Guild Wars 2

Just out of curiosity, is there a reason that we have the percentage variable for “Chance of rarer materials” and “Chance of recovering upgrades”, but no reliable information regarding “Chance to drop Globs of Ectoplasm”?

AFAIK Globs of Ectoplasm are not considered ‘rarer materials’ or ‘upgrades’ for those percentage tables, correct? Since the general (anecdotal) consensus with a Master’s/Mystic Salvage Kit is generally around 90%.

Could we get clarification on either what percentage, or what determines droprate for Globs of Ectoplasm? Or at least clarification on why we can’t/don’t have that information?

If it’s already been answered please point me in the right direction and forgive my redundancy.

Thanks in advance.

A glob of ecto is a ‘rarer material’ … my evidance being anecdotal and coming from several runs of salvaging 20+ rares at a time, my average yield over time is around 80%, give or take a few percentage points. Last night, I trashed 4 rares and got 1 glob sad night, but RNG is what it is. I’ve had nights where I salvage 20 rares and get 18 globs, and nights where I salvage 20 and get 14 globs…. but it does seem in tune with the chance for rarer materials.

The “Chance of rarer materials” on a Mystic/Master’s kit is 25% and a Black Lion Kit is 50%, I know the droprate is higher than that. Otherwise me and several other people have been absurdly lucky (which I highly doubt is the case).

The “Chance of recovering upgrades” on a Mystic/Master’s kit is 80% and a Black Lion Kit is 100%, while this is closer in line, I know for a fact (as I have used maybe 10+ stacks of Black Lion Kits now) that the droprate for Ecto’s using a BLKit is not 100%.

pulsecodesgnl.3470:

The “Chance of rarer materials” on a Mystic/Master’s kit is 25% and a Black Lion Kit is 50%, I know the droprate is higher than that. Otherwise me and several other people have been absurdly lucky (which I highly doubt is the case).

The “Chance of recovering upgrades” on a Mystic/Master’s kit is 80% and a Black Lion Kit is 100%, while this is closer in line, I know for a fact (as I have used maybe 10+ stacks of Black Lion Kits now) that the droprate for Ecto’s using a BLKit is not 100%.

Ectoplasm is in fact a rare material with the designated exotic colour font and the fact that it is in the collectible material section in the bank. (similar rare materials include lodestones.)

It is not an upgrade since it is not: a rune, a sigil, or an infusion.

By your salvagings, it can confirm that it is not an upgrade.

Then if it is in fact a ‘rare material’ the droprate is bugged, and it drops far more frequently than it should.

From my experience, ‘rare material’ just refers to an upgrade of the base component used to craft the item, if its light armor you will get cloth back, if it upgrades you’ll get the next tier.

Example: If I salvage a bunch of tier 4 light armor I will get mostly linen back, but there is a chance that I can receive silk, this has been verified by many people and is easily searchable.

Now, because it is a rarer material and is technically an upgrade, that can get confused with “recovering upgrades”, and for the sake of clarity, those kinds of upgrades refer to runes, sigils, gem bonuses, etc.

This is easily verifiable information, and is discussed thoroughly on the wiki pages both in the article and in the discussion sections below:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Salvage_kit
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Upgrade_component
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crafting_material

In the end, the droprate for Ecto’s do not match neither ‘rarer material’ nor ‘upgrade’. Based on following the market forums and trading regularly, I would assume a significant error in droprate (what should be .25 but is actually .90) would’ve been fixed long ago.

Therefore, ecto has a droprate separate from either and deserves some kind of clarification since in-game information is severely lacking.

The salvaging rate is high for rares lvl68+ and exotics lvl70+? is because the amount of ectos given.
Rares give a range of 0-3 ectoplasms.
Exotics give a range of 0-5 ectoplasms.

Now if they all spread out based on the assumed even amount:
(based on BLSK)
Rares – 0 @ 25%, 1 @ 25%, 2 @ 25%, 3 @ 25%. This would provides a 75% chance of receiving an ectoplasm if in favor of the 50% salvaging rate.
Exotics – 0 @ 16.6%, 1 @ 16.6%, 2 @ 16.6%, 3 @ 16.6%, 4 @ 16.6%, 5 @ 16.6%. This would provide an approximate 83% chance of receiving an ectoplasm if in favor of the 50% salvaging rate.

At the end, it result in RNG as many people will result in 0 ectoplasm in return. At the same time you or I would receive many ectoplasms in return.

“Untiered rare crafting materials include:
Glob of Ectoplasm”

pulsecodesgnl.3470:

I know for a fact (as I have used maybe 10+ stacks of Black Lion Kits now) that the droprate for Ecto’s using a BLKit is not 100%.

No it isn’t, I use the BLK exclusively for rares, and don’t always get an ecto. But sometimes I get 3, so there is sort of a balance.

Since the return rate of ectos from a rare is 0 to 3 – 3 being the max (and I agree that ectos should be considered a rare) on average, a 25% return on 20 rares (max: 60 ectos) would be 15 ectos. I seldom see as good a return as good as that using Master Salvage.

The BL Salvage, with 50% chance, should give on average, 30 ectos. Best I’ve seen on 20 rares is more like 25.

It all seems to be working fairly close to what it should be..

Screaming Cantaloupe.2308:

Rares give a range of 0-3 ectoplasms.
Exotics give a range of 0-5 ectoplasms.

I have salvaged a lot of exotics and I’ve never seen more than 3 ecto from a salvage. Have you?

Aye.8392:

Screaming Cantaloupe.2308:

Rares give a range of 0-3 ectoplasms.
Exotics give a range of 0-5 ectoplasms.

I have salvaged a lot of exotics and I’ve never seen more than 3 ecto from a salvage. Have you?

I have. I mostly receive an average of 3 more than any other.

When you salvage a rare, you have a pretty significant chance of not getting an ecto – I would estimate it at 25-30%.

In large samples, it generally averages out to about 900 ecto per 1000 salvages (with Masters Kits)

People read that and then assume that if they salvage a rare, they have a 90% chance of getting an ecto – which is not the case at all.

Anet does not say what the ecto salvage rates are, but they have said that if they change them, they will make it known in patch notes.

Screaming Cantaloupe.2308:

Now if they all spread out based on the assumed even amount:
(based on BLSK)
Rares – 0 @ 25%, 1 @ 25%, 2 @ 25%, 3 @ 25%. This would provides a 75% chance of receiving an ectoplasm if in favor of the 50% salvaging rate.
Exotics – 0 @ 16.6%, 1 @ 16.6%, 2 @ 16.6%, 3 @ 16.6%, 4 @ 16.6%, 5 @ 16.6%. This would provide an approximate 83% chance of receiving an ectoplasm if in favor of the 50% salvaging rate.

At the end, it result in RNG as many people will result in 0 ectoplasm in return. At the same time you or I would receive many ectoplasms in return.

“Untiered rare crafting materials include:
Glob of Ectoplasm”

Your assumptions are flawed (no offense); but if in fact the number for rarer materials refers to Globs of Ectoplasm we have to make the following assumptions there is a 25% chance to obtain a rarer material (e.g. Ecto) and a 75% chance to obtain no upgrade.

Within the 25%, assuming the drop chances are evenly distributed there is a 1/3rd chance to obtain either 1, 2, or 3 Ectos from salvaging a rare item with a Mystic/Master kit. This means that adding the chance of each possible drop together you will achieve an average of .5 Ectos for every attempt.

25% * 100% (at least one Ecto)
+
25% * 66.6% (at least two Ectos)
+
25% * 33.3% (three Ectos)
=
50%

This would also mean with a Black Lion kit, you have an average of 1 Ecto per attempt. Now, while the Black Lion kit numbers 1 Ecto per attempt closely match the crowdsourced data value of 110% returns. The returns for using a Mystic/Master kit are excessively low. Most people who salvage for Ecto’s can tell you that the return rate is over .5 easily, and based on the crowdsourced data of 90%, obviously flawed in some manner.

Dreamslayer.7659:

When you salvage a rare, you have a pretty significant chance of not getting an ecto – I would estimate it at 25-30%.

In large samples, it generally averages out to about 900 ecto per 1000 salvages (with Masters Kits)

People read that and then assume that if they salvage a rare, they have a 90% chance of getting an ecto – which is not the case at all.

Anet does not say what the ecto salvage rates are, but they have said that if they change them, they will make it known in patch notes.

Chance and average are not the same thing, though in many ways in this case they appear to be. And while I realize that they have said they will make it known if changes are made, the entire point of this thread is asking Anet for clarification on what the salvage rates are, and if that information cannot be shared, why that it is :P. So at this moment, my original question (unfortunately) still stands.

edit: fixed a missing negative.

I also noticed the mistake in my math.
The point was that the glob of ectoplasm is and always will be a crafting material.
Just because you always receive one in every salvaging attempt does not mean it is an upgrade. If you receive 2 or 3 in every attempt, does that mean the rate should be 200%? 300%? (based on your assumption that it is an upgrade?)

Even though crafting materials make up upgrades, not all upgrades come from crafting materials.

Using the Black Lion Salvagin Kit yields the best results, you already know you are guaranteed a rune/sigil, but not a rare material. 90% does not equal 100%.

I know that a Glob of Ecto is literally a crafting material, my original question was about the droprate, and it’s relevance to the other droprate sections, such as “chance to drop rarer materials”, which I have a very hard time proving it is a part of, and so did you apparently.

Upgrades are irrelevant, I don’t consider Ecto’s upgrades, I was just pointing out how the droprate was closer to upgrades than it was to ‘rarer materials’, helping to illustrate the invalidation of that claim.

I don’t know what your 90% is not 100% statement was being made at, I know you are not guaranteed an Ecto, and just because a Black Lion salvage kit has an average 110% return does not mean that’s guaranteed either, only that on average over several salvagings you will obtain slightly more than one ecto per salvage…

I came out a bit strong. :o

For the percentage, even if there is a fixed percentage, there are more ectos to be gained than not receiving at all.

Ex. 10 exotics. 7 have 0 ectos, the other 3 has 3 ectos each. The return rate is 90% overall, considering the 3 exotics covered the other 7 losses. Even if the salvaging kit was 25%, the rate was in your favour and may not be in others. (dry spells)

That’s pretty much the only time RNG is in my favor is when I’m salvaging a rare item. I usually always get 3 ecto from a rare weapon or heavy armor, the soft armors usually get me some fabric though.

I usually use the masters kit for rares but I got some black lion ones lately so I’m using those now.

My anecdotal experience lines up pretty well with getting on average .8 ectos per rare salvage.

That doesn’t mean when i salvage something I get an ecto 80% of the time, but considering the times you get 2 or 3 from the salvages…when I salvage a whole bunch of rares I end up with 80 ectos per 100 rares approx. Was a time in the past where I crafted a bunch of rares, salvaged them, and sold ectos in the past for some small % profit. I don’t think it’s quite profitable atm though.

I’ve had a lot more success with the Black lion Kits then with the Masters ill go as far as to say that i have noticed and increase in the amount per salvage too.

I notice per salvage with Lion kit usually 1-3 with Masters its usually 0-1 very rare 2-3
My experience with over 20 rares at a time each.

My average for ectolplasms hovers around 1.5 per item. But it’s also clear to me that people are lumping together items that the GAME treats quite differently. I don’t believe for a moment that a 75th level rare and an 80th level rare return ectos at the same rate. I’m not convinced that 1-h and 2-h weapons return them at the same rate. I am also suspecious that gloves and chest pieces don’t return them at the same rate.

I think the calculation is deepy linked of the coin value of the item if it were sold to a merchant. Not all rares are created equal.