Salvaging: Difference between revisions

The colour of the wreck icon indicates:

* {{co|grey|Grey icon}}: You have already accessed this wreck

* {{co|blue|Blue icon}}: Wreck was abandoned by the owner, and can be freely looted by anyone

To use a Salvager module, target the wreck to be salvaged, approach to within the range of the Salvager (5 km for the Salvager I, 6 km for the Salvager II), and activate your Salvager module. After each cycle of the module (10 seconds in most cases) one of three things will occur:

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The lower a pilot's skills and equipment, and the more "difficult" the wreck is (see [[#Salvaging time|the section on salvaging time]]), the more cycles it will take before salvaging is successful. To salvage more distant wrecks, pilots either need to fly closer to them or use a [[#Modules|tractor beam]] to pull them closer.

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If a wreck was not [[#Looting wrecks|looted]] before it was salvaged, its contents (loot) will appear in a storage container in space where the wreck was. This container can then be opened to obtain the loot inside; salvaging will not destroy the loot.

== Salvaging equipment==

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|[[File:Icon salvager.png|link=|]]

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|[[File:salvage drone.png|link=|]]

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|'''{{co|wheat|Tractor Beams}}''' tractor wrecks from afar to your ship.

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* '''{{co|wheat|Afterburner}}''' or '''{{co|wheat|MicroWarp Drive}}''': Even with a tractor beam, ships may still need to do a lot of flying around to reach every corner of a wreck field, and the speed boost comes in very handy.

* '''{{co|wheat|Expanded Cargohold}}''': Depending on the base size of a ship's cargohold, it can be useful to fit these, as these allow a ship to carry more salvage at a time (and reduce the number of round trips to the nearest station).  

=== Ships ===

Any ship with a free high slot can be used as a salvager. However, there are two ship classes which are most suitable:

In addition to the more specialised ships listed above, many ships can be used to salvage "on the side":

=== Fitting a salvaging ship ===

The recommended dedicated salvaging ships have eight high slots, which are usually fitted with four salvagers and four tractor beams. This way, you can be salvaging four wrecks at a time, while your tractor beams are pulling in four more. Once you have gotten your feet wet, feel free to tweak this setup - you can fit five tractor beams and three salvagers if your salvaging skills are very good (i.e. your salvagers need fewer cycles per wreck) or if you are salvaging "on the move" (in which case the extra tractor beams are needed to keep pulling the wrecks behind you while your salvagers work). Alternatively, you can fit more salvagers and fewer tractor beams in very concentrated wreck fields (or fit only salvagers if you previously deployed a Mobile Tractor Unit).  

For your low slots, consider fitting an expanded cargohold on salvaging destroyers (the Noctis' base cargo hold is usually large enough), and use the remaining slots to improve your ship's tank, agility, and maximum speed.

== Skills ==

* {{sk|Salvage Drone Operation|mult=yes|price=yes}}: The basic skill required for salvaging with salvage drones. Salvage drones are available at level I, but training this to III or higher will decrease salvaging time further. Needs {{sk|Drones|IV|mult=yes}}.  

* {{sk|Salvage Drone Specialization|mult=yes|price=yes}}: The specialization skill required for T2 salvage drones. T2 salvage drones are available at level I.  

Some pilots prefer to train up an [[alt|alternate character (alt)]] to specialise in salvaging. Starting from a new character, here are a few skill training suggestions.

<blockquote>Mechanic I (8 minutes, 20 seconds)<br>Mechanic II (38 minutes, 50 seconds)<br>Mechanic III (3 hours, 39 minutes, 30 seconds)<br>Electronics I (8 minutes, 20 seconds)<br>Survey I (8 minutes, 20 seconds)<br>Survey II (38 minutes, 50 seconds)<br>Survey III (3 hours, 39 minutes, 30 seconds)<br>Salvaging I (25 minutes)<br>Salvaging II (1 hour, 56 minutes, 26 seconds)<br>Salvaging III (10 hours, 58 minutes, 34 seconds)<br>Science I (8 minutes, 20 seconds)<br>Science II (38 minutes, 50 seconds)<br>Science III (3 hours, 39 minutes, 30 seconds)<br>Spaceship Command I (8 minutes, 20 seconds)<br>Spaceship Command II (38 minutes, 50 seconds)<br>Spaceship Command III (3 hours, 39 minutes, 30 seconds)<br>ORE Hauler I (33 minutes, 20 seconds)<br>ORE Hauler II (2 hours, 35 minutes, 14 seconds)<br>ORE Hauler III (14 hours, 38 minutes, 6 seconds) <br><br>'''Total time: 2 days, 1 hour, 1 minute, 40 seconds'''<br> </blockquote>  

Use your tractor beams to pull more distant wrecks to within 2500m of your ship (as you'll want to loot them in addition to salvaging them); once they are within range, turn the tractor beams off, and re-target them on additional distant wrecks. Simultaneously, target nearby wrecks with your salvagers, using one salvaging module per wreck (except for [[#Salvaging efficiency|very difficult Sleeper wrecks]]), and letting them run until the wreck is salvaged, then targeting the next nearby wreck for salvaging. While the salvagers are running, loot the wreck.  

If you're flying a fast and agile ship (i.e. a Destroyer instead of a Noctis), then it may be faster to create a [[bookmark]] 150&nbsp;km away, warp to it, then warp back to a wreck, instead of slow-boating around the wreck field.  

As an aside, wrecks of player ships can be salvaged in the same way as wrecks of NPC ships.   

If you run [[missions]] or [[ratting|rat]], you can augment your income by salvaging the wrecks you produce. However, it may not be worth your time, as you could be spending your salvaging time running another mission or killing more rats - but it's up to you how to spend your time (also taking into account what activities you enjoy in the game). As a rough guide, mission salvaging only yields significant profits for level 3 missions and above.  

Wrecks persist for two hours, so you may want to run a few missions (or rat in a few asteroid belts), bookmarking each wreck field, before switching to a salvaging ship. Mobile Tractor Units can be very useful here - drop one in each mission (they are somewhat bulky, so you may have to return to a station to pick up more), and let them work while you complete additional missions. When you return with your salvaging ship, all the wrecks will be in a nice compact ball, allowing you to forgo tractor beams in favour of a full rack of salvager modules.

=== Fleets ===

=== Wormholes ===

=== Uses for salvage ===

The materials obtained from salvaging are used in the [[manufacturing|manufacture]] of [[rigs]], and if you don't want to manufacture rigs yourself there are plenty of manufacturers looking to [[trading|buy]] these materials. Even though individual materials are usually not worth a lot, their value does add up - be aware of potential [[Suicide Ganking|suicide gankers]] when hauling large amounts of salvage.  

=== Salvaging and the law ===

{{main|Ninja Salvaging and Stealing}}

However, you can '''salvage''' wrecks belonging to someone else without any game mechanics consequences; this is called [[Ninja Salvaging|"ninja salvaging"]], whereby people salvage without the wreck owner's permission.  

* Tractor beams (ship modules and Mobile Tractor Units) don't work

* Salvage drones will not automatically salvage, but they can be ordered to manually salvage a specific wreck

== Salvaging efficiency ==

The defining mechanic for salvaging is the "salvaging chance", which is the probability that you will successfully salvage the wreck in one cycle of your salvaging module/drone. As explained above, if you fail a salvaging attempt, your module/drone will continue cycling until you succeed - so the probability is an indication of how many cycles (i.e. time) it takes to salvage a wreck (or, in the case of very difficult wrecks, allows you to salvage them at all). Improving your chance to salvage does ''not'' give you better salvage.   

Note that the chance to salvage is not affected by [[stacking penalties]].

The base access chance is determined by the wreck type:  

=== Bonuses ===  

If you're using [[Drone#Salvage_drones|Salvage Drones]], they improve your salvaging chance by up to 4.5%, plus 2% for each level of the {{sk|Salvage Drone Operation|icon=yes}} and {{sk|Salvage Drone Specialization|icon=yes}} skill you have trained (up to a total of 4.5%+10%+10%=24.5% at skill level V). There are no other ways of improving the salvaging chance of salvage drones.

=== Salvaging time ===

==== Salvager modules ====

The following setups are used:  

* '''"Intermediate"''': Salvager I module and {{sk|Salvaging|IV}}. This gives a +20% salvaging chance.  

* '''"Journeyman"''': Salvager II module and {{sk|Salvaging|V}}. This gives a +35% salvaging chance.

{{#css:

table.salvage {

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table.salvage tr th {

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{| class="wikitable salvage" style="border:none;"

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! Player setup  

! <span style="cursor:help;" title="Sleeper large advanced wreck (-20% base access chance)">Large adv.</span>  

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| +15%  

|  

| N/A  

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| +20%

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| N/A  

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| +35%

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| +35%

| -15%

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| +45%

| -20%

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| +55%

| -20%

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| +85%

| -30%

|}  

Several conclusions can be drawn from this table and graph:

==== Salvage drones ====

* '''"Beginner"''': 1 salvage drone and {{sk|Salvage Drone Operation|I}}. This gives a +5% salvaging chance.

* '''"Professional"''': 5 T2 salvage drones, {{sk|Salvage Drone Operation|V}} and {{sk|Salvage Drone Specialization|V}}. This gives a +24% salvaging chance.  

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! Player setup  

! <span style="cursor:help;" title="Sleeper large advanced wreck (-20% base access chance)">Large adv.</span>  

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| +5%  

| 1

| N/A  

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| +9%

| 5

| N/A  

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| +11%

| 5

| N/A

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| +13%

| 5

| N/A

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| +24%

| 5

|}  

Lastly, travel time should be taken into account when using salvaging drones - salvaging a wreck 5&nbsp;km away easily adds ten seconds to the salvaging time (as the drone needs to fly to the wreck, salvage it, and return to your ship), so, if possible, keep your ship as close to the wrecks as possible (or use a Mobile Tractor Unit to pull all the wrecks into a ball).

The type of salvage you get depends on the faction of the wreck that is being salvaged.

! Salvage !! Amarr<br>Blood Raider<br>Sansha's Nation !! Minmatar<br>Angel Cartel !! Caldari<br>Guristas !! Gallente<br>Serpentis !! Rogue Drone

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! Salvage !! Angel Cartel<br />(Minmatar space) !!  Blood Raiders<br />(Amarr space) !! Guristas<br /> (Caldari space) !! Sanshas<br /> (Amarr space) !! Serpentis<br /> (Gallente space)

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== References ==

[[Category:Game mechanics]]

[[Category:PvE]]