Spell research was re-vamped with the Depths of Darkhollow expansion. Beginning with that expansion, spell research changed from a system of combining dropped runes and pages to a system that now involves refinement of dropped papers, scrolls, etc. and then combining that item with quills, inks and thickeners to craft many of the spells that are available to players of all levels. Spells from level 50 - 70 can still be crafted by players, but now most of those spells as well as the rank I spells from levels 70+ can be purchased directly from vendors in the Library in the Plane of Knowledge. The recipes for spells below 70 are still viable if you're interested in making them instead of buying them or using those recipes to increase skill. Where spell research continues to be valuable is in the Rank II spells that begin at level 71. The Rank II versions of spells are generally still dropped or quested in some manner, however many of them can be crafted via research.

There are five categories of ingredients involved, each of which varies depending on what spell you are trying to make. In general, each recipe has one parchment, one quill, one additive, one thickener, and between one and five inks. A few recipes also call for Highland Sludge Drying Powder or Chronal Resonance Dust. Also, spells which require a reagent to cast also use one of that reagent in the recipe for the spell.

We are loading the precise recipes for these spells into our database as they are reported to us. You can see what we have so far in the Spells for Levels 61-65 recipe list. You can also use our Spell Research forum to discuss with other researchers. If you find something new, please report it to the Data Submissions forum. (Just remember that the Data Submissions forum is only for facts for the database; questions and discussion, including what doesn't work, belong in the other forums like Spell Research.) And of course, the in game books are the official sources of instructions and may have useful hints beyond what's here at the moment. Good luck!

While the properties of the various ingredients are below, I recommend checking the database for the recipe for any specific spell you wish to make before attempting. The ingredients involved have a very diverse range of attributes, so it may be difficult to predict which to use until you are very familiar with the system. As some of them have very similar recipes, using just one wrong ingredient could make a completely different spell.

Research Kits

Spell Research has been expanded to other classes besides Enchanters, Magicians, Necromancers and Wizards (otherwise referred to as INT casters). As of June 2016, now any class can also craft any spell, song or tome in their respective containers. INT Casters still use Spell Research Kits, Priests use Prayer Writing Kits, Bards use Song Writing Kits, Hybrids use Hybrid Research Kit and Melee use a Tome Binding Kit. These items can be purchased from the various Research merchants that have been added to the Plane of Knowledge and all starting cities as well as Corathus Creep and Arcstone.

Hides, Scrolls, Papyrus, Parchments, Vellums, Papers, Arcanums, Tablets, Numen Plaques, Orphic Cards and Sortilege Sheets

Of all of these ingredients, these will probably be the hardest and/or most expensive ingredient to acquire, particularly for the highest level spells. The item you use is based on the level of the spell (that is, the lowest level at which any class can use it). They drop off of creatures in a raw form and must be cleaned up using the appropriate recipes. The preparation of hides for lower level spells follows a different pattern than the preparation of scrolls, papyrus, parchments, vellums, papers, etc. Let's start with the non-hide based recipes.

They follow this pattern:

[finished type] = [dropped type] + [finished type] Solution + Celestial Cleanser

The levels for each type , plus their dropped names, finished names, and solutions are as follows:

The recipes for the cleanser and solutions are complicated. Click on one to see its details and use the recipe trees at the bottom to see how the subcombines all work. Note that any of the subcombines for solutions that uses Oil of Vitrol will return a Dirty Empty Vial. These can be cleaned into regular Empty Vials again by combining them with Vials of Pure Water, if you wish.

Hides are handled slightly differently. Each kind of hide will make several different levels of spells depending on how it's prepared. There are five ways to prepare a hide: the hide, cleaned hide, prepared hide, smooth hide and pristine hide.

Hides by themselves are combined only with a solution.
Cleaned hides are combined with a solution and Celestial Cleanser (Or Celestial Solvent at lower levels).
Prepared hides are combined with a solution and Lye.
Smooth hides are combined with a solution and Celestial Cleanser and Skinning Knife (Or Celestial Solvent at lower levels).
Pristine hides are combined with solution and Lye and Skinning Knife

Quills

The quills are very straightforward. Usually, you will need one of the quill that corresponds to the class that uses the spell. The quill names match the level 65 titles for the class. For example, the quill for a bard song is the Quill of the Maestro, while the quill for a shaman spell is the Quill of the Prophet. Where a spell becomes available to more than one class in the 61-65 range, use the class that gets it at the lowest level. If more than one class gets it at the same, lowest level, you will use one of three additional quills: Quill of the Arcane, Quill of the Divine, and Quill of the Knight. Which quill is used depends on the classes concerned.

Quills are made by combining A Quill with two treatments. The treatments reflect the nature of the class that quill will work for, whether caster, healer, or melee (to some degree); and the general types of spells used by that class. The A Quill ingredient (same as used in other research) and treatments are all sold by vendors. You can find the recipes for them by searching for the quill you want in the database.

Additives

The additive you use depends on the resistance the spell uses. They are bought directly from vendors. The additives and their properties are as follows:

Thickeners

Thickeners reflect the general type of spell you are making, such as single target buff, area effect buff, single target heal, area effect direct damage, etc. They are made by combining two gems with a herb. All of the gems and herbs required are sold by vendors. They also are made in batches of 40, so that if you use all of them these end up quite inexpensive. You can find the recipe for them by searching for the thickener you want in the database. The thickeners and their spell types are:

Inks

There are a dizzying array of inks which, like the thickeners and additives, reflect the properties of the spell you are making. They are made by combining various powders and pigments with a Vial of Pure Water. Some inks take only either one powder or pigment, while others use up to two powders and one pigment. The powders and pigments are sold by vendors. You can find the recipes by searching for the ink you want in the database. The general spell properties of the inks are listed below, but bear in mind that spells that don't clearly have these properties may require some creative thinking:

Highland Sludge Drying Powder

This particular ingredient is only used in a handful of spells, usually in cases where the recipe would otherwise be identical to another.

Highland Sludge Drying Powder requires the raw ingredient Sample of Highland Sludge that drops in the higher zones of Gates of Discord. You must have it turned into Sample of Refined Highland Sludge, which can be done either by the alchemy vendor Jorlan Hegeway in Abysmal Sea, or by a shaman who has completed the quest given by Jorlan or his fellow vendor Lita Hegeway. If you have Jorlan do your refining, you will get two refined samples back. A shaman who has completed the quest will produce one, two, or three, depending on how many times they have done it (with either Highland Sludge or Taelosian Sludge). After enough attempts, a shaman will be able to always get three refined samples back, making them the most efficient source of your Samples of Refined Highland Sludge. For more information on this process, whether by shaman or Jorlan, see the Gates of Discord Progressive Quests guide, particularly the alchemy collect and freebie quests.

Once you have your refined sludge, you combine it in your Spell Research Kit with a Gnomish Heat Source (sold by vendors) to get Highland Sludge Drying Powder.

Pet Reagents

In cases where a spell's effect is to summon a pet, and the spell uses a reagent in the process, you will need to include one of those reagents in making the spell. These are common things like bone chips or malachite, and therefore should be easily acquired.