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User:Zosymandias/FletchingTest

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Contents

Fletching Kit

Components

Arrows

Arrows are constructed using four components:

  • Point
  • Shaft
  • Fletch
  • Nock


To start fletching you will need 1 of each of the component types into the fletching kit. 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
Item Name Damage Range Cost (CP) Complexity Component
Field Point Arrowheads     5 16 Point Item 1098.png
Hooked Arrowheads +1   315 102 Point Item 1099.png
Silver Tipped Arrowheads +2   3990 182 Point Item 1100.png
Bundled Wooden Arrow Shafts     5 16 Shaft Item 1012.png
Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts +1   79 68 Shaft Item 1110.png
Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts +2   1155 135 Shaft Item 1110.png
Bundled Steel Arrow Shafts +3   2835 202 Shaft Item 1012.png
Several Round Cut Fletchings     5 16 Fletch Item 1102.png
Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings   +50 26 46 Fletch Item 1102.png
Several Shield Cut Fletchings +1 -50 189 82 Fletch Item 1102.png
Set of Wooden Arrow Vanes +1 -25 682 122 Fletch Item 1012.png
Set of Bone Arrow Vanes +1 +25 1365 162 Fletch Item 1110.png
Set of Ceramic Arrow Vanes +2   2782 202 Fletch Item 1012.png
Large Groove Nocks     5 16 Nock Item 977.png
Medium Groove Nocks   +25 16 36 Nock Item 977.png
Small Groove Nocks   +50 42 56 Nock Item 977.png

Bows

Bows consist of a staff and string, are sometimes constructed using 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 optionally any tools or cams into the fletching kit. If the attempt fails, the staff, string and cams are lost, but any tool used will be recovered.

Staff material

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
Shadewood 150 27 66  ?????? >250

These values form the basic statistics of the final bow. The choice of string, tool, and cams all provide modifications to these base values.

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
  • Note: When Cams are used on Shadewood, they not only provide the modifications to Damage and Delay as stated in the above table, but they provide an additional 50 range bonus per cam.

Recipes

Arrows

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.

Bought Arrows
Dmg Range Cost(20) Name
1 25 180 Basic Arrow (Merchant)
1 150 4520 Flight Arrow (Merchant)
2 50 7120 Arrow (Merchant)
3 50 5660 Sheaf Arrow (Merchant)


Arrow Recipes
Dmg Range Trivial Cost(20) Point Shaft Fletch Nock
1 50 16 80 Field Point Arrowheads Bundled Wooden Arrow Shafts Several Round Cut Fletchings Large Groove Nocks
1 75 36 124 Field Point Arrowheads Bundled Wooden Arrow Shafts Several Round Cut Fletchings Medium Groove Nocks
1 100 46 164 Field Point Arrowheads Bundled Wooden Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Large Groove Nocks
1 125 46 208 Field Point Arrowheads Bundled Wooden Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Medium Groove Nocks
1 (item) 150 56 312 Field Point Arrowheads Bundled Wooden Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Small Groove Nocks
2 50 68 376 Field Point Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Round Cut Fletchings Large Groove Nocks
2 75 68 420 Field Point Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Round Cut Fletchings Medium Groove Nocks
2 100 68 460 Field Point Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Large Groove Nocks
2 125 68 504 Field Point Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Medium Groove Nocks
2 150 68 608 Field Point Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Small Groove Nocks
3 5 82 1112 Field Point Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Large Groove Nocks
3 25 82 1156 Field Point Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Medium Groove Nocks
3 50 82 1260 Field Point Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Small Groove Nocks
3 75 102 1660 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Round Cut Fletchings Medium Groove Nocks
3 100 102 1700 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Large Groove Nocks
3 125 102 1744 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Medium Groove Nocks
3 150 102 1848 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Small Groove Nocks
4 0 102 2352 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Large Groove Nocks
4 25 102 2396 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Medium Groove Nocks
4 50 102 2500 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Small Groove Nocks
4 75 122 4472 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Bone Arrow Shafts Set of Wooden Arrow Vanes Small Groove Nocks
4 100 135 6004 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Large Groove Nocks
4 125 135 6048 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Medium Groove Nocks
4 150 135 6152 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Small Groove Nocks
5 0 135 6656 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Large Groove Nocks
5 25 135 6700 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Medium Groove Nocks
5 50 135 6804 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Small Groove Nocks
5 75 135 8776 Hooked Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Set of Wooden Arrow Vanes Small Groove Nocks
5 100 182 10352 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Large Groove Nocks
5 125 182 10374 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Medium Groove Nocks
5 150 182 10426 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Small Groove Nocks
6 0 182 10678 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Large Groove Nocks
6 25 182 10700 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Medium Groove Nocks
6 50 182 10752 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Small Groove Nocks
6 75 182 11738 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Set of Wooden Arrow Vanes Small Groove Nocks
6 100 182 13052 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Set of Bone Arrow Vanes Medium Groove Nocks
6 125 182 13104 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Set of Bone Arrow Vanes Small Groove Nocks
6 150 202 13786 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Steel Arrow Shafts Several Parabolic Cut Fletchings Small Groove Nocks
7 0 202 14038 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Steel Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Large Groove Nocks
7 25 202 14060 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Steel Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Medium Groove Nocks
7 50 202 14112 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Steel Arrow Shafts Several Shield Cut Fletchings Small Groove Nocks
7 75 202 15098 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Steel Arrow Shafts Set of Wooden Arrow Vanes Small Groove Nocks
7 100 202 15938 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Ceramic Arrow Shafts Set of Ceramic Arrow Vanes Small Groove Nocks
7 125 202 16464 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Steel Arrow Shafts Set of Bone Arrow Vanes Small Groove Nocks
8 50 202 19224 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Steel Arrow Shafts Set of Ceramic Arrow Vanes Large Groove Nocks
8 75 202 19246 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Steel Arrow Shafts Set of Ceramic Arrow Vanes Medium Groove Nocks
8 (item) 100 202 19298 Silver Tipped Arrowheads Bundled Steel Arrow Shafts Set of Ceramic Arrow Vanes Small Groove Nocks
  • 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.

Bows

Bow Recipes
Item Wood String Tool Cam Range Damage Delay Ratio Trivial Cost (PP)
Hickory, Hemp Hickory Hemp 50 10 50 0.200 16
Hickory, Linen Hickory Linen 50 9 46 0.196 32
Hickory, Silk Hickory Silk 50 8 42 0.190 46
Elm, Hemp Elm Hemp 75 13 51 0.255 68
Elm, Linen Elm Linen 75 12 47 0.255 68
Elm, Silk Elm Silk 75 11 43 0.256 68
Carved Elm, Hemp Elm Hemp Blade 75 12 47 0.255 102
Carved Elm, Linen Elm Linen Blade 75 11 43 0.256 102
Carved Elm, Silk Elm Silk Blade 75 10 39 0.256 102
Ash, Hemp Ash Hemp 100 16 58 0.276 129
Ash, Linen Ash Linen 100 15 54 0.278 129
Ash, Silk Ash Silk 100 14 50 0.280 129
Carved Ash, Hemp Ash Hemp Blade 100 15 54 0.278 129
Carved Ash, Linen Ash Linen Blade 100 14 50 0.280 129
Carved Ash, Silk Ash Silk Blade 100 13 46 0.283 129
Shaped Ash, Hemp Ash Hemp Plane 100 14 49 0.286 148
Shaped Ash, Linen Ash Linen Plane 100 13 45 0.289 148
Shaped Ash, Silk Ash Silk Plane 100 12 41 0.293 148
Oak, Hemp Oak Hemp 125 21 65 0.323 168
Oak, Linen Oak Linen 125 20 61 0.328 168
Oak, Silk Oak Silk 125 19 57 0.333 168
Carved Oak, Hemp Oak Hemp Blade 125 20 61 0.328 168
Carved Oak, Linen Oak Linen Blade 125 19 57 0.333 168
Carved Oak, Silk Oak Silk Blade 125 18 53 0.340 168
Shaped Oak, Hemp Oak Hemp Plane 125 19 56 0.339 168
Shaped Oak, Linen Oak Linen Plane 125 18 52 0.346 168
Shaped Oak, Silk Oak Silk Plane 125 17 48 0.354 168
1-Cam Oak, Hemp Oak Hemp 1 125 20 60 0.333 192
1-Cam Oak, Linen Oak Linen 1 125 19 56 0.339 192
1-Cam Oak, Silk Oak Silk 1 125 18 52 0.346 192
1-Cam Carved Oak, Hemp Oak Hemp Blade 1 125 19 56 0.339 192
1-Cam Carved Oak, Linen Oak Linen Blade 1 125 18 52 0.346 192
1-Cam Carved Oak, Silk Oak Silk Blade 1 125 17 48 0.354 192
1-Cam Shaped Oak, Hemp Oak Hemp Plane 1 125 18 51 0.353 192
1-Cam Shaped Oak, Linen Oak Linen Plane 1 125 17 47 0.362 192
1-Cam Shaped Oak, Silk Oak Silk Plane 1 125 16 43 0.372 192
Darkwood, Hemp Dark Hemp 150 25 68 0.368 215
Darkwood, Linen Dark Linen 150 24 64 0.375 215
Darkwood, Silk Dark Silk 150 23 60 0.383 215
Carved Darkwood, Hemp Dark Hemp Blade 150 24 64 0.375 215
Carved Darkwood, Linen Dark Linen Blade 150 23 60 0.383 215
Carved Darkwood, Silk Dark Silk Blade 150 22 56 0.393 215
Shaped Darkwood, Hemp Dark Hemp Plane 150 23 59 0.390 215
Shaped Darkwood, Linen Dark Linen Plane 150 22 55 0.400 215
Shaped Darkwood, Silk Dark Silk Plane 150 21 51 0.412 215
1-Cam Darkwood, Hemp Dark Hemp 1 150 24 63 0.381 215
1-Cam Darkwood, Linen Dark Linen 1 150 23 59 0.390 215
1-Cam Darkwood, Silk Dark Silk 1 150 22 55 0.400 215
1-Cam Carved Darkwood, Hemp Dark Hemp Blade 1 150 23 59 0.390 215
1-Cam Carved Darkwood, Linen Dark Linen Blade 1 150 22 55 0.400 215
1-Cam Carved Darkwood, Silk Dark Silk Blade 1 150 21 51 0.412 215
1-Cam Shaped Darkwood, Hemp Dark Hemp Plane 1 150 22 54 0.407 215
1-Cam Shaped Darkwood, Linen Dark Linen Plane 1 150 21 50 0.420 215
1-Cam Shaped Darkwood, Silk Dark Silk Plane 1 150 20 46 0.435 215
Compound Darkwood, Hemp Dark Hemp 2 150 23 58 0.397 235
Compound Darkwood, Linen Dark Linen 2 150 22 54 0.407 235
Compound Darkwood, Silk Dark Silk 2 150 21 50 0.420 235
Compound Carved Darkwood, Hemp Dark Hemp Blade 2 150 22 54 0.407 235
Compound Carved Darkwood, Linen Dark Linen Blade 2 150 21 50 0.420 235
Compound Carved Darkwood, Silk Dark Silk Blade 2 150 20 46 0.435 235
Compound Shaped Darkwood, Hemp Dark Hemp Plane 2 150 21 49 0.429 235
Compound Shaped Darkwood, Linen Dark Linen Plane 2 150 20 45 0.444 235
Compound Shaped Darkwood, Silk Dark Silk Plane 2 150 19 41 0.463 235
Shadewood,Hemp Shade Hemp 150 27 66 0.409 <250
Shadewood,Linen Shade Linen 150 26 62 0.419 <250
Shadewood, Silk Shade Silk 150 25 58 0.431 <250
Carved Shadewood, Hemp Shade Hemp Blade 150 26 62 0.419 <250
Carved Shadewood, Linen Shade Linen Blade 150 25 58 0.431 <250
Carved Shadewood, Silk Shade Silk Blade 150 24 54 0.444 <250
Shaped Shadewood, Hemp Shade Hemp Plane 150 25 57 0.439 <250
Shaped Shadewood, Linen Shade Linen Plane 150 24 53 0.453 <250
Shaped Shadewood, Silk Shade Silk Plane 150 23 49 0.469 <250
1-Cam Shadewood, Hemp Shade Hemp 1 175 26 61 0.426 <250
1-Cam Shadewood, Linen Shade Linen 1 175 25 57 0.439 <250
1-Cam Shadewood, Silk Shade Silk 1 175 24 53 0.453 <250
1-Cam Carved Shadewood, Hemp Shade Hemp Blade 1 175 25 57 0.439 <250
1-Cam Carved Shadewood, Linen Shade Linen Blade 1 175 24 53 0.453 <250
1-Cam Carved Shadewood, Silk Shade Silk Blade 1 175 23 49 0.469 <250
1-Cam Shaped Shadewood, Hemp Shade Hemp Plane 1 175 24 52 0.462 <250
1-Cam Shaped Shadewood, Linen Shade Linen Plane 1 175 23 48 0.479 <250
1-Cam Shaped Shadewood, Silk Shade Silk Plane 1 175 22 44 0.500 <250
Compound Shadewood, Hemp Shade Hemp 2 200 25 56 0.446 <250
Compound Shadewood, Linen Shade Linen 2 200 24 52 0.462 <250
Compound Shadewood, Silk Shade Silk 2 200 23 48 0.479 <250
Compound Carved Shadewood, Hemp Shade Hemp Blade 2 200 24 52 0.462 <250
Compound Carved Shadewood, Linen Shade Linen Blade 2 200 23 48 0.479 <250
Compound Carved Shadewood, Silk Shade Silk Blade 2 200 22 44 0.500 <250
Compound Shaped Shadewood, Hemp Shade Hemp Plane 2 200 23 47 0.489 <250
Compound Shaped Shadewood, Linen Shade Linen Plane 2 200 22 43 0.512 <250
Compound Shaped Shadewood, Silk Shade Silk Plane 2 200 21 39 0.538 <250

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, place a completed bow into the fletching kit along with the new string, and hit combine. The result will be the same bow with only the string changed. The old string is not recovered. Changing strings becomes trivial at skill 16, but appears never fail, offering an interesting alternative to gaining skill up to skill 16.

Leveling 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:

  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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!
  1. Use Shift-Click to purchase components from the vendor in stack of 20, rather than singly.
  1. 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.


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

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