I've heard varying accounts, but the majority seem to be that it was very difficult. Some people had an easier time, but there will always be those who luck out on the RNG and get the research component drops they need. Although I seem to remember that some of the spells weren't even in the game for the first couple months, research or not (someone else could confirm that though).
Occasionally you could find a caster who had leveled up research a lot and had mats as well, but that was pricey.
Worth noting though that a lot of later mage pets are research only regardless, so having like one pet available on a vendor isn't absolutely a massive improvement anyway.
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