jumps are what it takes to help rank up. example a rank 1 can become a rank 3 or higher.

alchemy is random.

so lets say you are making aluminum plate. you have the aluminum ore which is rank 3 and fruit nectar which is also rank 3. compound and its a +3 jump since aluminum place is rank 6. 3+3=6
its possible to over jump and get hard plate which is rank 7. thats a +4 jump 3+4=7

the ore is a base of 3 and the hard plate is a jump of 4 resulting in its new base of 7

each alchemy lvl jas a starting jump. like primary has a starting jump of +0. anything can be compounded with this but it has a low rate you may need to have this at lvl 15 or higher before getting any actural result and less fails.

junior has a +1 you may need it to be lvl 7 or higher for any results with no books

sup has a +2 and its possible to compound anything with about 30% chance of failing the higher you go the more stuff you can compound and i think the base jump gets higher as well with every 5-10 lvls so its possible to fail and over jump if alchemy is to high. possible at a lower lvl too. even with primary.

but thats all to complicated to explain. start small and you eventurally get the hang of it.

also always remember to seperate and compound 1 item at a time not stacks. compounding stacks won't make a diffrence you just lose all your items that way.