Guild Wars 2

Someone made a post in the general forum, saying you get more material from salvaging green than blue.

Aka a lvl45 green helmet will salvage into more iron compare to blue.

Can someone confirm? I thought they are the same.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Guide-to-300-mf/first#post4094198

100% NOT true. you get the exact same amount of basic crafting materials from all rarities of a given item type.
different item types do give different amounts of basic crafting materials (greatsword gives more than gloves, etc.)
you do get about 3 times more essences of luck when you salvage green compared to blue items (30 luck from green vs. 11 luck from blue).

4x silk from light armor seems to be the maximum, but from RARE (not green or blue armor) i got 2x (out of a very big lot) 5x silk. Either green also has chance for 5x silk (and i didn’t get it yet, or Yellow (rare) has a slightly higher chance.

However this is dwelling away from the question. As mystic says, green/blue have identifcal drop rate (as far as my testing can say, salvaged about 40k items (some of them salvage items, but tons of blue/greens also). My average is 2 per armor piece. Sometimes 1, sometimes, 3, even 4, averaging out at 2 per piece (about). Green definitely gives more luck though.

Some approximate average amounts of basic materials salvaged from items:
wood weapons
Long Bow 1.85 Wood Logs
Short Bow 1.85 Wood Logs
Staff 1.85 Wood Logs
Trident 1.85 Wood Logs
Scepter 1.1 Wood Logs
Torch 1.1 Wood Logs
Focus 1 Wood Logs

mixed weapons
Hammer 0.9 Wood Logs / 0.9 Ore
Harpoon Gun 0.9 Wood Logs / 0.9 Ore
Spear 0.9 Wood Logs / 0.9 Ore
Axe 0.6 Wood Logs / 0.6 Ore
Mace 0.6 Wood Logs / 0.6 Ore
Pistol 0.6 Wood Logs / 0.6 Ore
Rifle 0.6 Wood Logs / 0.6 Ore
Shield 0.5 Wood Logs / 0.5 Ore

metal weapons
Greatsword 1.8 Ore
Sword 1.2 Ore
Dagger 1 Ore
Warhorn 1 Ore

heavy armor
Coat 2.45 Ore
Gloves 1.35 Ore
Helm 1.35 Ore
Shoulder 1.35 Ore
Boots 1.35 Ore
Leggings 1.35 Ore

medium armor
Coat 3.1 Leather Sections
Gloves 2.1 Leather Sections
Helm 2.1 Leather Sections
Shoulder 2.1 Leather Sections
Boots 2.1 Leather Sections
Leggings 2.1 Leather Sections
Back Item 2 Leather Sections

light armor
Coat 3.1 Cloth Scraps
Gloves 2.1 Cloth Scraps
Helm 2.1 Cloth Scraps
Shoulder 2.1 Cloth Scraps
Boots 2.1 Cloth Scraps
Leggings 2.1 Cloth Scraps

Mystic’s numbers are, more or less, close to mine after vigorous logging and spreadsheeting. In my experience his numbers are a tiny bit higher than mine, but close enough

As for yields, 5 is the max for cloth/leather coats, 4 is max for other pieces. Metal coats appear to have a 4 ore max, in keeping with their -1 mat average compared to cloth/leather. However, it’s far more rare to get 4 ore than it is to get 5 cloth/leather. I gather the devs figured ore would be the most coveted mat type and acted preemptively to balance things. Of course, it turns out cloth is generally more valuable.

There are a number of peculiarities and inconsistencies involving salvaging which become apparent with lots and lots of observation.

And then of course there is the trinkets anomaly where mid level trinkets yield iron instead of gold or silver.