Trading sticks are the currency used by villagers in Tai Bwo Wannai. As a result, these sticks are required for most (if not all) of the activities available in the area.
While buying them from the Grand Exchange might prove faster (for main accounts, that is), there are three main ways of obtaining Trading Sticks without the help of other players:
- Tai Bwo Cleanup Minigame
- Selling stuff to Gabooty’s Store
- Killing Jogres
Out of these three activities, the Cleanup minigame is recommended since it’s generally faster and easier.
But we’ll cover all methods in detail below.
Option 1 – Tai Bwo Wannai Cleanup Minigame (Fastest Method)
The cleanup minigame is the main way of getting trading sticks, and is available after completion of the Jungle Potion quest.
This activity involves chopping the Jungle Bushes found around the area with a machete, repairing the village fence, and fighting off threats.
Succeeding will grant you favour, which can be exchanged for trading sticks.
As you chop down jungle vines around Tai Bwo Wannai, you might find something inside the bush, be it good or bad.
You may fight it off, ignore it, or even run away to another jungle bush if you’d like to.
Here’s what you can run into:
- Level 44 Jungle Spiders that attack you
- Gem rocks that you may mine with a pickaxe (40 Mining required)
- Level 13-20 Mosquitoes that attack you
- Level 32 Tribesman that attack you (Poisonous)
- Gout Tubers which you may collect with a spade (1% chance)
- Level 60 Broodoo victims (see below)
Broodoo Victims are a bit peculiar.
They can hit quite hard and take drastically reduced damage from attacks. While it is possible to kill them normally, they have a special weakness, depending on their color.
Using the correct item will consume it, deal heavy damage, and grant bonus XP:
- Green: Vulnerable to Antipoison (NOT mix). Grants Herblore XP for each dose.
- Yellow: Weak to Relicym’s Balm (NOT mix). Grants Herblore XP for each dose.
- White: Weak to any edible food. Grants Cooking XP for each item.
As you hack away at the bushes, you’ll begin to collect Thatching Spars.
These can be used to repair or reinforce the village fence by the entrance.
Higher tiers of Spars give more XP, and a bit more favour.
Once you’ve had enough (or when your favour reaches 100%), find any villager with trading sticks in their hand (or Murcaily if it’s your first time) and ask to exchange your sticks. Your favour will go down proportionally.
You might need to find a new villager with trading sticks in their offhand to trade again; repeat this process as many times as you need.
Once you run out of favour, simply go back to the minigame.
You may exchange or leave at any point, and no progress is lost even if you log out.
It’s worth noting that this activity has a lot of weight in the Karamja achievement diaries – because you’ll need 100% favour, a Thatch Spar, and exchanging a Gout Tuber with trading sticks for a machete.
Option 2 – Gabooty’s Store in Tai Bwo Wannai
After completion of Jungle Potion, Gabooty runs a shop inside the village (he wanders around the enclosure).
His shop uses trading sticks as currency; this means that selling stuff to him will give you trading sticks in return.
The most convenient items to sell to him are rock gems, which can be obtained during the Cleanup minigame, or easily stocked by mining gem rocks in Shilo Village (40 Mining required).
It’s worth noting that cut gems are worth twice as much.
Gabooty will also buy Gout Tubers, but this is not recommended unless you have spares.
You will need one for completion of the medium Karamja achievement diary.
Option 3 – Killing Jogres in Karamja
This method is not recommended since it’s rather slow.
But it can be a workaround for players that haven’t completed Jungle Potion, or for players that lack the level requirements for gem rocks.
Level 53 Jogres (short for Jungle Ogres) can be found in the Pothole Dungeon, north of Tai Bwo Wannai, near the Harpie Bugs spawns.
If the location seems crowded or inconvenient, there’s also a handful of spawns in the deep jungle of Karamja, by the gnome glider.
The log shortcut only requires level 1 Agility!
Jogres have a 1 in 5 chance to drop a stack of 22 trading sticks.
They also drop nature runes and a variety of herbs and seeds.
So while this is a slower alternative, you’ll also make a small amount of money over time.
Trading sticks can be a bit of a hassle to obtain in large amounts. But you might want to get it out of the way sooner than later, because lots of rewards (such as diaries and hardwood trees) lay behind these sticks.
Good luck!
