Gathering

Basics of Gathering
Gathering is a crucial part of Riders of Icarus as you will need to gather many items from both Open World and Instanced locations (like Dungeons) in order to craft exclusive equipment, potions, and marks for taming familiars. Gathering is leveled in "Stages."

Gathering and Crafting are both leveled by Proficiency which is only earned by actually performing the action. In order to gain Proficiency in Gathering, you actually have to gather materials. You can find out how here and also locations of materials here.

To see your current stage of Proficiency in Gathering, look at the bottom of the Details window, to the right of your character page (p).

To make gathering easier, there are two useful settings: the first is found by clicking the settings wheel on the mini-map and checking the option that says collectibles. Ore and plant icons will appear on the map, indicating the resources in a 75m radius. The second option is found in the Game section of the Settings panel. Checking Object Names will show the names of collectibles such as ore and plants. Using the two settings together, one can find the general location using the mini-map and then zero in on it using the on-screen name.

Stage One
Stage 1 only has a requirement of 5 Proficiency points to advance to Stage 2. If you follow the side quests or just do it on your own, you should easily have your Gathering to Stage 2 by the time you reach the Hakanas Highlands. Up to a point, every time you gather materials will earn you 1 Proficiency point.

Stage Two
Stage 2 requires a total of 40 Proficiency points to advance to Stage 3. Once you have reached 20/40 Proficiency points, your chances to find double or elite materials will start to increase. When you reach 34/40 Proficiency points, Gathering no longer guarantees any improvement. It will be important to Gather more advanced materials to improve faster, as Poron Mushrooms and Copper Ores are no longer worth much in terms of Proficiency. Gold and Iron ores will improve Proficiency, but are still not guaranteed to give you an additional point for collection.

Stage Three
Stage 3 requires a total of 60 Proficiency points to advance to Stage 4.

Stage Four
Stage 4 requires a total of 120 Proficiency points to advance to Stage 5, Stage 5 is a total of 240 Proficiency points.