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Fletching in 2007scape is a hugely popular way to make money due to its AFK-ability and the low prerequisites for skilling even at high levels. For modest investments, or even with the right woodcutting level, most players can turn a profit and invest very little money into the skill to reach level 99. This is particularly true among Ironmen, who can resell bows to stores or use the arrows they create themselves.
On the downside, this skill can also be extremely tedious and even dull if you don’t break it up with some other exciting activity. I’ve put together the best OSRS Fletching Guide for levels 1 to 99 for you. There are methods for whether you want to stay engaged and multi-skill or tune out entirely and watch Netflix in the background.
Method One: Multiskilling Arrows and Bolts
This method is hugely popular because it can be done while doing pretty much anything else. If you’re running Slayer tasks, you can fletch arrows without slowing your other skilling down.
First, you’ll have to spend a decent amount of time making your own arrow shafts, arrowheads, and gathering feathers, or buying all these things from the Grand Exchange. If you buy all your materials, this method will probably lose you a bit of GP per EXP.
On the other hand, it takes a lot of time to create all these materials if you’re not buying them. I recommend spending your time making arrows while you are skilling a primary skill. All you need to do is carry arrow shafts, arrowheads, and feathers with you while doing something else to make GP. That way, you can buy your materials after every run.
For this method, you always want to make the best arrows you can, so from 1 to 30, create regular iron arrows. At 30, switch over to steel arrows, and at 55, begin making broad bolts. Note that for Broad Bolts, you will have to spend 300 Slayer Points with a Slayer Master to create the bolts. It’s a good use of time to be training Slayer while you’re working your way up to level 55 Fletching.
If you decide not to spend any time on Slayer, then create the highest level arrow you can until 99. Broad bolts or arrows will carry you to 99 at approximately 155exp/hour at peak rates.
Method Two: Bank Noting and Bows
The second method, creating unstrung bows and stringing them, gives slightly more EXP per hour than making arrows. Still, it’s also somewhat more boring than the simple arrows method. If you’ve spent a lot of time around the Grand Exchange or Seers Village bank, you’ve probably seen players fletching at their banks, without moving, without doing anything else.
This is the true nature of Fletching Training. This is not a click-intensive or focus-demanding exercise, so you’ll be able to pull up Netflix on another screen or your favorite podcast and simply tune out. At the same time, your character spends roughly 40 seconds per inventory to fletch all the bows after you’ve clicked. Here’s how to do it:
First, carry noted logs with you and a knife, then stand near a bank deposit box and a banker. The best spot for this is the Seers Village bank. Stand in the back corner, use your noted logs on the banker to turn them into actual logs. Fletch all the logs into unstrung bows, then deposit them into the bank deposit box. Rinse and repeat.
Suppose you don’t want to go for maximum efficiency. You can simply use any bank, leave the logs in your bank, and deposit and withdraw usually. Still, if you get in a good rhythm with the method suggested above, your exp rates can exceed 200k per hour at level 50.
For stringing bows, you may actually profit if you stay at the Grand Exchange and sting unstrung bows you buy on the exchange. This method is also faster than fletching unstrung bows, at a rate of about 2:3 (stringing:fletching.) At the moment of writing, you can profit about 1.1 GP/exp by stringing Yew Longbows and 0.8 GP/exp by stringing Magic longbows.
If you’re unfamiliar with GP/exp rates, this is a way of defining how much GP per experience point you earn or pay to level up your skill. A positive value is always good because you are turning a profit. A negative value means you’re paying GP to level up, which is typically faster than profitable methods.
In this case, however, you’ll actually be earning upward of 180k exp/hour while you’re profiting! However, it’s essential to consider the current exchange prices before investing in this method to turn a profit because not all bows will generate profit. Prices keep fluctuating on the Grand Exchange.
So what bows should you be making for 1 to 99? I recommend fletching logs into unstrung bows and selling them until level 10, then stringing unstrung longbows until level 20. Fletch oak short bows and longbows into unstrung bows from levels 20 to 25 and 25 to 35, respectively. Fletch willow shortbows until level 40, and then willow longbows until level 50. Until these levels, it’s unlikely you’ll have turned much of a profit if you’re buying your materials.
Beyond 50 is when you’ll start making money faster, as you can begin making maple bows. At this level, I personally recommend stringing everything until you hit level 99 for the fastest experience per hour. Stringing is markedly quicker than fletching unstrung bows, and both methods will usually turn a profit.
Switching to fletching unstrung bows for shortbows may actually ultimately turn a better overall profit. Still, it decreases the rate at which you level up, and the high-level GP/hour outweighs the slight offset in cost this gives you at lower levels. String the highest level bow you can get until magic longbows, at which point you’ll be receiving roughly 200k GP and exp per hour, some of the best rates for skilling in the game.
Method Three: Darts
Making Darts is the fastest way you can get to 99 Fletching. The caveat is you’ll be losing gold in the process, especially when buying the materials. Here is a breakdown of the Darts you should craft at which level. You don’t always go for the latest one, as Dragon Darts is the most expensive gold sink for fletching. It isn’t worth spending too much on.
- 1-22: Bronze Darts
- 22-37: Iron Darts
- 37-52: Steel Darts
- 52-67: Mithril Darts
- 67-81: Adamant Darts
- 81-99: Rune Darts
This method has no requirements save the materials and the requisite level for the kind of Dart. You can set your mouse keys to make this a bit more bearable. There’s a way to get double the XP every time. Click one material, then double-click the other one, and then keep on double-clicking each one. It’s less mouse movement but might need a bit more focus.
Remember that this method has a steep price. Use online calculators to decide which materials have the best GP/XP rate. Also, this tells you which Darts you can afford to make with your budget.
Ironmen can also make darts but will have to stop at Adamant Darts. Rune Darts are marginally more powerful than Adamant ones, and they’re not worth it. When making Rune Darts, you’re missing out on making other alch-able items, resulting in a loss of profits. It’s altogether unsustainable, so it’s not recommended.
