Westfall Farming Route: Defias, Harvest Golems and Light Leather (12–20)

Westfall is the first zone where an Alliance character stops counting copper and starts making real money. The farms are crawling with Defias bandits that drop linen, the fields are patrolled by harvest golems that break into vendor scrap, and goretusk boars wander the plains with Light Leather on their backs. This westfall farming route ties all of it into one clockwise loop around Sentinel Hill, built for a level 12–20 character on a vanilla-era realm such as WoW Forever. The same lap passes most of the zone's Mageroyal and Briarthorn, so a herbalist gets paid twice for the same running.

Where and what you need

Levels. The northern farms are fine from level 12. The western coast and Moonbrook want 15 or more, and the full loop with the southern hills is comfortable from 17 to 20. The Defias in Moonbrook sit around 16–19 and stand in groups, so a level 13 should turn back at the Molsen farm rather than push south. If you are not 12 yet, finish the Elwynn Forest gold farming route first; it hands off to this one.

Professions. Skinning is the one that pays: goretusks, fleshrippers and coyotes all skin into Light Leather, with Light Hide and Ruined Leather Scraps mixed in, and the zone carries a skinner from the first points to roughly 100. Herbalism around 50–100 picks Mageroyal and Briarthorn along every fence line, plus Peacebloom, Silverleaf and Earthroot. Mining finds copper veins everywhere and the first tin veins near Jangolode Mine and the quarry. None of this is required, but a character with no gathering skill makes about half the gold of one with Skinning.

Gear. Nothing special. Whatever greens you carried out of Elwynn and the early Westfall quests are enough; what matters is kill speed and downtime, so bring food and water for forty or so kills between rests. A weapon upgrade from the Deadmines quest rewards is a bonus, not a requirement.

Bag space. Leather, scraps, two kinds of cloth, herbs, ore, stone and gray junk all stack separately, and the loop is long. Four bags of 6–10 slots is the comfortable minimum. On 1.12-style realms Sentinel Hill has vendors and a flight master but no usable inn, so keep your hearth in Goldshire or Stormwind and treat Sentinel Hill as the dump stop at the start of every lap.

The route

Run the loop clockwise; the numbers below match the map.

1. Sentinel Hill. Start at the tower in the middle of the zone. Sell, repair, buy food and water, and hand in any People's Militia quests you have finished. Leave by the road heading north.
2. Saldean's Farm. Follow the road north-east to the first big farm. Harvest watchers patrol the fields in the low teens; they do not run or call for help, so clear the field in a slow circle. Mageroyal grows along the fences and the farmhouse wall.
3. Furlbrow's Pumpkin Farm. Continue north toward the Elwynn border. Defias trappers and smugglers sit among the pumpkins with more golems between them, and this is where the linen starts piling up. Loop the pumpkin patch once, then turn west along the northern edge of the zone.
4. Jangolode Mine. The hills in the north-west hide a kobold-infested mine with copper veins inside and tin around the entrance. Miners go in; everyone else skirts the hillside, where Briarthorn hides between the rocks, and keeps heading west toward the coast.
5. Gold Coast Quarry. Come down the coastal slope to the quarry. Defias looters and pillagers in the mid-teens work the pit, with copper and tin veins in its walls. Stay on the quarry side of the beach: the murlocs on Longshore chain-pull and are not worth the time.
6. The Molsen Farm and the western plains. Head south-east across the open grass toward the farm. This is goretusk country: boars in the low and mid-teens, fleshripper vultures over the carcasses, coyotes between the fences. Kill in batches of three or four, then skin them all at once.
7. Moonbrook and Alexston Farmstead. South along the road is the Defias town. Knuckledusters, pathstalkers and highwaymen in the 16–19 band stand in groups around the buildings and the Deadmines entrance. Pull to the road, never into the houses, and work the Alexston fields to the east when the town is crowded. Wool Cloth starts to appear here.
8. The Dagger Hills and the Dead Acre. Swing east through the southern hills, where great goretusks roam in the 16–18 band, then turn north into the Dead Acre. Harvest reapers, the sturdier golems, hold the field, and Briarthorn grows in the dry ditches. From here the Sentinel Hill tower is in sight; walk back to it and empty your bags.

What you get

Source	Drops and nodes	Why it sells
Defias bandits at the farms, the quarry and Moonbrook	Linen Cloth, Wool Cloth from the 16+ groups, gray weapons and armour, silver, the occasional green	Tailors and First Aid burn linen by the stack; wool is scarce below level 20 and fetches more
Harvest watchers, golems and reapers	Gray mechanical scrap, a little coin, a rare green	Pure vendor gold with no runners and no healers; they are mechanical, so there is nothing to skin
Goretusks, fleshrippers and coyotes	Light Leather, Light Hide, Ruined Leather Scraps, boar meat for cooking quests	Leatherworkers level entirely on Light Leather; Light Hide and the meat move at the auction house
Mageroyal and Briarthorn nodes	Herbs, with Peacebloom, Silverleaf and Earthroot on the same fences	Alchemists need them for the first mana potions and elixirs; both sell in stacks even on quiet realms
Copper and tin veins at Jangolode Mine and the quarry	Copper Ore, Tin Ore, Rough and Coarse Stone, the odd Malachite or Tigerseye	Two ores make Bronze, and bronze is what every blacksmith and engineer skills through

Gold per hour

Be honest with yourself about the numbers. A level 13–15 with no gathering skills makes roughly 1–2 gold an hour here, almost all of it vendor junk and linen. A level 17–20 clearing the whole loop, Moonbrook included, makes roughly 2–3 gold an hour before the auction house.

Skinning changes the picture the most: the boars, vultures and coyotes around stops 6 and 8 add roughly 1–3 gold an hour depending on what Light Leather sells for on your realm. Herbalism adds roughly another half a gold to 2 gold, mining about the same, and the gathering skills cost you bag space rather than time because the nodes sit on the loop anyway. All in, a skinner-herbalist on a healthy realm sees roughly 3–6 gold an hour, which at this level is a mount fund that actually grows.

What moves the number: how fresh the realm is (early on, leather and cloth prices are high and every stack sells), how many other players share the farms (Westfall is the busiest Alliance zone most evenings), your class and its downtime (a hunter or warlock barely stops; a warrior eats a lot), and whether you vendor stacks or walk them to the auction house.

Tips

• Kill in batches, then skin. Three dead boars in one spot skin faster than three skinned one at a time, and nobody tags the corpse you are standing on.
• Treat the golems as filler, not the goal. They are quick, safe kills between the farms, but their scrap is vendor-only and there is nothing to skin.
• At Moonbrook, pull to the road. The buildings hold two or three Defias each, and a fight inside brings the neighbours.
• Skip the Longshore murlocs completely. They chain, they run and come back with friends, and their loot is no better than a bandit's.
• Loot every gray. At this level gray drops are a surprising share of the income, and the Farming counters will show you exactly how much.
• Mail stacks to a bank character in Stormwind and list them in the evening in full stacks of 20; partial stacks sell for less.
• Carry the zone's Defias and golem kill quests while you farm; the loop overlaps with them, so the rewards and experience are free.

Running it with ForeverBot

Open the Farming section, walk the eight stops once with Record loop switched on, then build the Targets list with + Current target as you meet each type: watchers, trappers, goretusks, fleshrippers and the Moonbrook bandits. Tick Go to a vendor when bags are full and Repair at vendors, and in Loot and bags switch on Sell gray items, Auto loot and Buy food and water. From then on the arrow leads you around the loop, the Target key picks the next mob from your list, and the Kills, Gold and Gold/hour counters tell you whether the lap is paying.

In Professions, tick Skinning and Herbalism (and Mining if you have it), leave Remember nodes on so every Mageroyal and Briarthorn you pass is kept for the next lap, and switch on Skip nodes above your skill. In Settings, set the Navigator Route mode to safest so the path around Moonbrook stays on the road, widen the Arrival radius a little for the big open fields, and raise the Food/water stock if your class eats a lot. The Farming section is part of every plan; see plans and pricing for what is included.

FAQ

Is Westfall still worth farming at level 20?

Yes, for one more reason than gold: the Moonbrook Defias are the easiest Wool Cloth you will find at that level, and the Deadmines quests pay well on top. Once the whole loop turns gray, move south to the Duskwood Raven Hill farming guide, where the same habits pay out in wool and Medium Leather.

Which gathering skill fits this route best?

Skinning, without much contest. The route is built around boar country, every kill becomes leather, and Light Leather sells to leatherworkers on every realm. Herbalism is a good second because Mageroyal and Briarthorn grow along the same fences you are already clearing; mining is the weakest here because the veins cluster at only two stops.

Can a Horde character use this westfall farming route?

Technically yes, but it is a long way from anywhere a Horde character can sell or rest, and the Sentinel Hill guards are not friendly. A Horde player of this level gets the same kind of loop with a vendor nearby in the Barrens, so this guide is written for Alliance characters.