Yew

Yew trees are one of a variety of trees that are interactive scenery found in various places. They are mostly used for Woodcutting to gather logs used in Fletching and Firemaking, but also play a role in Farming and Construction. A yew tree provides as many as 29 yew logs or as few as 1.

Yew trees in Woodcutting


All players with a hatchet (that they can use) and level 60 or higher Woodcutting can chop down a yew tree to obtain 175 experience and yew logs. A rune or dragon hatchet is preferred. As with all trees above normal trees and achey trees, yews can yield multiple logs when chopped. The time is takes for yew trees to respawn is 60–98 seconds, this is reduced if there are more players in a world. Yew trees are extremely crowded with players and it is hard to find a world with few or no players cutting them. Yews trees are marked with a rare tree mark on the mini-map.



Presently, there is high demand for logs to be used in Fletching and, to a lesser extent, Firemaking, even though there has been quite a range in the recent price of yew logs. As such, it is rare to see a vacant tree. Yews are extremely hard to cut in free-to-play worlds; players could consider cutting yew trees for logs in PvP worlds in order to decrease competition for logs, although there is the risk of dying. Another way some players use is logging on to a total level world. Probably the emptiest yew tree is east of the Stone Table in Varrock right next to the sheep farm, though there is only one tree, however it is rare for players to be there.

One of the best places to cut yew trees in free-to-play is in Rimmington, where four Yews can be found, although it can be very hard to get a full inventory, as many people will be woodcutting at this place. There is one yew at lumbridge graveyard it is rare to see anyone there.

For members, one of the best spots is the yew grove west of the Catherby bank due to a close bank and a high number of trees, but the spot is always extremely crowded with players and it is often near impossible to find an empty world. If one completes the Legends' quest, the three yew trees just outside the guild are rarely cut. Legends can bank inside the guild. Another good place to chop yews is in the Gnome Stronghold, because of the nearby spirit tree teleport to the Grand Exchange. Another great place to cut yews at is Melzar's Maze, as you can set your house at Rimmington, house teleport there, and then, when your inventory is full, use the Explorer's ring 3's cabbage teleport to get back to Draynor. (Or use any other teleport that doesn't take up inventory space.) Another good way to this is to bank at the deposit box in the customs office in Rimmington (shows up as "locker" in game) but you can only do this if you have completed the quest Rocking out. Though yew trees are a slow way to profit, compared to soft clay and steel bars, it is the only method where you could do something else while waiting for your inventory to fill up, like watching a movie, or reading a book. In members worlds, Yew trees are relatively empty. This is because there are better ways to earn money, or train Woodcutting which is the reason they are cut in non-members.

Tree Locations
Yew trees can be found in the following locations:

Free-to-play areas

 * 1 in the Lumbridge graveyard.
 * 1 north of Port Sarim near the stone wall separating Port Sarim and Draynor Village.
 * 1 next to the church in northern Varrock.
 * 1 south of Varrock, east of the Champions' guild, north of the east farm in Lumbridge.
 * 2 in the ruins in Edgeville.(Very Often crowded)
 * 3 in the forest south of Falador.
 * 1 east of Varrock, close to the Earth Altar.
 * 3 On the lawn behind Varrock Castle, east of the Grand Exchange (A good place to cut because it is near a bank and Grand Exchange) (Often crowded)
 * 4 west of Lumbridge.
 * 4 near Rimmington and south of Melzar's Maze. (Far from bank, though usually crowded and you can use Explorer's Ring 3 to cabbage-port near Draynor where theres a bank, saving walking time.)
 * 3 east of Varrock Palace, south of the Wilderness
 * 3 along Falador's southern wall

Member areas

 * 3 in Zanaris.
 * 3 south-east of the Legends' Guild entrance.
 * 3 south of Seers' Village bank in a church courtyard/graveyard. (Although it is close to a bank, it is not recommended to chop here as it is often crowded.)
 * 7 located around the Gnome Stronghold. (3 west of the bank, 4 in south-east corner.)
 * 7 near Port Tyras past a few Dense Forests and a Tripwire trap. (4 just south of the tripwire.)
 * 7 in a grove due west of Catherby, east of the Flax Field, and directly south of the Beehives. This location is handy for its proximity to the Catherby bank, but may occasionally be busy.
 * 10 gathered in the woodland Hunter zone.

A great way to chop yews is to complete the Defender of Varrock quest up to the point where the Armoured Zombies are attacking Varrock Palace. This makes this area a quest zone, meaning only you are in it. However, you can still chop the 3 Yew trees in the palace, making it a great place to chop.

Also, if you have completed Fairytale II - Cure a Queen to a certain point, you can use the fairy rings to go to the Legends' Guild (Code BLR) where there are 3 yew trees with virtually no one cutting them, and you can bank in Zanaris. The only drawback is that you lose one inventory space because you have to wield a Dramen Staff / Lunar Staff (unless you have completed Fairytale III - Battle at Orks Rift, at which point a staff is no longer required). A recommended level to start cutting yews is level 75.

Upon completion of the Swan Song quest players can fairly economically visit a patch of 9 yew trees starting just south of Kathy Corkat curving around the north side of Eagle's Peak. From the Piscatoris Fishing Colony bank, one can visit Kathy and she will row you down the river to the yew trees. Once you have a full inventory of logs, take the boat back to the Piscatoris Fishing Colony and bank. A trip in one direction takes about 36 seconds from bank to cutting the tree, so though it provides an uncrowded and plentiful grove of yews other methods such as the Edgeville or Legends Guild Yews may be faster.

Yew trees in Construction
Members can also plant a bagged yew tree in the garden of their player-owned house at level 60 Construction. This requires a watering can, but grants 141 experience in each of Construction and Farming.

Although this is a yew tree, it cannot be chopped down because it is bagged.

Yew trees in Farming
Members can grow a yew tree by planting a yew seed in a tree patch at level 60 Farming. They gain 81 experience for this, and a further 7069.9 for checking the tree's health when it has grown. A Gardener will require 10 Cactus spines as payment to look after your yew tree. Cutting down a yew or magic tree is a hard task in the Falador Diary. You may also pay the gardener 200gp to destroy the tree.

Trivia

 * The yew tree in non-fiction is a coniferous tree, similar to a pine tree. In RuneScape, the tree looks more like a broad-leaved tree, such as the sugar maple.
 * A strong yew can be found in Lumbridge Swamp, which provides a shortcut for members to the western shores of Al Kharid. Strong trees can not be cut.
 * Macros commonly targeted yew trees due to their high value, especially in free to play. As a result, nearly all yew trees had a constant population of macros around them. However, ever since the new trading system update of 2 January 2008 (designed to detect macros), most yew trees have few, if any, bots cutting one.
 * Possibly because of the Runetek update, the chopped yew still has it's shadow appearing. This may be a bug and has yet to be fixed (This is now only affecting some trees)
 * There are three yew trees where the Beekeeper random event takes place, though they can not be cut.
 * The maximum amount of logs you get from a single tree is reported to be 42.