Online:Survey Reports

A blacksmith survey report

Survey Reports are items that can be received as a reward from Crafting Writs, and they can be obtained by characters of any level. They are similar to Treasure Maps, in that they contain directions to a cache of materials that other players cannot access without possessing a copy of that particular survey report or treasure map.

Equipping the perk Plentiful Harvest through the Champion system will increase the amount of materials available in the cache of materials that is unlocked by the survey report. Each stage of Plentiful Harvest provides a 10% chance of gaining double the yield from resource nodes, so if you have the perk maxed out at all five stages, there is a 50% chance that any node of materials you harvest will provide double the yield (whether or not you are harvesting that node as part of a survey report).

When you receive one, a collection of six high-yield nodes are added to a specific location. The survey report contains a map or directions to this cache of six high-yield nodes. Most Jewelry Crafting Surveys use a text description instead of a map, but almost all survey reports are maps of a country with a red X over the area where you can find the associated cache of materials.

These high-yield nodes do not exist unless you have the corresponding survey report. It is possible to be rewarded with the same report multiple times, or to receive the same survey report through different characters on the same account. If you have multiple copies of a survey report, you can collect the materials, log out, then log back in, and when you log back in, you will be standing in a refreshed cache of high-yield nodes (though possibly with a different configuration of materials than the previous time you harvested them). Unlike in regular nodes you encounter overland, furnishing materials like Ochre, Clean Pelt, Regulus, Mundane Runes, and Heartwood will not be found in the high-yield nodes unlocked by a survey report, but you can find fragments of Titanium (a trait material) in Jewelry Crafting survey report nodes.

Survey reports can be found in the reward boxes for daily crafting writs for Blacksmithing, Clothing, Woodworking, Jewelry Crafting, Enchanting, and Alchemy, but not Provisioning. Characters of all levels can receive survey reports in the reward boxes for daily crafting writs.

There are survey reports that correspond to locations in every country in the base game (except for Cyrodiil), plus three for Craglorn, three for Wrothgar, two for Coldharbour, one for Blackwood, one for West Weald, one for Northern Elsweyr, one for Western Skyrim, and one for Vvardenfell. The smaller zone DLCs such as Southern Elsweyr, The Reach, or Murkmire do not have survey reports.

You can receive multiple surveys for the same material and same location. Originally you could only have one copy of each in your inventory at a time, with any additional copies remaining stuck in the original reward container. This does not apply anymore, as identical survey reports will stack. The nodes respawn as long as you move a short distance away.

For Blacksmithing, Jewelry Crafting, and Woodworking surveys, you will find three nodes containing materials appropriate for your level, and three appropriate for your associated crafting passive skill level. (These may, of course, be the same level.) For Clothing, you will find four fabric material nodes and two Furrier's Traps containing leather materials and occasionally the fishing bait Guts, and again, these will be split 50/50 between your character level and your crafting level. Alchemy surveys will contain six plant-type reagents, and Enchanting surveys will contain six runestones, each of which contains several runes of each type.

It is possible to receive survey maps on a low-level or low-skilled character and transfer them via your bank to a higher level character in order to get higher-quality materials.