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 48 yew logs. It is a very good money making method in F2p.

Yew trees in Woodcutting


All players with a hatchet that they can use and a Woodcutting level of 60 or higher can chop down a yew tree to obtain 175 experience and yew logs. A rune or dragon hatchet is preferred, although an Inferno Adze can be quite efficient also. However, an Inferno Adze is not recommended for players wishing to earn a profit because it burns some logs upon cutting. As with all trees above normal trees and achey trees, yews can yield multiple logs when chopped. The time it takes for yew trees to respawn is 60–103 seconds, this is reduced if there are more players in a world. Yew trees are extremely crowded (debatable) with players and it is hard to find a world with few or no players cutting them. Yew 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. A possible way to have reduced competition for these resources is to use a foreign language server. Yews are extremely hard to cut in free-to-play worlds. With the recent event of 5 free-to-play worlds becoming pay-to-play, it makes cutting them alone even more difficult. 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, although there is only one tree.

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, most of whom are macros. After you have one full inventory is it advised that you use your explorer ring (3) to teleport to the cabbage patch then run down to the Entrana deposit box, deposit your logs and then run back to Rimmington as this can prove to be very efficient way of getting yew logs.

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 common 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 started 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. (Often crowded)
 * 3 in the forest south of Falador. (Slightly crowded)
 * 1 east of Varrock, close to the Earth Altar.
 * 3 On the lawn behind Varrock Castle, east of the Grand Exchange (Extremely crowded)
 * 4 west of Lumbridge Castle
 * 4 near Rimmington and south of Melzar's Maze. (Extremely crowded due to high amount of yews. Although far from a bank, an Explorer's ring helps cut travel time.)
 * 3 east of Varrock Palace, south of the Wilderness



Member areas
A recommended level to start cutting yews is level 75.
 * 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 very 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 while having a hatchet in one hand (unless you have completed Fairytale III - Battle at Orks Rift, at which point a staff is no longer required).

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 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. They can also be used as a tree to which only you can see, making it possible to cut freely without any outer interference. 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 Falador Tasks. You may also pay the gardener 200 coins 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 could be found in Lumbridge Swamp, which provides a shortcut for members to the western shores of Al Kharid. Strong trees cannot be cut. With the update on 15 February 2011, the tree looks more like a giant dead tree.
 * 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 had its shadow. This may have been a bug but has since been fixed.
 * There are three yew trees where the Beekeeper random event takes place, though they cannot be cut.
 * The maximum number of logs you get from a single tree is reported to be 44, although there are such claims that it is 56. (two full inventories)
 * Due to the return of unbalanced trade in early 2011, yew trees have once again become popular with Macroers, with as many as 10 per tree at one time.