Bows and crossbows in Runescape are products of crafting, just like many other weapons in the game. Similar to their counterparts in real life, a functional bow requires a bowstring to operate. However, you have to make the bowstring yourself before you can use the weapon in a fight.
To make bowstrings in Runescape, players must harvest flax, which is found in a field. With the flax in hand, they have to head to a spinning wheel to process the flax as well. Keep reading to learn more about harvesting resources and crafting this essential component.
Making Bowstrings in Runescape
Making the bowstrings is relatively simple. All you need are:
- Crafting Level 1 skills
- Flax
- A Spinning Wheel
Players don’t have to be Runescape members to craft bowstrings, making them an excellent source of income for low-level users who don’t have access to better items yet.
Approaching a Spinning Wheel and dumping all the flax you have into it are the only steps other than waiting. The amount you can spin at one time varies depends on the Spinning Wheel; some are more optimized than others.
There are various viable locations to spin flax into bowstrings like:
- Seers’ Village
- Lumbridge Castle
- Neitiznot
- Between Taverley and Burthorpe
- Lletya
Currently, the best location to spin flax is either the Seers’ Village or Neitiznot, depending on whether you have a Seers’ headband 2 or higher. If you do, harvest flax and spin it into bowstrings at the Seers’ Village for the headband’s bonus. Neitizot is more efficient without the bonuses, though you need to start “The Fremennik Isle” quest first.
Making one bowstring yields 15 Crafting experience points each, so you can make plenty to level up quickly. Using the best bowstring farming method, you can earn as much as 20,160 experience in an hour. However, that figure assumes you’re constantly harvesting flax and spinning it in Lumbridge Castle.
For other areas, the rate of spinning bowstrings and gaining experience will vary.
Initially, the Seers’ Village was the only viable location due to its proximity to the bank. With the introduction of Lumbridge Castle and Neitiznot, however, players with access to these locations inevitably moved on.
A bank location is essential because you must deposit the flax into the bank before spinning bowstrings is possible. Every second saved means you earn more for your time. Thus, the locations we listed above are the most viable for making money quickly and gaining Crafting experience.
Low-level players are often seen in the Seers’ Village picking flax from the fields, as it’s one of the best ways to earn money in early gameplay. Some of these users employ macros, software that makes the character act in predetermined ways to leave Runescape running while making bowstrings.
Bowstring Drops
Initially, players make bowstrings out of flax, but later, they’ll encounter enemies that potentially drop bowstrings. Depending on the enemy, the number of bowstrings dropped will also vary. For example:
- Bulbous crawler, 27-25 bowstrings
- Cadarn worker, one bowstring
- New Varrock guard captain, one bowstring
- Seeker, 15 bowstrings
- Soulgazer, 20 bowstrings
- Soulgazer (elite), 20 bowstrings
- Spiritual ranger, eight bowstrings
- Veil-ripper Ozharakha, 20 bowstrings
- Barrels in Viyeldi Caves, one bowstring
- Dagannoth Supreme, 244-550 bowstrings
- Greater reborn ranger, three bowstrings
- Lesser reborn ranger, two bowstrings
- Young impling, one bowstring
- Zamorak ranger, 10 bowstrings
- Elite dark ranger, one to three bowstrings
- Zombie (New Varrock), one bowstring
While enemies or barrels can drop bowstrings, spinning them yourself is much more productive and profitable. Temple Trekking is also a viable source of bowstrings, and it’s an easy method too.
Quality Archery Supplies
Bowstrings are part of Runescape’s economy, and newbies often produce large amounts for sale. They’re an excellent source for quick cash, though high-level players will gravitate to other methods later. Even so, knowing how to harvest and make them efficiently is something all players must learn.
