Foraging
This is probably the first method of
gaining experience new arrivals practise.
SURVEY the area to see what items you can find. Skill in Ecology helps with
this. SURVEY also helps you determine how trampled the ground is. If it's very
trampled, you should consider moving to a different spot. Resources get depleted
the longer you and others forage in an area. It gets harder to forage the more
trampled the ground becomes. Leave and allow time for the resources to
replenish.
You can type FORAGE to gather random resources.
FORAGE [item] is used to gather specific resources. E.g. FORAGE SIRO IVY. When you forage for a specific resource, you don't have to put away the item you found. Keep the item in one hand, and continue to forage for the same thing. It will automatically bundle in one hand:
You forage around a bit and find a shoran jewel.
You now have 7 units of jewel.
You can have up to 50 units in a bundle.
Remember to SURVEY the area every so often to make sure the ground is not too
trampled. You can sell the resources you have gathered to make money.
Alchemy
There are three stages in Alchemy. The first stage was already touched on previously.
First Stage: Collection of Alchemy ingredients
That's foraging. I already mentioned this method.
Collection of ingredients also include mining. You'll need a miner's pick and a cave where you can find certain stones (the messaging will be something like "You detect traces of...." when you SURVEY)
Second Stage: Refining Alchemy Ingredients
Once you have collected the ingredients, you'll need to prepare them for the actual alchemy process. This means drying, crushing, shaving, chopping or boiling. Depending on the ingredient and the type of potion you wish to make, the preparation will be different and certain items may need to be obtained first.
Infusions will require empty vials that can be purchased at the alchemy shop. At the shop, you can rent a lab by the hour to make use of necessary tools such as a stove and crucible for specific ingredient refining.
For example:- Londrum must be chopped fresh with a knife.
- Sirolei ivy must be dried in a drying pouch, crushed into powder with a mortar and pestle, and finally boiled on a stove in the alchemy lab with a vial ready to use for the final refining process.You can sell the refined ingredients to make money. By refining your alchemy ingredients, you should be able to sell your item for more than the base price of an unrefined ingredient. You don't have to make potions, but it's a good idea to refine your ingredients, as it can be done at little or no cost. Vials can occasionally be found littered on alchemy desks, so there's less cost!
Third (Final) Stage: Potion Process
This is the stage where you actually make the potions. You need to have SUCCESSFULLY studied the tome of the potion you want to make before you can actually make a potion. (The easiest to start with is the yellowed tome sold in the Alchemy shop: Tincture of Healing). So you have to buy the tome and STUDY it until you know what to do.
As a side note, the vials can be reused later if you go through the final process to make potions.
You will need flasks to make potions and a stirring rod. 1 flask per potion. Put the necessary ingredients into the flask. The ingredients must be in equal parts or there will be problems... Finally, MIX FLASK with a stirring rod in your hand. TADA! Potion.