Medium hide is a key mid-game material in Hytale, feeding directly into medium leather for thorium weapons and armor. It doesn’t come from the cute farm animals you meet near spawn; you need to track down larger, often hostile creatures and be ready for a fight.
What medium hide is used for
Medium hide is a raw ingredient that drops from certain mid-sized or tougher animals. On its own, it has limited use, but once processed at a tanning rack it becomes medium leather. Medium leather is used for thorium-tier armor and weapons, which sit above iron gear in the progression curve and make it easier to take on heavier late-game threats.
Medium hide is not a farmed crop or a crafted byproduct. It is flagged as an enemy drop, and you only obtain it by killing qualifying creatures.
How to get medium hide in Hytale
Medium hide comes from animals that sit between basic livestock and the biggest apex predators. Several different mobs can drop it, and they tend to cluster in specific biomes.
| Mob | Type | Typical biome or area | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wolves | Hostile animal | Forest and colder zones near starter areas | Reliable, repeatable source of medium hide |
| Moose | Large animal | Snowy / icy biomes and Boreal-style regions | Easy to spot herds from a distance; good bulk farming |
| Lions | Hostile predator | Desert or savannah-like biomes | Hit hard; often farmed with ranged weapons |
| Hyenas | Hostile predator | Desert and savannah regions | Common and can appear in groups, strong early farm |
| Fen creatures / swamp “fish-men” | Humanoid monster | Swamp biomes | Spawn frequently in wetlands and reliably drop medium hide |
| Bullfrogs / lava or large frogs | Bulky amphibian | Zone 1 underground, swamp and lava-adjacent areas | Medium-sized or armored frog enemies |
All of these enemies drop medium hide directly on death. You do not need any special tool or perk; simply killing the mob is enough.
Best places to farm medium hide
Forests and starter-adjacent zones for wolves
Wolves are one of the most straightforward ways to get medium hide if you stay relatively close to your early-game base.
- Where to look: forested regions and transitional zones near the starter area, especially along tree lines and hillsides.
- Why they’re good: wolves are hostile but predictable, and you can pull them one by one with ranged attacks.
- Recommended gear: a crude or iron sword at minimum and some light leather armor so you don’t get overwhelmed if several aggro at once.
Snowy and icy biomes for moose
Moose are one of the most efficient sources of medium hide once you can safely travel into colder regions.
- Where to look: snowy and icy biomes, Boreal-type mountains, and frozen plains.
- Why they’re good: moose spawn in visible groups and are easy to spot across open snow, letting you chain-kill them for large stacks of medium hide.
- Extra benefit: these areas often also host bears, which drop heavy hide, so you can farm both tiers at once if your gear allows.
Desert and savannah biomes for lions and hyenas
Desert-style regions and savannahs are packed with predators that drop medium hide.
- Lions: high-damage targets that commonly drop one or more medium hides per kill. They are dangerous in melee, so many players prefer to open or even finish them with crossbows or bows.
- Hyenas: lighter enemies that can appear in packs. Individually, they are easier to kill than lions, but groups can add up quickly. They also drop medium hide, making a single clearing run very profitable.
These areas sometimes include other mid-sized creatures, such as lizards that can also yield medium hide. Moving carefully and pulling one group at a time lets you stock up quickly.
Swamps and underground zones for fen creatures and frogs
Swamp biomes and early underground areas contain non-traditional “animals” that still count for medium hide drops.
- Fen creatures / swamp fish-men: frog-like humanoids that roam swamp water and banks. They spawn often and are a consistent source of medium hide, making swamps a strong farming option once you’re comfortable with their attack patterns.
- Bullfrogs and large frogs: bulkier amphibians in Zone 1 underground networks or swampy pockets. Their size and health put them into the medium hide tier.
These enemies typically show up one at a time rather than in large packs, which lowers the risk of being instantly overwhelmed. However, their damage output and terrain (water, mud, tight caves) make decent armor and mobility very important.
Minimum gear for safe medium hide farming
Medium-hide mobs hit noticeably harder than light-hide prey, so going in with starter equipment is a good way to burn through healing items or die far from your bedroll.
- Weapons: at least a crude sword before you even start, with iron weapons being a comfortable baseline when you move into swamps, deserts, or icy biomes. Ranged options like crossbows make lions, bears, and clustered fen creatures much safer to handle.
- Armor: a full set of iron armor built from light leather gives enough protection to engage wolves, hyenas, and swamp mobs without getting two-shot. With iron armor, you are in a good position to take on most medium-hide sources, including swamp fen enemies.
- Positioning: try to fight on open ground, avoid deep water, and always leave yourself a retreat path. This matters especially in swamps and deserts where multiple predators can chain aggro.
How to turn medium hide into medium leather
Once you have a stack of hides, you need a tanning rack to process them into leather. The same station works for light, medium, and heavy hides.
Step 1: Build a workbench if you haven’t already, and open its crafting options. Look for the tanning rack recipe in the crafting tab.
Step 2: Gather the required materials: six pieces of any wood trunk, three pieces of stone, and three pieces of light hide. Craft the tanning rack from the workbench interface.
Step 3: Place the tanning rack in your base or another safe location, then interact with it to open its interface.
Step 4: Put your medium hide into the input slot. The rack automatically processes hides over time into their corresponding leather with no extra fuel or reagents.
Step 5: Wait for the processing timer to complete, then collect your medium leather from the output slot. Repeat as needed until all your hides are converted.
The tanning rack accepts all three hide tiers, so you can run light, medium, and heavy hides through the same object. Only the input item changes the resulting leather type.
When to prioritize medium hide over other hides
Because medium leather feeds directly into thorium gear, it sits at a transition point in Hytale’s progression. Focusing on medium hide makes sense when:
- You already have a full iron armor set and iron weapons forged from light leather and iron ingots.
- You’re starting to encounter stronger regions where light leather armor no longer feels safe, such as deeper swamps, deserts with multiple predators, or colder mountain zones.
- You want a smoother path toward late-game metals like adamantite and mithril, which pair well with medium and heavy leather tiers.
If you are still struggling to survive even basic wolf encounters, it is usually more efficient to step back and farm more light hide first for better iron gear. Once your defenses are in place, you can rotate between moose, wolves, lions, swamps, and underground bullfrogs to keep a steady flow of medium hide coming in.
With a tanning rack built and a reliable hunting route mapped through wolves, moose, or desert predators, medium hide stops feeling rare and becomes a routine resource. From there, stepping into thorium equipment and preparing for heavy-hide hunts is a natural next move.
