Caster's Research Practice Walkthrough

All classes that can research spells can do practice research to improve their skills without wasting valuable training points at their guildmaster, or wasting valuable spell components. Practice research will require you to collect different items to combine in a container, called the concordance of research, to create Practice Runes. There are two types of Practice Runes for each series of difficulty, Azia and Beza, which will require separate components, and must be created separately. Once you have created the matching Azia and Beza runes in you concordance, you then combine the Azia and Beza practice runes in the appropriate tome for your class (ex: Wizards use Lexicon, Mages use Grimoire) for a skill increase. Creation of the practice runes requires no skill whatsoever, and will only fail if you have the wrong components. The skill increase only comes when you combine the Azia and Beza together in the appropriate tome for your class, not while creating them. The research skill will go up very quickly, and INT and WIS are a must, for any researching, to maximize skill increases and successes.

 Many people have asked where the research skill caps for their level, so before the walkthru, a brief explanation:

 The research skill currently maxes at (Level-15) * 5, this explains why you can only train one point in research at level 16, and then no points until level 19, where you can train four more. At level 16, you put one point in with your guildmaster, giving you a skill of 16. (You get a skill equal to your level in any skill when you put the first point in at your guildmaster) You are now above the current max for your level, however. 16-15 = 1. 1*5 = 5. At level 19, however, your max becomes 20. (19-15 = 4. 4*5 = 20.) At level 19 you will be able to train the four points to bring your skill up to 20. From this point on it is simply 5 points per level.  Practice research maxes out at 175, while the research skill itself caps at 200.  Be sure you leave yourself 25 practice points with your guildmaster unless you are planning on using actual spell components (runes, words, pages) to max your skill.

There is no way to tell how far along you are in your research skill, other than to keep track of your advances as they come, so pay close attention to them.

 Getting the Concordance: The first step in starting practice research is to get your concordance of research. To get your concordance you'll need to give a greater lightstone (found on wisps) to the appropriate NPC: For good aligned races, Myrsila in the Gypsy camp in North Karana (head north from the spires, loc neg675, neg150) For evil aligned races, Smith Tv'ysa in the camp in South Ro (head south from the oasis zone, loc pos100, pos500) The concordance is required to create the practice runes, it is a container item used to combine the components.

 In addition to the concordance, you'll also need one quill and one parchment for EVERY practice rune you make. You get the quill back on a successful combination of the practice rune, however you'll need new parchment every time. This is where most people start off wrong. I'll give an example of how to make your first practice runes below.

 The following table contains the Azia and Beza practice rune for each level in order of difficulty, the level at which that rune becomes trivial, and where to get the components. I bought most of the components from a merchant, as the time involved in hunting most of these didn't seem worthwhile. The [bracketed] place(s) in each listing is where I felt it was most worthwhile to get the components, but are by no means the only places to get these items.

Try using /auction in GFay for the [Batwings], [Bone Chips], and [Rusty Slashing Weapons], as these are commonly sold by PCs

Try using /auction in GFay for the [Rusty Piercing or Blunt Weapons], in E Commons for the [Large Snake Rattles], and in Innothule for the [Froglock Tad Eyes], as these are commonly sold by PCs

*Please note: I skipped apprentice runes for lack of Bixie Wings and went directly to Training Runes

Try using /auction in GFay for [Wasp Wings] and [Spiderling Silk], as these are commonly sold by PCs

**Please Note: I had several Failures with Training Rune Beza due to the Rawhide pieces used. I was unable to find a reason for these failures, as the same components would combine to make a rune the next time I tried them.

Try using /auction in GFay for [Pixie Wings] and [Bat Fur], as these are commonly sold by PCs

Try using /auction in E Commons for [Giant Snake Fangs], as these are commonly sold by PCs

***Please note: I skipped study runes for lack of Giant Scarab Eyes and went directly to expert runes. (Currently in progress) after Expert Rune Azia and after Expert Rune Beza

Try using /auction in GFay for [Ringmail], and in E Commons for [Giant Snake Rattles], as these are commonly sold by PCs

Try using /auction in GFay for [Fine Steel Slashing Weapons], and in Innothule for Undead Froglock Tongue, as these are commonly sold by PCs

Try using /auction in GFay for [Fine Steel Piercing or Blunt Weapons], as these are commonly sold by PCs

 As an example: To make Practice Rune Azia - In the concordance of research combine:

One Quill
One Parchment
One Lapis Lazuli
One Batwing
One Bone Chip

You will get back one Practice Rune Azia and your Quill.

To make Practice Rune Beza - In the concordance of research combine:

One Quill
One Parchment
One Turquoise
One Fire Beetle Eye
One Rusty Slashing Weapon

You will get back one Practice Rune Beza and your Quill.

Now, in the appropriate tome for your class, combine:

Practice Rune Azia
Practice Rune Beza

If you are lucky, you will get a skill increase in Research.

Once the runes you are currently working on give you the message "This item is trivial for someone of your skill level", it is time to move on to the next hardest Practice Rune. All in all a great way to make up for spent Practice Points, or to save those Practice Points for the expansion pack. Good Luck and Happy Researching