Lumberjack/Guides

There are two main strategies for cutting lumber, and the one you choose depends on whether you want to level as rapidly as possible or are willing to sacrifice some of that for the benefits of either some kamas or levelling professions that depend on wood.
==Cut and Burn==
With this strategy, you will cut wood and destroy it (or drop it) whenever you fill your carrying capacity. You will want to optimise based on two factors, cut-time and XP. The most efficient woods to cut in this case are Ash, Chestnut tree, and Oak, as they all share the same cutting time - for Ash, running a loop starting at the Milicluster , running left, and then down one square and right again is optimal. Chestnut and oak lack routes that are quite that efficient - a larger Eltneg Wood loop is possible, as is the southern coast of the Scaraleaf Plain moving into the The Jelly Peninsula . As always, finding a route that is not presently being heavily used is ideal for most effective leveling. Starting at level 35, runs to cut Oliviolet and Bombu also provide good experience.
For those under level 40, 1-slot recipes can give experience, meaning that if you make planks of any of the woods you're gathering, you can get a little bit of extra quick XP from your wood before destroying it.
==Cut and Save==
With this strategy, you will cut wood and make trips to sell or save it whenever you finish a loop and are near your carrying capacity. Important for doing this efficiently is increasing carrying capacity. A Bworky is very commonly used, as are backpacks and strength gear. Leveling lumberjack and other professions continually improves capacity as well. Saving wood can mean one of two things - selling it or storing it for later use. For those that choose to store it, it makes sense either to own a house or to arrange for bank fees to be very low - as large numbers of trips will be made to store the desired woods, any significant access fees add up quickly. Selling of wood avoids some of that although sale fees can also add up. At low levels, Milicluster is again very useful (and if you need Ash Planks for any reason, the workshop there can craft Ash wood into planks, which weigh less than the wood required to craft them). At higher levels, Eltneg Wood provides a wide variety of woods - memorising a route for a loop to most efficiently gather the specific woods harvestable (and desirable) is useful. As an added bonus, those gathering wood in Eltneg are near Bonta and can easily access the sellroom to sell their woods if desired. Cutting in Eltneg is risky because of Trools - every so often even the most experienced woodcutters slip up and are aggroed by them - those who cannot defeat them are advised to remove their Bworky (if applicable) before going ready for combat. Cutting in areas distant from a bank usually should be done with recall potions (or Brakmar/Bonta potions) so as to reduce the time spent on travel.
==Gear==
*Pumpkwins and other reduction gear can help low level characters avoid damage when fighting Tree Protectors - given that this will usually happen several times per run, this saves on bread.
*Lumberjack-capable axes- there are many options beyond the basic lumberjack axe, some of which can either double as a primary weapon or are more convenient than switching weapons at the start of every protector combat. A good one is the level 33 Oak Killer, which gives +26~35 Strength. Two other possible choices would be Treechnid Splitter (lvl 74, +21~30 str) and Ancestral Treechnid Splitter (lvl 93, +26~35 str).
*Bworkys are very handy to increase carrying capacity. Alternatively, Dragoturkeys allow lumberjacks to move around more quickly, making their collection runs faster. Dragoturkeys have inventory too, so you can store some wood in it (you can use the bworky to get pods and the dragoturkeys' inventory combined).
*Strength or +pods gear can also be helpful, particularly backpacks. As one levels LJ (or other gathering professions), higher level harvesting backpacks become usable.
*High level characters should carry gear in which to fight Trools if they plan on visiting Eltneg.
==Planning a route==
Effective cutting involves planning one or more routes for the woods one plans to collect. The most effective routes tend to be loops that don't intersect themselves, so that when one returns to the beginning, ideally the trees there will have regrown for more cutting. Depending on one's needs, one might change one's route whenever new woods become cuttable (as one levels lumberjack), and one might choose to switch to another route if one's preferred one already has too many lumberjacks actively harvesting it. Being online at the right time of day can help considerably.
==Crafting==
As an alternative to both saving/selling and destroying/dropping wood, those cutting near a lumberjack workshop may have the option of making shavings potions with their wood for extra experience. Remember that any crafts only provide experience if the number of slots in the recipe is high enough for the level.
*At L40, 1-slot recipes (planks) stop providing experience.
*At L60, 2-slot recipes (wood shavings potion) stop providing experience.
*At L80, 3-slot recipes (strong wood shavings potion) stop providing experience.
You can also open a secondary craft that uses the wood that you end up saving and some items are worth the time, in addition, you get to level 2 professions at the same time with less effort.
==Quests==
A one-time bonus of 75 Lumberjack XP is available during the quest Manufacture: Ash Plank for Cripeled Nhin in Incarnam (4,3). This bonus is awarded upon bringing an Ash Plank to Poss'Ybel Nhin.
The daily repeatable quest Don't Give Up Your Chop Job for Vasca Degamo in Sufokia (22,19) awards a Lumberjack Scroll upon completion. This quest requires Lumberjack level 20 or higher.
Category:Guides