How To Get Loads of Rough Hide In Windrose (Fast & Easy Methods)

Rough Hide is the backbone of a lot of the early game crafting in Windrose, required for weapons, armour, backpacks and more all the way through to the end of the Foothills zone. Unfortunately, its demand is not especially matched by its supply, and it can become a bit of a bottle neck early on especially when a Boar can two-tap you in the opening hours of the game.

Here we'll break down the different ways you can obtain Rough Hide and point out a clear winning method (spoiler, it's Merchant Contracts!)

Rough Hide Farming: Hunting Animals

All Animals That Drop Rough Hides

Rough Hide drops from pretty much any fuzzy mammal you encounter in Windrose. To a point, farming it is as simple as trawling through the grassy areas of any island within the Coastal Jungle or Foothills regions looking for animals, but there are pockets where they are more common and ways to make grabbing hides much easier. Here's a list of all animals that drop it:

Important: 'Elite' mobs as indicated by 1-3 stars beside their name are tougher but also provide more loot, so you can get more than 1 Rough Hide from a '2-star' Charging Boar for example.

In the third zone (Cursed Swamp), you'll instead be collecting Crocodile Hide Pieces.

Hunting Animals in Coastal Jungle (Early Game)

The Coastal Jungle is your first and most accessible farming zone. Boars and Sows are found throughout the grassy, forested areas of any island in this biome, you do not need to hunt for a specific island. The best density comes from ruins, some of which reliably spawn clusters of Boars and Sows together.

Note: On our starting island, we found 11 Sow/Boar in total, including two that spawned inside our base.

The left image shows our base, we either have a boar/sow or a dodo each day - the right image shows the first ruins on our island.

Hunting Animals in Foothills (Mid Game)

Once you have dealt with Captain Thomas Richards and progressed into the Foothills, your farm spots move up the food chain. The best location becomes the Ancient Village, the ruins surrounding it are packed with Wolves and Goats of all varieties, and you can find around 20 animals in a single run across each island.

Wolves tend to appear solo or in pairs, but ruins can group up to three together. Goat Leaders are the standout target here, dropping 4 Rough Hide each, and if you are lucky enough to find one, they make a big difference to your haul.

What to do:

• Head to the Foothills region (you will visit here during the "Needle in a Haystack" quest).
• Target the Ancient Village and clear all the ruins around it; each ruin type tends to spawn different animals.
• Prioritise Goat Leaders and Nanny Goats for the best hide-per-kill ratio.

Wolves tend to appear solo or in pairs, but in ruins, you can find up to three together. If you are lucky, you will also bump into a Goat Leader that can give up to six Rough Hides.

You'll find four different ruins around the Altar, each of which is packed with animals that drop Rough Hide.

Buying Rough Hide with Merchant Contracts (Recommended Method)

Merchant Contracts are an absolute lifesaver in Windrose, and Merchant Contracts are by far the best way to obtain large amounts of Rough Hides.

The way it works is pretty simple: once you have killed the 'boss'/Local Threat in a region, you can buy most of the materials from that region at the Merchant. To obtain the Merchant Contract: Animal Products, you will need to be Level 2 with the Rogue Buccaneers and buy it from the Provisioner, then build it at your base.

Once you have killed Thomas Richards and therefore 'completed' the Coastal Jungle zone, you will be able to buy Rough Hides in bulk from the Merchant Contractor at your base.

If you have not unlocked the purchase of Rough Hide yet, then you need to take down Thomas Richards first.

The cost is 40 Piastre per one box of 20 Rough Hides (so 2 Piastre per Hide). You can order up to 200 at a time and it takes 70 minutes to be delivered. Once we unlocked this, we pretty much never needed to worry about Rough Hides again.

Wondering what gear to focus on for your ship? Check out our ship gear guide where we recommend the best options.