Fletching Guide

Introduction

Fletching is a great skill in RuneScape. It's fun, and a quick way to make money. If you just want to make money, arrows are the best bet, but remember, not all arrows can be used on F2P. Fletching is for members only, but all arrows up to and including adamant can be used on F2P. This guide will take you through the different types of fletching items you can make in the game, and will show you how and where to do it.

What is fletching? Well, fletching is a skill which allows you to make items used in ranging. The higher your fletching skill is, the more cool stuff you can make. You can make items such as bows, arrows, special bolts and darts.

The most important tool in fletching is a knife. These can be found many places in RuneScape. One place is just south of Lumbridge castle; there's one on the ground. There's also one in the Lumbridge Castle basement, in the Karamja general store, and in Seers' Village, south-west of the bank in the house with a sink. They are also sold in many stores (see knife in our Items database for a list of shops.)

Note: You can put a knife on your Toolbelt in order to save inventory space whilst fletching.

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Making Bows

Making bows is fairly easy. All you have to do is cut some wood and use a knife on it. For the best locations to cut wood, check our Woodcutting guide. After using your knife on the log of wood you will have to choose to either make a short- or shieldbow. Then you will have an unstrung shortbow/shieldbow in your inventory instead of that log. To get a string for your bow, you'll have to do some crafting. Go to either the Gnome Stronghold or Seers Village and pick some flax, then go to a spinning wheel (can be found in both Stronghold and Seers) and spin your flax by using it with the wheel. You will now have a bowstring, which you just use on your unstrung bow, and VOILA! you have a bow all ready for use. If you have many bowstrings and unstrung bows, you can select "Make all" option after using string on bow, and it will automatically string all of your bows in your inventory.

Please note that the experience points (exp) are for a fully finished bow. If you want the exp for making an unstrung bow, divide the exp by 2 (example: You get 100 total exp for making a Maple Short, that's the same as 50 for making an unstrung bow, and 50 for stringing.)

Bow Table
Pic Name Fletching lvl Exp.
Shortbow Shortbow 1 10
Shieldbow Shieldbow 10 20
Oak Shortbow Oak Shortbow 20 33
Oak shieldbow Oak Shieldbow 25 50
Willow Shortbow Willow Shortbow 35 66.5
Willow shieldbow Willow Shieldbow 40 83
Maple Shortbow Maple Shortbow 50 100
Maple shieldbow Maple Shieldbow 55 116.5
Yew Shortbow Yew Shortbow 65 135
Yew shieldbow Yew Shieldbow 70 150
Magic Shortbow Magic Shortbow 80 166.5
Magic shieldbow Magic Shieldbow 85 183
Elder shortbow Elder shortbow 90 202.4
Elder shieldbow Elder shieldbow 95 232.8
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Making Arrows

Arrows are not as fun to make as bows, but you can get a lot of cash for them. However, you'll need a good amount if you really want cash. What you do is go to a forest (Lumbridge-Draynor is the best), and cut a whole bunch of trees. Anyway, just cut some normal trees, use your knife on the logs, and make some arrow shafts.

When you have the shafts you'll have to add some feathers to them. With the release of hunter, this has become easier. Remember all those colourful feathers that the birds you trapped dropped? They can be used to feather your arrows as well. You will also need some arrow heads, which you can make with the Smithing skill - please refer to our Smithing Guide for more information. You need 1 shaft, 1 feather and 1 arrow head for an arrow. Might sound like a lot, but the best thing is: You get experience points from all of it! Note that grenwall spikes (from Hunting) can also be used with feathers to make headless arrows (giving the same experience).

How to make arrows

Please note that the exp for the arrows include cutting of the logs and feathering.

Arrow Table
Pic Name Fletching lvl Exp for set of 15 Exp per arrow
Arrow Shafts 15 Arrow shafts 1 5 0.33
Feathered Arrow Shafts 15 Headless Arrows 1 15 1
Bronze Arrows 15 Bronze Arrows 1 39.5 2.63
Iron Arrows 15 Iron Arrows 15 57.5 3.83
Steel Arrows 15 Steel Arrows 30 95 6.3
Mithril Arrows 15 Mithril Arrows 45 132 8.8
Broad Leaf Arrows 15 Broad Leaf Arrows* 52 225 15
Adamant Arrows 15 Adamant Arrows 60 169.5 11.3
Adamant Arrows 15 Adamant Arrows 60 169.5 11.3
Rune Arrows 15 Rune Arrows 75 207.4 13.8
Dragon Arrows 15 Dragon Arrows 90 244.5 16.3
Dark Arrows 15 Dark Arrows 95 262.5 17.5

* You must have completed the Smoking Kills quest and purchased the ability from a slayer master before fletching broad arrows. See our Slayer Guide to learn more.

** You must have completed the Ritual of the Mahjarrat quest to make and fletch bane arrows. See the Bane ore and the Smithing Guide to learn more.

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Making Crossbows

A fairly complicated method of training is to make crossbows. The first step is to use a knife on logs, this will make the crossbow stock. Then, you must attach the proper metal limb to it, you will need a hammer to do this. The limbs can be made using the smithing skill. The final step is to add a crossbow string. Crossbow strings can be made by level 10 crafters on a spinning wheel. See the Crafting skill guide for more information.

The experience listed in the table below includes fletching the stock from the wood, adding the appropriate type of metal limbs, and adding a crossbow string. The stock and stringing each earn exactly one-fourth of the total xp shown; adding the limbs earns the other half of the total xp. Analysing the use of wood and strings alone, fletching ordinary bows offers superior xp - but using a finished smithed product to gain additional fletching xp is an unusual skilling twist.

Crossbow Table
Pic Name Wood Type Fletching lvl Cutting stock Adding limbs Stringing Total Exp.
Crossbow Bronze Crossbow Regular Wood 9 6 12 6 24
Off-hand bronze crossbow Off-hand bronze crossbow Regular Wood 9 6 12 6 24
Bronze 2h crossbow Bronze 2h crossbow Regular Wood 9 6 12 6 24
Blurite Crossbow Blurite Crossbow* Oak 24 16 32 16 64
Iron Crossbow Iron Crossbow Willow 39 22 44 22 88
Off-hand iron crossbow Off-hand iron crossbow Willow 39 22 44 22 88
Iron 2h crossbow Iron 2h crossbow Willow 39 22 44 22 88
Steel Crossbow Steel Crossbow Teak 46 27 54 27 108
Off-hand steel crossbow Off-hand steel crossbow Teak 46 27 54 27 108
Steel 2h crossbow Steel 2h crossbow Teak 46 27 54 27 108
Mithril Crossbow Mithril Crossbow Maple 54 32 64 32 128
Off-hand mithril crossbow Off-hand mithril crossbow Maple 54 32 64 32 128
Mithril 2h crossbow Mithril 2h crossbow Maple 54 32 64 32 128
Adamant Crossbow Adamantite Crossbow Mahogany 61 41 82 41 164
Off-hand adamant crossbow Off-hand adamant crossbow Mahogany 61 41 82 41 164
Adamant 2h crossbow Adamant 2h crossbow Mahogany 61 41 82 41 164
Rune Crossbow Runite Crossbow Yew 69 50 100 50 200
Off-hand rune crossbow Off-hand rune crossbow Yew 69 50 100 50 200
Rune 2h crossbow Rune 2h crossbow Yew 69 50 100 50 200
Dragon crossbow Dragon crossbow Magic 94 100 0 100 200
Off-hand dragon crossbow Off-hand dragon crossbow Magic 94 100 0 100 200
Dragon 2h crossbow Dragon 2h crossbow Magic 94 100 0 100 200

*In order to make a Blurite crossbow you must have completed The Knight's Sword quest.

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Making Bolts

Another option when training fletching is to make bolts. First you smith the unfinished bolts (10 bolts per bar), then you attach feathers to them. Once that's done, you're ready to add the tips to them. The gem tips are made by using a chisel on a cut gem, pearl tips are obtained by using a chisel on an oyster pearl, and you can get barbed tips as a reward from the Ranging Guild.

Gem-tipped bolts can be enchanted spell to give certain effects when ranging enemies. Check out the magic guide's Bolt Enchantment section. You may decide to add weapon poison to plain metal bolts or to barbed-tipped bolts.

Note: You can get bronze bolts from the archery shops in Varrock, Catherby, and respawn places in the wilderness. All higher bolts must be made at an anvil using the smithing skill or gotten from monster drops. Because silver is a crafting metal, you don't smith it. Craft it at a furnace with the bolt mould in your inventory.

If you have spent a lot of time raising your hunter skill, you probably have lots of kebbit spikes and long kebbit spikes. Use a chisel on them to make bolts for the hunter crossbow. No feathers needed! If you do not have the required fletching level for kebbit bolts, just talk to Leon in Yanille. Not only does he sell the hunter crossbow that fires the bolts, but he also will make the bolts for a small fee and the spikes. Onyx bolt tips can be purchased in TzHaar for a small amount of Tok'kul.

Bolt Table
Pic Name Fletching lvl Exp. Bolt Type
Bronze Bolts 10 Bronze Bolts 9 5 Bronze
Opal Tipped Bolts 10 Opal Tipped Bolts 11 16 Bronze
Blurite bolt 10 Blurite bolts 24 10 Blurite
Jade Tipped Bolts 10 Jade Tipped Bolts 26 24 Blurite
Kebbit Bolts 6 Kebbit Bolts 32 34.8 Kebbit Spike
Iron bolts 10 Iron Bolts 39 15 Iron
Pearl Tipped Bolts 10 Pearl Tipped Bolts 41 32 Iron
Long kebbit bolt 6 Long Kebbit Bolts 42 47.7 Long Kebbit Spike
Silver bolts 10 Silver bolts 43 25 Silver
Steel bolts 10 Steel Bolts 46 35 Steel
Red Topaz Tipped Bolts 10 Red Topaz Tipped Bolts 48 39 Steel
Barb Tipped Bolts 10 Barb Tipped Bolts 51 95 Bronze
Mith bolts 10 Mithril Bolts 54 50 Mithril
Broad Tipped Bolts 10 Broad Tipped Bolts* 55 30 Broad Bolts
Sapphire Tipped Bolts 10 Sapphire Tipped Bolts 56 47 Mithril
Emerald Tipped Bolts 10 Emerald Tipped Bolts 58 55 Mithril
Frag Bolts 15 Fragment Bolts 60 7.5 Bronze
Addy bolts 10 Adamant Bolts 61 70 Adamant
Ruby Tipped Bolts 10 Ruby Tipped Bolts 63 63 Adamantite
Diamond Tipped Bolts 10 Diamond Tipped Bolts 65 70 Adamantite
rune bolts 10 Runite Bolts 69 100 Runite
Dragonstone Tipped Bolts 10 Dragonstone Tipped Bolts 71 82 Runite
Onyx Tipped Bolts 10 Onyx Tipped Bolts 73 94 Runite
Bane Bolts 10 Bane Bolts** 80 70 Bane
Ascendri bolts 10 Ascendri bolts 80 106 Ascension
Ascension bolts 10 Ascension Bolts 90 200 Ascension
Bakriminel bolts 10 Bakriminel Bolts*** 93 130 Bloodwood

* You must have completed the Smoking Kills quest and purchased the ability from a slayer master before fletching broad bolts. See our Slayer Guide to learn more.

** You must have completed the Ritual of the Mahjarrat quest to make and fletch bane bolts. See the Bane ore and the Smithing Guide to learn more.

*** Bakriminel bolts have special effects when used in PvP combat. See the Bakriminel Bolts Guide to learn more.

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Making Darts

Darts are fairly simple to make. All you need to do is go to an anvil, smith the dart tips, and use some feathers on them. Please refer to our Smithing Guide for more information on making dart tips. Dragon dart tips can only be obtained through the Impetuous Impulses minigame.

Please note that you'll have to do the Tourist Trap Quest to make darts.

Off-hand darts have the same level requirements and earn the sam experience as main-hand darts.

Darts
Pic Name Fletching lvl. Exp.
Bronze Dart Bronze Dart 1 18
Iron Dart Iron Dart 22 38
Steel Dart Steel Dart 37 75
Mithril Dart Mithril Dart 52 112
Adamant Dart Adamant Dart 67 150
Rune Dart Rune Dart 81 188
Dragon Dart Dragon Dart 95 250
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Ogre Ranging

Ogre Bow

To use an Ogre bow you must have started the Big Chompy Bird Hunting quest. If you lose your bow you can talk to Rantz again to get a new one. These bows are more powerful than normal bows, and are used for killing chompys (To learn more please read our Chompy hunting guide for more information). They fire Ogre arrows, which can be fletched:

  • Cut some Achey trees, around the Feldip Hills area or south-west of Gu'Tanoth.
  • Use a knife on the logs as usual, and select arrow shafts to receive between 2 - 6 arrow shafts.
  • Add feathers to the arrow shafts. It takes 4 feathers per arrow shaft.
  • Get some wolf bones (wolves can also be found around the Feldip area) and use a chisel on the bones to get between 2 - 6 Wolfbone arrow tips.
  • Add these to the flighted ogre arrows to get Ogre arrows.
Ogre fletching table
Pic Name Fletching lvl Exp.
Ogre arrow shaft Ogre arrow shaft 5 1.6 per shaft
Flighted ogre arrows Flighted ogre arrows 5 0.9 per arrow
Wolfbone arrowheads Adding wolfbone arrowheads 5 1 per arrow
Ogre arrow Completed Ogre arrow 5 3.8 per arrow
Comp Ogre Bow Ogre composite bow* 30 90 (for cutting and stringing)
Bronze Brutals 6 Bronze Brutal 7 1.4 per Brutal
Iron Brutals 6 Iron Brutal 18 2.6 per brutal
Steel Brutals 6 Steel Brutal 33 5.1 per brutal
Black Brutals 6 Black Brutals** 38 6.4 per brutal
Mithril Brutals 6 Mithril Brutal 49 7.5 per brutal
Adamant Brutals 6 Adamant Brutal 62 10.1 per brutal
Rune Brutals 6 Rune Brutal 77 12.5 per brutal

*Composite Ogre Bow

This requires a fletching level of 30 and you cannot make these bows until you make one during the Zogre Flesh Eaters quest.

To make a composite Ogre Bow, cut down an achey tree and use your knife with the logs (with wolf bones in your inventory) to fletch an unstrung bow. Then use a bowstring with the unstrung bow to make a composite Ogre Bow. This bow is the only bow which can fire brutal arrows. To make Brutal arrows, smith some nails from the required metal and add the nails to the arrows instead of wolfbone tips. You will need a hammer in your inventory to do this, and you will use 1 nail per brutal arrow.

** To get black nails, kill Zogres in the cave from the Zogre Flesh Eaters quest and use the key they drop with one of the various coffins around. Black nails are a rare drop from the coffins.

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Jadinko Lair

The Jadinko Lair is located in the south-east corner of Karamja, east and across the waterfall from Shilo Village. Inside the lair, jade roots hang from the ceiling. The roots curl up and straighten out at random. For fletching purposes, you are looking to cut them when they hang straight down. Cutting the uncurled roots (requires level 83 woodcutting) will yield Straight roots. Take these roots to one of several firepits scattered throughout the lair and harden them on the fire. Then, use a knife on the Hardened straight root to fletch it into Sagaie shafts. Cutting the shafts requires 83 fletching, but doesn't give any experience. Attaching a Mutated vine to the Sagaie shaft creates the finished Sagaie.

Picture Name of Item Level to Fletch Experience
Sagaie Sagaie 83 40 per Sagaie

Another ranged item can be created as well as the Sagaie; the Bolas. A Bolas is created by combining a Mutated vine with Excrescences, both obtained as drops from the mutated jadinkos found in the lair. Mutated vines can also be cut from mutated roots (requires level 83 woodcutting).

Picture Name of Item Level to Fletch Experience
Bolas Bolas 87 50
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How To Train

Most players collect bow materials first, and then train fletching at a one-click bank such as Castle Wars or the Culinaromancer's Chest in Lumbridge Castle basement. Instead of dropping your bows, work some magic on them. Literally... Just bring some nature runes and a fire staff, and alch your bows. It's a lot quicker than dropping, and you get both magic exp and money from it.

Alchemy Table
Completed Bows Unstrung Bows
Name Low Alch High Alch Low Alch High Alch
Shortbow 20 gp 30 gp 9 gp 15 gp
Shieldbow 32 gp 48 gp 24 gp 36 gp
Oak Shortbow 40 gp 60 gp 20 gp 30 gp
Oak shieldbow 64 gp 96 gp 32 gp 48 gp
Willow Shortbow 80 gp 120 gp 40 gp 60 gp
Willow shieldbow 128 gp 192 gp 64 gp 96 gp
Maple Shortbow 160 gp 240 gp 80 gp 120 gp
Maple shieldbow 256 gp 384 gp 128 gp 192 gp
Yew Shortbow 320 gp 480 gp 160 gp 240 gp
Yew shieldbow 512 gp 768 gp 256 gp 384 gp
Magic Shortbow 640 gp 960 gp 320 gp 480 gp
Magic shieldbow 1024 gp 1536 gp 512 gp 768 gp
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Level Boosters

There are two ways you can boost your Fletching level.

Fletching Level Boosters
Pic Name of item Level Increase Information
Spicy Stew Spicy Stew -6 to +6 (Random) Made by using Orange spice on a Stew. For more information on making Stews, please visit the Cooking Guide. This item is not tradeable.
Fletching Potion (4) Fletching potion +3 A potion made from a Wergali herb and a Wimpy feather. See the Herblore guide for more information.

The Stealing Creation minigame offers two helpful knives that can be purchased for 20 Stealing Creation points apiece.

Stealing Creation Fletching Knives
Pic Name Experience Increase Information
Volatile Clay Fletching Knife Volatile clay fletching knife 2.2x Obtained at random from the Volatile tool. Disintegrates after the charge of the tool falls to 0%, or after the tool has been reassigned ten times.
Sacred Clay Fletching Knife Sacred clay fletching knife 2x Obtained by choosing the transform option on the Proto-tool. Disintegrates after the charge of the tool falls to 0%.
Summoning Level Pic Familiar Abilities Scroll
33Beaver Pouch Beaver Does not fight
Forages logs and planks
Acts as knife in Fletching if you do not have one on your toolbelt or in your inventory.
Boosts Woodcutting +2
Multichop: Cuts up to three logs from a nearby tree

With high Fletching levels, players can use Ancient bones obtained from Player-owned ports to create useful scrimshaw items. Each item requires 10 of these bones, rewarding 4000 fletching experience for each one made.

Scrimshaw Items
Pic Name Fletching level Other requirement Effect Expiry time
Log-splitting scrimshaw Log-splitting scrimshaw 85 70 Woodcutting 15% chance of instantly splitting any logs cut, turning them into additional Woodcutting XP. 3 hours
Rock-crushing scrimshaw Rock-crushing scrimshaw 85 70 Mining 15% chance of instantly crushing any ore mined, turning them into additional Mining XP. 3 hours
Superior log-splitting scrimshaw Superior log-splitting scrimshaw 85 70 Woodcutting 20% chance of instantly splitting any logs cut, turning them into additional Woodcutting XP. 4 hours
Superior rock-crushing scrimshaw Superior rock-crushing scrimshaw 85 70 Mining 20% chance of instantly crushing any ore mined, turning them into additional Mining XP. 4 hours
Tree-shaking scrimshaw Tree-shaking scrimshaw 90 80 Woodcutting Increases the chance of receiving a bird's nest by 300%. 3 hours
Gem-finding scrimshaw Gem-finding scrimshaw 90 80 Mining Successful mining attempts may recover a diamond, dragonstone or onyx gem. Higher-levelled rocks improve this chance. 3 hours
Superior tree-shaking scrimshaw Superior tree-shaking scrimshaw 90 80 Woodcutting Increases the chance of receiving a bird's nest by 400%. 4 hours
Superior gem-finding scrimshaw Superior gem-finding scrimshaw 90 80 Mining Successful mining attempts may recover a diamond, dragonstone or onyx gem. Higher-levelled rocks improve this chance. 4 hours
Scrimshaw of cruelty Scrimshaw of cruelty 92 80 Ranged Successful ranged attacks have a small chance of causing a bleed or poison effect. 3 hours
Scrimshaw of the elements Scrimshaw of the elements 92 80 Magic Every magic attack deals a small amount of additional elemental damage. 3 hours
Scrimshaw of vampyrism Scrimshaw of vampyrism 92 80 Stength Successful melee attacks have a small chance of stealing the target's lifepoints. 3 hours
Superior scrimshaw of cruelty Superior scrimshaw of cruelty 92 80 Ranged Successful ranged attacks have a moderate chance of causing a bleed or poison effect. 4 hours
Superior scrimshaw of the elements Superior scrimshaw of the elements 92 80 Magic Every magic attack deals a moderate amount of additional elemental damage. 4 hours
Superior scrimshaw of vampyrism Superior scrimshaw of vampyrism 92 80 Strength Successful melee attacks have a moderate chance of stealing the target's lifepoints. 4 hours
Scrimshaw of strength Scrimshaw of strength 95 85 Strength +2.5% Melee Crit 3 hours
Scrimshaw of magic Scrimshaw of magic 95 85 Magic +2.5% Magic Crit 3 hours
Scrimshaw of ranging Scrimshaw of ranging 95 85 Ranged +2.5% Ranged Crit 3 hours
Superior scrimshaw of strength Superior scrimshaw of strength 95 85 Strength +2.7% Melee Crit 4 hours
Superior scrimshaw of magic Superior scrimshaw of magic 95 85 Magic +2.7% Magic Crit 4 hours
Superior scrimshaw of ranging Superior scrimshaw of ranging 95 85 Ranged +2.7% Ranged Crit 4 hours
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Request Assistance

If you find yourself a few levels short of making a bow or an arrow, the request assistance option will allow you to do so. Simply right click the player who has the fletching skills that you need and request their assistance. If they accept, a pair of hands will appear in your bottom right corner, and you can fletch whatever items they can. You keep the items, but they get the experience. Note however you may not use this to make a Bow sword because this is a quest-related item.

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Skill mastery and Beyond

Cape of Achievement

Once you have mastered the skill and reached level 99 you may want to buy a Fletching cape from Hickton in the Catherby Fletching Shop. If you already have another 99 skill, or obtain another one while wearing the cape (unless you have it keepsaked), it will become a Fletching cape (t).

Please refer to the Achievement Capes guide for more details.

Fletching Cape

After obtaining 99 Fletching it becomes possible to obtain a fletched shard randomly, which can be combined with other shards from the other artisan skills (Construction, Cooking, Crafting, Firemaking, Herblore, Smithing, Runecrafting) to create an artisan's cape and artisan's helm. The cape has the same stats as a trimmed skill cape and the helm is purely cosmetic.

True Fletching Mastery

Achieving 99 is the ultimate goal for many players, however the skill does not stop there. For players wanting to show off their dedication to a skill it is possible to obtain "True Mastery" by obtaining "120 Fletching" which is 104,273,167 XP. The Fletching master cape can then be purchased from Hickton in the Catherby Fletching Shop.

Fletching master cape

It is worth noting that beyond level 99 there is no additional content for Fletching as the level increases are invisible so training the skill gets no faster. To work out your theoretical Fletching level check out our XP table.

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Credits

Original Guide By: Ks Jeppe

Thanks to: archeradam5, Baffler, chenw, Cowman_133, De_Lille_D, Dragontotem, ElvenBane, Evaluate, ForsakenMage, Freesia, Howlin001, Impaler99, Jaffy1, kiwi_pearls, Misplacedme, msiGC, Octarine19, Omnitec, pokemama, Rien_Adelric, Shane2, SerpentEye, Shasta_Sms, Spikedude999, Swtkittn, TheLeonardo, the49ronin, vmser, Wachtwoord, Wizard111111, zyrm

Last Updated By: Arceus

Last updated On: 27-Dec-2014


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