Everquest Flecthing Guide
A Beginner's Primer on How to Create Bows and Arrows in EQ
Fletching is a useful skill for low level ranges to supply ammunition and at higher levels to create powerful bows for ranged combat in SOE's first mmorpg.
A bow wielder in Everquest can never hope to be the equal of Robin Hood, but there is a trade skill that can greatly reduce the amount of platinum he spends on arrows. This is before a ranger learns the alternate advancement ability that gives him an unlimited supply of free ammunition, but even with the ability, high level bows require a high fletching skill so it is worth it to keep up with the high damage bows that are available in the expansion from Planes of Power onward.
Fletching may be one of the more limited trade skills in Everquest as it only really appeals to the ranger character class, but any class can learn to make bows and arrows. All a character needs to starts his fletching career is a basic fletching kit and the components to make arrows.
Making Arrows in Everquest
Because arrows are much cheaper to make in Everquest than bows, a fletcher should start his career making these. As with the real life production of bow ammunition, there are four parts to an arrow: the point, the knock, the feather and the shaft. Combining all four arrow ingredients in the correct combination will produce an arrow.
Knowing the necessary ingredients to make arrows is not enough to raise your Everquest character's fletching skill. A full list of the recipes and when each arrow type becomes trivial can be found on EQ Traders, although Quon's Guide to making arrows mentions that silver tips will cause the arrows to be considered magical so certain types of creatures can be hit.
Using Fletching to make Bows
Making arrows may be the most important part of this skill to a low level Everquest ranger, but people looking to make a profit from the skill by selling equipment to other players should learn the basics of using the fletching skill to craft a bow. The fletching skill bow making follows a simple pattern at least up until 135, where better and more expensive materials make a better quality bow.
To use fletching to make a basic bow in Everquest you need the fletching kit, a shaft, and a piece of wood. To make higher level bows, use more expensive shafts. Compound bows can be made using bow cams, at least according Kiatha Kittenpaw's bow making guide.
Go Out and Use Your Fletching Skills
Fletching will be a trade skill that rangers pick up the most often as their class can used ranged abilities most effectively in Everquest, but if you just want to make bows and arrows as a way to expand your Everquest character or bring in a little extra money through the sale of bows, fletching might be an option. Of course, tinkering and blacksmithing items appeal to more players.
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