The Research System is content that allows you to conduct equipment research to obtain permanent stat bonuses and equipment rewards. To conduct research, you need 'Research Stones,' which can be purchased from the Shop for 510k Nine or obtained by defeating bosses in the level 55 field 'Laesh Sanctuary' or the level 50 dungeon 'Grana Sanctuary.'

There are currently 12 weapons available for research. Be aware that each research attempt consumes 1 Research Stone for Unique grade, 3 for Epic grade, and a staggering 10 for Legend grade. The number of Research Stones required increases with your research level, and each weapon has 5 levels. You receive a permanent stat bonus upon reaching each level. While all Unique grade weapons provide Weapon damage, Epic grade and above offer different options depending on the weapon. Notably, Legend grade weapons have powerful effects where damage increases by a percentage rather than a fixed value.

Once you research a single weapon to level 5, you can attempt to 'Forge' it to obtain the weapon itself upon success. Since this is not content you can complete in the early or mid-game, treat it as end-game content and take your time.

A research level increases once you reach +10 research progress. When you conduct research, you gain +1 to +5 progress or fail based on a set probability; any progress exceeding 10 carries over to the next level. Note that the success probability varies by weapon grade. The failure rate is 9.89% for Unique grade, 19.89% for Epic grade, and 29.89% for Legend grade.

Since the exact increase in Research Stone consumption per level is not clearly disclosed, we excluded that factor and calculated based on level 0. The results show that the expected number of Research Stones required to reach level 1 from level 0 is 8 for Unique, 30 for Epic, and 123 for Legend. Keep in mind that in reality, you will need more stones for levels 1 and above.

As compensation for the Tower of God error on Thursday, July 2, all users who log in before 19:19 on Friday, July 3, will receive 2 Research Stones. Since the probability of reaching level 1 of a Unique grade weapon using only 2 stones is a mere 0.000001%, these items are effectively meaningless at this moment.

However, since the expected value to reach level 1 from level 0 for an Unique weapon is 8 stones, it is a good idea to pick one Unique weapon and invest in it if you want to secure +1 Weapon damage. You can reach level 1 by spending a bit of Nine, but it is not an urgent option worth spending 3 million Nine on, so only purchase it if you have the resources to spare.