Gathering is the means by which players obtain materials for Crafting.
NOTE: Confusingly, the process of collecting materials for racial crafting is also called "gathering." For further information about this form of gathering, see Racial Crafting.
Gathering for conventional crafting can be performed either in Aven or Guild Towns. Unlike most other MMOs, players do not gather themselves, but instead assign NPCs to gather the materials for them using work assignments (also known as work commissions). NPCs in Aven can only perform work up to work level 2 (character level 30), and likewise will only sell work assignments and gear blueprints up to work level 2. Higher-level items are only available in Guild Towns.
Farming and Mining[]
Before assigning an NPC to mine or farm, the player must first buy a work assignment. In Aven, farming assignments are sold by the Agricultural Merchant and mining assignments (ore location maps) are sold by Mineral Merchant. For a full list of farming and mining assignments, see Category:Farming assignments and Category:Mining assignments respectively.
Take your recipe to the Miner or Farmer, both located directly behind the Merchants, and place the recipe from your inventory in the Use Item slot. The items you'll receive will be shown in the white square below. Click request and you'll pay a small fee to start the gathering process.
The NPC will take several minutes to bring back the materials, but you can have up to 10 concurrent assignments. An orange icon will appear on the lower right side of your screen, and you click it to receive the materials or simply see how much time is left.
Summoning[]
Summoning interface and NPC location
Like farming and mining, you'll have to buy an altar summon scroll and bring it to the Summoner. After paying a fee, they'll summon a monster that, once slain, will give you the materials requested. For a full list of summoning scrolls, see Category:Summoning scrolls.
You can only summon one monster at a time and they will always be level 20 or 30, depending on the level of the assignment you used.