EVIL RND

Research stuff

Anything from existing tech for creating new things, to magical secrets, to research on the area, maps, resource caches, loot, cities,...

Build stuff

First you need to find the difficulty of creating the item.

Item Level	Difficulty
<div id="artefact">Artefact</div>	12
Legendary</div>	8
<div id="legendary">Epic</div>	6
<div id="epic">Exceptional</div>	4
<div id="exceptional">Good</div>	2
<div id="good">Standard</div>	1

To be able to get a shot at creating the item you need at least that level in the related skill (usually Technologist).