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.
Note: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.
Tip: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.
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