Construction training

This article gives tips on training the members-only Construction skill.

Introduction
Construction is generally an expensive skill to train. There are very few methods to train without losing money. At low Construction levels, players typically make their own planks, use clay or limestone, and explore different rooms and furniture. To advance, most players use oak, teak, or mahogany planks to build and remove oak dungeon doors, carved teak magic wardrobes, or mahogany tables. These methods award only experience in return for used materials. Even if the planks are made by the player, money is still lost by paying for use of the sawmill, Plank Make spell or even with the Portable sawmill.

Typical costs for Construction experience vary from 5.8 (using player-made oak planks) to 15 coins per experience point (using mahogany planks bought from the Grand Exchange).

Items and bonuses
Bonus experience or double experience cuts costs in half.

Constructor's outfits, sculpting chisels, and Clan Avatar xp boosts can be used to cut costs a little more.

The wisdom aura, festive aura or enlightenment aura can also be used.

The Scroll of proficiency unlocks the ability to save a plank when using 3 or more planks.

Understanding experience earned
Most built items require multiple construction materials to make. The experience gained is calculated from the experience per construction material used. For instance, the experience gained from making two of an item that requires 2 oak planks gives exactly the same experience as a single item that requires 4 oak planks, thus making the single item (in this example) faster for the same experience and cost.

Cost of earning Construction experience
Most materials used in Construction cannot be made with skills and must be bought from suppliers or the Grand Exchange. Wooden planks are made by handing over logs and money to the sawmill operator or by using the logs in the Portable sawmill. Construction materials that can be made by the player are soft clay, molten glass, limestone bricks, and steel bars. Even these items are normally used in combination with other bought Construction materials, except for a very few, low experience items such as clay fireplaces (3 soft clay for 30 experience). Speciality items such as gold leaves, marble blocks, and magic stones can be bought from a specialty shop in Keldagrim.

To reach high levels of Construction, millions of coins are required. A source of income, such as farming herbs or merchanting, is required to pay for materials.

After completing the appropriate Morytania Tasks, one may receive 30 normal planks, 20 oak planks, or 10 teak planks daily from Razmire Keelgan, potentially worth 990, 1200, or 900 construction experience respectively.

Balancing time spent "spending" vs. time spent earning
To gain construction experience you need to spend money, and therefore any training regime must include time not earning experience but earning money. There are many options available (outlined in the rest of this article) to balance speed of earning experience against cost of earning experience. The optimum balance for any player depends on the players ability to earn money in a given time. This ability changes with time and general advancement through RuneScape.

Therefore to maintain the optimum balance, a player must constantly re-evaluate any marginal time-consuming processes, weighing any tiny amount of lost time against the probable money they could have earned in the lost few seconds.

One decent plan is to train Farming at the same time. During the time it takes for your plant to grow, you can train Construction. When your product is ready, there is a great chance that you have lowered the gap from money loss or maybe even earn some extra money.

The fastest possible practical plan is probably making mahogany tables, using mahogany planks bought from the Grand Exchange, not travelling but using a Demon Butler to bring the planks, constructed with "make all" on a workbench and dropped to the ground after making while having the Demon Butler bring more planks, without using bonus experience. A player can not drop items while seated at a workbench. The Demon Butler will deliver planks to a player's inventory while the player is seated at a workbench if he is aligned properly. However even small tweaks to this plan would save millions, and significantly cheaper plans would save as much as a hundred million coins before the player earned their skill cape. Alternatively, if the player has several billions to spare, there are even faster plans possible!

Building mahogany tables gives one of the fastest experience rates in RuneScape and uniquely this method is available from a relatively low construction level.

Costs for different materials
The cost to get from level 80 (1,986,068 experience) to level 99 (13,034,431 experience), using grand exchange plank price and not including the cost of travel or servants, is:

Using servants to make the planks cheapens teak and oak considerably relative to mahogany planks and marble blocks.

Planks
Notes:
 * Slightly different experience, cost, and cost / experience point is given for different metal nails.
 * The cost of any extra transportation methods to get to the Sawmill are not included.

Non-Planks
This chart shows the experience given per object when each object is used. The cost per experience point is based on Grand Exchange prices. The cost of "free" components (i.e., the components that can be made with effort only) shows the price one could sell those items for, if you had not used them on Construction.

Notes
 * You can turn clay into soft clay by adding water to it. This can be done in a player-owned house using a garden or kitchen water source.
 * You can turn limestone into limestone bricks using a chisel on it. This gives 6 Crafting experience.

Special logs
Special logs are another method of lowering the cost of training. They are obtained randomly when chopping down teak or mahogany trees. If a player has two special mahogany or teak logs in their inventory and 26 or 27 "normal" teak or mahogany logs, then the Sawmill Operator will exchange 2 special logs for 26 / 27 free planks. Also, the Sawmill Operator WILL accept noted special logs (but not regular noted logs), so a player can make 27 planks for free at the same time. This may be a great method of obtaining teak and mahogany planks if a player wants to train woodcutting as well. Special logs cannot be traded. It is HIGHLY recommended that special mahogany logs are used to make an inventory-full of mahogany planks, and then sell the resulting planks so that you can get many more teak planks.

Run to bank
Running is free, but Construction requires large quantities of materials, and generally player-owned house portals are not in particularly convenient locations for running to and from banks, save Yanille, Taverley, Prifddinas, and Mazcab. See the player-owned-house portal page for information on choosing a house location. It is recommended to have a house at Taverley or, if you have sufficient levels, Prifddinas.

Teleport to house
Generally, after advancing beyond lower levels, players teleport to and from their house to a bank, which consists of teleporting to the house via runes (1 law rune, earth rune, and air rune plus a softened clay.) To save an inventory slot, use a staff. To save two inventory slots use law staff and dust rune or a Teleport to House tablet at greater cost.

Teleport to House costs coins for each cast with all the runes above;  coins when using dust runes,  coins when using a staff of air, or  coins when using an earth, lava, or mud staff, with Law staff and Dust rune  coins on average. A teleport tablet costs coins.

Teleport to bank
All teleports built into the house are free once built. The closest teleport to a bank is Al Kharid, from a mounted amulet of glory in your Quest Hall. Portals to Varrock, Falador or Kharyrll can also teleport you close to a bank. Alternatively, use a ring of duelling to teleport to Castle Wars bank - this then allows you take a balloon to the Sawmill. A free way for users to teleport close to a bank with no level or quest requirements is with the Ring of Kinship which teleports you a few clicks south of a Fremennik banker. A TokKul-Zo can teleport next to the Fight Caves bank, quickly and infinitely for free. If you do not have the required construction level to build a portal room, or do not wish to use inventory / equipment space for a ring, another good way to access a bank is by the Burthorpe lodestone.

Teleport to sawmill
If players wish to run logs themselves, it is highly recommended to use the Plank Maker by the Taverley House portal instead of the Sawmill Operator northeast of Varrock. Players can run north from the Taverley bank to easily reach the Plank Maker. Alternatively, players can move their house to Taverley and use Teleport to House or, after the completion of Love Story, use chipped House teletabs. A ring of duelling or TokKul-Zo is recommended for the teleport to a bank. There is also the Sawmill Operator elf in Prifddinas who is located right near the Prifddinas house portal.

Two-way teleport
A two-way teleport is going to the bank (withdraw necessary items), then to the house and then to the bank, repeating the process indefinitely. The most efficient route is:


 * Teleport to the TzHaar City using TokKul-Zo, or teleport to Castle Wars using ring of duelling
 * House teleport

Using a combination of either elemental staves and runes can save inventory spaces, and reduce costs.

If a player lacks the TokKul-Zo and wishes to travel for free, options exist. The Lodestone Network can be used to teleport to a bank, with Burthorpe's bank being closest to its lodestone. The Yanille and Taverley house portals are close to their respective lodestones. For players in a clan, the clan vexillum is also an option. The Skull of Remembrance can also teleport to a bank, but it takes up an inventory slot as it cannot be equipped.

Three-way teleport
A three-way teleport is going to the bank, then to the sawmill, then to the house, and then back to the bank, etc. The most efficient route requires a house in Taverley with the Teleport to House spell set to teleport to the outside of the house portal.


 * Teleport to House, taking the player outside the Taverley portal
 * Convert logs to planks at the Plank Maker a few steps to the east
 * Go into the house
 * Teleport using one of the several options listed above, or through the house's portal chamber or mounted amulet of glory

Servant use
Instead of teleporting, many players use a personal servant to fetch items from the bank, or get logs converted at the Sawmill. The servant will charge a fee for every 8 trips (higher level servants charge more), but this is generally faster than teleporting yourself. The fee is reduced by 25% after completion of the Love Story quest.

Trip time

 * Note: This section does not apply if the player is using Servants.

With the correct choice of teleport techniques, very little running is required to make a round trip (either two-way or three-way). This means that the total trip time is very largely dependent on how fast the player can click and select various options. To maximise the XP earned per hour depends on balancing the fastest possible round trip (i.e. least clicks) vs. a slightly slower round trip maximising the XP earned per trip. Players therefore vary in their precise technique - fast clickers tend to prefer the fastest possible trip. Players on slow computers or poor-quality internet connections tend to prefer maximising the XP per trip. Note that because of the relatively low cost of teleport compared to the cost of an inventory, the teleport trip cost tends not the be a factor in an optimised trip plan.

Plan round trip to optimise inventory

 * To maximise experience per trip, you need to maximise the number of planks / logs you transport per trip.
 * If you are using a beast of burden, you need at least one spare slot to swap logs / planks between the two inventories at the Plank Maker. A technique is to drop one or two planks to make this space and pick the planks when done. Alternatively you may decide that it is quicker to have a spare slot or two.
 * Bring materials in amounts equal to the highest multiple of the required materials to construct your items that is possible per trip (e.g., carry a multiple of 8 for larders, or 10s for Oak doors) as this reduces weight by not bringing extra material that won't be used. Alternatively, build something else to use the remaining planks (e.g. if you are carrying 26 planks, build two oak doors and then build two oak armchairs to use up the last 6 planks). With careful planning this does not need to slow down a round trip very much.
 * Making Flatpacks can be a very fast way of using up almost any "left-over" planks. For instance "Make All" Oak drawers will use up any even number of oak planks.
 * If you are three-way teleporting, always maximise your inventory of planks. Bank your unused planks and when you have enough planks, skip the sawmill teleport for a cycle.

You cannot bring a summoning familiar in your house when you're in building mode.

Experience per trip
For number of planks carried. Higher numbers require a Beast of Burden.

Servants
An alternative to travelling between your house and a bank is to use Servants to bring things from the bank to your house. This is faster than travelling yourself because you can build while the servant is making the trip. Better servants make the round trip faster.

Servants have a right click option that allows the fetch-from-bank menu to be brought up quickly. Furthermore, the last request is saved, so the player can repeatedly ask for the same set of items to be brought without typing the specific quantity each time.

Flatpacks
Flatpacks are recommended as a less intensive way to train construction. Flatpacks are made in a workshop on a workbench, and can be dropped afterwards. Flatpacks can be added to the action bar to facilitate dropping.


 * Flatpacks can be sold on the Grand Exchange, however the return is very poor. The volume traded is also very low. Not every flatpack is worth selling. Flatpacks can also be sold to shops for even poorer prices.
 * Flatpacks can be alched, but the return is less than the cost of the runes.
 * Flatpacks may be sold to Advisor Ghrim in exchange for coins in the treasury of your kingdom, after completing the hard Fremennik Tasks. In principle he gives 10% of the material costs. How this is calculated is not clear, but the value of a flatpack is less than 10% of the GE price of a log plus the Sawmill fee. Since the Sawmill fee is fixed, this suggests that he values the logs at less than GE price but greater than the max store price.
 * Advisor Ghrim will not take noted items.
 * Flatpacks can be traded in at the Mobilising Armies activity for Investment credits. These credits are used to get reward credits which can be used to get money or other rewards. If you choose money, you can get a refund of the cost of the flatpacks.
 * Because flatpacks can be made while not in building mode, items can be dropped. This may be the most convenient way to get rid of flatpacks.
 * Flatpacks are rarely stored if using a Servant, because the return is marginal or worse given the additional cost of using a servant trip to bank them. However, if you value the flatpacks at Advisor Ghrim rates, higher value flatpacks can be worth banking. Use a BoB to accumulate enough flatpacks to make the servant journey efficient.

You need a workbench to make Flatpacks, requiring a Workshop (Level 15 Construction)

Flatpack return value
The following table shows the return on an example flatback item used for training (note all items with the same plank requirements will have different GE Sell prices but the same Advisor Ghrim return). The poor return should be compared with the total loss if an item is removed or dropped.

Note: Advisor Ghrim will value slightly less than the nominal 10% value. As a snapshot, on a particular day he offered a return on some teak items that valued the teak log at 63 coins, assuming he gives full credit for the Sawmill fee. On the same day, the GE teak log price was 148 (plus 500 sawmill) and a teak plank 766, giving a real return of 9.7% or 8.2% respectively.

Bonus experience
One way to decrease the cost of Construction is to use bonus experience. Bonus experience effectively doubles any experience gained in the Construction skill, thus halving the time it would take to reach a certain level or amount of experience.

Returnable item construction
There are a few decorative items that can be built that require a special construction item (e.g. a Mounted sword requires a sword as well as two teak planks to build). Building these gives more XP than the planks alone, but if the item is then destroyed, the construction item is returned. This can be repeated continuously, effectively increasing the XP given per plank.

Notes:
 * Armour stands are rarely used for training because of the disadvantage of needing 3 spare inventory slots for the armour each time you remove the stand. However, using servants to hold the planks, this technique is viable.
 * Mounted stuffed fish trophies do not return the stuffed fish.
 * Profound Armour Stands have the distinction of being the cheapest reasonably made construction training (limestone fireplaces are the cheapest at 1.05 gp/xp without bonus experience if you buy the bricks from the store at 21gp a brick).

Summary
It seems that the most popular way to get 99 construction is to use teak planks. The second most popular way is to use mahogany planks. It is recommended to use servants to bring planks from the bank, as this speeds up the training considerably.

Free construction experience bonuses

 * You can use Long bones or Curved bones to get 1,500 Construction experience and 2,000gp or 2,250xp and 2,500gp, respectively. This is profitable but a slow way to train and requires nothing but Combat. The combat experience earned from this method is also an extra bonus.
 * You can get Construction experience from Minigames, Distractions and Diversions and Lamps as well. The skill you choose is optional (except sometimes in Treasure Hunter). There is a monthly Distraction and Diversion dedicated to Construction: God Statues.
 * Completing daily challenges for Construction guarantees reimbursement for used planks (for most flatpack items) in the form of other items, as well as additional experience.

Planks with Portable sawmills
With the introduction of portable sawmills players can now saw logs faster than before. Portable sawmills last 5 minutes and will saw the entire inventory of logs at a 10% discount. This is an expensive and slow method to obtain planks but if you prioritise afk over cost or time involved, crafting mahogany planks on the sawmill is advised. Note that there are friends chats where players share their portable sawmills for free, so consider looking on the forums for one if you are unwilling to buy your own sawmills.

*** As of an update in May 2016, portable sawmills no longer give a chance of receiving protean planks.

Alternative methods of gaining experience
Some quests grant Construction experience. See here for more details.