Why can’t I research traits?

Deathspiralli

Hi everyone. I’ve not been playing for long, but wanted to get my research going from the off, but it doesn’t seem to be working. I go to the crafting station, choose what I want to research, confirm, and the timer starts counting down. The problem is, when I return the next day nothing has been done. All traits have yet to be researched, as if I didn’t do anything and I’ve no idea why. This has happened every time and I’m just destroying things pointlessly. Has this happened to anyone else? Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

Feric51

As @Jayne_Doe mentioned, make sure you're checking the exact piece/trait combination you researched the day before.

Using her example: If you research the infused trait on a heavy armor chest piece, you will still have to research infused on light and medium armor chest pieces, as well as all other heavy armor body pieces that are not the chest. Each trait is specific to the armor/weapon piece and weight.

It could also be a visual bug with your UI that shows it as not researched when, in fact, it actually is. The best way to test this is to get two identical items - a precise dagger for instance - research one of them, then the next day attempt to research the other one. If it actually lets you research the second one on day two, then file a /bug report in game and repost here in the forums and we'll go from there.

At the start of researching, there are so many stinking traits and armor/weapon slots that it can appear that you're not making a dent when, in reality, you are - just slowly.

Best of luck!

Jayne_Doe

Hmm...so you're definitely finding pieces that have a trait you don't know (with the hourglass icon) and then it shows up as researchable in the crafting UI? I'm assuming so, but am just trying to cover all the bases here.

So, when you go to the crafting UI, under research, you see an item for, say, chests, that is researchable, such as infused. Then you click on it to begin researching and a countdown timer starts. But, when you go back, after the timer is done, it doesn't show the piece as researched? In this example, under chests, the infused trait is listed as unknown (or whatever term is used for items you don't know and don't have a piece to research) or is it now listed as researched or known.

Sorry, I'm not able to get in the game now to be able to provide the proper terms. Perhaps a screenshot of before you start your next research, then one where it show the piece being researched, and then a screenshot after the research has completed would help us to narrow down what's happening. If it's indeed a bug requiring you to submit a support ticket, or if it's something else that you're just not understanding.

Deathspiralli

Thank you so much for your help. I just went and checked again, and sure enough it was just me being stupid. I had researched armour traits but was looking in the weapons section! Well at least it’s not a bug I guess.

Jayne, you’re right. I think this is going to take forever!

Feric51

Deathspiralli wrote: »

Thank you so much for your help. I just went and checked again, and sure enough it was just me being stupid. I had researched armour traits but was looking in the weapons section! Well at least it’s not a bug I guess.

Jayne, you’re right. I think this is going to take forever!

Not forever, lol. But, plan on over a year unless you level the skill lines immediately and dump all the skill points possible into the research passive that reduces the time and allows you to research up to three items from each profession at once. *Note - I recommend doing this, but don't handicap yourself early on when skill points are slim and needed to unlock all the necessary combat skills.

I think I took around 13 months to get everything done (not counting jewelry since it hadn't been released yet).

The key is to always have something researching. Early on, you can use gear you pick up from exploring and killing mobs, but as you whittle down to the last few traits on any given item you may find it beneficial to hook up with a guild mate or ask in zone chat for someone to craft you some level 1 research pieces solely for that purpose.

If you play in XB-NA server look me up in game (my GT is same as Forum username) and I'll gladly help you along the research road.

JKorr

For doing research; if you belong to a good guild, ask in guild chat. Chances are good that a crafter will be willing to help out by making whichever trait items you need. With the exception of jewelry and nirnhoned, many crafters won't even ask for mats for research items. Many crafters will make the jewelry and nirnhoned items as long as you give them the trait mats.

tmbrinks

JKorr wrote: »

For doing research; if you belong to a good guild, ask in guild chat. Chances are good that a crafter will be willing to help out by making whichever trait items you need. With the exception of jewelry and nirnhoned, many crafters won't even ask for mats for research items. Many crafters will make the jewelry and nirnhoned items as long as you give them the trait mats.

This is what I do. Other than nirn, or the new jewelry traits, I'll make it for free. If I'm in town and see people ask in zone chat, I'll just make it and mail them.

Jayne_Doe

Deathspiralli wrote: »

Thank you so much for your help. I just went and checked again, and sure enough it was just me being stupid. I had researched armour traits but was looking in the weapons section! Well at least it’s not a bug I guess.

Jayne, you’re right. I think this is going to take forever!

@Deathspiralli I'm glad that it was just a simple oversight and not a bug, and I'm glad that I was able to help you. Oftentimes, it's just us misreading the UI interface, but it's always a good idea to ask in the forums so that others can help you determine if it's a bug or not.

And, there's some good advice here on research. Even getting your crafting skill levels up to where you can put one point into research will allow you to research 2 items at once.

Also, as much as you are able, try to focus on learning the traits you will actually use first. Also, don't try to research all traits for one item and then move on to the next, since as you can see, research times increase with each item that is learned for a particular piece of equipment. Try to get all up to 6 traits learned first, as some of the best sets (Hundings and Julianos) only require 6 traits learned in order to craft it.

I'm also on XB NA, so if you're also on that platform, I'll gladly help you out as well. My GT in game is Jayne Doe.

Happy crafting! And, don't ever hesitate to post any questions here in the crafting section of the forums. Us crafters are usually a civil and helpful bunch.