"Skinning" for herbs and ore
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Jan 19th 2007 at 1:59PM
Enough miners and herbalists have complained about having to depend on random spawns -- and compete with gold farmers -- that Blizzard has finally put in a way for these two professions to control their own destiny.
Several mobs, including rock giants in Hellfire Peninsula and nature elementals in Zangarmarsh and Coilfang Reservoir, can be "skinned" for ores and herbs, just as if they were a node. While running through the Underbog in Coilfang Reservoir Thursday night, I got a couple of Ragveils, a Terocone, some quest herbs, and a few useless gray mushrooms from skinning the elite Loatheb-like marsh elementals inside. The skinning results are kind of random, and the mobs will be farmed as easily as the herb spawn points were, but it's still an interesting new way of getting your base materials.
Have you found anything else while "skinning" for herbs and ores? If so, what and where?
Filed under: Herbalism, Mining, The Burning Crusade
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Unkle Jan 19th 2007 2:09PM
Do you have to have herbalism to do this? Or skinning?
Seper Jan 19th 2007 2:13PM
finnannlly.
Ive never had problems farming.
But my buddy and I always wonder why certain monsters dont drop certain things.
Ex: Quest : Collect 10 eagle talons from eagle.
Now... if i'm not mistaken.. all eagles have talons. So why doesn't each one drop them? I Understand the game mechanics on how thats boring, you wont get as much xp and it would be done so fast it would be a waste.. but its still pretty stupid.
The walking trees should drop herbs too at any lvl and not just outland. If you kill an elemental you should have a chance to drop some sort of rock (if its a rock type) or something related to that element.
Flux Jan 19th 2007 2:20PM
You need Herbalism for the plantlike mobs and Mining for the rocky style mobs.
I'm an Herbalist and I LOVE this new feature. (I also get to join the chorus of skinners nagging people to loot their mobs). You don't get a ton of useful stuff from it, but the grey drops really add up. I was farming the bog lords for the quests and rep grind for the Spore guys. When I got back to town to empty my bags I had over 8g in grey vendor trash.
It's also really awesome for us druids because it's another chance to get the unidentified plant stuff that you can do as a repeatable quest to gain rep with the Cenarion Expedition faction. This mace just makes me drool:
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=54841
Freehugz Jan 19th 2007 2:21PM
i dunno, if i'm a mage tossing fireballs at a bird i wouldn't expect too many feathers to stay intact when i'm finished with it
Panthro Jan 19th 2007 2:23PM
Aren't skinners gonna complain now? Should Blizzard put in random spawns of scratching posts or something that can be skinned for leatherworkers?
I'm kidding obviously, but it's funny to think about it.
the six winger Jan 19th 2007 10:03PM
what no mining for fish!
KiTA Jan 19th 2007 3:01PM
"Aren't skinners gonna complain now? Should Blizzard put in random spawns of scratching posts or something that can be skinned for leatherworkers?
I'm kidding obviously, but it's funny to think about it."
Actually, being able to "mine" various tribal "nodes" (like tents and tanning devices in Furby camps) would be kinda neat, come to think of it...
RogueJedi86 Jan 19th 2007 3:06PM
Hopefully it will apply to the main world soon too. Herbalism isn't that hard, but I find it nearly impossible to find ore. It's only in certain areas, and only some of the time. Very hard to run around finding, especially before 40. Skinners have been living on easy street for too long. Let us Herbalists and Miners turn off onto that road too! :)
Laukidh Jan 19th 2007 3:38PM
I still think I should be able to skin centaurs...
Dru Jan 19th 2007 3:51PM
This would only be fair if skinners could skin humanoids. Why the hell can't I have a Night Elf skin cloak and a pair of fuzzy Dwarf slippers?
infection Jan 19th 2007 4:31PM
personally dont like how you "skin" the creature for mining, when all you have is a mining pick. the creature is made of rock. i can understand the logicstics of "skinning", but shouldnt i "pick" the creature seeing that i have no skinning knife.
also, is there other creatures that can be mined besides the elites in hellfire pen? there is no reasonable way for me to mine until im 70 on those things (unless someone helps me, which defeats the purpose of self mining). and im sure they dont drop 400 lvl mining mats.
Deathrend Jan 19th 2007 4:10PM
@9 Thats just creepy, For now on Your name is no longer Dru, its Buffalo bill. IT PUTS THE LOTION ON THE SKIN
GG Jan 19th 2007 4:15PM
On the topic of skinning humanoids, I always thought it a bit morbid that a troll like me carried around one of these bags:
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=12455
jbob Jan 19th 2007 4:51PM
I'm liking the 'extra' drops off herbs too.
I got a damage sheild consumable off a felweed spawn in HFP.
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=55907
oldbear Jan 19th 2007 6:23PM
I want to be able to skin gnomes. What good are they anyway - always getting under foot. As a member of the "evil" Horde I should be able to skin anything with skin including bubble-hearthing Pallies or any other pretty Alliance. (I might be kidding, but only if your calling the cops to check my basement).
multikast Jan 22nd 2007 9:26AM
@13
you don't literally "skin" the elementals. You "mine" them. they are made of rock, just like a mine spawn. if it's a plant-type mob, you "gather" herbs from them. people use the quoted "skinning" term loosely to refer to gathering materials from a dead mob.
btw, i found that even though some of the mobs were yellow to me for gathering herbs, i don't think i skilled up once from a mob. so, it's either not possible to skill up or it's very hard.
Samidare Jan 25th 2007 2:00AM
I love it. It took me a while to level up my herbalism so I actually spent some time in azshara and felwood leveling up just so I could skin them. Also good since some of the higher recipes require azeroth herbs. And the farming was uncontested since the zones where pretty much empty.
People where slaughering the bog lords and giants for the quests and very few had the skill or the skill level to farm their dead mobs. I spent almost an hour going back and forth.
Walked away with a few bags full of herbs.
Ingram Jan 23rd 2007 12:36PM
One cool thing I "skinned" was the seconded boss in Mana Tombs. After he dies and looted you can mine him for around 6 adamantite and random amount of gems. Pretty nifty if you ask me.