so they only sell singly in Jeuno. But try to cap on this if possible as it is a profitable synth.

TEST ITEM: Dhalmel Mantle: Ice Crystal, Wool Thread, Dhalmel Hide: Plenty to be had as a cheap synth many use to skill up and as a common back armor.

31-40

 * Parchment (31)-Dark Crystal, Sheep Leather, Rolanberry--Get the berries in the shop in Port Jeuno. These are used in the Bard Flag Quest and for other items, so they sell better singly.


 * Vellum (31)-Dark Crystal, Sheep Leather, Rolanberry, Gold Dust--Get the berries in the shop in Port Jeuno. These are used in the Scholar Flag Quest and a SCH AF Quest.  Either with this or Parchment, your task is to get your Leather to at least 29.


 * Ram Leather (35/36)-Dark Crystal, Distilled Water, Ram Skin, Windurstian Tea Leaves/Willow Log--This is a great item to make, especially if you can farm the skins yourself. Either way, make money on this puppy and cap out at 36.  That last level takes using Willow Logs.  Sell a bunch for profit but lay in a supply as well; you'll need them.


 * Wolf Gorget (39)-Earth Crystal, Wolf Hide, Cotton Thread--Decent bridge, if you can get the thread for cheap in Selbina. Your goal here is to get your skill to the point where you can make Waistbelts (43).

TEST ITEM: Magic Belt: Wind Crystal, Ram Leather, Mercury, Toad Oil: Because of the expense of Toad Oil, I'd suggest checking the AH first.

41-50

 * Waistbelt (43)-Wind Crystal, Ram Leather x2, Grass Thread--If you farm at least half the Ram Skins yourself, this is the most profitable/break-even bridge between Ram and Tiger leathers, so cap on these. NPC these in batches and go back to farming to let the price go back up at the guildshop.


 * Ram Mantle (49)-Ice Crystal, Wool Thread, Ram Skin--Ram Skins don't stack, so farming will be tricky. This kinda sucks, but again, it gets you closer to Tiger Leather.  Synth and de-synth if you prefer or NPC to the Guild for most of the cost of the Wool Thread...

TEST ITEM: Cuir Bouilli:  Water Crystal, Leather Vest, Beeswax, Ram Leather x2:  Not incredibly expensive in Sandy, where the vest can be bought from an NPC.

51-60

 * Raptor Mantle (53)-Earth Crystal, Raptor Skin x2, Grass Thread--These are for Mog House Quest III, so they sell decently, better on weekends, and at an almost break-even price. Get to at least 52 and then start Tiger Leather.


 * Catoblepas Leather (58)-Dark Crystal, Windurstian Tea Leaves, Distilled Water, Catoblepas Hide--This is a cheap leather than has no use other than to NPC it for around a 300 gil lose for each synth. Suck it up as an extra bridge to Tiger Leather.  The hides are cheaper and you can power-craft this more easily than Raptor Mantles, though.


 * Tiger Leather (61)-Dark Crystal, Distilled Water, Windurstian Tea Leaves, Tiger Hide--This is your last synth to 60. They are used in Gobbiebag III, so they sell like mad in Jeuno, they should cost less than 1k per hide at AHs, and you can mass-produce them easily.  Have fun making your gil back!

Ctownwoody