Materials are obtained by salvaging items in the Nephalem Cube. On their own materials have no function, but they are essential for crafting items and training Artisans, and may have other unrevealed purposes as well.
Some materials will also drop directly, from monsters, chests and perhaps as quest rewards, but these will be far from sufficient for your crafting needs. [1]
Some can and will drop, but it won’t be in quantities or types sufficient to craft all items. Meaning you will need to salvage items you don’t want to be able to make the ones you do. We want that to be a decision, to choose to break an item down to crafting components, and not allow making sweet loots just through a slow collection of reagents over time.
Salvaging
To obtain materials, placed items into the Salvage Cube, and click the salvage button. The cube opens back up, revealing the raw materials your unwanted items were reduced to. Materials stack up in the inventory, and are automatically apportioned out when needed by the Artisans.
Only a few materials are known so far:
Rare Materials
There are numerous types of materials, including some very rare ones that can only be obtained by salvaging very high level/quality items. Other materials may only be obtained from salvaging non-items, such as skill runes.
Since rare materials are needed to craft high level recipes, players will have to work to find uncommon items that they don't actually want to use, and may end up debating between using, salvaging, selling, or trading a nice item.
The Salvage Cube in action, with a before and after view.
Normal
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Name
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Source
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Description
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Common Scrap
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All weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on an abundance of raw materials to enhance and create powerful items.
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Subtle Essence
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Magic weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on magic materials to enhance and create powerful items.
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Fallen Tooth
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Rare weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on rare materials to enhance and create powerful items.
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Petrified Bark
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Legendary weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on exotic materials to enhance and create the most powerful items.
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Nightmare
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Name
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Source
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Description
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Assorted Fragment
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All weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on an abundance of raw materials to enhance and create powerful items.
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Shimmering Essence
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Magic weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on magic materials to enhance and create powerful items.
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Lizard Eye
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Rare weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on rare materials to enhance and create powerful items.
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Corpse Ash
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Legendary weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on exotic materials to enhance and create the most powerful items.
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Hell
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Name
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Source
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Description
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Reusable Part
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All weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on an abundance of raw materials to enhance and create powerful items.
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Wishful Essence
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Magic weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on magic materials to enhance and create powerful items.
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Encrusted Hoof
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Rare weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on rare materials to enhance and create powerful items.
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Volcanic Coal
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Legendary weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on exotic materials to enhance and create the most powerful items.
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Inferno
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Name
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Source
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Description
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Valuable Component
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All weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on an abundance of raw materials to enhance and create powerful items.
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Exquisite Essence
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Magic weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on magic materials to enhance and create powerful items.
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Iridescent Tear
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Rare weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on rare materials to enhance and create powerful items.
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Fiery Brimstone
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Legendary weapons and armor.
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Artisans through the ages have relied on exotic materials to enhance and create the most powerful items.
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Other
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Name
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Source
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Description
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Gem Dust
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Gems
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Alabaster Anima
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Alabaster Runestones.
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Only the most powerful Mystics can peer into the depths of the Rune Anima and tap its power.
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Crimson Anima
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Crimson Runestones.
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Only the most powerful Mystics can peer into the depths of the Rune Anima and tap its power.
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Golden Anima
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Golden Runestones.
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Only the most powerful Mystics can peer into the depths of the Rune Anima and tap its power.
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Indigo Anima
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Indigo Runestones.
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Only the most powerful Mystics can peer into the depths of the Rune Anima and tap its power.
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Obsidian Anima
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Obsidian Runestones.
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Only the most powerful Mystics can peer into the depths of the Rune Anima and tap its power.
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