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Skill Fletching
Contents |
I classify the trade skills into two groups; moneymakers and RP skills. The moneymakers are the skills like smithing and tailoring which have a high potential for turning a profit. The RP skills are ones like baking and brewing which don’t seem to have a whole lot of effect on game play and, consequently, tend to be mainly practiced by RPers. I place fletching firmly in the middle of the two groups. If you really hustle, you can probably turn a profit with fletching but, in all probability, it’s really only worth working on if your character is big on archery. ref
Tips on becoming a master fletcher
The nice thing about fletching is that you’re basically making two objects, bows and arrows, over and over again. That makes it very easy to figure out the relative difficulty of making a particular item. Basically, the higher the quality of your supplies, i.e. the more expensive they are, the more difficult they are to work with. If you seem to be getting a lot of failures with a particular type of arrow or bow, try downgrading one or more of your components to something cheaper. Please note that there isn’t a direct correspondence between the cost of arrows and bows and their relative difficulty. Rough hickory bows will be trivial to make long before you’re able to manufacture arrows costing several gp apiece.
How do you make bows and arrows? The first thing you’re going to need is a fletching kit. Then for bows you’ll need a bow staff, string, and, optionally, whittling knife, planing tool, and/or cams. For arrows you’ll need arrowheads, shafts, feathers, and nocks.
When making bows, the bow staff determines base damage, range, and delay. Your string modifies this. The better quality the string, the less damage the bow does but the shorter the delay. This means that a hickory bow with a linen string will do more damage than a hickory bow with a silk string, but the bow with the silk string will be faster. Whittling knives and planing tools decrease delay even more but reduce damage as well. I’m not sure what effect cams since I’m not yet good enough to make a bow that uses one but I imagine it’s similar to strings, whittling knives, and planing tools.
As for arrows, the better the arrowhead, the more damage the arrow will do. Same for shafts, the better quality the shaft is, the more damage the arrow does. Feathers modify range and damage. Round cut feathers will give your arrow a base range of 50. Parabolic cut feathers will increase the base range to 100. Shield cut feathers will reduce base range to 0 but increase the base damage of the arrow. Nocks modify the base range of the arrow so that the smaller, i.e. better, the nock the greater the range of the arrow.
Finally, when practicing to raise your skill level, always work on arrows instead of bows. This is just common sense. Arrows are far cheaper to make than bows so your mistakes will be far less costly and you can make more attempts for the same amount of money. Try to make bows every so often just to get an idea of how good you are with them but for the most part, practice on arrows. --Siobhan, Tunare Server
Arrow Recipes
Basic Arrows
Arrows are constructed using four components:
- Point
- Shaft
- Fletching
- Nock
Creating a batch of 5 arrows is accomplished by placing 1 of each of the above component types into the same fletching kit used to make bows and pressing the "Combine" key. The base arrow type has a damage of 1 and a range of 50. The final value of damage and range in effect for a particular bow/arrow combination is determined by adding the range and damage of the bow to the range and damage of the arrow.
The selection of the component types used for the four components affects the cost, complexity, and final damage and range values of the resulting set of 5 arrows, according to the following table:
| Arrow Components | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Damage | Range | Cost | |
| Point | Field Point Arrowheads | 5 | ||
| Hooked Arrowheads | +1 | 315 | ||
| Silver Tipped Arrowheads | +2 | 3990 | ||
| Shaft | Bundled Wooden Arrow Shafts | 5 | ||
| Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts | +1 | 79 | ||
| Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts | +2 | 1155 | ||
| Bundled Steel Arrow Shafts | +3 | 2835 | ||
| Fletch | Several Round Cut Fletchings | 5 | ||
| Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings | +50 | 26 | ||
| Several Shield Cut Fletchings | +1 | -50 | 189 | |
| Set of Wooden Arrow Vanes | +1 | -25 | 682 | |
| Set of Bone Arrow Vanes | +1 | +25 | 1365 | |
| Set of Ceramic Arrow Vanes | +2 | 2782 | ||
| Nock | Large Groove Nocks | 5 | ||
| Medium Groove Nocks | +25 | 16 | ||
| Small Groove Nocks | +50 | 42 | ||
This yields a truly mind-boggling set of 216 possible combinations, many of which have the same final statistics, but wildly different fabrication costs. A little creative use of a table to sort them by damage, range, and cost allows us to disregard all but the cheapest options.
The Arrow Table
Arrow Table Analysis
- STORE-BOUGHT ARROWS
Again, as in the bow analysis, it’s clear that making your own arrows is both cheaper and better than buying them from the store.
- CLASSIFICATION
The game appears to describe arrows using a Class system, i.e. Class 1, Class 2, etc. The number on the classification appears to match up with the type of fletching used on the arrow, so all arrows with Round fletch are Class 1, all with Parabolic fletch are Class 2, and so on. But this system is not exactly helpful as a shorthand way to categorize the quality of the arrow, since final arrow quality for a given fletch type can vary widely depending upon the other arrow components.
- IF MONEY'S NO OBJECT
Those big bad, high-damage, explosive-tip, laser-guided, cruise-missile, rock-your-world high damage arrows are expensive to make! This is particularly true when you consider the fact that arrows can’t be recovered.
- MAGIC ARROWS
Any arrow made with the bladed tip, or what is now referred to as the Silver Tip, is now (as of 1-20-2000 on Live, confirmed correct on P99) considered magical, and will hit magic-only creatures such as ghouls and willowisps. An interesting feature in the construction of these arrows is that pressing Combine results in ten arrow, rather than the usual five.
Quivers
FINALLY, after such a long period of time (since the game was released, frankly) there is a reason to lug around a quiver! One of the patches in May, 2001 (this is post-Velious content, is not accurate on p99 as of 2-2-2012), has changed things so that if you have a quiver equipped, it will reduce the delay of your bow, make it faster. We don't know exactly how much the delay reduction is, but we do know that an indication of how much the delay reduction can be inferred from the amount of weight reduction the quiver yields. At this point I am aware of the following options for quivers:
- Quiver - vendor purchased (4 slots, weight reduction 20%)
- Tailored Quiver - tailored (6 slots, weight reduction 22%)
- Thunderhoof Quiver - dropped (4 slots, weight reduction 33%)
- Quiver of Marr - summoned (mage-summoned, 6 slots, weight reduction 50%)
- Fleeting Quiver - tailored (6 slots, weight reduction 60%)
Quiver Recipes (made with tailoring skill, in a sewing kit)
- Tailored Quiver (trivial 115)
- Quiver pattern
- HQ Cat Pelt
- Fleeting Quiver (trivial 222)
- Fleeting Quiver pattern
- Aviak Egg Oil (Brewed with Aviak Eggs and water)
- HQ Lion Skin (found in North Karana from Highland Lions)
- Vial of Distilled Mana (Enchanter 39 spell, Poison Vial, 2x Sapphires)
- Griffon Feather
Arrow Component Vendors
Antonica
- East Commonlands
- Joryd Longarms, in Inn 3, near (980, 3760)
- East Karana
- Bryan, in the shops near the wooden bridge, near (-840, -15)
- Grobb
- Zazhar, outside Krungs Clubs & Junk
- Halas
- Rain, in McPherson's Bloody Blades
- Kithicor Forest
- Krile Arrowsmith, near (-325, 3900)
- Neriak
- Dianax C'Luzz, in The Bleek Fletcher, Neriak Commons<
- Oggok
- Praak, inside Bouncer Keep, on the second floor
- Qeynos
- Danon Fletcher, standing outside near the large clock in South Qeynos.
- Rivervale
- Joana Jinklebelly and Gerb Jinklebelly in one of the underground halfling holes (-225, -77)
- Surefall Glade
- Jarse Kedison, standing outside near the arrow range
- Livam T'Lant, inside the Druid guild.
- West Karana
- Brenzl McMannus, in the hut near the the ogre shrine, near (-2000, -9000)
- Barbarian merchant, in the barbarian fishing village on the south shore, near (-3700,-2000)
Faydwer
- Ak'Anon
- Clockwork Bowyer inside (1245, -900)
- Felwithe
- Longarrow, in Faydark's Bane in North Felwithe
- Kaladim
- Alanury Stormhammer, in Staff & Spear, in South Kaladim
- Kelethin
- Lanin, one platform north of the Priest of Discord lift
- Neaien, inside the Fletcher building, same platform as Lanin
- Merchant Tiladinya, inside Trueshot Bows
- Steamfont
- a clockwork fletcher, middle windmill (78, -654)
Kunark
- Firiona Vie
- Fleceal Summer, inside the Ranger guild, near (-3430, 3315)
- West Cabilis
- Zotalz, near (340, 535)
- The Overthere
- Tin Merchant X, near (2705, 2610)
Velious
- Thurgadin
- Tavir, inside Argash House of Carpentry, near (-200, -290)
Bow Recipes
Bows consist of a staff and string, are sometimes constructed using optional tools, and optionally may contain 1 or 2 cams. The final statistics of the bow are all dependent upon the choice of each component.
To create a bow, you simply place the staff, string, and any optional components you wish into the fletching kit, cross your fingers, have all your pals /shout Good Luck!, and press the Combine button. With luck, if your fletching skill is high enough and all goes well, you’ll be left with a nice new bow on your cursor. If the attempt fails, the staff, string and cams are lost, and the tool (if one was used) ends up on your cursor. If the failed attempt involved some expensive components, you then /cry.
Staff material
Choices are Hickory, Elm, Ashwood, Oak, and Darkwood (Shadewood introduced ~Dec 2001 on Live) arranged in order of degree of difficulty and final potency. The staff material determines the base range, damage, and delay of the final bow.
| Bow Staff Materials | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Range | Damage | Delay | Min Cost | Trivial |
| Hickory | 50 | 10 | 50 | 211 | <16 |
| Elm | 75 | 13 | 51 | 2110 | 68 |
| Ash | 100 | 16 | 58 | 15750 | 129 |
| Oak | 125 | 21 | 65 | 69300 | 168 |
| Darkwood | 150 | 25 | 68 | 226800 | 215 |
These values form the basic statistics of the final bow. The choice of string, tool, and cams all provide modifications to these base values.
Note that the Bowyers Guide mentions Steel and Ceramic staves as other possibilities, however to my knowledge these component types have never been put into the game.
String Material, Tools, and Cams
String is required for all bows. Choices include Hemp, Linen, and Silk. Hemp is the simplest to work with, and yields highest damage but greatest delay. Linen and Silk are progressively more complex to work with, and provide progressively lower damages and delays.
Tools and cams are optional, and indeed only allowed on certain staff materials. The simpler tool choice is the Whittling Knife, which yields a Carved bow. The more advanced tool is the Plane, which yields a Shaped bow. The use of Cams yields a cammed or compound bow, and are usable on Oak (1 cam) and Darkwood (1 or 2 cams) and Shadewood (1 or 2 cams).
The effects on the final bow statistics are shown below. All effects are cumulative.
| Bowstrings, Tools, and Cams | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Material | Dmg | Delay | Usable On | Min Price | Final Name | Trivial |
| String | Hemp | 0 | 0 | All | 10 | Rough | 16 |
| Linen | -1 | -4 | All | 21 | Rough | 32 | |
| Silk | -2 | -8 | All | 52 | Rough | 46 | |
| Tool | Knife | -1 | -4 | Elm and up | 2110 | Carved | 102 |
| Plane | -2 | -9 | Ash and up | 10710 | Shaped | 148 | |
| Cam | Cam | -1 | -5 | Oak and up | 37800 | 1-Cam | 192 |
| 2nd Cam | -1 | -5 | Darkwood and up | 37800 | Compound | 235 | |
Special Note about Cams and Shadewood: When Cams are used on Shadewood, they not only provide the modifications to Damage and Delay as stated in the above table, but they ALSO provide a range bonus. Adding 1 cam to a shadewood staff yields a 175 range bow, and adding 2 cams yields a 200 range bow.
The Bow Table
At this point we’ve got everything we need to prepare a table or spreadsheet of data. This table shows every combination of bows possible in the game. For comparison purposes, it also includes the bows available via purchase or quest within the game. Note that all cost values are shown in coppers.
| Bow | Tool | Cam | Range | Damage | Delay | Ratio | Trivial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunting | 50 | 5 | 43 | 0.116 | |||
| Short | 50 | 6 | 40 | 0.150 | |||
| Long | 100 | 8 | 51 | 0.157 | |||
| Hickory, Hemp | 50 | 10 | 50 | 0.200 | 16 | ||
| Hickory, Linen | 50 | 9 | 46 | 0.196 | 32 | ||
| Hickory, Silk | 50 | 8 | 42 | 0.190 | 46 | ||
| Elm, Hemp | 75 | 13 | 51 | 0.255 | 68 | ||
| Elm, Linen | 75 | 12 | 47 | 0.255 | 68 | ||
| Elm, Silk | 75 | 11 | 43 | 0.256 | 68 | ||
| Carved Elm, Hemp | Knife | 75 | 12 | 47 | 0.255 | 102 | |
| Carved Elm, Linen | Knife | 75 | 11 | 43 | 0.256 | 102 | |
| Carved Elm, Silk | Knife | 75 | 10 | 39 | 0.256 | 102 | |
| Ash, Hemp | 100 | 16 | 58 | 0.276 | 129 | ||
| Ash, Linen | 100 | 15 | 54 | 0.278 | 129 | ||
| Ash, Silk | 100 | 14 | 50 | 0.280 | 129 | ||
| Carved Ash, Hemp | Knife | 100 | 15 | 54 | 0.278 | 129 | |
| Carved Ash, Linen | Knife | 100 | 14 | 50 | 0.280 | 129 | |
| Carved Ash, Silk | Knife | 100 | 13 | 46 | 0.283 | 129 | |
| Shaped Ash, Hemp | Plane | 100 | 14 | 49 | 0.286 | 148 | |
| Shaped Ash, Linen | Plane | 100 | 13 | 45 | 0.289 | 148 | |
| Shaped Ash, Silk | Plane | 100 | 12 | 41 | 0.293 | 148 | |
| Oak, Hemp | 125 | 21 | 65 | 0.323 | 168 | ||
| Oak, Linen | 125 | 20 | 61 | 0.328 | 168 | ||
| Oak, Silk | 125 | 19 | 57 | 0.333 | 168 | ||
| Carved Oak, Hemp | Knife | 125 | 20 | 61 | 0.328 | 168 | |
| Carved Oak, Linen | Knife | 125 | 19 | 57 | 0.333 | 168 | |
| Carved Oak, Silk | Knife | 125 | 18 | 53 | 0.340 | 168 | |
| Shaped Oak, Hemp | Plane | 125 | 19 | 56 | 0.339 | 168 | |
| Shaped Oak, Linen | Plane | 125 | 18 | 52 | 0.346 | 168 | |
| Shaped Oak, Silk | Plane | 125 | 17 | 48 | 0.354 | 168 | |
| 1-Cam Oak, Hemp | 1 | 125 | 20 | 60 | 0.333 | 192 | |
| 1-Cam Oak, Linen | 1 | 125 | 19 | 56 | 0.339 | 192 | |
| 1-Cam Oak, Silk | 1 | 125 | 18 | 52 | 0.346 | 192 | |
| 1-Cam Carved Oak,Hemp | Knife | 1 | 125 | 19 | 56 | 0.339 | 192 |
| 1-Cam Carved Oak,Linen | Knife | 1 | 125 | 18 | 52 | 0.346 | 192 |
| 1-Cam Carved Oak,Silk | Knife | 1 | 125 | 17 | 48 | 0.354 | 192 |
| 1-Cam Shaped Oak,Hemp | Plane | 1 | 125 | 18 | 51 | 0.353 | 192 |
| 1-Cam Shaped Oak, Linen | Plane | 1 | 125 | 17 | 47 | 0.362 | 192 |
| 1-Cam Shaped Oak,Silk | Plane | 1 | 125 | 16 | 43 | 0.372 | 192 |
| Darkwood, Hemp | 150 | 25 | 68 | 0.368 | 215 | ||
| Darkwood, Linen | 150 | 24 | 64 | 0.375 | 215 | ||
| Darkwood, Silk | 150 | 23 | 60 | 0.383 | 215 | ||
| Carved Darkwood, Hemp | Knife | 150 | 24 | 64 | 0.375 | 215 | |
| Carved Darkwood,Linen | Knife | 150 | 23 | 60 | 0.383 | 215 | |
| Carved Darkwood, Silk | Knife | 150 | 22 | 56 | 0.393 | 215 | |
| Shaped Darkwood, Hemp | Plane | 150 | 23 | 59 | 0.390 | 215 | |
| Shaped Darkwood, Linen | Plane | 150 | 22 | 55 | 0.400 | 215 | |
| Shaped Darkwood, Silk | Plane | 150 | 21 | 51 | 0.412 | 215 | |
| 1-Cam Darkwood, Hemp | 1 | 150 | 24 | 63 | 0.381 | 215 | |
| 1-Cam Darkwood, Linen | 1 | 150 | 23 | 59 | 0.390 | 215 | |
| 1-Cam Darkwood, Silk | 1 | 150 | 22 | 55 | 0.400 | 215 | |
| 1-Cam Carved Darkwood, Hemp | Knife | 1 | 150 | 23 | 59 | 0.390 | 215 |
| 1-Cam Carved Darkwood, Linen | Knife | 1 | 150 | 22 | 55 | 0.400 | 215 |
| 1-Cam Carved Darkwood, Silk | Knife | 1 | 150 | 21 | 51 | 0.412 | 215 |
| 1-Cam Shaped Darkwood, Hemp | Plane | 1 | 150 | 22 | 54 | 0.407 | 215 |
| 1-Cam Shaped Darkwood, Linen | Plane | 1 | 150 | 21 | 50 | 0.420 | 215 |
| 1-Cam Shaped Darkwood, Silk | Plane | 1 | 150 | 20 | 46 | 0.435 | 215 |
| Compound Darkwood,Hemp | 2 | 150 | 23 | 58 | 0.397 | 235 | |
| Compound Darkwood, Linen | 2 | 150 | 22 | 54 | 0.407 | 235 | |
| Compound Darkwood, Silk | 2 | 150 | 21 | 50 | 0.420 | 235 | |
| Compound Carved Darkwood, Hemp | Knife | 2 | 150 | 22 | 54 | 0.407 | 235 |
| Compound Carved Darkwood, Linen | Knife | 2 | 150 | 21 | 50 | 0.420 | 235 |
| Compound Carved Darkwood, Silk | Knife | 2 | 150 | 20 | 46 | 0.435 | 235 |
| Compound Shaped Darkwood, Hemp | Plane | 2 | 150 | 21 | 49 | 0.429 | 235 |
| Compound Shaped Darkwood, Linen | Plane | 2 | 150 | 20 | 45 | 0.444 | 235 |
| Compound Shaped Darkwood, Silk | Plane | 2 | 150 | 19 | 41 | 0.463 | 235 |
| Shadewood,Hemp | 150 | 27 | 66 | 0.409 | ~250? | ||
| Shadewood,Linen | 150 | 26 | 62 | 0.419 | ~250? | ||
| Shadewood, Silk | 150 | 25 | 58 | 0.431 | ~250? | ||
| Carved Shadewood, Hemp | Knife | 150 | 26 | 62 | 0.419 | ~250? | |
| Carved Shadewood, Linen | Knife | 150 | 25 | 58 | 0.431 | ~250? | |
| Carved Shadewood, Silk | Knife | 150 | 24 | 54 | 0.444 | ~250? | |
| Shaped Shadewood, Hemp | Plane | 150 | 25 | 57 | 0.439 | ~250? | |
| Shaped Shadewood, Linen | Plane | 150 | 24 | 53 | 0.453 | ~250? | |
| Shaped Shadewood, Silk | Plane | 150 | 23 | 49 | 0.469 | ~250? | |
| 1-Cam Shadewood, Hemp | 1 | 175 | 26 | 61 | 0.426 | ~250? | |
| 1-Cam Shadewood, Linen | 1 | 175 | 25 | 57 | 0.439 | ~250? | |
| 1-Cam Shadewood, Silk | 1 | 175 | 24 | 53 | 0.453 | ~250? | |
| 1-Cam Carved Shadewood, Hemp | Knife | 1 | 175 | 25 | 57 | 0.439 | ~250? |
| 1-Cam Carved Shadewood, Linen | Knife | 1 | 175 | 24 | 53 | 0.453 | ~250? |
| 1-Cam Carved Shadewood, Silk | Knife | 1 | 175 | 23 | 49 | 0.469 | ~250? |
| 1-Cam Shaped Shadewood, Hemp | Plane | 1 | 175 | 24 | 52 | 0.462 | ~250? |
| 1-Cam Shaped Shadewood, Linen | Plane | 1 | 175 | 23 | 48 | 0.479 | ~250? |
| 1-Cam Shaped Shadewood, Silk | Plane | 1 | 175 | 22 | 44 | 0.500 | ~250? |
| Compound Shadewood, Hemp | 2 | 200 | 25 | 56 | 0.446 | ~250? | |
| Compound Shadewood, Linen | 2 | 200 | 24 | 52 | 0.462 | ~250? | |
| Compound Shadewood, Silk | 2 | 200 | 23 | 48 | 0.479 | ~250? | |
| Compound Carved Shadewood, Hemp | Knife | 2 | 200 | 24 | 52 | 0.462 | ~250? |
| Compound Carved Shadewood, Linen | Knife | 2 | 200 | 23 | 48 | 0.479 | ~250? |
| Compound Carved Shadewood, Silk | Knife | 2 | 200 | 22 | 44 | 0.500 | ~250? |
| Compound Shaped Shadewood, Hemp | Plane | 2 | 200 | 23 | 47 | 0.489 | ~250? |
| Compound Shaped Shadewood, Linen | Plane | 2 | 200 | 22 | 43 | 0.512 | ~250? |
| Compound Shaped Shadewood, Silk | Plane | 2 | 200 | 21 | 39 | 0.538 | ~250? |
| Runed Oak Bow | 125 | 21 | 43 | 0.488 | |||
| Larktwitter Bow | 100 | 14 | 42 | 0.333 | |||
| Spectral Bow | 150 | 19 | 50 | 0.380 | |||
| Bow of the Underfoot | 150 | 33 | 60 | 0.550 | |||
| Wind Saber | 150 | 13 | 22 | 0.591 | |||
| Sarnak War Bow | 150 | 12 | 25 | 0.480 | |||
| Efreeti War Bow | 75 | 40 | 100 | 0.400 | |||
| Windstriker | 200 | 45 | 60 | 0.750 | |||
| Light Velium Bow | 100 | 30 | 40 | 0.750 | |||
| Recurved Velium Bow | 110 | 30 | 39 | 0.769 | |||
| Wrapped Velium Bow | 120 | 30 | 38 | 0.789 | |||
| Double Recurved Velium Bow | 130 | 30 | 37 | 0.811 | |||
| Priceless Velium Reinforced Bow | 200 | 33 | 35 | 0.943 | |||
| Primal Velium Reinforced Bow | 200 | 33 | 35 | 0.943 | |||
| Bow of the Silver Fang | 200 | 34 | 44 | 0.773 | |||
| Bow of the Destroyer | 150 | 10 | 17 | 0.588 | |||
| Gloomwater Bow | 170 | 25 | 55 | 0.455 | |||
| Talisen, Bow of the Trailblazer | 150 | 25 | 50 | 0.500 | |||
| Bow of the Huntsman | 180 | 20 | 30 | 0.667 | |||
| Skydarkener | 150 | 28 | 44 | 0.636 | |||
| Trueshot Longbow | 100 | 20 | 45 | 0.444 | 235 | ||
| Rain Caller | 200 | 20 | 45 | 0.444 | |||
Bow Table Analysis
- STORE-BOUGHT BOWS
The first thing that jumps out is that the store-bought bows are a VERY bad deal for the money. New players of course don’t know this and buy those bows anyway (I know I did), but it’s clear that even the most basic bow is much cheaper and much more damaging than anything in the store.
- DAMAGE RATIOS
When I first started playing I just assumed that highest damage was the desirable weapon characteristic. So why would the more advanced components actually reduce damage? The answer of course is that delay plays a key part in the combat model. In general what is of most interest is the damage ratio, or damage / delay. This value represents the rate at which damage is dished out, and higher values are better. Although the more advanced bow components are reducing damage, they are also reducing the delay, with the result that the damage ratio is (usually!) increased with their use.
- HIGH DAMAGE RATIO, OR BIG FIRST STRIKE?
In general the argument that a high damage ratio yields a better weapon is based on the assumption that the weapon will be used multiple times, over and over, during combat. With bows this isn’t always the case – if you are playing in an area where you can’t get off multiple shots before you get into melee combat, it may indeed be better to go with one or two hits at a higher damage value. It’s a matter of combat style and situational tactics. So don’t fall into the trap of mindlessly lusting after that high damage ratio bow, you may indeed be better off with a rough staff and hemp string!
- HICKORY AND ELM
In general the system yields a very logical progression of higher damage ratios with the more advanced components. However, with a Hickory staff the Hemp string yields higher damage and a higher damage ratio. Plus, it’s the least complex bow to build. The Hickory/Hemp combination seems the clear winner in the Hickory category, although one small attraction with the faster bow is that you may get off more shots with it, and thus increase your archery skill at a faster rate.
The Elm staff yields essentially identical damage ratios for all combinations of components, so there’s not much to differentiate between the various options. One attraction of the Carved Elm/Silk combo is that with a delay of only 39 it is indeed the fastest bow in the game!
- CAMS AND TOOLS
It is possible to make an oak or darkwood compound (cammed) bow without also using one of the shaping tools. From examination of the table, it doesn’t seem like a particularly cost-effective option, since building a rough compound bow yields very nearly the same stats as building one using tools but no cams. However, the data is presented for completeness.
One interesting note on the use of the knife: It is definitely NOT cost effective to use it without also using silk, since the exact same statistics modifier from using the knife can be had at much lower cost and complexity simply by improving the string.
- QUEST AND DROPPED BOWS
The table also includes every quest and dropped bow in the game of which I am aware. The fabled Trueshot, and its successor the mighty Raincaller are shown, as well as the dropped Runed Oak and the Larktwitter. Several new bows have surfaced in the game, shown below. The Spectral Bow is found in Traks Teeth, the Bow of the Underfoot comes from The Hole, the Wind Saber (aptly nicknamed "The Uzi") from Old Sebilis, and the Efreeti War Bow from the Plane of Air.
- Trueshot LongbowTrueshot Longbow
LORE ITEM
Slot: RANGE
Skill: Archery Atk Delay: 45
DMG: 20
WT: 3.0 Range: 100 Size: LARGE
Class: RNG
Race: HUM ELF HEF HFL
- Rain CallerRain Caller
MAGIC ITEM LORE ITEM
Slot: RANGE
Charges: 5
Skill: Archery Atk Delay: 45
DMG: 20
STR: +6 DEX: +6
Effect: Firestrike (Any Slot/Can Equip, Casting Time: Instant) at Level 40
WT: 3.0 Range: 200 Size: LARGE
Class: RNG
Race: HUM ELF HEF HFL
- LarkTwitter BowLarkTwitter Bow
MAGIC ITEM
Slot: RANGE
Skill: Archery Atk Delay: 42
DMG: 14
WT: 4.5 Range: 100 Size: LARGE
Class: WAR PAL RNG SHD ROG
Race: ALL
- Runed Oak BowRuned Oak Bow
MAGIC ITEM
Slot: RANGE
Skill: Archery Atk Delay: 43
DMG: 21
WT: 4.5 Range: 125 Size: LARGE
Class: WAR PAL RNG SHD ROG
Race: ALL
- Spectral BowSpectral Bow
MAGIC ITEM LORE ITEM NO DROP
Slot: RANGE
Skill: Archery Atk Delay: 50
DMG: 19
DEX: +3
WT: 8.5 Range: 150 Size: MEDIUM
Class: WAR RNG
Race: ALL
- Bow of the UnderfootBow of the Underfoot
MAGIC ITEM LORE ITEM NO DROP
Slot: RANGE
Skill: Archery Atk Delay: 60
DMG: 33
STR: +4 DEX: +4
SV COLD: +10
WT: 4.0 Range: 150 Size: MEDIUM
Class: WAR PAL RNG SHD ROG
Race: ALL
- Wind SaberWind Saber
MAGIC ITEM LORE ITEM NO DROP
Slot: RANGE
Skill: Archery Atk Delay: 22
DMG: 13
DEX: +5 WIS: +5 AGI: +5
SV COLD: +10
WT: 4.0 Range: 150 Size: MEDIUM
Class: RNG
Race: ALL
- Efreeti War BowEfreeti War Bow
MAGIC ITEM LORE ITEM
Slot: RANGE
Skill: Archery Atk Delay: 100
DMG: 40
WT: 1.0 Range: 75 Size: MEDIUM
Class: WAR RNG
Race: ALL
- WindstrikerWindstriker
MAGIC ITEM LORE ITEM NO DROP
Slot: RANGE
Skill: Archery Atk Delay: 60
DMG: 45
STR: +5 DEX: +5 AGI: +5 HP: +50
Effect: Whirlwind (Combat, Casting Time: Instant) at Level 50
WT: 4.0 Range: 200 Size: MEDIUM
Class: RNG
Race: ALL
- EVEN MORE QUEST AND DROPPED BOWS
Several new bows are introduced with Velious, and one from the Warrens.
- Light Velium Bow
- Recurved Velium Bow
- Wrapped Velium Bow
- Double Recurved Velium Bow
- Priceless Velium Reinforced Bow
- Primal Velium Reinforced Bow
- Bow of the Silver Fang
- Bow of the Icepaw
- Talisen, Bow of the Trailblazer
- Bow of the Destroyer
- Bow of the Huntsman
- Skydarkener
- Gloomwater Bow
- Forlorn Bow (Warrens)
- TRIVIAL SKILL LEVELS
Similar to arrows, the complexity of a given bow is driven by its most complex component. When combining various combinations of components to create a bow, the game examines each component and uses the complexity value of the most complex component to determine the final complexity rating of a given bow.
The values presented in this table represent the work of many fletchers. Occasionally for some reason it seems that some very slight variations in the trivial values can occur between players. A few of the more advanced bows are listed with best-guess trivial values, but these should be taken as guesses only.
Restringing Your Bow
It is possible to change the string on your bow. This allows the discriminating archer to change out bow strings and modify slightly his/her bow characteristics according to the situation at hand.
To change bow strings, simply place a completed bow into the fletch kit along with the new desired string, and hit the combine key. The new string will disappear, and the newly strung bow will appear on your cursor. The old string from the bow is not recovered. Changing strings appears to become trivial at skill 16, but appears to always succeed, offering an interesting alternative to gaining skill at least up to skill 16.
Bow Component Vendors
- The Feerrott
- Fugla (964, 1260)
- Kelethin
- Merchant Sylnis, standing by a wheelbarrow outside Trueshot Bows (-360, -610)
- South Karana
- The centaur Ulan Meadowgreen, in the centaur village near (120, -2200)
- Surefall Glade
- Tonsia, inside the Ranger guild house.
- Firiona Vie
- Jessica Winter, inside the Ranger guild, near (-3430, 3315)
- East Cabilis
- Klok Gogon, near (135, -200)
- Thurgadin
- Argash, inside Argash House of Carpentry, near (-200, -290)
- North Freeport
- Timor Strongbranch, near (-100, -50)
Raising Fletching Skill
To increase your fletching skill to the point where you can make some of the nice bows shown above, you must make lots and lots and lots of arrows. If the arrow you are making has a higher complexity rating than your current skill, you have a chance of increasing your fletching skill. Note that you don’t necessarily have to be successful in a particular attempt in order to gain a skill level.
A couple of tips will help:
- The game will use the higher of your INTELLIGENCE or WISDOM to determine the chance for increasing your fletching skill on any given combine attempt. So spend some money and buy the necessary jewelry to buff up your INT or WIS rating.
- For a long time, people believed that a higher WISDOM value would give you a better chance at having a successful combine attempt. However, this does not seem to be true, and certainly wasn't one of the items listed when Verant recently (April 2000) posted information clarifying the effects of many statistics in the game.
- When you get to a higher level of fletching and the arrows you are making are expensive, a higher CHARISMA value will limit the economic damage to your bank account. I’ve even heard that some players can buff their CHA values up to the point where they actually make money making the more expensive arrows and selling them back to the merchant.
- Use Ctrl-Click to select and move 1 component at a time into your fletch kit. This tip alone will save you vast amounts of aggravation.
- This particular tip is arguably the most useful one in this list, so let me say that once again: USE CTRL-CLICK TO SELECT AND MOVE ARROW COMPONENTS INTO THE FLETCHING KIT!
- Use Shift-Click to purchase components from the vendor in stack of 20, rather than singly.
- Do your fletching in a zone without too much lag. It drives me crazy to do it in East Commons, for example, while it’s usually pretty speedy in Surefall Glade.
The complexity of the arrow in question is driven from the complexity of the most complex component. That means that when fletching for skill, you should be using the single component which will yield an arrow with a complexity which exceeds your fletching skill, and the cheapest things available for the other 3 components. In general the complexity value of the components increases in direct relation to their individual costs, although there is an exception or two at the upper end of the pricing scale. The trivial values for the individual components are shown below, in order of increasing cost.
| Arrow Component | Complexity Values |
|---|---|
| Large Nock | 16 |
| Round Fletch | 16 |
| Wood Shaft | 16 |
| Field Point | 16 |
| Medium Nock | 36 |
| Parabolic Fletch | 46 |
| Small Nock | 56 |
| Bone Shaft | 68 |
| Shield Fletch | 82 |
| Hooked Point | 102 |
| Wood Vane | 122 |
| Ceramic Shaft | 135 |
| Bone Vane | 162 |
| Ceramic Vane | 202 |
| Steel Shaft | 202 |
| Silver Tip | 182 |
In general when fletching for skill, you would like to use the single component necessary to create an arrow with sufficient complexity to exceed your own fletching skill, and the cheapest components everywhere else. However, this will usually lead to an arrow with such poor statistics that you would never willingly use it in combat, and so you just sell them back to the vendor at about a 10 to 15% loss (why in the world any vendor would be willing to buy these things back from us is a complete mystery!). However, it is often possible to spend just a little more, and create an arrow that can be used for both skill AND production. While these arrows are often not the most economic combinations for a given statistic, they at least serve the purpose of allowing you to simultaneously fletch for skill AND production. Note that the cost values shown here may differ slightly from those shown in other portions of this article - these represent the absolute cheapest prices I was able to obtain through faction and charisma.
The Cheapest Way to Fletch
| Description | Trivial | Damage/Range | Cost(5) | Point | Shaft | Fletch | Nock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales, Damage 1 | 56 | 1/150 | 78 | Field | Wood | Para | Small |
| Sales, Damage 2 | 68 | 2/150 | 152 | Field | Bone | Para | Small |
| Sales, Damage 3 | 102 | 3/150 | 462 | Hooked | Bone | Para | Small |
| Sales, Damage 4 | 135 | 4/150 | 1538 | Hooked | Ceramic | Para | Small |
| Magic, Damage 3 | 182 | 3/150 | 2032 | Silvertip | Wood | Para | Small |
| Magic, Damage 4 | 182 | 4/150 | 2069 | Silvertip | Bone | Para | Small |
| Magic, Damage 5 | 182 | 5/150 | 2607 | Silvertip | Ceramic | Para | Small |
| Magic, Damage 6 | 202 | 6/150 | 3447 | Silvertip | Steel | Para | Small |
| Magic, Damage 7 | 202 | 7/125 | 4116 | Silvertip | Steel | Bone Vane | Small |
| Magic, Damage 8 | 202 | 8/100 | 4825 | Silvertip | Steel | Ceramic Vane | Small |
| Type 1 | 16 | 1/50 | 20 | Field | Wood | Round | Large |
| Type 2 | 36 | 1/75 | 31 | Field | Wood | Round | Medium |
| Type 3 | 46 | 1/100 | 41 | Field | Wood | Para | Large |
| Type 4 - Cheap | 56 | 1/100 | 57 | Field | Wood | Round | Small |
| Type 4 - Alternate | 1/150 | 78 | Field | Wood | Para | Small | |
| Type 5 - Cheap | 68 | 2/50 | 94 | Field | Bone | Round | Large |
| Type 5 - Alternate | 2/150 | 152 | Field | Bone | Para | Small | |
| Type 6 | 82 | 2/0 | 204 | Field | Wood | Shield | Large |
| Type 7 - Cheap | 102 | 2/50 | 330 | Hooked | Wood | Round | Large |
| Type 7 - Alternate A | 2/150 | 388 | Hooked | Wood | Para | Small | |
| Type 7 - Alternate B | 3/150 | 462 | Hooked | Bone | Para | Small | |
| Type 8 | 122 | 2/25 | 697 | Field | Wood | Wood Vane | Large |
| Type 9 - Cheap | 135 | 3/50 | 1170 | Field | Ceramic | Round | Large |
| Type 9 - Alternate | 4/150 | 1538 | Hooked | Ceramic | Para | Small | |
| Type 10 - Cheap | 162 | 2/75 | 1380 | Field | Wood | Bone Vane | Large |
| Type 10- Alternate | 2/125 | 1417 | Field | Wood | Bone Vane | Small | |
| Type 11 | 202 | 3/50 | 2797 | Field | Wood | Ceramic Vane | Large |
Goodluck!
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