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Table of Contents
1.0 - Introduction
1.1 - What is Fletching?
Fletching is a skill somewhat similar to Crafting, however, it involves creating bows and arrows, and it is a great money making skill. 1.2 - Why should you fletch?
Fletching is one of the best ways to make money in RuneScape. Casting High Level Alchemy on Yew Longbows, Magic Shortbows, and Magic Longbows are an increasingly popular way to make quick cash. It is also a relatively easy skill, requiring few items to make bows as well as taking less time (as opposed to casting High Alchemy on steel plates, which requires 5 iron, 10 coal just to make one plate). This guide will explain more information of the monetary benefits of fletching in section 4.8. A drawback to fletching is that many find it boring. Some love fletching and find it relaxing, but everyone has a different opinion. It is also a members-only skill, so if you cancel your membership you will no longer have your primary means of making cash. In addition, you need a fairly high fletching level to make significant profits (level 70 and up); more information about this later. Overall, if you do not like making arrows or bows, do not take up this skill. The point of RuneScape is to have fun, and you should find the skill you like to do best and concentrate on that instead, even if it does not make as much money and has more drawbacks. Most skills can produce an income. Only those who truly enjoy fletching, or at least can tolerate it, should continue with this guide. 2.0 - How to Fletch
2.1 - Bows
To make a bow, simply use a knife with a log and create a "shortbow" or "longbow." Then take a flax plant and spin it on a spinning wheel to make a bowstring. Use this with your unstrung bow and you are done! The table below shows experience gained from making a complete bow. Half of the experience is gained for carving the bow, and the other half is gained by stringing it.
2.2 - Arrows
The base of any arrow is the shaft. To make a shaft, chop down any regular tree. Use your handy-dandy knife to make arrow shafts (the same way you would an unstrung bow). One log will make 15 arrow shafts. Next, you need feathers to place at the end of your arrows. You can obtain these from chickens, the fishing shop, or other players. After this, you need to smith arrowheads. If you want to make iron arrows, make iron bars. One iron bar will make 15 arrowheads. Now, to attach them all together you must use your feathers on the shafts then use your arrowheads on the headless arrows. An update has now made it easier to fletch arrows via the "Make X" option. This way you won't have to hurt your hand by riddling your mouse with clicks! With the Big Chompy Bird Hunting quest, you can make Ogre Arrows. These arrows require different materials then regular arrows and can only the Ogre Bow uses the arrows. Here is how to make them. For the arrow shaft, go to the area that the Chompy quest takes place in. You will see pointy Achey trees. Cut these down and use a knife with them to make Ogre arrow shafts. Use feathers with the shafts to make Flighted Ogre Arrows. Kill some wolves (the best place is White Wolf Mountain) and use a chisel with the wolf bones to make Ogre Arrowheads and attach them to the arrows. NOTE: When making Ogre shafts and Arrow tips, you receive an uneven amount of shafts/tips every time. For example, one Achey log may give 3 shafts, while another gives 6. It is the same thing with the arrowheads. In addition, 4 feathers are required for every Ogre arrow shaft. The experience gained from the arrows varies as well.
2.3 - Crossbows
The ability to carefully craft crossbows is an ancient dwarven art. To make a crossbow, use a knife on any type of log, and choose to make a crossbow stock (cannot be done with magic logs) - this method also uses the "make-x" option. Using the Smithing skill, you are able to make "limbs" for the crossbow using one metal bar at an anvil. As each metal has a different flexibility and weight, the type of limb needed for the crossbow is determined by the type of wood you used to make the stock. Other combinations will not work. Once you have both, merge the stock and the limbs together, to make an unstrung crossbow. Once you've done so, you are able to string it using a crossbow string (cooked beef made into sinew, then spun at a spinning wheel - level 3 Cooking and 10 Crafting required).
2.4 - Bolts
Adding tips to the ends of bolts never used to be very common practice amongst Runescapians. However, since several new bolt types have been added to the game, quite a number of people have been utilising them. With the exception of the barbed bolttips and the mithril grapple, you are able to simply use a chisel to cut other gems, and choose an option to make bolttips, gaining a small amount of fletching XP (included in the total XP column). You are able to add these tips to metal bolts you have made using the Smithing skill. Once this has been done, you are even able to enchant them to have special abilities when versing players or monsters.
2.5 - Darts
Making darts is quite simple, but it is rarely used. Simply make dart tips by using a metal bar on an anvil and add feathers to them using the double-click method. Each bar will make 10 dart tips, which will then become 10 Darts.
3.0 - Training Methods & Locations
This is simply what you should fletch at each level. You also need to bring up your Woodcutting skill along with fletching, unless you plan to buy all your logs. This is very pricey and disfavored, as those who have the money to buy their way to 85 fletching do not NEED the extra cash obtained by it. Just woodcut everything you fletch and you will be fine. 3.1 - What should you fletch at this level?
Levels 1-30
For the beginning levels, either arrows or bows will get you far. Bows are good, as they are faster and require less item gathering. Always make the best possible bow you can make, unless your woodcutting level is not high enough to chop efficiently. Start with Shortbows and work your way up to level 30. Levels 30-50
For this level range you can still make bows, however in order to speed up the leveling process it is a good idea to make a few thousand steel arrows. Remember, you do not "fail" when making bows and arrows, so level 30 is as good as 50 when it comes to quality. Again, you should always fletch the highest-level bow/arrow you can, unless your woodcutting level restricts you. Levels 51-70
The fastest way to get from level 51 to 70 is making willow longbows. Willow logs are 30-40gp each so it won't cost you much, also you get some money back by selling the bows to various shops. Levels 70+
Here is where the real magic begins. Fletch yew longbows for the best money until your fletching is level 85, and after that you can make magic longbows if you have the money to buy Magic logs or if you have the time to woodcut a lot of them. During this time your woodcut should be higher than 75. If you cut all the yews that you fletch it will be 85+. If you have a lot of time, you could try woodcutting (Note that 85+ woodcutting and a good spot are recommended to efficiently chop magic logs). However, if you're powertraining then buying is the way to go.  3.2 - What is a good strategy for leveling?
Fletching Bows
The basic strategy for fletching is to get through the bows as quickly as possible. You will fletch a ton of bows in your RuneScape lifetime, and probably get very bored. Our strategy is to minimize the time spent and maximize the fun. Keeping the knife as close to the chat box as possible is a good idea, as well as making it so you do not have to move the mouse too much while stringing bows. The actual strategy: check a fletching calculator to find out how many bows you need to make (You can find calculators on this site). Let us pretend to get to the next level you need to make 300 yew longbows. First, get your axe if you wish to woodcut these yew logs (Note, if you wish to speed things up and if you have money to spare you could simply buy 300 yew logs for 90,000-99,000gp.) Cut 300 yew logs and cut them into unstrung bows after each load. Once you have banked 300 unstrung yew longbows, obtain 300 bowstrings as well. In order to do this, go south of Seers' Village and pick flax. On your way back, stop by the South-Western most house and go upstairs. Spin the flax on a spinning wheel. Continue this until you have 300 strings. If you have money to spare, buy the bowstrings from somebody for 150-200gp each, or flax from someone for 90-110gp each. This means 300 bowstrings will cost 45,000-60,000gp, and 300 flax will cost 30,000-36,000gp. In the past, you used to click continuously to fletch bows. Now, instead of fletching every single bow, one at a time, you can fletch an entire inventory at once. To do this, use a knife with a log. A menu will pop up asking whether you want to make short bows or longs. Right click on your option and select "Make X." Type in the number of bows you would like to make, or alternatively just type in "99" for a whole load, as it is faster. Recently an update has meant that players can select "Make All" when attaching bowstrings to unstrung bows, this is generally considered to be faster and easier, although some older fletchers argue that they can click between the items faster. A lot of people will trade you yew logs and bowstrings once you're level 70+ for your strung yew bows, and they will occassionally offer money as well. This will allow you to level fletching faster, however you won't make as much money.  Fletching Arrows
Fletching arrows, while easy, is not recommended for leveling since the materials are so hard to obtain quickly and inexpensively. In addition, in later levels it takes MASSIVE amounts of arrows to make any sort of progress. Gather the materials in bulk, once you have everything you need, go to a bank and withdraw all your shafts and your feathers. Unfortunately there is no easy way to do this! You will have to just have feathers and shafts right beside each other in your inventory, and be furiously clicking back and forth to attach the feathers. The Magic
If you wish to cast high alchemy on your bows, withdraw all bows from the bank in note form. Place them on the same spot as the high alchemy icon (it changes with the addition as new magic spells, but as of now, it is the 5th row, 4th column). It should be right on top of the "high alchemy" icon on your magic screen. Make sure you have a nature rune for every bow you wish to high alchemy, and a fire staff equipped (or 5 fire runes per bow). Click on the high alchemy icon, and then click on the note. You should not have to move the mouse to do this. On your screen, the magic should make 3 flashes come out of your hands. On the third flash, click on high alchemy again, and then click on the notes again. High alchemize all your notes then enjoy your cash. Here is a table to show you the amount of GP you will receive each time you cast high alchemy on a bow.
As you can see from this table, it may not be worth it to string maple bows and lower when you are fletching. This is because bowstrings can get expensive and you do not get much in return when you high alchemy these cheaper bows (not to mention the amount of money one must spend on nature runes). If you want to get a good return in cash, only string and high alchemy the yew and magic bows. 4.0 - Making Money
In order to make money from Fletching, you will definitely need:
In order to make the most profit you will need at least two of the following:
You may purchase most of the items needed to fletch. Nature runes are ~300 each, yew logs 300-320gp each, and bowstrings 200 each. However, if you buy ALL of these things you will LOSE money. Therefore, if you are planning to buy at all, choose between the natures, bowstrings and the yew logs. Buying the bowstrings is a wise choice, but you should do whatever makes you comfortable. The Money Making Process
Cast high alchemy on yew longs, magic shorts, and magic longs. Fletch as many bows as needed for the next level and then cast high alchemy on them. You will obtain 400k+ per set of bows, you fletch. Level 70 to 85 will give you about 12 million, if you work at it. Most people do not suggest using High Alchemy on magic shorts as the money is not enough to make up for the time lost trying to cut magic trees. Therefore, you should only start High Alching magic longs when you get to level 85. This is GREAT magic experience, Runecrafting experience, Woodcutting experience, Crafting experience, and fletching experience. It is also great for getting up that skill total! I. Does this work?
Of course it does! Fletching is becoming one of the most popular moneymaking skills for members. Yew trees, which used to have only one or two people at them, now the trees often have over 5 woodcutters. Everyone wants a piece of fletching (even F2P, if you have not noticed), and after High Alching a large load of bows you can see why! II. How long should this take?
Getting to 70 fletching can take up to a month if you work at it. It will take much longer if you do not fletch efficiently. If you are serious about getting the levels, it is obtainable in, approximately, 6-10 hours of gameplay. If you buy all the logs needed, you can get it even faster! After you get 70 fletching, it takes as long as you need to get the money you want! III. What are the benefits of using fletching for income?
The best thing about using fletching as your main source of income is it is not market-based. Remember when rune essence sold for 100-200gp each? Now it only sells for 25gp. Why? As more people jumped on the rune essence bandwagon, the prices dropped. With fletching, this is impossible, because you are not selling to other players. You are casting a magic spell that gives the same amount of money no matter how many people do it, and no matter how messed up the RuneScape economy is. While rune and treasure trail prices continue to drop, you will keep a steady income. Moreover, you do not have to haggle for prices. It is 768gp a yew longbow. **Please note some of the prices on here might not be 100% accurate, prices are unstable. Please check our Marketplace guide for more updated accurate prices** 5.0 - Frequently Asked Questions
Where are the best places for getting the logs needed for fletching?
What is the fastest way to make bowstrings?
The main spot used to make bowstrings is Seers' Village. There is a flax farm south of the courthouse and west of the courthouse is a house (it is the closest one to the church). Upstairs in that house is a spinning wheel.  An alternative location, if you're just doing spinning, is Lumbridge Castle. It takes around 3 clicks to get from the bank on the very top floor to the spinning wheel on the second floor, making it one of the fastest ways to spin flax. Tree Gnome Stronghold provides a flax field as well. Look for the field in south-east. After you have an inventory full of flax, go upstairs of one of the trees, where you can find a spinning wheel. There is a bank near the tree patch.
Another good way to get bowstrings while paying less money is simply to buy the flax! Flax costs about 100gp each because it is irritating to pick. Buy some, and spin it yourself in Lumbridge Castle! It is almost solely responsible for getting many players low-level crafting up. If you have started Mourning's Ends Part I, then another good spot for collecting flax is Lletya, which is located in the elf land. The flax is just a few squares off the bank and it's relatively faster method. What do I do with all these bows?
On your way to glorious 70 fletching, you may notice that you have several thousand bows in your bank. In RS1, this was a problem, as you had to withdraw and drop them one load at a time. In RS2, there are many simple ways to get rid of this huge bow backlog, saving the bankers thousands of coins in storage costs. Method 1: Sell to a general store/ranging shop! This is the preferred method for most, as you get some money. The bad side is it takes FOREVER to sell thousands of bows as you can only do 10 at a time. Moreover, the price decreases once you get to around 1k bows. To do this quickly, put your bows in the bottom right hand corner and left and right click for easy selling. Method 2: Stick them in the party chest! The Party Hall is conveniently located at Falador. Withdraw all of your bows (in NOTE form, please, or Party Pete will get angry) and stick them in the party chest. You would not be making any money, but you will be rid of the bows quickly and make a drop party slightly more entertaining. If you are the type of person that likes to give rather than receive, this is the option for you. 6.0 - Quests for Experience
Quests with a choice Experience
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| Author: Howabominable |
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