Harvesting
Harvesting is a separate sphere, not directly linked to any of the other spheres, Adventuring, Crafting or Diplomacy. It is the only sphere that does not have its own quests (even the initial short Harvesting turorial quests are Adventuring quests,) nor does it advance in levels. Harvesting has its own skills and equipment which are independent of the other spheres, and it is common to have a low level character who is maxed out in Harvesting. Having a high Adventuring level makes Harvesting much easier, as many nodes lie in dangerous areas, and the Skinning skill is usable only on dead mobs.
Getting Started
Skills
Tiers
Group Harvesting
Group members can help you harvest a single node which grant many advantages:
- Faster harvesting skill increases
- Nodes produce more resources based on number of players harvesting the same node at the same time
- Chance to find rare resources and catalysts (dusts, powders, stitching, etc.) increases
To engage in group harvesting you must be already formed in a group. Once one person begins to harvest a resource, others can join in with that person as long as they meet the following requirements:
They possess the necessary tool in their toolbelt to harvest that resource. Their "Harvesting" skill is of sufficiently high to harvest the resource. If you do not meet the requirements to harvest the resource, you will not be allowed to take part in the harvest. One example is a group harvesting Slate, a Tier 2 Quarrying Resource. The player with quarrying would need to have 100 quarrying skill, the others in the group would need 100 harvesting skill to help.
Once the group is finished harvesting the resource node, the looting rights of the node will depend on the loot options set by the group leader.
When starting, the toolbelt you receive is large enough to place one of every basic harvesting tool inside it. Its a great idea to pick one of each up as they are cheap and you may never know when your group will come across a rare resource!