Fletching Guide

Introduction

Fletching is a great skill in RuneScape. It's fun, and a quick way to make money. If you just want to make money, arrows is the best bet, but remember, not all arrows can be used on F2P. Fletching is for members only, but all arrows up to and including adamant can be used on F2P. This guide will take you through the different types of fletching items you can make in the game, and will show you how and where to do it.

What is fletching? Well, fletching is a skill which allows you to make items used in ranging. The higher your fletching skill is, the more cool stuff you can make. You can make items such as bows, arrows, special bolts and darts.

The most important tool in fletching is a knife. These can be found many places in RuneScape. One place is just south of Lumbridge castle; there's one on the ground. There's also one in the Lumbridge Castle basement, in the Karamja general store, and in Seers' Village, southwest of the bank in the house with a sink. They are also sold in many stores (see knife in our Items database for a list of shops.)

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Making Bows

Making bows is fairly easy. All you have to do is cut some wood and use a knife on it. For the best locations to cut wood, check our Woodcutting guide. After using your knife on the log of wood you will have to choose to either make a short or long bow. Then you will have an unstrung short/long bow in your inventory instead of that log. To get a string for your bow, you'll have to do some crafting. Go to either the Gnome Stronghold or Seers Village and pick some flax, then go to a spinning wheel (can be found in both Stronghold and Seers) and spin your flax by using it with the wheel. You will now have a bow string, which you just use on your unstrung bow, and VOILA! you have a bow all ready for use. If you have many bow strings and unstrung bows, you can select "Make all" option after using string on bow, and it will automatically string all of your bows in your inventory.

Please note that the experience points (exp) are for a fully finished bow. If you want the exp for making an unstrung bow, divide the exp by 2 (example: You get 100 total exp for making a Maple Short, that's the same as 50 for making an unstrung bow, and 50 for stringing.)

Bow Table
Pic	Name	Fletching lvl	Exp.
	Short Bow	5	10
	Long Bow	10	20
	Oak Short Bow	20	33
	Oak Long Bow	25	50
	Willow Short Bow	35	66.5
	Willow Long Bow	40	83
	Maple Short Bow	50	100
	Maple Long Bow	55	116.5
	Yew Short Bow	65	135
	Yew Long Bow	70	150
	Magic Short Bow	80	166.5
	Magic Long Bow	85	183

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Making Arrows

Arrows are not as fun to make as bows, but you can get a lot of cash for them. However, you'll need a good amount if you really want cash. What you do is go to a forest (Lumbridge-Draynor is the best), and cut a whole bunch of trees. Watch out for the random events though, because these might break your axe, and then you'll have to spend time getting Bob to repair it. Anyway, just cut some normal trees, use your knife on the logs, and make some arrow shafts.

When you have the shafts you'll have to add some feathers to them. With the release of hunter, this has become easier. Remember all those colourful feathers that the birds you trapped dropped? They can be used to feather your arrows as well. You will also need some arrow heads. You get arrow heads from smithing (see smithing guide for more information on levels needed etc.). You need 1 shaft, 1 feather and 1 arrow head for an arrow. Might sound like a lot, but the best thing is: You get experience points from all of it! Note that grenwall spikes (from Hunting) can also be used with feathers to make headless arrows (giving the same experience).

Please note that the exp for the arrows include cutting of the logs and feathering.

Arrow Table
Pic	Name	Fletching lvl	Exp for set of 15	Exp per arrow
	15 Arrow shafts	1	5	0.33
	15 Headless Arrows	1	15	1
	15 Bronze Arrows	1	39	2.6
	15 Iron Arrows	15	57.5	3.8
	15 Steel Arrows	30	95	6.3
	15 Mithril Arrows	45	132	8.8
	15 Broad Leaf Arrows*	52	225	15
	15 Adamant Arrows	60	169.5	11.3
	15 Rune Arrows	75	207.4	13.8
	15 Dragon Arrows	90	244.5	16.3

* You must have completed the Smoking Kills quest and purchased the ability from a slayer master before fletching broad arrows. See our Slayer Guide to learn more.

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Making Crossbows

A fairly complicated method of training is to make crossbows. The first step is to use a knife on logs, this will make the crossbow stock. Then, you must attach the proper metal limb to it, you will need a hammer to do this. The limbs can be made using the smithing skill. The final step is to add a crossbow string. Crossbow strings can be made by level 10 crafters on a spinning wheel. See the Crafting skill guide for more information.

The experience listed in the table below includes fletching the stock from the wood, adding the appropriate type of metal limbs, and adding a crossbow string. The stock and stringing each earn exactly one-fourth of the total xp shown; adding the limbs earns the other half of the total xp. Analyzing the use of wood and strings alone, fletching ordinary bows offers superior xp - but using a finished smithed product to gain additional fletching xp is an unusual skilling twist.

Crossbow Table
Pic	Name	Wood Type	Fletching lvl	Cutting stock	Adding limbs	Stringing	Total Exp.
	Bronze Crossbow	Regular Wood	9	6	12	6	24
	Blurite Crossbow*	Oak	24	16	32	16	64
	Iron Crossbow	Willow	39	22	44	22	88
	Steel Crossbow	Teak	46	27	54	27	108
	Mithril Crossbow	Maple	54	32	64	32	128
	Adamantite Crossbow	Mahogany	61	41	82	41	164
	Runite Crossbow	Yew	69	50	100	50	200

*In order to make a Blurite crossbow you must have completed The Knight's Sword quest.

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Making Bolts

Another option when training fletching is to make bolts. First you smith the unfinished bolts (10 bolts per bar), then you attach feathers to them. Once that's done, you're ready to add the tips to them. The gem tips are made by using a chisel on a cut gem, pearl tips are obtained by using a chisel on an oyster pearl, and you can get barbed tips as a reward from the Ranged Guild minigame.

Gem-tipped bolts can be enchanted spell to give certain effects when ranging enemies. Check out the magic guide's Bolt Enchantment section. You may decide to add weapon poison to plain metal bolts or to barbed-tipped bolts.

Note: You can get bronze bolts from the archery shops in Varrock, Catherby, and respawn places in the wilderness. All higher bolts must be made at an anvil using the smithing skill or gotten from monster drops. Because silver is a crafting metal, you don't smith it. Craft it at a furnace with the bolt mould in your inventory.

If you have spent a lot of time raising your hunter skill, you probably have lots of kebbit spikes and long kebbit spikes. Use a chisel on them to make bolts for the hunter crossbow. No feathers needed! If you do not have the required fletching level for kebbit bolts, just talk to Leon in Yanille. Not only does he sell the hunter crossbow that fires the bolts, but he also will make the bolts for a small fee and the spikes. Onyx bolt tips can be purchased in TzHaar for a small amount of Tok'kul.

Bolt Table
Pic	Name	Fletching lvl	Exp.	Bolt Type
	10 Bronze Bolts	9	5	Bronze
	10 Opal Tipped Bolts	11	16	Bronze
	10 Blurite bolts	24	10	Blurite
	10 Jade Tipped Bolts	26	24	Blurite
	6 Kebbit Bolts	32	34.8	Kebbit Spike
	10 Iron Bolts	39	15	Iron
	10 Pearl Tipped Bolts	41	32	Iron
	6 Long Kebbit Bolts	42	47.7	Long Kebbit Spike
	10 Silver bolts	43	25	Silver
	10 Steel Bolts	46	35	Steel
	10 Red Topaz Tipped Bolts	48	39	Steel
	10 Barb Tipped Bolts	51	95	Bronze
	10 Mithril Bolts	54	50	Mithril
	10 Broad Tipped Bolts*	55	30	Broad Bolts
	10 Sapphire Tipped Bolts	56	47	Mithril
	10 Emerald Tipped Bolts	58	55	Mithril
	10 Adamant Bolts	61	70	Adamant
	10 Ruby Tipped Bolts	63	63	Adamantite
	10 Diamond Tipped Bolts	65	70	Adamantite
	10 Runite Bolts	69	100	Runite
	10 Dragonstone Tipped Bolts	71	82	Runite
	10 Onyx Tipped Bolts	73	94	Runite

* You must have completed the Smoking Kills quest and purchased the ability from a slayer master before fletching broad bolts. See our Slayer Guide to learn more.

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Making Darts

Darts are not often used in ranging, and the only real reason for that is they are hard to make. Well... Not that hard... All you need is to smith some dart tips and add some feathers to them, and you have the darts. So all you need to do is go to an anvil, smith the dart tips (more info in the smithing guide, and use some feathers on them. Dragon dart tips are obtained from the Impetuous Impulses minigame.

Please note that you'll have to do the Tourist Trap Quest to make darts.

Darts
Pic	Name	Fletching lvl.	Exp.
	Bronze Dart	1	18
	Iron Dart	22	38
	Steel Dart	37	75
	Mithril Dart	52	112
	Adamant Dart	67	150
	Rune Dart	81	188
	Dragon Dart	95	250

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Ogre Ranging

To use an Ogre bow you must have started the Big Chompy Bird Hunting quest. If you lose your bow you can talk to Rantz again to get a new one. These bows are more powerful than normal bows, and are used for killing chompys (To learn more please read our Chompy hunting guide for more information). They fire Ogre arrows, which can be fletched:

• Cut some Achey trees, around the Feldip Hills area or southwest of Gu'Tanoth.
• Use a knife on the logs as usual, and select arrow shafts to receive between 2 - 6 arrow shafts.
• Add feathers to the arrow shafts. It takes 4 feathers per arrow shaft.
• Get some wolf bones (wolves can also be found around the Feldip area) and use a chisel on the bones to get between 2 - 6 Wolfbone arrow tips.
• Add these to the flighted ogre arrows to get Ogre arrows.

Ogre fletching table
Pic	Name	Fletching lvl	Exp.
	Ogre shaft	5	1.9 per shaft
	Flighted ogre arrows	5	0.9 per arrow
	Adding wolfbone tips	5	1 per arrow
	Completed Ogre arrow	5	3.8 per arrow
	Ogre composite bow*	30	90 (for cutting and stringing)
	6 Bronze Brutal	7	1.4 per Brutal
	6 Iron Brutal	18	2.6 per brutal
	6 Steel Brutal	33	5.1 per brutal
	6 Black Brutals**	38	6.4 per brutal
	6 Mithril Brutal	49	7.5 per brutal
	6 Adamant Brutal	62	10.1 per brutal
	6 Rune Brutal	77	12.5 per brutal

*Composite Ogre Bow

This requires a fletching level of 30 and you can not make these bows until you make one during the Zogre Flesh Eaters quest.

To make a composite Ogre Bow, cut down an achey tree and use your knife with the logs (with wolf bones in your inventory) to fletch an unstrung bow. Then use a bowstring with the unstrung bow to make a composite Ogre Bow. This bow is the only bow which can fire brutal arrows. To make Brutal arrows, smith some nails from the required metal and add the nails to the arrows instead of wolfbone tips. You will need a hammer in your inventory to do this, and you will use 1 nail per brutal arrow.

** To get black nails, kill Zogres in the cave from the Zogre Flesh Eaters quest and use the key they drop with one of the various coffins around. Black nails are a rare drop from the coffins.

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How To Train

So... You want some fletching levels, eh? Well, to get levels in fletching isn't that hard. If you do it the right way that is :) Most players collect bow materials first, and then train fletching at a one-click bank such as Castle Wars or the Culinaromancer's Chest in Lumbridge Castle basement. Here's a small walkthrough of what do at different levels.

Level 1 to 20: Arrow shafts are the way to go... Even though these don't give much exp, it's the fastest way. Just go to Draynor Village and make the shafts in the forest there. They stack!
Level 20-35: There are several locations with multiple oak trees, so make Oak shorts/longs until level 35.
Level 35-65: Making Willow shorts/longs. Go to either the trees south-west of Draynor bank, or the ones north-west of Seers bank. Keep making these until level 65.
Level 65-99: Yew shorts/longs of course! There's a great market for yew logs, so you could either just buy your logs, or cut them yourself in the Gnome Stronghold. There are a lot of yew trees there.

Top tip!
Instead of dropping your bows, work some magic on them. Literally... Just bring some nature runes and a fire staff, and alch your bows. It's a lot quicker than dropping, and you get both magic exp and money from it.

Alchemy Table
	Completed Bows		Unstrung Bows
Name	Low Alch for	High Alch for	Low Alch for	High Alch for
Short Bow	20 gp	30 gp	9 gp	15 gp
Long Bow	32 gp	48 gp	24 gp	36 gp
Oak Short Bow	40 gp	60 gp	20 gp	30 gp
Oak Long Bow	64 gp	96 gp	32 gp	48 gp
Willow Short Bow	80 gp	120 gp	40 gp	60 gp
Willow Long Bow	128 gp	192 gp	64 gp	96 gp
Maple Short Bow	160 gp	240 gp	80 gp	120 gp
Maple Long Bow	256 gp	384 gp	128 gp	192 gp
Yew Short Bow	320 gp	480 gp	160 gp	240 gp
Yew Long Bow	512 gp	768 gp	256 gp	384 gp
Magic Short Bow	640 gp	960 gp	320 gp	480 gp
Magic Long Bow	1024 gp	1536 gp	512 gp	768 gp

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Cape of Achievement

Once you have mastered the skill and reached level 99 you may want to buy yourself a Fletching Cape from Hickton in the Catherby Fletching Shop. Refer to the Achievement Capes guide for more details.

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Request Assistance

If you find yourself a few levels short of making a bow or an arrow, the request assistance option will allow you to do so. Simply right click the player who has the fletching skills that you need and request their assistance. If they accept, a pair of hands will appear in your bottom right corner, and you can fletch whatever items they can. You keep the items, but they get the experience. Note however you may not use this to make a Bow sword because this is a quest-related item.

The summoning beaver familiar can act as a fletching knife, saving you a pack space, in addition to its other logging abilities. To date there are no boosting potions, ales or equipment for fletching.

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Credits

Original Guide By: Ks Jeppe

Thanks to: archeradam5, chenw, Dragontotem, Freesia, Impaler99, kiwi_pearls, Misplacedme, msiGC, pokemama, Shane2, Swtkittn, vmser, Wizard111111, zyrm

Last Updated By: tryto

Last updated On: 15-Jun-2008