Table of Contents
1.0 - Introduction
2.0 - How to fletch
2.1 - Bows
2.2 - Arrows
2.3 - Crossbows
2.4 - Bolts
2.5 - Darts
3.0 - Training methods/locations
4.0 - Making Money
5.0 - Miscellaneous
6.0 - Quests for Experience
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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.
Definitions aside, fletching is the ability to make ranging equipment. It is a
members-only skill, although some ranged equipment made is allowed to be used on an F2P
-or free playing- server.
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.
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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.
Picture Name Level XP
Shortbow 5 10
Longbow 10 20
Oak Shortbow 20 33
Oak Longbow 25 50
Composite Ogre Bow 30 90
Willow Shortbow 35 66
Willow Longbow 40 83
Maple Shortbow 50 100
Maple Longbow 55 116.5
Yew Shortbow 65 135
Yew Longbow 70 150
Magic Shortbow 80 166.5
Magic Longbow 85 183
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.
Picture Name Level XP
15 Arrow Shafts 1 5
Headless Arrow 1 1
Bronze Arrow 1 1.3
Ogre Arrow 5 Varies
Bronze Brutal Arrow 7 1.4
Iron Arrow 15 2.5
Iron Brutal Arrow 18 2.6
Steel Arrow 30 5
Steel Brutal Arrow 33 5.1
Black Brutal Arrow 38 6.4
Mithril Arrow 45 7.5
Mithril Brutal Arrow 49 7.5
Adamant Arrow 60 10
Adamant Brutal Arrow 62 10.1
Runite Arrow 75 12.5
Runite Brutal Arrow 77 12.5
Dragon Arrow 90 15
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).
Picture Stock Picture Name Level Total XP Final Name
Wood Bronze limb 9 24 Bronze crossbow
Oak Blurite limb
Must have completed
The Knight's Sword quest 24 64 Blurite crossbow
Willow Iron limb 39 88 Iron crossbow
Teak Steel limb 46 108 Steel crossbow
Maple Mithril limb 54 128 Mithril crossbow
Mahogany Adamant limb 61 164 Adamant crossbow
Yew Runite limb 69 200 Runite crossbow
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.
Picture Name Level Tips Made Picture Bolt Type XP (per tip added) Total XP per Final
Name
Opal bolttips 11 12 Bronze bolt 1.6 20.2 Opal bolts
Jade bolttips 26 12 Blurite bolt 2.4 30.8 Jade bolts
Pearl bolttips 41 6 (small oyster)
24 (large oyster) Iron bolt 3.2 22.2
79.8 Pearl bolts
Red topaz bolttips 48 12 Steel bolt 3.9 49.8 Red topaz bolts
Barbed bolttips 51 - Bronze bolt 9.5 9.5 Barbed bolts
Saphire bolttips 56 12 Mithril bolt 4.7 60.4 Sapphire bolts
Emerald bolttips 58 12 Mithril bolt 5.5 71 Emerald bolts
Mithril grapple tip 59 - Mithril bolt 11 11 Mithril grapple
Ruby bolttips 63 12 Adamant bolt 6.3 81.6 Ruby bolts
Diamond bolttips 65 12 Adamant bolt 7 91 Diamond bolts
Dragonstone bolttips 71 12 Rune bolt 8.2 106.4 Dragonstone bolts
Onyx bolttips 73 24 Rune bolt 9.4 234.6 Onyx bolts
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.
Picture Name Level XP
Bronze Dart 1 1.8
Iron Dart 22 3.2
Steel Dart 37 7.5
Mithril Dart 52 11.2
Adamant Dart 67 15
Runite Dart 81 18.8
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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
15-30gp 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.
Bow Type Shortbows (Unstrung) Longbows (Unstrung) Shortbows Longbows
Regular 15gp 24gp 30gp 48gp
Oak 30gp 48gp 60gp 96gp
Willow 60gp 96gp 120gp 192gp
Maple 120gp 192gp 240gp 384gp
Yew 240gp 384gp 480gp 768gp
Magic 480gp 768gp 960gp 1536gp
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.
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4.0 - Making Money
In order to make money from Fletching, you will definitely need:
70 Fletching
55 Magic
In order to make the most profit you will need at least two of the following:
44 Runecrafting
10 Crafting
60 Woodcutting
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**
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5.0 - Frequently Asked Questions
Where are the best places for getting the logs needed for fletching?
Log Where...
Regular Anywhere with lots of regular trees near a bank. A good place would be Draynor
Village, Seers' Village, and East Varrock.
Oak Seers' Village has oaks nearby the bank. Almost any bank with a nearby forest will
have many oak trees, but Seers' Village is the best.
Willow Three places are good for willows. Seers' Village has 6 willow trees behind the
bank. Catherby also has willows just west of the bank. Draynor Village also has 4 trees.
Maple Behind Seers' Village bank are 4 maple trees, a very good place to make maple bows
and cut wood (as an off-note, further north of the four maple trees is an entire forest of
maple trees. These are not as close to the bank, but it is a good place for Maple).
Yew The best place to cut yew is west of Catherby, directly below the flax farm. There are
6 yew trees there. Keep "run" on - it will recharge while you cut. Use the bank
in Catherby. The church in Seers' Village also has yew trees, but it is often crowded and
there are only 3 trees.
Magic South of Seers' Village and west of the yew trees are 3 or 4 magic trees. In
addition, the entrance to the Scorpion Catcher Wizard's tower has several magic trees.
Either the Legends' Guild bank or Seers' Village is good banks for magic trees. There is
also three magic trees just south of Lletya, and some out the front of the Mage Training
Arena in Al-Kharid.
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.
Seers - Roughly 100 seconds (from bank to spinning wheel, spinning and back to bank)
Lumbridge Castle - Roughly 11 seconds (from bank to spinning wheel)
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.
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6.0 - Quests for Experience
Big Chompy Bird Hunting: 262 XP
The Fremennik Trials: 2,800 XP
Temple of Ikov: 8,000 XP
Zogre Flesh Eaters: 2,000 XP
Quests with a choice Experience
A Fairy Tale Part II: 2,500 XP in any skill of your choice over level 30.
Great Brain Robbery, The: 5,000 XP for any skill you choose over level 30.
Legends Quest: 7,650-30,600 XP (7,650 is given to 4 skills from a list of skills)
One Small Favour: 10,000-20,000 XP (2 x 10,000 lamps for any skill of your choice over
level 30)
Recipe for Disaster: 20,000 XP (A Lamp to grant 20,000xp in a skill of your choice over
level 50)
The Tourist Trap: 4,650-9,300 XP (4,650 x2 given to either Agility, Fletching, Smithing or
Thieving)<table class="table_ch"></table>
