Difference between revisions of "Skill Fletching"

Revision as of 19:33, 7 August 2011

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.

Making arrows is a tedious process and at some point you will be tempted to try putting all of your arrowheads, all of your shafts, all of your feathers, and all of your nocks into your fletching kit at one time and pressing combine. Do NOT do this! No matter what quantity you put in, you will only get one arrow out which means that all of your extra material will be wasted.

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:

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.

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, confirm on p1999?) 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, need confirmation how p1999 stands), 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 Karand from Highland Lions)
  • Vial of Distilled Mana (Enchanter 39 spell, Poison Vial, 2x Sapphires)
  • Griffon Feather

Arrow Component Vendors

• Ak'Anon
  • Clockwork Bowyer inside (1245, -900)
• East Commonlands
  • Joryd Longarms, in Inn 3, near (980, 3760)
• East Karana
  • Bryan, in the shops near the wooden bridge, near (-840, -15)
• Felwithe
  • Longarrow, in Faydark's Bane in North Felwithe
• Grobb
  • Zazhar, outside Krungs Clubs & Junk
• Halas
  • Rain, in McPherson's Bloody Blades
• 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
  • Tiladnya, inside Trueshot Bows
• 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.
• 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)
• 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)
• Thurgadin
  • Tavir, inside Argash House of Carpentry, near (-200, -290)
• North Freeport
  • Valla Strongbranch, near (-100, -50)

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.

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.

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.

... (having trouble getting this table over cleanly)

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
• Rain Caller

  Rain 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
  
• Larktwitter
• Runed Oak Bow

  Runed 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 Bow

  Spectral 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 Underfoot

  Bow 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 Saber

  Wind 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 Bow

  Efreeti 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
  

• EVEN MORE QUEST AND DROPPED BOWS

Some new ones have been found in Velious

• THE BLESSED FAYDARK THUNDERBOLT

This bow can be crafted by Wood Elven fletchers, using the wood elf cultural fletching recipe found here.

• 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, near (135, -200)
• Thurgadin
  • Argash, inside Argash House of Carpentry, near (-200, -290)
• North Freeport
  • Timor Strongbranch, near (-100, -50)