The ability to harvest is very important in Everquest II, as many items that are necessary for crafting are found through the harvesting of wood, plants, rocks, and animal dens. Therefore, the gatherers are a vital link to a crafter's success.

As you harvest, you will gain skill levels as well as acquire the items from each node you're harvesting. The following are the various updates that will appear on your screen as you go.

When you harvest, in your text box you will be told either that you failed to harvest anything, or that you have gathered an item and what that item is:

You will also see across your screen an update indicating what you have harvested or collected:

Note that not only can you harvest from bushes and trees, but as you travel around looking for items to harvest from, you will see from time to time little glowing lights on the horizon. As you come closer to inspect, you will notice that in fact it is something like this on the ground:

This is where collectible items come from. Once you obtain your collectible item, open your inventory and examine it. If this is an item that you have not previously found, then you can add it to a collection. More information on collection quests will be coming soon.

Now, as you harvest, you will gain skill levels. This is important as time goes on, because you need higher levels of skill to harvest the higher tiers. As you gain these levels, you will become very experienced and at times overqualified for harvesting certain things. When that occurs, you'll be told the following:

Fear not... this will occur as you grow, but you will not lose any potential for successful harvests. Now, as you gain and succeed at harvesting, you will begin to see more rare items being obtained. When that happens, you will hear a chiming sound, and the following will appear on your screen:

These rare items are worth more to crafters and other players than your average harvested items. Also, some rare items are needed to complete a Heritage Quest (such as ebon and palladium). So when you find one... hang on to it as you may need it later!

There are seven tiers in Everquest II, and each one has specific skill requirements prior to being able to successfully harvest in that tier:

*Note: Salts and Pepper can only be found on the new player Isles

Tier Seven (Skill required: 280)
Tenebrous Tangle, The Bonemire, The Barren Sky

Many of the items you find can be sold via your merchant board to the various crafters out there. They use the items to make food, drink, armor, and weapons. Not everything has a valuable use, but most things do. So don't just destroy those raws that you find... someone out there may need them!

Happy Harvesting!

Images edited by PatrickTC-