Woodcutting



Woodcutting (often abbreviated as WC or WCing) is a skill that involves chopping down different types of trees and vegetation. It is one of the most popular non-combat skills for free to play users. For each type of tree, a minimum Woodcutting level and a hatchet are required to cut it. With each level up, a player will be able to cut trees faster than previously. Additionally, for every improvement in hatchet used, from bronze to crystal, one's Woodcutting speed increases.

There are a wide range of trees, ranging from normal trees to magic trees as well as a few rarer trees and other types of vegetation.

General overview
As a player chops down a tree of a certain type, the corresponding logs will appear in their inventory. The player can then light the logs with a tinderbox (or with a bow if the player is a member who has completed Barbarian Training) to raise their Firemaking skill, cut them with a knife and make them into bows using the Fletching skill for members, or sell them to other players for money. This makes Firemaking and Fletching highly dependent on Woodcutting.

In order to chop a tree, a player will need to have a hatchet of a level they can use (previously known as an axe, but was changed in 2009 to help distinguish between battleaxes, pickaxes and Woodcutting axes). Hatchets can be wielded in the weapon slot, in order to gather more wood in the inventory, provided players have a high enough Attack level to use the type of metal the hatchet is, as it is still considered a weapon. Normal and Achey trees only provide one log per tree; however, higher level trees are able to generate as much as a full inventory of logs per tree.

Hatchets can be bought from Bob's store (located in Lumbridge), from the Grand Exchange, or smithed by players using the Smithing skill (except for black, sacred clay, dragon, and crystal hatchets, as well as the Inferno Adze, which cannot be smithed). However, Bob only sells bronze, iron, and steel hatchets. Bronze hatchets are given for free as a demo. Players will have to buy better hatchets from other players, buy them from the Grand Exchange, or smith the hatchets themselves. The Inferno Adze is a reward from the All Fired Up activity. Sacred clay hatchets may only be obtained from the Stealing Creation activity. Currently, the Crystal hatchet is the best hatchet in the game.

To chop down a given variety of tree, players will need a certain Woodcutting level and a hatchet which they are able to use. For example, a player will need a Woodcutting level of 75 to cut a Magic tree. A certain Woodcutting level is also required to use each hatchet. For example, a player will need a Woodcutting level of 41 to use a rune hatchet. A certain Attack level is required to wield a hatchet. For example, a player will need an Attack level of 50 to wield a rune hatchet. The Inferno Adze requires level 92 Firemaking and level 61 Woodcutting to use, but only requires level 1 Attack to wield. A hatchet can still be used without wielding it, but it will take up a slot in the inventory and thus decrease the amount of logs (and profit) the player is able to obtain per trip.

Trees are easy to find, as they are located all throughout RuneScape (the exceptions to this are Morytania, Karamja and the Wilderness, where many of the trees cannot be chopped down, only examined). An uncommon, high level tree, such as a yew tree, will have its position indicated on the mini-map with a special tree icon. To cut a tree, players have to find one and then left-click on it. When the player is done cutting, they can then set the logs on fire with a tinderbox to obtain Firemaking experience, fletch them if they are a member, or sell them to other players. Players also have the choice of dropping the logs, but it is not advised, as it takes a long time to drop an inventory. The player will not make a profit with this method of training.

Free players can only cut regular, oak, willow, maple, and yew trees. Previously, the maple trees were members-only, but the log itself was non-members. The Dungeoneering update of 19 July 2010 designated a resource dungeon where free players with a Dungeoneering level of 30+ could cut them.

Types of trees
Different types of trees in the game are listed below. However, due to a recent update, trees in certain locations have been altered to look more realistic in their appearance. Some of the pictures below may not be accurate.

An "(m)" signifies a members-only type of tree.

Machetes
To cut a jungle, players cannot use a hatchet. Instead, they need a machete, which must be wielded. There is no Attack or Woodcutting level required to wield any kind of machete.

Ordinary machetes can be bought from the general stores in Tai Bwo Wannai or Shilo Village. Opal, jade, and red topaz machetes are somewhat rarer, and can only be bought from Gabooty with trading sticks. All machetes are tradeable as well, and can be bought or sold on the Grand Exchange.

Jungle
There are three different kinds of jungles: light jungles, medium jungles, and dense jungles. When players hack a jungle, they receive thatch spars and initiate the Tai Bwo Wannai Cleanup activity. Jungles are members-only.

Canoes
Canoes are used to travel on the River Lum, which goes from Lumbridge all the way to level 35 Wilderness. However, a certain Woodcutting level is needed to carve the canoe tree into certain types of canoe. On 15 February 2011, canoes became free to play.

How to make canoes
To make a canoe, players have to find a canoe tree and have with them a hatchet that they have the required Woodcutting level to use. (With the 15 February 2011 canoe update, it is no longer necessary to have a hatchet to make a canoe; the canoe tutor will lend you a hatchet for free. When you are done constructing the canoe, you automatically return the hatchet you borrowed to the canoe tutor). Canoe trees can be found at canoe stations. These stations are located along the River Lum, in the following places:


 * Lumbridge: On the west side of the river near the furnace.
 * Champions' Guild: On the east side of the river west of the wheat field.
 * Gunnarsgrunn (AKA Barbarian Village): South of the eastern bridge on the east side of the river.
 * Edgeville: On the east side of the river near the guard post.
 * Level 35 Wilderness: At the lake south of the moss giants. Players cannot make a new canoe at this station.

When the player has found a canoe tree at one of these stations, they can cut the tree down. The player then has to click on the fallen tree and select what type of canoe they want to make. When the player has made the canoe they want, they then can click on the canoe to push it in the river. When in the river, the player can then click on the canoe and select where they want to go.

Canoes can only go to a certain number of stations away. Higher level canoes can go farther than the lower level canoes.

Sawmill
The Sawmill is a members-only area in which players with a Woodcutting level of 80 or higher can produce planks from logs, but when they are done, they cannot leave with the logs. The logs are obtained from log piles nearby, then converted into planks using the nearby machine. Then the planks must be cut by using the planks on a cutting table; a saw is required to do this. Using a crystal saw gives double the experience, in comparison to using a regular saw. Using a crystal saw will only double the experience gained from making each plank, NOT the experience reward given for completion of each task. It is not suggested to use sawmill training unless you have the crystal saw. While using the crystal saw in the sawmill, it will not lose charges. Sawmill training can be a more efficient way of gaining experience, up to 100k an hour, however it will only be better than ivy when using the crystal saw. Still, many players prefer ivy, as it is less click-intensive.

Special logs
Special teak logs and Special mahogany logs can be sold to the Sawmill Operator, north-east of Varrock or exchanged for a completely free conversion of the logs in your inventory into planks. The free conversion requires 2 of the same type of special log.

2 special teak logs can be used to convert up to 26 teak logs into teak planks.

2 special mahogany logs can be used to convert up to 26 teak logs and/or mahogany logs into teak/mahogany planks.

If you have only 1 special log or 1 of each type of special log, the sawmill owner will only offer to buy your special logs.

Other
The woodcutting stumps on Neitiznot can be used to make special items out of the arctic pine logs native to the island. Players must have gotten to this part in The Fremennik Isles quest to use them.

Nests and geodes
If the player is a member, a bird's nest may fall out of any tree they are cutting. Wearing a strung rabbit foot gives a better chance of getting a bird's nest drop while Woodcutting; however, this requires at least level 24 Hunter. One can either pick up the nest and search it or just leave it on the ground, though it is highly recommended that the player search it. When the player searches it, they will be given a random item, either a plain gold ring, or a sapphire, emerald, ruby, or diamond ring if it has a ring in the nest; a red, green, or blue bird's egg (can be hatched in an incubator with level 70 Summoning) if there is a red, green or blue egg in the nest respectively; a raven egg (can be hatched in an incubator with level 50 Summoning) if there is a gray egg in the nest; and a random seed if there are some seeds in the nest. These seeds can be worth quite a lot of money on the Grand Exchange, such as Papaya tree seeds and Magic Tree seeds. The empty nest can be ground with a pestle and mortar to get a crushed nest, an ingredient in the Saradomin brew. This means that players training for a Woodcutting Skillcape may accumulate some profit, even if they are using ivy to train. A crushed nest will sell for about.

Much like the Bird's nest, the crystal geode may fall out of a crystal tree whilst cutting (requires 94 or higher Woodcutting level). Upon opening it, the Crystal geode may contain several rewards like Crystal triskelions, Crystal weapon seeds and valuable Gems. A strung rabbit foot increases the chance of receiving a crystal geode, as does using a Tree-shaking scrimshaw.

Solomon's General Store
Upon the release of Solomon's General Store on 17 July 2012, players can purchase an alternative animation for woodcutting in the form of the Lumberjack woodcutting animation. This animation replaces the current animation for all woodcutting and costs 220 runecoins.

Discontinued woodcutting random events

 * These events were removed as part of the 25 February 2009 Random Event Update.


 * Axe head: While cutting trees, a player's axe might split, causing the axe head to fly off. The head would land somewhere nearby, usually 3 to 10 squares away. When this happened, the player had to find the axe head quickly before someone else saw it and took it. (Dragon axe heads were often targets for other players due to their large value.) When the player had found the axe head, he or she could then use it with their handle to put the axe back together. Due to player complaints, Jagex determined that loss of the axehead was unfair to players, and the event was discontinued when the Surprise Exam! random event was added.
 * Dr. Ford: While cutting trees, a piece of wood could fall on a player causing them to get dizzy. With their vision blurred, they had to guess how many fingers Dr. Ford was holding up, to get a fruit. Otherwise, they would be taken away. This event was removed fairly soon due to various glitches it caused. This event also used to exist in Mining.
 * Ents: A tree could turn into an Ent at any time. Players could tell if the tree they are cutting is an Ent because the tree would start shaking, gain an angry face somewhere on its trunk, a yellow dot would appear on the mini-map where the tree is, the name of the tree would be in yellow instead of a teal colour, and the tree would be bigger than normal. As soon the tree started showing the symptoms of an Ent, players would have to walk away and wait for the tree to transform back into its original state. If the player kept cutting the tree, the Ent would break the axe. To fix it, players would have to take the axe back to Bob of Bob's Axes, located in Lumbridge, to get it fixed for a price. However, the Inferno Adze and Sacred Clay axe, obtained from the Stealing Creation activity, could not break. (Ents have been superseded by Evil Trees as a Distraction and Diversion [members-only]).
 * Tree spirits: While cutting trees, a Tree Spirit would appear and begin attacking a player. The combat level of the spirit depended on the combat level of the player it was attacking, but it would always be higher than that of the player. The Tree Spirit's combat level varied from level 14 to 159. The player could either kill it or run away from it. If a player killed a Tree Spirit, it could drop some axes, herbs and seeds for members, bananas, runes, various miscellaneous items, or nothing at all (usually, the level 80+ ones gave rune axes). (Tree Spirits are still available in RuneScape, but only to members attempting to cut trees in the Enchanted Valley).

Making money
The logs gathered through Woodcutting can be sold for profit, with higher-level logs usually selling for more. The most popular logs for money are yew logs, which sell for around, magic logs, for around coins each, and elder logs, for around  coins each (cutting Magic and Elder logs is not recommended for those trying to get experience to reach level 99). The average income a player can get per hour with 99 Woodcutting varies from tree to tree, but with Elder logs it is possible to get approximately 500k.

Players can also get nests from trees, which contain tree seeds, rings or bird's eggs. The nest itself can be ground and sold (or used) as well.

The most common place to buy or sell logs is the Grand Exchange. A list of prices for logs can be found at the Grand Exchange Market Watch.

For advice on making money by Woodcutting, see the Woodcutting section of the Money-making guide.

Temporary boosts

 * An Axeman's Folly increases the player's Woodcutting level by 1. This is brewed using the Cooking skill.
 * A lumberjack aura grants a temporary woodcutting boost
 * A mature Axeman's Folly increases the player's Woodcutting level by 2. This is also brewed using the Cooking skill.
 * A brown Spicy stew randomly increases Woodcutting, Herblore, Farming, Fishing, Mining and Firemaking up to 5 levels or decreases up to 5 levels. These can be made using the Cooking skill, but only by members who have freed Evil Dave in the Recipe for Disaster quest.
 * Equipping the Woodcutting Cape of Accomplishment or operating the cape while it is worn will temporarily boost your Woodcutting level to 100. To obtain this cape, level 99 Woodcutting is required, and it must be bought from Wilfred for 99,000 coins.
 * A Beaver, a Summoning familiar, invisibly boosts the player's Woodcutting level by 2.
 * A god banner grants a visible +2 Woodcutting boost for 30 minutes once per day.
 * A Hazelnut praline boosts woodcutting by +3 but can no longer be obtained.

Helpful items

 * Lumberjack clothing pieces increase Woodcutting experience. You gain 5% more experience when you have the entire set equipped.
 * A strung rabbit foot increases the chance of a bird's nest falling out of a tree while cutting, and also increases the chance of a crystal geode from a crystal tree.


 * When using the inferno adze to chop, and wearing the flame gloves and the ring of fire, Firemaking experience increases by 5 percent. About 35 percent of the experience players get from Woodcutting is gained in Firemaking as well, due to the Inferno adze burning some logs. The inferno adze will not burn anything when you chop ivy or crystal trees, because there is nothing to burn; it will then act like a normal Dragon hatchet.
 * A Seer's headband 1 or higher may give players an extra log while cutting regular trees.
 * The tree-shaking scrimshaw and superior tree-shaking scrimshaw give players a 300% and 400% more chance of finding a bird's nest or crystal geode, respectively.

Trivia

 * In the early history of RuneScape, only regular trees could be cut. The experience given was based on the player's Woodcutting level: $$28.25 + 1.75 * (Woodcutting / level)$$. After the Fletching skill was added, it was briefly reduced to 12.5 experience, then doubled to 25 experience per regular log. While Jagex compensated for this by adding one-click woodcutting, many players (especially free users) were upset that training Woodcutting would take much longer.
 * Woodcutting animations were updated on 11 November 2008, so the chopping appears much faster and smoother.
 * Hatchets were referred to in-game as "axes" until an update on 1 April 2009. The change was made to reduce confusion with battleaxes and pickaxes.