Sadly, it must be from an actual item. You can, however transfer items from character to character to research.
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Oh, I might add, one of the things that seems to be selling a lot in the guild stores that I see are items that have researchable traits... so you might look there for hats too.
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It does not have to be a dropped item. Have an alt craft the item for your crafting main with the trait. Put it in your shared bank. Crafting main can now research it at a table. This also works with friends and guildmates etc. They can craft you an item with a trait you don't know and you can use that to research.
Might be a cool feature to be able to 'apprentice' someone like that as some of the particular armor and weapon pieces are hard to find with the trait you are looking for. maybe have it take a bit longer as hands on is faster than someone explaining it to you when learning. of course people could charge you a fee if they wanted.
People already can share their known traits with you through the methods in my previous post. Some of them already charge a fee for those traits and it takes exactly as long as it would if you had looted it.
You could create a guild right now focused on crafting. Have the bottom rank be labeled Apprentice and match up high level crafters with lower level apprentices to help them master their trade. They could pass along traits to the 'apprentices' and churn out items for them to deconstruct for IP (since deconstructing other players' crafted items nets more IP than deconstructing your own).
Don't really see a need for a formal system if all of this is already doable in the game.
Yea I guess I wasn't thinking about just paying someone to craft you a piece of gear with the trait on it. so far ive done it all on my own. im sure I will have a few im missing and will end up basically buying from someone.
A level 1 crafted item with a trait can allow you to learn that trait.
Best is to find a crafting buddy to swap out crafted items (non-trait is great) for deconstruction and thereby gaining more EXP from the "Inspiration". You learn more form some other persons crafted level 14 item than you do your own. And they will learn more from yours as well.
This can be a way to learn traits and exchange them while also using gear you just pick up along the way. Also, I've seen in chat, people looking for a particular trait (level 1 item is great for this) and you may be able to trade traits with them if they have something you need.
Also, as mentioned above, there are the guild stores you can check with. I would ask in guild chat if some "Craft Type Here" had "Trait Here" for learning, trading, or swapping. Even if you have to work out a deal of some kind.