Guild Wars 2 Leatherworker Guide - Craft Gear for Adventurers!

GW2 Leatherworker Guide

GW2 Leatherworker is one of the armor crafting classes in Guild Wars 2. It creates equipment for the adventurer professions. They are Engineer, Ranger, and Thief. These characters wear the medium armor category. The primary material categories used by Leatherworkers are leathers and cloths. Besides the armor pieces, Leatherworkers can also synthesize bags and runes. Furthermore, they’re able to refine crafting materials and make various crafting components.

The role of a Leatherworker

Sadly, in Guild Wars 2, early game crafting is pretty much non-existent. After choosing your crafting class, you have to rush to at least level 400 to get any real use of it. The leveling process of the combat professions is so easy and fast that there’s simply no reason ever to craft or buy gear for lower-level characters. At the same time, GW2 players have multiple options of further accelerating their leveling – veterans often have access to a lot of Tomes of Knowledge that can level up their new characters instantly.

Meanwhile, players have to produce low-level items in order to max out their crafters. There are no special quests or any other ways that can provide you with crafting experience. You will have to make a ton of pretty much useless junk items. On the one hand, there are very few players who want low-level gear. On the other hand, the market gets overflowed by the stuff made by all the characters that level the crafting classes.   

All these things combined create a situation where crafting is only useful for endgame items. It makes players want to max out their Leatherworker and other crafting classes as fast and cheap as possible. You’re not going to get much value from your early products, so instead of trying, you can just cut your losses and get to the good part quickly. It will require some investment, but it’s undoubtedly worth it. That being said, crafting in GW2 is a bit of a luxury, since you have to go all the way to get any profit.

High-Level Leatherworking

Equipment crafters like Leatherworkers have two critical milestones in their leveling process. At level 400, they get access to Master Recipes and the possibility to craft Exotic armors. In the case of the Leatherworker, the most important one is called Emblazoned Armor. You should probably make it for your Ranger, Thief, or Engineer (there’s not much reason to develop a Leatherworker if you’re not playing any of these professions).

Every armor piece that you craft can provide slightly different stats. It's determined by a special part called insignias. Depending on your build, you might want to go with: assassin, carrion, berserker, rampager, cleric, malign, valkyrie, vigorous and the list goes much longer. 

At crafting level 400, you will also get access to making superior runes. All three armor crafters share most of their recipes, but there are some useful ones exclusive to Leatherworkers. For example, Superior Rune of the Ogre is great for increasing direct and critical damage, while Superior Rune of the Adventurer is a tremendous general offensive choice.

The second necessary threshold is the level cap of 500. It allows you to synthesize the best in slot Ascended items and their components. The Illustrious Medium Armor requires a long time to craft, and you’ll have to buy special recipe items for an NPC Master Leatherworker. The Ascended crafting is time-gated – each GW2 character is only allowed to make a single item in this tier – it also applies to components. Crafting the whole armor set from scratch would take as much as 36 days.

The amount of time required for this process makes the Ascended components quite valuable. They are tradable, so you can try to make and sell them through the Trading Post. At the same time, the difference in power level between Exotic and Ascended items is not that significant. A lot of players stick with the Exotic tier for quite some time, since it’s more than enough for dungeons and fractals.

Besides the armors and runes, an endgame, Leatherworker can also create some gifts – these items are used as components for legendary weapons that can be created in the Mystic Forge. Gift of Nature is one of the many elements used to synthesize a longbow called Kudzu. Gift of Stealth is used in the process of creating a legendary rifle – The Predator. Finally, the Wolf Statue is a component, that along with many others is necessary to make Howler – a legendary warhorn.

Leatherworker Leveling Guide

As we mentioned, you have to be prepared to spend some gold on leveling your crafting classes. Getting a maxed out crafter comes with a price. You’re not going to get any substantial returns before the level 400. That’s why you should always look for a cheap and efficient crafting route. We will show you an example of it, but you might want to use some GW2 crafting calculator anyway. The market prices of various materials will change in time, influencing the relative values of different routes. However, even if you pick the most optimal, cheapest route - the materials will still cost some gold that you have to spend.  

Leatherworker 1-400

It is the necessary part of leveling any crafter. As we mentioned, the level 400 threshold gives you access to essential recipes. It really enables you to make most of the vital stuff that you can get from this crafting discipline. The only exception is the possibility to craft Ascended items. You may need over 40 gold to buy all the materials necessary to get to level 400.

You can find recipes for multiple items when you use the crafting stations. However, there will be some that you have to discover. Luckily, it usually just means using the right components and synthesizing an item (we broke down the recipes for items that you have to discover). It might change at the very high levels when you might need to buy a recipe, but it won’t happen during the early leveling process. Moreover, discovering an item provides a bonus to the crafting experience that you’ll receive. The discovery bonus can be extremely valuable while you’re leveling.   

Materials to buy from NPC Vendor

17x Spool of Wool Thread

22x Spool of Silk Thread

18x Spool of Jute Thread

23x Spool of Linen Thread

23x Spool of Cotton Thread

Materials to collect or buy from other players

13x Iron Ore

60x Jute Scrap

42x Rawhide Leather Section

68x Thin Leather Section

88x Thick Leather Section

46x Coarse Leather Section

38x Rugged Leather Section

48x Wool Scrap

130x Cotton Scrap

138x Linen Scrap

198x Silk Scrap

80x Tiny Venom Sac

101x Small Venom Sac

57x Full Venom Sac

57x Potent Venom Sac

9x Large Scale

57x Vial of Blood

12x Sharp Fang

16x Glacial Shard

8x Glacial Core

13x Destroyer Fragment

16x Crystal Shard

8x Corrupted Core

10x Rawhide Shoulderguard Padding

10x Rawhide Shoulderguard Panel

6x Rawhide Boot Sole

4x Rugged Google Strap

3x Mighty Jute Insignia

15x Healing Jute Insignia

4x Vigorous Cotton Insignia

10x Wool Patch

10x Jute Patch

1410x Lucent Mole

37x Charm of Skill

8x Charm of Potence

Level 1-25

141x Pile of Lucent Crystal

30x Bolt of Jute

21x Stretched Rawhide Leather Square

3x Rawhide Boot Upper

Discover Mighty Seeker Boots with 2 Rawhide Boot Sole, 1 Rawhide Boot Upper, and 1 Mighty Jute Insignia. Then make this item twice more.

Level 25-50

15x Rawhide Mask Padding

15x Rawhide Mask Strap

Then use these two components alongside Healing Jute Insignia to discover Healing Seeker Mask. Craft 14 more of them.

Level 50-75

10x Malign Embroidered Jute Insignia

 Combine this insignia with Rawhide Shoulderguard Padding and Rawhide Shoulderguard Panel to discover Malign Seeker Shoulders. Synthesize nine more.

Level 75-100

34x Cured Thin Leather Square

24x Bolt of Wool

17x Thin Glove Strap

17x Thin Glove Lining

7x Ravaging Wool Insignia

Discover Ravaging Outlaw Gloves by combining Thin Glove Strap, Thin Glove Lining, and Ravaging Wool Insignia. Make this item 6 more times.

Level 100-125

Use Iron Ore, Destroyer Fragment, Charm of Skill, and Pile of Lucent Crystal to discover the Minor Rune of the Engineer. Synthesize 12 more of these runes.

Level 125-150

10x Ravaging Embroidered Wool Insignia

Then, combine this insignia with Thin Glove Strap and Thin Glove Lining, to discover Ravaging Outlaw Gloves. Craft this item 9 more times.

Level 150-175

65x Bolt of Cotton

23x Cured Coarse Leather Square

23x Coarse Goggle Padding

23x Coarse Goggle Strap

Then discover Vigorous Leather Mask by using Coarse Goggle Padding, Coarse Leather Strap, and Vigorous Cotton Insignia. Produce three more of them.

Level 175-200

19x Strong Cotton Insignia

Combine it with Coarse Goggle Padding and Coarse Goggle Strap to discover a Strong Leather Mask. Then make 18 more of these masks.

Level 200-225

Use 1x Charm of Skill, 2x Crystal Shard, and 4x Pile of Lucent Crystal, to discover the Major Rune of the Thief. Craft 7 more of these.

Level 225-250

69x Bolt of Linen

19x Cured Rugged Leather Square

23x Rugged Goggle Padding

19x Rugged Goggle Strap

4x Valkyrie Linen Insignia

Then, discover Valkyrie Rascal Mask out of Rugged Goggle Padding, Rugged Goggle Strap, and Valkyrie Linen Insignia. Make three more of them.

Level 250-275

19x Rampager’s Linen Insignia

Combine this insignia with Rugged Goggle Padding and Rugged Goggle strap to discover Rampager’s Rascal Mask. Craft 18 more of these masks.

Level 275-300

Discover the Major Rune of the Ice with 1 Charm of Skill, 2x Glacial Shard, and 4x Pile of the Lucent Crystal. Create this rune seven times more.

Level 300-325

66x Bolt of Silk

22x Cured Thick Leather Square

22x Thick Mask Padding

22x Thick Mask Strap

3x Knight’s Silk Insignia

Use Thick Mask Padding, Thick Mask Strap, and Knight’s Silk Insignia to discover Knight’s Prowler Mask. Make two more of them.

Level 325-350

19x Rampager’s Silk Insignia

Combine this insignia with a Thick Mask Padding and Thick Mask Strap to discover Rampager’s Prowler Mask. Then craft this item 18 times more.

Level 350-375

Use 1 Corrupted Core, 1 Charm of Potence, and 4x Pile of Lucent Crystal to discover the Major Rune of the Wurm. Then make seven more of them.

Level 375-400

Discover the Major Rune of the Ice by combining 1 Glacial Core, 1 Charm of Skill, and 4x Pile of Lucent Crystal. Then craft this item 7 more times.

Leatherworker 400-500

This part of the leveling process is very much optional. You can skip this for now, unless you want to rush towards the Ascended armor. The good news is that you can craft valuable items now. Even though the high-level materials are substantially more expensive than the low-level ones, you will start getting some returns from your investment.

Materials to buy from NPC Vendor

38x Spool of Gossamer Thread

Materials to collect or obtain from Trading Post

48x Cured Hardened Leather Square

64x Bolt of Gossamer

1x Hardened Helmet Padding

3x Hardened Helmet Strap

3x Shaman’s Intricate Gossamer Insignia

3x Cavalier’s Intricate Gossamer Insignia

23x Rabid Intricate Gossamer Insignia

3x Magi’s Intricate Gossamer Insignia

3x Soldier’s Intricate Gossamer Insignia

1x Settler’s Intricate Gossamer Insignia

3x Dire Intricate Gossamer Insignia

Level 400-425

26x Hardened Helmet Padding

24x Hardened Helmet Strap

6x Hardened Glove Lining

6x Hardened Glove Panel

6x Hardened Shoulderguard Panel

6x Hardened Shoulderguard Padding

Discover Rabid Emblazoned Helm with Hardened Helmet Padding, Hardened Helmet Strap, and Rabid Intricate Gossamer Insignia. Then make two more of them.

Level 425-450

There are multiple discoveries in this tier:

Rabid Emblazoned Gloves out of Hardened Glove Lining, Hardened Gove Panel, and Rabid Intricate Gossamer Insignia.

Rabid Emblazoned Shoulders with Hardened Shoulderguard Panel, Hardened Shoulderguard Padding, and Rabid Intricate Gossamer Insignia.

Then you’re going to have to discover Dire Emblazoned Helm, Magi’s Emblazoned Helm, Soldier’s Emblazoned Helm, Cavalier’s Emblazoned Helm, and Shaman’s Emblazoned Helm. Each of them is going to require Hardened Helmet Padding, Hardened Helmet Strap, and the right insignia. After that, make one more Rabid Emblazoned Helm.

Level 450-475

Once again, there are plenty of discoveries in this tier:

First, there are Dire Emblazoned Gloves, Magi’s Emblazoned Gloves, Cavalier’s Emblazoned Gloves, and Shaman’s Emblazoned Gloves. Each of them is made of Hardened Glove Lining, Hardened Glove Panel, and the proper insignia.

The situation is similar to Dire Emblazoned Shoulders, Magi’s Emblazoned Shoulders, Cavalier’s Emblazoned Shoulders, and Shaman’s Emblazoned Shoulders. You will need Hardened Shoulderguard Panel, Hardened Shoulderguard Padding, and the adequate insignia.

Finally, discover Settler’s Emblazoned Helm out of Hardened Helmet Padding, Hardened Helmet Strap, and Settler’s Intricate Gossamer Insignia.

Level 475-500

Combine Hardened Glove Lining, Hardened Glove Panel, and Soldier’s Intricate Gossamer Insignia to discover Soldier’s Emblazoned Gloves.

Discover Soldier’s Emblazoned Shoulders out of Hardened Shoulderguard Panel, Hardened Shoulderguard Padding, and Solder’s Intricate Gossamer Insignia.

Then, craft 17 Rabid Emblazoned Helms – this is a recipe that we already discovered. After you finish this, you should be a level 500 Leatherworker!

Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 is the second installment in ArenaNet’s MMORPG series. It takes its players on a thrilling journey through the wonderfully designed world of Tyria. There are nine playable professions and nine crafting classes. The game has a captivating, developing a storyline, plenty of challenging endgame PvE activities, and exciting PvP modes. Guild Wars 2 has already received two expansions: Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire.  

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