Salvage
Salvaging is breaking down equipment into materials. This can only be done via the Blacksmith's interface. All normal (white) magic (blue), rare (yellow), set (green), and legendary (orange) items can be salvaged for materials which are required for crafting recipes and enchanting.
In D3v there were four different versions (tiers) of each type (save legendary) crafting materials, one for each difficulty level. In D3v2 and RoS there are only two tiers, each with five types of crafting material, sorted from level 1-60 and level 61-70.
Materials
In D3 there are 4 different salvaged materials, plus one yellow material that can only be found from Elite drops. All salvaged materials can also be found dropped from monsters, chests, goblins, and often Horadric Caches. Orange material can only be dropped by Rift Guardians.
Salvaging items in D3v sometimes returned more than one type of material. This is no longer the case and in D3v2/RoS each item salvaged grants only a single type of material, though white and blue items will grant more than one material each.
- White items yield 2-8 materials.
- Blue items yield 2-4 materials.
- Yellow items yield 1 material.
- Orange / Green items yield 1 orange material.
Diablo 3 and RoS Materials
Diablo 3 and level 1-60 Reaper of Souls materials:
- Common Debris - white salvage
- Exquisite Essence - blue salvage
- Iridescent Tear - yellow salvage
- Demonic Essence - yellow drop-only
- Fiery Brimstone - orange salvage
Reaper of Souls Materials
Reaper of Souls adds a second tier of materials, for items from lvl 61-70, and occasional drops as well.
- Reusable Parts - white salvage
- Arcane Dust - blue salvage
- Veiled Crystal - yellow salvage
- Death's Breath - yellow drop-only
- Forgotten Soul - orange salvage
See the Materials article for more details.
Interface
The salvaging interface is very easy to use. Characters need merely speak with the Blacksmith, select the Salvaging tab, then click the salvage icon. This transforms the cursor into a special salvaging pointer, with which any eligible item clicked is instantly salvaged (rare, set, and legendary items ask for confirmation before salvaging).
Players can salvage multiple items in rapid succession by clicking quickly, and this system is identical to the item sale mechanism in the game.
Salvaged items cannot be recovered; unlike the buyback option for sold items, once an item is salvaged, it is gone forever.
If a socketed item with a gem is salvaged, the gem will be returned to the inventory once the item is destroyed. This is often much cheaper than unsocketing a gem from an item, and the player also gets a small material return for crafting.
Salvaging is free.