Tracking and Skinning are the dual Trade Skills for Hunting in New World: Aeternum, and they level on par every time players hunt and skin an animal in the game. So, having this will be absolutely necessary for those who want to craft the best Leather armor, bags, and many other pieces of equipment that require these materials.
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For those unsure of what the process entails, here's a rundown on the basics of Skinning and Tracking animals, how to hunt more efficiently to level up faster, and which materials can be acquired from harvesting the furs (and feathers) of Aeternum beasts. On an island where everything is immortal, there's plenty of game to hunt, and there won't be anything to worry about after skinning them, since they spawn quite fast.
How To Track & Skin In New World: Aeternum
To learn the art of Skinning in New World: Aeternum, players need to first learn how to hunt for animals. For that, they'll need the Tracking skill, which levels at the same time as Skinning. If players open their Character Menu, then the Trade Skill tab, they'll be able to access the Tracking & Skinning Trade Skill, and there, they can see which animals they can track and hunt.
It is important to note that players need to be equipped with a Skinning Knife to start skinning.
Once players identify their prey and kill it, they will notice that it will fall to the ground and start shining. Only creatures that can be Mined, Skinned, and Logged remain on the ground; the rest of the NPCs disappear once they die. To skin an animal, players need to approach it and press the E button on their keyboard, Triangle button (PS5), or X button (Xbox), and after an animation, the player will collect resources, which are often meat, other animal parts, and skin/leather.
The first levels will be small prey, like Rabbits, Hares, Boars, and Turkeys. From there, Wolves, Bears, Lynxes, and Deer. Then comes big prey like Moose, Buffalos, and other dangerous beasts. It's quite intuitive, and players will be able to unlock more Tracking options the more they level up the Trade Skill. Once they unlock a new tier of animals, these will be shown on the map, as well as the compass on top of the screen.
Players should carry a Bow, a Musket, or Hatchet to Hunt more efficiently, since these weapons offer quite a lot of precision damage and will help in taking down certain Prey that love to flee, like Goats, Deer, Moose, Rabbits, and Turkeys. Besides, these weapons scale with Dexterity, which also helps with Skinning more efficiently.
How To Level Up Skinning Fast In New World: Aeternum
Unlike other trade skills, Tracking and Skinning are pretty straightforward to level up, and players will be able to climb those levels faster if they skin every animal they hunt. The problem is mainly related to encumbrance and how much players can carry in their inventories before they need to go back to the city to deposit the skins and other resources. To facilitate a smooth leveling process, here are some useful tips regarding the Trade Skill.
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First and foremost, invest in Dexterity, since this attribute is the one that governs the Tracking and Skinning Trade Skill. For every certain amount of attribute points invested in Dexterity, players will receive a Perk. Here's every Perk related to Skinning, unlockable by maxing out Dexterity:
- Perk unlocked with 25 Points: +10% Skinning Speed.
- Perk unlocked with 50 Points: +20% haste for 3 seconds after Skinning.
- Perk unlocked with 100 Points: +50 maximum encumbrance.
- Perk unlocked with 150 Points: 10% reduced weight for all skinned items.
- Perk unlocked with 200 Points: +20% skinning Speed.
- Perk unlocked with 250 Points: +10% leather and meat yield when skinning.
- Perk unlocked with 300 Points: Gain 20% haste after killing Prey.
- Perk unlocked with 350 Points: 10% chance of finding rare items while Skinning.
Besides Attribute Perks, players can also make use of other boons. For example: Bags with Tanner's Burden and Gourmand's Burden, will reduce the weight of all skins and meat that players can get from the animals. If they also have a Lucky Perk, they have extra chances to get rare Items like Rabbit Foots or Wolf Fangs from skinning. Players can equip up to three bags at level 45, and each type of perk stacks up to three times.
On the other hand, there's a Set for Skinning named Tanner's Set, which has 5 parts (Gloves, Boots, Pants, Shirt, and Hat), and each of them increases by 2.5% the total amount of skinned items from hunted animals and creatures.
Keep in mind that the more items players gather from skinning, the more the reward in mastery points for their Tracking and Skinning Trade Skill. This means that they can level up faster the more items they get per skinned animal, making Lucky Perks and Yield Perks quite an asset for those trying to level up quickly.
There are also certain food consumables that players can eat to increase their chances of getting more items when skinning, especially those that also increase Dexterity. Then, there are Trophies players can have at their homes and increase the amount of Mastery Points they gain, as well as other powerful boons, like the Skinning Gathering Trophy, which grants a whopping +1000 Skinning Luck.
Last but not least, players should also invest in gaining Standing in territories, since they will be able to unlock Standing Bonuses (or Mastery Perks) like Gather Speed, which increases all Gathering Skill-related actions by a percentage while players are in the territory where they have it unlocked, and it can be taken multiple times. On the other hand, perks like Storage Space will be critical for the moment when players need to return to base with the skins in their inventory, and they need a place to deposit everything.
Best Areas For Hunting In New World: Aeternum
- Skinning Levels 0-49: Start near Monarch's Bluff coasts, hunt Boars and Turkeys, then move to Windsward and Surrounding Zones , especially near Greyfang Grotto and Amrite Temple, since the Wolves and Lynxes there are quite abundant and yield a pretty decent amount of experience. Watch out for Rabbits and Hares, which also grant a decent amount and are easier to kill with a ranged weapon.
- Skinning Levels 50-99: Hunt Buffaloes to the west of Windsward, near the cross rivers in the Windsward North Watch Tower zone, and it will take little time to rise enough levels to get into the 31 to 45 Prey Tier. Bears and Lynxes are still a good source of experience, but players should already be looking for more profitable prey to hunt.
- Skinning Levels 100-149: Go to Brightwood and hunt Wolves. Then, after hitting level 150, it is time for some major hunting. Travel to Level 50 zones and start hunting animals to reach the level 60 cap. Weaver's Fen is a good place to start, with plenty of Moose, Bears, and Crocodiles there to skin. Watch out for the specters, though, and make sure to have the PvP flag deactivated in this area, since it is a favorite place for Faction Emblem farming.
- Skinning Levels 150-180: Next, players will want to travel to Mourningdale to hunt level 60-65 Prey and Predators, since these will allow them to reach the next and final Skinning Level Tier. Most of the creatures in this area are quite tough, so bring some decent weapons that deal lots of damage, and aim at the head whenever possible, since it will take less time to kill the animals that way. This is where the Hatchet/Musket combo shines the most, since their Skill Branches are designed to offer a lot of resources for hunters.
- Skinning Levels 180-205: The hardest Skinning Tier is the one between levels 180 to 205. Players will have already reached the Character Level Cap by this point, and they will be ready for a challenge. Predators around 65 to 70 are quite fearsome, but their skin and meat yield is very good, so it's a worthwhile investment to get this far in the Trade Skill. The most expensive Leathers come from Tier 5 Hides, so farming these will be a good source of extra Coins during the end-game stages.
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Best Trade Skills To Combine With Tracking & Skinning In New World: Aeternum
Other Trade Skills greatly benefit players who have leveled up Tracking and Skinning, and the most important are Leatherworking, Armoring, Furnishing, Cooking, and Engineering.
- Leatherworking allows players to process Raw Hides and Furs into Leathers, which they can use to craft armor, weapons, and other gear.
- Engineering will allow players to craft tools and ranged fire weapons, many of which require leather as components.
- Furnishing enables players to create high-quality furniture for their abodes and is also a great way to make some extra Gold by selling them to other players.
- Cooking allows players to use all that harvested skinned meat to cook dishes and consumables that will boost their stats.
- Armoring is the Trade Skill that benefits the most from Skinning besides Leatherworking.
Keep in mind these synergies when choosing a main Trade Skill, and remember that every level a character gains in one of the professions is a step forward to become auto-sufficient, which ultimately leads to saving lots of gold when crafting the best gear.
Besides, another of the good perks of leveling a Trade Skill in New World: Aeternum is that characters keep gaining experience as they craft and farm. This means players can totally reach the maximum level even if they solely focus on farming and crafting items.
New World: Aeternum
- Released
- October 15, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Amazon Games
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
