Amount of Gathering Attempts?

[Highlanderx]

I only have 4 attempts, which makes things such as Brunt Force useless to me. I can have a max of 5 with the +1 gathering attempt or ageless words but both do not stack so I can never reach 6 which would be the only way to even get a 4 chain combo. Am I missing something here?

+1 gather attempt nodes and the skill that gives you +1 attempt does stack. But you have to make at least 1 attempt first before you activate the skill. I never actually tried it on a non- +1 gather attempt spot, can it be used right away and turns it into a +5 spot?