Tradeskills

Research

Spell Research for INT casters — Wizard, Magician, Enchanter, and Necromancer. Class research books, components, the skill-up path, and which spells are research-only vs vendor.

Research (Spell Research) is the caster-exclusive tradeskill that scribes spell scrolls from runes, words, and grimoire pages. It is the only way to obtain a large set of spells — the research-only spells have no vendor or quest source, which is the entire economic point of the skill.

On The Last Camp, the four classic researching classes are the INT casters: Wizard, Magician, Enchanter, and Necromancer. Each uses its own research book as the combine container, and each works from a different family of components. A class can only research its own spells — the component pages are class-locked on use, not just the finished scroll.

Heads up — common mistake: Research combines do not use Quill and Parchment. Those are for scribing a scroll you already own. If you drop a Quill or Parchment into the research book, the combine fails. The research book only takes the components listed in the recipe.

At a glance

Field	Value
Skill	Research
Governing stat	INT or WIS, whichever is higher, governs skill-up chance
Skill cap (early game)	(Character Level − 15) × 5
Hard cap	200
Container	Class research book (see below) — no inventory combine, no Mortar & Pestle
Classes	Wizard, Magician, Enchanter, Necromancer (INT casters only)
Race	None — any race that can roll one of the four classes can research
Output	Class-restricted spell scrolls, many of them research-only
Difficulty	Hard — component drops are not camp-specific and trivials are slow

Class research books

Each class combines its components inside its own book. The book is not consumed — it is a reusable container, like a forge or oven for casters. Buy it once from a caster guild vendor.

Class	Research book	Component family
Wizard	Lexicon	Runes
Magician	Elemental Grimoire	Words + special elemental items
Enchanter	Tome of Endless Enchantments	Pages from grimoires, writs, and tomes
Necromancer	Book of Dark Bindings	Words

How research works

Acquire the correct components for the spell — usually one or more rune/word/page items, sometimes plus a special drop.
Open your class research book and place the components inside. No Quill, no Parchment, no Mortar.
Hit Combine. On success you get the spell scroll, which you then scribe normally into your spellbook.

Success depends on your Research skill versus the recipe's trivial number. Combining at or below your character level gives better odds; high-trivial recipes will fail often (and consume components) until your skill catches up.

Faded pages

Some Enchanter components are faded and must be combined first to become a usable numbered page before they go into the final spell combine. A faded page can carry a higher trivial than the spell it eventually makes, so the faded sub-combine is often the real skill gate.

Skill cap and training

Governing stat: whichever is higher of your INT or WIS determines how often you gain skill on a successful combine.
Skill cap formula (early levels): maximum Research = (Level − 15) × 5, capped at 200. You cannot start research below level 16.
Train it, don't grind it early. A GM research trainer (your class guild) will train Research for cheap. Training at a higher character level grants more free points from zero than training at level 16, so it is usually cheaper to wait and train than to burn components on low-level combines. See the practice-rune section for the grind path past trainer cap.

Components — where they come from

"There is generally not a SPECIFIC creature to hunt for a SPECIFIC item. Higher-level creatures drop items for higher-level spells."

Components drop from caster-type creatures level 10+ across the world — the higher the mob, the higher the tier of rune/word/page it can drop. Hunt the level band that matches the spell tier you want rather than a single named camp. Anything you over-farm can be sold back to caster guild vendors, and many low/mid components can then be bought from those vendors if another player sold them first.

Classic farm bands for INT-caster components: Najena, Befallen, Permafrost, and Solusek's Eye at the low/mid tiers; Velious giants and Luclin shadowed-men carry the higher-tier pages and runes.

Spell recipes by class

Trivials are approximate. "Vendor sold" means a scroll copy also exists on a merchant (research is optional); "Research only" means the combine is the only source — these are the valuable ones.

Wizard (Lexicon — Runes)

Lvl	Spell	Trivial	Components	Source
16	Identify	21	Rune of Falhalem + Substance	Vendor sold
16	Pillar of Fire	21	Rune of Nagafen + Proximity	Research only
24	Levitate	64	Rune of Attraction + Expulsion	Vendor sold
29	Energy Storm	96	Rune of Fulguration + Karana + Xegony	Research only
34	Nullify Magic	120+	Rune of Arrest + Consumption + Sorcery	Vendor sold
39	Common Portal	140	Rune of the Combine + Conception + Embrace	Vendor sold
44	Gravity Flux	162	Rune of Attraction + Inverse + Rathe	Research only
49	Ice Comet	184	Rune of the Astral + Frost	Research only (also a Vox drop)

Magician (Elemental Grimoire — Words + elemental items)

Many Magician recipes take three components — a Words page, the previous-tier pet spell, and a special elemental drop.

Lvl	Spell	Trivial	Components	Source
16	Summon Heatstone	21	Words of Element + Elemental Armor + Bloodstone	Vendor sold
16	Minor Summoning: Air	22	Words of Tyranny + Elemental: Air + Aviak Feather	Vendor sold
20	Lesser Summoning: Air	41	Words of Dominion + Minor Summoning: Air + Pearl Shard	Vendor sold
24	Summoning: Air	62	Words of Dimension + Lesser Summoning: Air + Pearl Shard	Research only
29	Greater Summoning: Fire	82	Words of Coercion + Summoning: Fire + Breath of Solusek	Vendor sold
34	Minor Conjuration: Fire	122	Words of Duress + Greater Summoning: Fire + Breath of Solusek	Research only
44	Conjuration: Fire	162	Words of Incarceration + Lesser Conjuration: Fire + Breath of Ro	Vendor sold
49	Greater Conjuration: Air	182	Words of Bondage + Conjuration: Air + Wing of Xegony	Research only

Magician note: A handful of higher pet spells (notably some level 34 and 39 pets) are vendor-only because the original research recipes shipped broken and the pets were placed on merchants instead. Check the guild vendor before grinding components for a pet that won't combine.

Enchanter (Tome of Endless Enchantments — Pages)

Lvl	Spell	Trivial	Components	Source
16	Levitate	22	Tasarin's Grimoire Pg. 23 (both sides)	Vendor sold
16	Disempower	22	Tasarin's Grimoire Pg. 24 (both sides)	Vendor sold
16	Mesmerization	22	Tasarin's Grimoire Pg. 26 (both sides)	Research only
24	Invigor	62	Velishoul's Tome Pg. 16 (faded) + Pg. 17	Vendor sold
29	Feedback	95	Velishoul's Tome Pg. 108 (faded) + Pg. 109	Research only
34	Mana Sieve	122	Salil's Writ Pg. 90 (both sides)	Research only
49	Allure	182	Nilitim's Grimoire Pg. 378 + Pg. 379	Research only

Necromancer (Book of Dark Bindings — Words)

Lvl	Spell	Trivial	Components	Source
16	Restless Bones	21	Words of Reviviscence + Sentient (Azia)	Research only
20	Harmshield	41	Words of Refuge + Absorption	Research only
24	Shadow Sight	62	Words of Discernment + Eventide	Vendor sold
29	Summon Dead	87	Words of Possession + Haunting + Rupturing	Research only
34	Call of Bones	120	Words of Motion + Neglect + Endurance	Research only
39	Nullify Magic	142	Words of Descrying + Seizure + Dissolution	Research only
49	Lich	184	Words of the Ethereal (single component)	Research only

Practice runes (the skill-up grind)

Past trainer cap, the cheapest way to push Research is the practice rune system using a Concordance of Research (from the Research Aid / Evil Research quest).

Combine cheap reagents in the Concordance to create partial runes — the Azia and Beza halves. These sub-combines cannot fail.
Combine the matching Azia + Beza halves in your class research book to finish the practice rune. This step can fail and is what grants skill-ups.

Tier	Rune	Trivial	Azia half	Beza half
1	Practice Rune	21	Lapis Lazuli + Bat Wing + Bone Chips	Turquoise + Fire Beetle Eye + Rusty Slashing weapon
2	Apprentice Rune	41	Hematite + Bixie Wing + Froglok Eye	Cat's Eye Agate + Snake Rattle + Rusty Piercing/Bludgeoning weapon
3	Training Rune	62	Bloodstone + Wasp Wing + Zombie Skin	Onyx + Spiderling Silk + Raw Hide Armor

At low levels it is substantially cheaper to just have your trainer train you than to run practice-rune combines. Switch to practice runes only once you have outrun the trainer cap.

Components worth keeping

Some drops are rare enough to bank or sell rather than vendor:

Wizard: Rune of the Astral, Frost, Ap'Sagor (level 49 content).
Magician: Flame of Vox, Tears of Prexus, Essence of Rathe, Wing of Xegony; Words of Transcendence, Dimension, Bondage, Convocation.
Enchanter: Mesmerization (Pg. 26), Berserker Strength (Pg. 30), Color Shift (Pg. 312), Strip Enchantment (Pg. 390); all Salil's Writ pages (lvl 34–39) and Nilitim's Grimoire pages (lvl 44–49).
Necromancer: Words of Possession, Haunting, Ethereal, Crippling Force.

Tips

Wrong container = guaranteed fail. Use your class book, not another caster's.
No Quill, no Parchment, no Mortar in the combine — those tools are for scribing, not research.
Hunt the level band, not a named camp. Components are spread across all caster mobs in a tier.
Research in step with your level. A spell you can cast at 49 is worth far more than three you outgrew at 24.
Research-only > vendor copies for plat. Common vendor-also scrolls flood the market; research-only scrolls (Lich, Allure, Mesmerization, the higher nuke variants) hold value.

Tradeskill strategy guide
Wizard Spell Research · Necromancer · Enchanter
Wizard · Magician · Enchanter · Necromancer
Najena — classic component hunting ground