Yes and yes. Sorry!

I have video guides covering these topics.. specifically one explaining traits and one on research. UrQuan has a good description above, and about NEEDING the traits.. well it depends.

To make the special crafted sets, you need to know a certain number of traits.

Example: Death's Wind Set - 2 traits. That means that on any item you want to craft with the death's wind set bonus on it, you must have researched at least 2 traits for that item. So if you have researched 2 traits on sword - you can craft a sword with the set bonus. If you have only researched one trait on Heavy boots - you cannot make heavy boots with the set bonus on it.

Different stations/sets have different # of trait requirements. Twice born star you need to know 9 traits to craft it. So really, it depends on what sets you want to use.

As well - research traits you will want to apply to your stuff FIRST. So you know them faster.

Video Guides

[EDIT] Also I will mention there are passives to increase the number of items you can research at one time. At max you can research 3 different items. (Like- research training on sword the same time as exploration on axe and ALSO research divines on heavy chest - instead of waiting for the first one to finish before you can start to next)

The 9th traits with 4 points into the time reduction passive take 30 days. I think it's like 27 days if you sub.

Thanks for all the advance I just have a couple more follow up questions.

So it's best I stick to only researching gear that I plan to use with this character. For example, I'm building a DD Sorc, so if I found a Heavy Chest with a trait, even a trait that I would want, it's best not to spend the time researching it as my Sorc will most likely never use a Heavy Chest correct?

Also, say I want to craft a light armor chest that requires 3 traits, do I then have to find and research 3 different light chest pieces with 3 different traits or if I research say 1 light foot with a trait, 1 light helm with a trait and 1 light chest with a trait, meaning as long as i've researched 1 light armor with a trait, the other researches will still count towards the 3 trait chest piece.

lol sorry if that's confusing it's still very new to me

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

slipHAZARD wrote: »

Thanks for all the advance I just have a couple more follow up questions.

So it's best I stick to only researching gear that I plan to use with this character. For example, I'm building a DD Sorc, so if I found a Heavy Chest with a trait, even a trait that I would want, it's best not to spend the time researching it as my Sorc will most likely never use a Heavy Chest correct?

Also, say I want to craft a light armor chest that requires 3 traits, do I then have to find and research 3 different light chest pieces with 3 different traits or if I research say 1 light foot with a trait, 1 light helm with a trait and 1 light chest with a trait, meaning as long as i've researched 1 light armor with a trait, the other researches will still count towards the 3 trait chest piece.

lol sorry if that's confusing it's still very new to me

Correct I would only research what you want to make. In this case light armor pieces.

Although, once you DO have everything you want researched, you might as well research the other traits later on. That way you can craft all the different sets and whatnot. By the time you get the traits you want researched, you'll find tons of other people that know the traits you don't (so they can just craft you one) as well traited gear seems to drop like candy (except nirn)

slipHAZARD wrote: »

I'm building a DD Sorc, so if I found a Heavy Chest with a trait, even a trait that I would want, it's best not to spend the time researching it as my Sorc will most likely never use a Heavy Chest correct?

Well, since the Blacksmithing is a different skill than clothing you can research both at the same time. In fact, you can have 9 things being researched at once across the 3 Equipment Lines (if you have the research passives)

And, oh yes your Sorcerer will be wearing a Heavy Chest, probably Heavy Legs or Helm too. Light armor is really squishy and you can effectively double armor rating by adding two heavy pieces to your 5 light pieces. And, if you mix the Racial Styles together, the different weights of armor can look quite good together too. Plus Dyes can make any armor look like something else. Just remember that dyes look different on different things, you might have to mix and match. I run a Chest and Helm in heavy, since the chest matches and the helm can be hidden.

The most "neutral" looking Heavy Armors are Breton and Imperial. Barbaric and Primal Heavy looks a lot like Light Armor to begin with and makes for a nice look with other light armors.