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 experience as a one-time quest reward.


 * Big Chompy Bird Hunting - 260xp


 * Animal Magnetism - 1,000xp


 * Zogre Flesh Eaters - 2,000xp


 * Fremennik Trials - 2,813xp


 * Devious Minds - 5,000xp


 * Catapult Construction - 5,000xp


 * Temple of Ikov - 8,000xp


 * In Pyre Need - 12,500xp

Some other quests not listed give a generic experience lamp that could be used on Fletching if the player intended to do so, however, Fletching is known to be a "fast skill" to train up, so generic experience lamps are typically better used on other skills.

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


 * Arrow shafts (levels 1-10 // 231 logs)
 * You can also use feathers to make these into headless arrows which makes more money and gives much faster fletching experience - in which case you would need 58 logs and 870 feathers.
 * Longbow (u) (levels 10-20 // 332 logs)
 * Oak shortbow (u) (levels 20-25 // 205 oak logs) (The best place to make oak shortbows is in the Tree Gnome Stronghold where you can find flax, oak trees, spinning wheels, and a bank)
 * Oak longbow (u) (levels 25-35 // 583 oak logs)
 * Willow shortbow (u) (levels 35-40 // 445 willow logs) (A good area for fletching Willow bows is in Draynor, right next to the bank.)
 * Willow longbow (u) (levels 40-50 // 1505 willow logs)
 * Maple shortbow (u) (levels 50-55 // 1307 maple logs) (The best place to fletch Maple shortbows is probably above the Seer's Village bank.)
 * In total you need to buy or cut 563 logs, 788 oak logs, 1990 willow logs and 1307 maple logs.

An excellent place to train is right outside the West entrance of Catherby. You'll find a good amount of regular trees, oak trees, and willow trees all located near a bank and near a general store. The products can be sold to a general store for small amounts of money or low-alched using your Explorers ring.

NOTE: If you have some spare Stealing Creation points, buy a morphic tool (20 points), and make it a sacred clay fletching knife for double experience per log fletched. It does not matter what level you are in Fletching, once above level 40.

Before the trade limits were removed, one could save the unstrung bows as 'junk' for junktrading, which involved using junk to balance out the trade. If one was trying to sell an item for a higher price than the trade limit allowed, one could put 'junk' up as a substitute for money, allowing your trading partner to cough up more dough.

It is a good idea to make willow short/longbows (u) because of the extremely low price of willow logs ( coins) and most players can buy 10,000 logs for 0 coins. Selling unstrung willow bows in a shop will usually give a profit.

NOTE: Cutting all your Logs, or saving all your logs from Woodcutting makes fletching really profitable.

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 coins each and cutting them into longbows.

Maple Longbows (u) can be sold on the Grand Exchange for coins, thus making  coins per bow, however note they are usually very hard to sell, though they can be invested for credits for use in Mobilising Armies. Previously they were commonly used as a -coin junk item for junk trading.

Maple longbows (u) give 58.3 xp each (116.6 if using a sacred clay fletching knife); and can be cut at a rate of 1 per 1.8 seconds, or approximately 1700 per hour including banking. This will earn 99k (198k) fletching experience and 0 coins.

Going from 55 to 70 fletching by fletching maple longbows (u) will take approximately 5.8 hours and use 9803 maple logs (or 2.9 hours and 4902 maple logs with sacred clay).

Stringing grants an additional 58.3 xp per bow, making a small profit/loss.

Additionally, you can high alchemise your longbows, for a minimum loss and magic xp.

Levels 70–85/99
A 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. One profitable way to get to 85 Fletching fast is to buy 17,000 yew logs and 17,000 bow strings, fletch the logs into Yew longbows (u), then string the long bows. This can get you around 400k, though it depends on Grand exchange prices changing.

The cutting step will consume a yew log ( coins) and produce a yew longbow (u) ( coins) for a loss/gain of coins per bow. The stringing step will consume a yew longbow (u) ( coins) and a bowstring ( coins) and produce a yew longbow ( coins) for a profit of coins per bow. Thus, the entire process is a profit of coins per bow.

Going from 70 to 85 fletching in this way would require 16,807 yew logs and 16,807 bowstrings. The total capital required to do this without buying supplies more than once is gp. gp worth of yew longbows will be gained back, for a total profit of gp.

Bows can be strung at a rate of 1 per 1.2 seconds, or approximately 1500 per hour including banking. Stringing 1500 an hour is very hard so anything between 1000 - 1500 is good. Thus, cutting yew longbows (u), gives about 100k fletching xp per hour at a loss of 130k per hour, stringing yew longbows gives about 130k fletching xp per hour at a profit of 64k per hour, and doing both for a given number of logs gives around 100k - 120k 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 - 20 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 bow strings to go from 70 to 85 fletching, is a great option, although it requires more frequent banking than cutting bows.

Many players consider the best way of training fletching to make Yew Longbows with a sacred clay fletching knife until 99. Players prefer this method as it can also be used as a way to combine fletching with an enjoyable activity, so Stealing Creation is good because the rewards can help you train fletching. It is advisable to play several games of Stealing Creation, and stock up on knives for when they degrade completely. It is not recommended to use Volatile clay fletching knives, as they transform into a random tool when 10% of their charges are used.

Making a Profit
One way to make a profit in Fletching that is faster than fletching logs, is to buy yew long bows(u) and string them yourself. The beauty of this is it is actually quicker to string a yew longbow than it is to fletch one, although you can only string 14 yew long bows an inventory, meaning more attention is required due to more frequent banking.


 * An example of experience per hour for fletching is around 110,000 exp per hour on average (Note: This number increases to 243,000 exp per hour on average when using a sacred clay fletching knife).


 * An example of experience per hour for stringing is around 125,000 exp per hour on average.

The reason why this method would be more profitable than fletching the logs yourself is because yew long bows(u) sell for cheaper than yew logs in the Grand Exchange.


 * To buy a yew longbow(u) at the market price the price is coins.
 * To buy a bow string at the market price the price is coins.
 * To buy a yew longbow at the market price the price is coins.
 * Therefore a profit of per bow.

Training this way from level 70 to 85 generates a profit of coins, and training from 70 to 99 will generate  coins.

Another way to profit from Fletching is maple longbows (u), the logs are worth less than the bows, there is roughly 26k worth of profit (for 100.), this is decent xp for levels 55-65/70, and efficient xp while using stealing creation knives.

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 ( coins) and produce a magic longbow (u) ( coins) for a loss of coins per bow. The stringing step will consume a magic longbow (u) ( coins) and a bow string ( coins) and produce a magic longbow ( coins) for a profit of coins per bow. Thus, the entire process is a loss of coins per bow.

Going from 85 to 99 fletching in this way would require 53,420 magic logs and bowstrings. The total capital required to do this without buying supplies more than once is 0. 0 worth of magic longbows will be had back, for a total loss of 0.

Cutting magic longbows (u) gives around 135k fletching xp per hour at a loss of around 110k per hour; stringing magic longbows gives about 150k fletching xp per hour at a profit of 27k per hour, and doing both for a given number of logs gives about 135k fletching xp per hour at a loss of 35k per hour. Going from 85 to 99 fletching by fletching magic longbows, both steps, will take about 55.7 hours - 60 hours. Given full attention, it is possible to exceed 160k experience per hour stringing magic longbows (u).

Note that stringing magic longbows is better in both xp per hour and cost per hour than cutting magic longbows. Cutting the logs costs more because people tend to use the Sacred clay fletching knife on the logs, and then they sell the magic longbows (u) instead of stringing them. Only stringing the bows, and thus using 106,840 magic longbows (u) and bowstrings to go from 85 to 99 fletching, is great option, although it requires more frequent banking than cutting bows.

It is possible to actually make money while fletching towards 99. You buy yew logs and fletch them into longbows(u). Then you string them and sell them for a modest profit.

Or, you can fletch magic longbows, but instead of buying bowstrings, buy flax and spin it. You will gain some crafting experience as well as make money.

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
Note that in lower levels, Bolts give low xp, and profit, so they are seldom used from 1-54.

Regular metal bolts are made 10 at a time. Mithril bolts are able to be made at level 54 fletching and give 5 xp per bolt, or 50 xp per set of 10 bolts. Adamant bolts are able to be made 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 bolts requires bolts (unf) of that type, and feathers. Both supplies can be bought on the Grand Exchange with a buy limit of 10k. Feathers can also be bought from several different shops with stocks of 1000 each, see here for details. It is recommended to buy from the shops with the new update.

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 50,000 to 80,000 bolts per hour instead of the 110,000+ theoretical maximum. Fletching mithril bolts continuously is thus 250,000 to 400,000 xp per hour, and fletching adamant bolts continuously is 350,000 to 560,000 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 coins 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 20,000 bolts per hour (over 140,000 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 coins per hour.

Often when making bolts it is cheaper to buy the gems and cut them into bolt tips yourself. This provides some crafting exp as well but will slow down your overall exp gain. Also b ear in mind that there is a 10000 bolt limit on the GE every 4hours.

One advantage of making bolts is that players can cut trees whilst making bolts

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 coins each, and headless arrows, bought on the Grand Exchange for about 35 coins each. Broad arrows are untradeable, so the loss is 85 coins per arrow, or 5.66 coins per xp. Approximately 2500 sets of arrows can be made per hour for 563k fletching xp per hour at a loss of 2.125m 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 1/3 of the total cost of making the arrows. Once many headless arrows have been accumulated, the xp can be realised, and the remaining 2/3 of the loss taken, by buying the arrowtips.

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 coins 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 they result in a 10-15gp profit per arrow. However, players wishing to make adamant arrows should realise that, due to their potential to have a profit and give anywhere from 250k-400k experience per hour (depending on the speed of the player), Adamant arrowtips are in very high demand on the Grand Exchange. In light of this it may sometimes be quicker to pursue a different method of training, at least until you can get enough arrowtips.

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. Prices of arrowtips may vary greatly, and therefore may not be as cost effective if fletching supplies are bought on the Grand Exchange.

Darts
Darts are not very useful to train fletching with and are seldom used. Interestingly, making Dragon darts is the 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. If, and when, you decide to train using Dragon darts, you should have at least one million coins before considering this. Making 1 set (10) Dragon darts will give 250 exp, at a loss of 0 coins per dart. To make Dragon darts, you will need one feather for each Dragon dart tip.

The maximum amount of Dragon darts available for purchase every 4 hours is 10,000. Making 10,000 Dragon darts will give you 250,000 experience, however you will lose well over four million coins.