Pay-to-play Fletching training

This article gives tips about training the Fletching skill. Fletching is a Members only skill.

Helpful Quests
Some quests give fletching xp as a one-time quest reward.
 * Big Chompy Bird Hunting - 260xp
 * Animal Magnetism - 1000xp
 * Zogre Flesh Eaters - 2000xp
 * Fremennik Trials - 2813xp
 * Devious Minds - 5000xp
 * Catapult Construction - 5000xp
 * Temple of Ikov - 8000
 * In Pyre Need - 12500

Some other quests not listed give a generic xp lamp that could be used on fletching, although fletching is a fast skill so generic xp lamps are typically better used on other skills.

Levels 1 - 55
There isn't much to training at very low level fletching. Simply cut or buy logs and make the following items:


 * Arrow shafts (levels 1-10)
 * Longbow (u) (levels 10-20)
 * Oak shortbow (u) (levels 20-25)
 * Oak longbow (u) (levels 25-35)
 * Willow shortbow (u) (levels 35-40)
 * Willow longbow (u) (levels 40-50)
 * Maple shortbow (u) (levels 40-55)

The products can be sold to a general store for small amounts of money.

Commonly used methods involving bows
The following guide from 55 to 99 is the standard guide going from maple to yew to magic bows.

Experience rates stated are subject to change from person to person. Prices are subject to change as well.

Levels 55 - 70
The most common way to go from 55 to 70 fletching is cutting maple longbows (u). This can be done by buying 9803 Maple logs for 36 gp each and cutting them into longbows. It is not recommended to string maple longbows because it is a waste of bowstrings; maple longbows are nearly impossible to sell on the Grand Exchange. Maple longbows (u) can be sold to a general store for 32 gp each, thus losing only 4 gp per bow (per 58.3 xp), or used as a 144 gp junk item. Bows can be cut at a rate of 1 per 1.8 seconds, or approximately 1700 per hour including banking and random events. Thus, cutting maple longbows (u) gives 99k fletching xp per hour at a cost of 6.8k per hour if the bows are not used as junk. Going from 55 to 70 fletching by fletching maple longbows (u) will take approximately 5.8 hours. 353k gp in starting capital is recommended to buy all 9803 maple logs at once, and 314k will be earned back by selling the maple longbows (u), for a loss of 39k.

Levels 70 - 85
The most common way to go from 70 to 85 fletching is fletching yew longbows, both cutting and stringing them. Each step gives 75 fletching xp, for a total of 150 per bow.

The cutting step will consume a yew log (449 gp) and produce a yew longbow (u) (443 gp) for a loss of 6 gp per bow. The stringing step will consume a yew longbow (u) (443 gp) and a bowstring (180 gp) and produce a yew longbow (652 gp) for a profit of 29 gp per bow. Thus, the entire process is a profit of 23 gp per bow.

Going from 70 to 85 fletching in this way would require 16807 yew logs and 16807 bowstrings. The total capital required to do this without buying supplies more than once is 10.572m. 10.958m worth of yew longbows will be gotten back, for a total profit of 387k.

Bows can be strung at a rate of 1 per 1.2 seconds, or approximately 2200 per hour including banking and random events. Thus, cutting yew longbows (u), gives 128k fletching per hour at a cost of 10k per hour, stringing yew longbows gives 165k fletching xp per hour at a profit of 64k per hour, and doing both for a given number of logs gives 144k fletching xp per hour at a profit of 22k per hour. Going from 70 to 85 fletching by fletching yew longbows, both steps, will take about 17.2 hours.

Note that stringing yew longbows is actually better in both xp per hour and profit per hour than cutting yew longbows. Doing both steps of the process is actually only done because of convenience or because people have not considered only doing one step of the process. Only stringing the bows, and thus using 33614 yew longbows (u) and 33614 bowstrings to go from 70 to 85 fletching, is great option, although it requires more frequent banking than cutting bows.

Levels 85 - 99
The most common way to go from 85 to 99 fletching is fletching magic longbows, both cutting and stringing them. Each step gives 91.5 fletching xp, for a total of 183 per bow.

The cutting step will consume a magic log (1281 gp) and produce a magic longbow (u) (1231 gp) for a loss of 50 gp per bow. The stringing step will consume a magic longbow (u) (1231 gp) and a bowstring (180 gp) and produce a magic longbow (1414 gp) for a profit of 3 gp per bow. Thus, the entire process is a loss of 47 gp per bow.

Going from 70 to 85 fletching in this way would require 53420 magic logs and 53420 bowstrings. The total capital required to do this without buying supplies more than once is 78.047m. 75.536m worth of magic longbows will be gotten back, for a total loss of 2.511m.

Cutting magic longbows (u) gives 156k fletching per hour at a loss of 85k per hour; stringing magic longbows gives 201k fletching xp per hour at a profit of 7k per hour, and doing both for a given number of logs gives 175k fletching xp per hour at a loss of 45k per hour. Going from 85 to 99 fletching by fletching magic longbows, both steps, will take about 55.7 hours.

Note that stringing magic longbows is actually better in both xp per hour and profit per hour than cutting magic longbows. Doing both steps of the process is actually only done because of convenience or because people have not considered only doing one step of the process. Only stringing the bows, and thus using 106840 magic longbows (u) and 106840 bowstrings to go from 85 to 99 fletching, is great option, although it requires more frequent banking than cutting bows.

Alternative methods involving arrows or bolts
The following guide to 99 fletching is an alternative guide involving training with arrows or bolts instead of bows.

Experience rates stated are subject to change from person to person. Prices are subject to change as well.

Bolts
Regular metal bolts are made 10 at a time and do not have a make-x option. Mithril bolts are makable at level 54 fletching and give 5 xp per bolt, or 50 xp per set of 10 bolts. Adamant bolts are makable at level 61 fletching and give 7 xp per bolt, or 70 xp per set of 10 bolts. Runite bolts are expensive to make and not worth consideration here. Bolts below mithril could be used before 54 fletching but as 54 fletching is quite low they will not be discussed here.

Making mithril or adamant bolts requires adamant or mithril bolts (unf) and feathers. Both supplies can be bought on the Grand Exchange with a buy limit of 10k. Feathers can also be bought from Shantay's infinite stock at 6 gp each, which actually is the same as the Grand Exchange price.

Mithril or adamant bolts can be made 10 or 20 per 0.6 seconds by putting the unfinished bolts next to feathers in your inventory and using a method where you double click on each item. Making bolts continuously in this way is very clicking intensive and it is common to only reach 50k to 80k bolts per hour instead of the 110k+ theoretical maximum. Fletching mithril bolts continuously is thus 250k to 400k xp per hour, and fletching adamant bolts continuously is 350k to 560k xp per hour.

The cost of making either type of bolt is very variable. It is possible to get the xp for free, especially by waiting for good times to buy the unfinished bolts and for good times to sell the finished bolts, but it is also common for it to cost 1-3 gp per fletching experience for either type of bolt.

Instead of making mithril or adamant bolts continuously, they also can be made while training another skill. For example, it is possible to make over 20k bolts per hour (over 140k fletching xp with adamant bolts) while running at the Dorgesh-Kaan agility course, theoretically without losing any time at all (although in practice more mistakes will cause your lap time to increase by 2-10 seconds).

Some types of bolts are regular metal bolts that have gem tips attached to them. The type of gem bolt that is most useful for training fletching is diamond bolts. They are made by attaching diamond bolt tips to adamant bolts. 7 xp is gained per bolt made, or 70 xp per set. The sets are made with a make-10 option at a rate of 1 set per 0.6 seconds for 300-340k xp per hour. The profit or cost is extremely variable. Sometimes making diamond bolts loses money, sometimes it breaks even, and sometimes it can make hundreds of thousands of gp per hour.

Dragon bolts can also be used to train fletching.

Arrows
Broad arrows can be made at 52 fletching after the ability to make them is bought using Slayer Points. They give 15 xp per arrow and are made in sets of 15 using a make-10 (sets) option, which makes 1 set every 1.2 seconds. They are made from broad arrowtips, bought from Slayer Masters for 50 gp each, and headless arrows, bought on the Grand Exchange for about 10 gp each. Broad arrows are untradable, so the loss is 60 gp per arrow, or 4 gp per xp. Approximately 2500 sets of arrows can be made per hour for 563k fletching xp per hour at a loss of 2.25m per hour. Broad arrows are not very commonly made because of their great cost. Also, not many people have the ability to make them, and still others don't even know how fast xp they are. However, players with large amounts of money have been known to make broad arrows, sometimes even to 200m fletching xp. Fletching xp can essentially be "banked" by buying headless arrows on the Grand Exchange, which have a buy limit of 10k per 4 hours. This costs about 1/6 of the total cost of making the arrows. Once many headless arrows have been accumulated, the xp can be realised, and the remaining 5/6 of the loss taken, by buying the arrowtips.

How "rich" should one be to consider making broad arrows instead of stringing magic longbows to train at 85+ fletching? With 563k fletching xp and -2250k profit per hour with the former, and 201k fletching xp and +7k profit per hour with the latter, someone who values their time at approximately over 1.3M per hour should make broad arrows instead of stringing magic longbows. Not many people value their time this high but some do. At 52-85 fletching, broad arrows are more worth it.

Mithril arrows can be made at level 45 fletching. Making mithril arrows gives exactly 1/2 the xp of making broad arrows (mithril arrows give 7.5 xp per arrow and are made at the same speed as broad arrows). Their cost is variable but typically is 1.5-2 gp per xp.

Adamant arrows can be made at level 60 fletching. Making adamant arrows gives exactly 2/3 the xp of making broad arrows (adamant arrows give 10 xp per arrow and are made at the same speed as broad arrows). Their cost is variable but typically is 2 to 3 gp per xp.

Rune arrows cost far too much to make to be reasonable to fletch.

Mithril arrows or adamant arrows are thus alternative ways to train fletching.

Darts
Darts are not very useful to train fletching with and are seldom used. Interestingly, making dragon darts is the absolute fastest fletching xp in the game, but is not a realistic method to use because of the magnitude of supplies and product involved relative to their rarity.

Cape
The Fletching cape of Achievement can be purchased for 99k gp from Hickton in Catherby.