New World Aeternum: The Ultimate Tracking & Skinning Leveling Guide

Key Takeaways:

1. Tracking and Skinning Skills Level Together: Both skills are crucial for harvesting valuable materials like leather, fur, and meat from animals, directly benefiting crafting professions like Leatherworking and Armoring.
2. Dexterity Enhances Efficiency: Investing in Dexterity improves skinning speed, reduces the weight of materials, and unlocks perks that make leveling faster.
3. Hunt Specific Areas to Maximize XP Gains: Each level tier has ideal hunting zones, and optimizing your location can help you level up Tracking and Skinning quickly.

In New World: Aeternum, mastering the art of Tracking and Skinning is crucial for anyone looking to craft superior leather Armor, bags, and other essential items. These two trade skills are inseparable, levelling simultaneously as you hunt and skin the island’s wildlife. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to optimize your levelling journey, this guide will take you through everything you need to know to excel in these skills.

The Basics of Tracking and Skinning in New World: Aeternum

Tracking and Skinning are core gathering skills in New World. Once you’ve equipped your character with a Skinning Knife, you’re ready to start the hunt. As you hunt animals, the more you skin, the faster both skills will level up. Hunting and skinning animals yield valuable resources like meat, leather, and sometimes rare items such as Wolf Fangs or Rabbit Feet.

How Tracking & Skinning Work

1. Hunting Your Prey: Tracking allows you to locate and follow animals. As you level up this skill, new types of animals will appear on your map and compass, making it easier to find prey.
2. Skinning the Kill: Once an animal is killed, it remains on the ground, allowing you to skin it. Approach it and interact using the designated button based on your system (E for PC, Triangle for PS5, or X for Xbox). After a brief animation, you’ll collect resources like rawhide, fur, or meat.
3. Tiered Progression: Initially, you’ll hunt small prey like Rabbits, Turkeys, and Boars. As you level up, you’ll face tougher animals such as Wolves, Bears, and eventually larger beasts like Moose and Buffalo. As you progress, these animals provide better resources and faster leveling opportunities.

How to Level Up Skinning Quickly in New World: Aeternum

Leveling Skinning is relatively straightforward, but efficiency is key. Here are some strategies to help you maximize your gains:

1. Focus on Dexterity

Dexterity plays a significant role in leveling up Skinning. As you invest points into Dexterity, you’ll unlock perks that directly improve your skinning speed, reduce the weight of skinned items, and increase yields.

• At 25 Dexterity: You’ll gain +10% Skinning Speed.
• At 50 Dexterity: You receive +20% haste after skinning, speeding up your movement.
• At 100 Dexterity: Your encumbrance increases by +50, allowing you to carry more skins.
• At 150 Dexterity: Skinned items weigh 10% less.
• At 200 Dexterity: Another +20% skinning speed boost is unlocked.
• At 250 Dexterity: You’ll receive a +10% yield of leather and meat when skinning.
• At 300 Dexterity: You get 20% haste after killing prey, which helps you move on to the next hunt quickly.

These perks are invaluable, and the higher your Dexterity, the faster you can level up both Tracking and Skinning.

2. Utilize Bags with Perks

Equipping bags with perks like Tanner’s Burden or Gourmand’s Burden will reduce the weight of skins and meat in your inventory, allowing you to carry more resources. The Lucky Perk also boosts your chance of finding rare items during skinning. By Level 45, players can equip three bags, and stacking these perks increases their effectiveness.

3. Wear the Tanner’s Set

The Tanner’s Set includes gloves, boots, pants, a shirt, and a hat, each offering a 2.5% boost to the total amount of items you gather when skinning animals. This bonus can significantly improve your efficiency, helping you level up faster and gather more valuable resources.

4. Maximize Skinning Efficiency with Food and Trophies

Certain food consumables can boost your Dexterity and increase your chances of collecting more items when skinning. Additionally, trophies like the Skinning Gathering Trophy can be placed in your home, providing a substantial +1000 Skinning Luck, which further increases your chances of obtaining rare items.

5. Territory Standing and Mastery Perks

Increasing your Standing in territories is another key strategy. Certain Standing Bonuses, like Gather Speed, increase the efficiency of all gathering-related actions. You can take these bonuses multiple times for greater effect. Additionally, Storage Space is critical when you need to offload large quantities of skins and resources into your storage before returning to the wild.

Best Hunting Locations for Skinning Levels 0-205

Leveling up your Skinning skill involves hunting progressively tougher creatures. Each area of Aeternum has specific types of prey, with different experience yields and resource drops. Here’s a breakdown of the best places to hunt as you advance:

Skinning Levels 0-49: Monarch’s Bluff and Windsward

• Monarch’s Bluff: Start by hunting Boars and Turkeys along the coast. These animals are easy to kill and yield a decent amount of rawhide.
• Windsward: Move to areas near Greyfang Grotto and Amrine Temple, where Wolves and Lynxes are abundant. This area provides higher-tier skins and faster experience.
• Watch for Small Prey: Don’t ignore Rabbits and Hares, which are easily killed and grant quick experience boosts.

Skinning Levels 50-99: Buffaloes and Bears

• Windsward (West): Hunt Buffaloes near the rivers and the Windsward North Watch Tower. Buffaloes provide large amounts of hide and are relatively easy to track.
• Bears and Lynxes: These animals offer better experience as you level up. Continue farming them until you reach the next tier.

Skinning Levels 100-149: Brightwood and Wolves

• Brightwood: Wolves are your best bet for fast leveling in this range. They spawn in large numbers, providing plenty of opportunities to skin and gain experience.
• Reach Level 150: Once you hit this milestone, it’s time to move to higher-level zones for more challenging prey.

Skinning Levels 150-180: Weaver’s Fen and Mourningdale

• Weaver’s Fen: Hunt Moose, Bears, and Crocodiles, which offer valuable Tier 5 hides. Beware of hostile players if you’re in PvP mode, as Weaver’s Fen is a popular area for faction farming.
• Mourningdale: The creatures in this region range from levels 60-65. While tougher to kill, they yield higher-quality skins and meat, making it an ideal hunting ground for advanced players.

Skinning Levels 180-205: Elite Predators

• Final Skinning Tier: The last stretch is the most challenging, as you’ll be facing level 65-70 predators. These animals drop the most expensive leathers, which can be a valuable source of income in the late game. While it’s tough, reaching this level opens up significant earning potential through Tier 5 Hides and premium resources.

Ideal Trade Skills to Combine with Tracking & Skinning

To fully benefit from Tracking and Skinning, players should consider levelling complementary Trade Skills. Here are the most beneficial ones:

1. Leatherworking

Leatherworking allows you to process the raw materials gathered from skinning into valuable leathers for crafting armor, weapons, and other items.

2. Armoring

Armoring directly benefits from leatherworking, using processed leathers to create armor and gear, making this trade skill a natural pairing for skinners.

3. Engineering

If you enjoy crafting tools or ranged weapons, Engineering will utilize the materials from your hunts to craft items like muskets and bows.

4. Cooking

Skinning provides plenty of meat, which can be used in Cooking to create consumables that boost stats or provide other bonuses.

5. Furnishing

Furnishing may not seem related to skinning at first glance, but the high-quality materials from skinned animals can be used to craft luxury furniture, which can then be sold for profit.

Hunt and Profit

In New World: Aeternum, mastering Tracking and Skinning isn’t just about gathering resources it’s about optimizing your gameplay, maximizing efficiency, and pairing these skills with others to create a self-sufficient character. By following the tips and strategies outlined in this guide, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a top-tier hunter in Aeternum, whether you’re crafting powerful gear or making gold from the fruits of your labour.

FAQ Section

1. What weapons are best for hunting in New World?

Bows, Muskets, and Hatchets are the best weapons for hunting, as they offer precision damage and are particularly effective against fast-moving animals like Deer and Rabbits.

2. What is the fastest way to level up Skinning?

The fastest way to level up Skinning is to constantly hunt and skin animals while investing in Dexterity and using perks that increase skinning speed and resource yields. Optimizing your hunting locations based on your skill level also significantly speeds up the process.

3. Which areas should I avoid for Skinning?

Avoid areas with little animal density or high-level enemies that can easily kill you, especially if your PvP flag is on. Weaver’s Fen, while rich in animals, is a PvP hotspot, so be cautious.

4. Can I level up solely through gathering and crafting?

Yes, it’s possible to reach max level by focusing entirely on gathering and crafting, including skinning animals. Crafting items as you progress through the trade skills contributes significant experience.