Free-to-play Fletching training

This article is about the Free-to-play guide. For the members' guide, see Pay-to-play Fletching training.

This article gives tips about training the Fletching skill in a free-to-play world. Fletching was made Free-to-play Monday the 9th of October 2017.

Suggestion: Use portable fletcher for 10% more XP.

General notes

• This guide focuses on the creation of bows, as that is the most common method of training the Fletching skill and therefore the materials are easiest to get hold of.
• Xp/hr rates given in this guide are a maximum amount possible; they assume that you will be fletching steadily, with quick banking and few to no distractions in game or in real life. Many players will, realistically, not achieve these amounts. Note: to significantly speed up the banking process it is recommended that players use presets. This is especially important if stringing bows, as it will only take one click to swap the bows in your inventory with 14 unstrung bows and 14 bowstrings. Set up the preset to include whichever materials you are going to use and set it to either '1' or '2' for quick access. This quickly adds up and saves a lot of time.
• Likewise, this guide assumes that you will be buying/gathering the materials for your Fletching before starting, rather than doing so as you go. Doing the latter will severely impact how much Fletching experience is gained per hour.
• All calculations in this guide are rounded up; this may result in you needing slightly fewer materials than stated.
• Grand Exchange prices are the median price. Materials may cost more than the prices stated, and finished products sell for less.
• Fletching an inventory of unstrung bows from logs takes 50 seconds an inventory. Stringing an inventory of 14 bows to make the finished product takes 15 seconds. These have been rounded up to 60 seconds and 20 seconds respectively to account for banking time.
• Experience for fletching a bow from a log and stringing that same bow gives the same experience. With this in mind, the number of logs and bowstrings should be halved if you decide to both fletch and string.
• A calculator that shows the costs of making bows and ammunition can be found here: Calculator:Fletching/Items.

Level 1-99

This section will show the time and number of either logs or unstrung bows and bowstrings needed to reach level 99 if switching to each newly unlocked bow type you can fletch as soon as possible, along with the prices of the materials involved; logs, bowstrings, unstrung bows and finished bows.

Level 1-5 - Arrow shafts

The best way to get from level 1 to level 5 is using arrow shafts, which give 5 experience each.

• Experience needed - 388
• Logs needed - 78
• Time - 150 seconds
• Logs cost = 16,568
• Arrow shafts = 11,400
  • Total profit = -5,168

Level 5-10 - Shortbows

Between level 5 and 10 you should either fletch or string shortbows. Both methods give 5 experience.

• Experience needed = 766
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 154
• Time = 6 minutes (fletch) OR 4 minutes (string)
• Logs cost = 33,572
• Shortbow (u) cost = 21,252
• Bowstrings cost = 38,500
  • Shortbow (u) and bowstrings total = 59,752
• Shortbows = 121,044
  • Total profit (stringing) = 61,292
  • Total profit (fletching) = -12,320

Level 10-20 - Shieldbows

At this point you should switch to making shieldbows, which give 10 xp for fletching the shieldbow (u) from logs or adding the string to make a finished bow.

• Experience needed = 3,316
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 332
• Time = 12 minutes (fletch) OR 8 minutes (string)
• Logs cost = 72,376
• Shieldbow (u) cost = 21,580
• Bowstrings cost = 83,000
  • Shieldbow (u) and bowstrings total = 104,580
• Shieldbows = 247,008
  • Total profit (stringing) = 142,428
  • Total profit (fletching) = -50,796

Level 20-25 - Oak shortbows

You can now work with oak to make bows. Oak shortbows give 16.5 experience for fletching or stringing them.

• Experience needed = 3,372
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 210
• Time = 7 minutes (fletch) OR 5 minutes (string)
• Oak logs cost = 19,950
• Oak shortbow (u) cost = 9,030
• Bowstrings cost = 52,500
  • Oak shortbow (u) and bowstrings total = 61,530
• Oak shortbows = 99,540
  • Total profit (stringing) = 38,010
  • Total profit (fletching) = -10,920

Level 25-35 - Oak shieldbows

You can now make oak shieldbows, for 25 experience for fletching or stringing.

• Experience needed = 14,564
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 583
• Time = 21 minutes (fletch) OR 14 minutes (string)
• Oak logs cost = 55,385
• Oak shieldbow (u) cost = 18,073
• Bowstrings cost = 145,750
  • Oak shieldbow (u) and bowstrings total = 163,823
• Oak shieldbows = 301,994
  • Total profit (stringing) = 138,171
  • Total profit (fletching) = -37,312

Level 35-40 - Willow shortbows

Willow shortbows are now available. These give 33.3 experience for fletching from willow logs or stringing them.

• Experience needed = 14,818
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 445
• Time = 16 minutes (fletch) OR 11 minutes (string)
• Willow logs cost = 22,695
• Willow shortbow (u) cost = 28,035
• Bowstrings cost = 111,250
  • Willow shortbow (u) and bowstrings total = 139,285
• Willow shortbows = 168,655
  • Total profit (stringing) = 29,370
  • Total profit (fletching) = 5,340

Level 40-50 - Willow shieldbows

Now you can make willow shieldbows, which give 41.5 experience for fletching or stringing.

• Experience needed = 64,109
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 1,545
• Time = 55 minutes (fletch) OR 37 minutes (string)
• Willow logs cost = 78,795
• Willow shieldbow (u) cost = 74,160
• Bowstrings cost = 386,250
  • Willow shieldbow (u) and bowstrings total = 460,410
• Willow shieldbows = 471,225
  • Total profit (stringing) = 10,815
  • Total profit (fletching) = -4,635

Level 50-55 - Maple shortbows

Now you can make maple shortbows, for 50 experience each when fletching from maple logs or stringing.

• Experience needed = 65,303
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 1,307
• Time = 47 minutes (fletch) OR 32 minutes (string)
• Maple logs cost = 66,657
• Maple shortbow (u) cost = 156,840
• Bowstrings cost = 326,750
  • Maple shortbow (u) and bowstrings total = 483,590
• Maple shortbows = 701,859
  • Total profit (stringing) = 218,269
  • Total profit (fletching) = 90,183

Level 55-65 - Maple shieldbows

You can now make maple shieldbows, which give 58.2 Fletching experience for fletching from maple logs or stringing.

• Experience needed = 282,792
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 4,859
• Time = 2 hours 53 minutes (fletch) OR 1 hour 56 minutes (string)
• Maple logs cost = 247,401
• Maple shieldbow (u) cost = 465,696
• Bowstrings cost = 1,212,750
  • Maple shieldbow (u) and bowstrings total = 1,678,446
• Maple shieldbows = 1,974,357
  • Total profit (stringing) = 295,911
  • Total profit (fletching) = 218,295

Level 65-70 - Yew shortbows

You can now make yew shortbows, which give 67.5 experience for fletching from yew logs or stringing.

• Experience needed = 288,199
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 4,270
• Time = 2 hours 33 minutes (fletch) OR 1 hour 42 minutes (string)
• Yew logs cost = 550,830
• Yew shortbow (u) cost = 819,840
• Bowstrings cost = 1,067,500
  • Yew shortbow (u) and bowstrings total = 1,887,340
• Yew shortbows = 3,027,430
  • Total profit (stringing) = 1,140,090
  • Total profit (fletching) = 269,010

Level 70-80 - Yew shieldbows

You can now make yew shieldbows, which give 75 experience for fletching or stringing.

• Experience needed = 1,248,441
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 16,646
• Time = 9 hours 55 minutes (fletch) OR 6 hours 37 minutes (string)
• Yew logs cost = 2,147,334
• Yew shieldbow (u) cost = 3,196,032
• Bowstrings cost = 4,161,500
  • Yew shieldbow (u) and bowstrings total = 7,357,532
• Yew shieldbows = 8,556,044
  • Total profit (stringing) = 1,198,512
  • Total profit (fletching) = 1,048,698

Level 80-85 - Magic shortbows

You can now make magic shortbows, which give 83.0 experience for fletching or stringing.

• Experience needed = 1,272,526
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 15,286
• Time = 9 hours 6 minutes (fletch) OR 6 hours 4 minutes (string)
• Magic logs cost = 5,946,254
• Magic shortbow (u) cost = 6,893,986
• Bowstrings cost = 3,821,500
  • Magic shortbow (u) and bowstrings total = 10,715,486
• Magic shortbows = 15,454,146
  • Total profit (stringing) = 4,738,660
  • Total profit (fletching) = 947,732

Level 85-99 - Magic shieldbows

You can now make magic shieldbows, which give 91.5 experience for fletching or stringing. This is the highest level of fletchable bows available to F2P.

• Experience needed = 9,775,837
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 106,840
• Time = 56 hours, 26 minutes (fletch) OR 38 hours, 22 minutes (string)
• Magic logs cost = 41,560,760
• Magic shieldbow (u) cost = 45,620,680
• Bowstrings cost = 26,710,000
  • Magic shieldbow (u) and bowstrings total = 72,330,680
• Magic shieldbows = 99,468,040
  • Total profit (stringing) = 27,137,360
  • Total profit (fletching) = 4,059,920

Ammunition

Level 61-99 - Adamant bolts

Making Adamant bolts from unfinished bolts and Feathers is a fast but moderately expensive way to reach 99. These are made in sets of 10 bolts, granting 7xp per bolt.

• Experience needed = 12,732,143
• Unfinished bolts needed = 1,818,878
• Feathers needed = 1,818,878
• Time = 30 hours, 19 minutes
• Adamant bolts (unf) cost = 352,862,332
• Adamant bolts price = 318,303,650
• Feathers price = 20,007,658
  • Cost per bolt = -30
• Total profit = -54,566,340

Level 69-99 - Runite bolts

Making Runite bolts from unfinished bolts is the absolutely fastest but the most expensive way to reach 99 in F2P. These are made in sets of 10 bolts, granting 10xp per bolt.

• Experience needed = 12,366,380
• Unfinished bolts needed = 1,236,638
• Time = 20 hours, 37 minutes
• Rune bolts (unf) cost = 554,013,824
• Feathers price = 13,603,018
  • Rune bolts (unf) and feathers total = 567,616,842
• Runite bolts price = 463,739,250
  • Cost per bolt = -84
• Total profit = -103,877,592

Level 75-99 - Rune arrows

Fletching rune arrows is a fast, but expensive, method for training Fletching. When fletching rune arrows, you make 10 sets of 15 arrows, at 15 xp per arrow (187.5 xp per set).

• Experience needed = 11,824,010
• Rune arrowheads and headless arrows needed = 945,920
• Time = 21 hours
• Rune arrowheads price = 139,050,240
• Headless arrow price = 31,215,360
  • Cost per arrow = -32
• Total profit = -30,269,440

Other methods

Level 55-99 - Maple shieldbows

Maple shieldbows are usually a cheaper, if slightly slower, route to achieving level 99 in Fletching. They give 58.3 experience for fletching or stringing.

• Experience needed = 12,867,795
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 220,717
• Time = 131 hours 23 minutes (fletch) OR 87 hours 36 minutes (string)
• Maple logs cost = 11,256,567
• Maple shieldbow (u) cost = 21,188,832
• Bowstrings cost = 55,179,250
  • Maple shieldbow (u) and bowstrings total = 76,368,082
• Maple shieldbows = 89,831,819
• Total profit (stringing) = 13,463,737
• Total profit (fletching) = 9,932,265

Level 70-99 - Yew shieldbows

Yew shieldbows are another alternative method to reach 99. They're a compromise between the speed of magic shieldbows and the relative cheapness of maple shieldbows. 75 experience is given for fletching or stringing yew shieldbows.

• Experience needed = 12,296,804
• Logs/unstrung bows needed = 163,958
• Time = 97 hours 36 minutes (fletch) OR 65 hours 4 minutes (string)
• Yew logs cost = 21,150,582
• Yew shieldbow (u) cost = 31,479,936
• Bowstrings cost = 40,989,500
  • Yew shieldbow (u) and bowstrings total = 72,469,436
• Yew shieldbows = 84,274,412
  • Total profit (stringing) = 11,804,976
  • Total profit (fletching) = 10,329,354

Experience per hour

This section shows the maximum possible experience per hour and the potential costs for fletching or stringing the high level shortbows and shieldbows. The last column shows what the possible profit/loss is per hour according to the info on the left.

Method	Action	Amount/hr	Exp/hr	Material costs	Sell for	Profit/Loss	GP/XP
Maple shortbow (u)	Fletch	1,680	84,000	85,680	201,600	115,920	1.38
Maple shortbow	String	2,520	126,000	932,400	1,353,240	420,840	3.34
Maple shieldbow (u)	Fletch	1,680	97,944	85,680	161,280	75,600	0.77
Maple shieldbow	String	2,520	146,916	871,920	1,025,640	153,720	1.05
Yew shortbow (u)	Fletch	1,680	113,400	216,720	322,560	105,840	0.93
Yew shortbow	String	2,520	170,100	1,113,840	1,786,680	672,840	3.96
Yew shieldbow (u)	Fletch	1,680	126,000	216,720	322,560	105,840	0.84
Yew shieldbow	String	2,520	189,000	1,113,840	1,295,280	181,440	0.96
Magic shortbow (u)	Fletch	1,680	139,440	653,520	757,680	104,160	0.75
Magic shortbow	String	2,520	209,160	1,766,520	2,547,720	781,200	3.73
Magic shieldbow (u)	Fletch	1,680	153,720	653,520	717,360	63,840	0.42
Magic shieldbow	String	2,520	230,580	1,706,040	2,346,120	640,080	2.78