Guild Wars 2

2 Quick questions regarding salvaging Inscription & Insignia from exotic non-craftable stats.

1) is it only inscription from armors or even insignia’s from weapons.

2) Is it only level 80’s exotics or is it level 68-80?

Thanks!

1. It’s both armor and weapons

2. All exotics

SandraSolace.7682:

2. All exotics

Except for crafted exotics. For weapons, some of the named exotics also do not drop inscriptions (e.g. Ugly Stick)

I’m guessing that is why OP already stated “exotic non-craftable stats”.

SandraSolace.7682:

I’m guessing that is why OP already stated “exotic non-craftable stats”.

Or it could be interpreted as inscriptions with stats like those of Rabid, Magi, Shaman, Dire, Cavalier and Soldier that can’t be crafted. Which would be distinct from non-craftable exotics themselves.

I have been hoarding exotics for the longest time because I didn’t have the black lion kits. I finally got 1 (25 attempts so I went for it). I also bought a few on the TP…

I had 11 shaman exotic armors all of which were cheaper then 1 gold on the TP so I slavaged them all and got zero (0) inscriptions.

I had 12 Magi exotic armor pieces all of which were under 1gold on the TP and when I salvaged them I got zero (0) inscriptions

??

Obviously these were exotics that did not yield inscriptions so how am I supposed to know which can and can’t. Some were level 80 and some weren’t.

I know the % is around 50% cuase I usally get 1 every 2 attempts (before I ran out of black lion kits).

Can someone clarify to me which can and can’t be salvaged and how to know when I see it on the TP or if its a drop?

So far this is what I have been able to research;
cavalier, magi, shaman, dire, soldier stats drop upgrades… but shaman and magi apparently don’t??

I will share the research that I gave to my Guild weeks ago.

Items with the following Designations can be salvaged for Inscriptions/Insignia:
(Exotic Only & Non-Craftable)

Shaman Weapons & Armor – Vitality, Condition Damage, Healing Power
Soldier Weapons & Armor – Power, Toughness, Vitality
Rabid Weapons & Armor – Condition Damage, Precision, Toughness
Magi Weapons & Armor – Healing Power, Precision, Vitality
Dire Weapons & Armor – Condition Damage, Toughness, Vitality
Cavalier Armor – Power, Toughness, Critical Damage

However the Inscription/Insignia is classified as a “Rarer Material” not an “Upgrade”. And each Salvage Kit will return a different rate for “Rarer Materials”. A Master/Mystic Kits will return an Inscription/Insignia 25% of the time, while a Black Lion Kit will return one 50% of the time. So using anything less than a Master Kit is not worth it.

I salvaged about 17 Exos Armors from Dungeon gear last night.
get the 180 armor as its the cheapest!

made 25G .. assuming Berserk gear sale for the most as always!!

Sniper.3487:

I have been hoarding exotics for the longest time because I didn’t have the black lion kits. I finally got 1 (25 attempts so I went for it). I also bought a few on the TP…

I had 11 shaman exotic armors all of which were cheaper then 1 gold on the TP so I slavaged them all and got zero (0) inscriptions.

I had 12 Magi exotic armor pieces all of which were under 1gold on the TP and when I salvaged them I got zero (0) inscriptions

??

Obviously these were exotics that did not yield inscriptions so how am I supposed to know which can and can’t. Some were level 80 and some weren’t.

I know the % is around 50% cuase I usally get 1 every 2 attempts (before I ran out of black lion kits).

Can someone clarify to me which can and can’t be salvaged and how to know when I see it on the TP or if its a drop?

So far this is what I have been able to research;
cavalier, magi, shaman, dire, soldier stats drop upgrades… but shaman and magi apparently don’t??

Armor yields insignia, not inscriptions. Weapons yield inscriptions. I don’t know why you are not getting the insignia, if you have been salvaging non-crafted exotics. Crafted exotics do not yield insignia as that may be exploited as a cheap way to level up crafting. One way to make sure that you are not getting a crafted exotic is to only buy those exotics with a suffix or buy a suitable named exotic armor (e.g. Jatoro’s armor pieces)

I guess im confused on crafted vs. non-crafted. They were shaman an magi. Are any shaman and magi exotics craftable? Cause if not then theres some exotics out there that have some sort of glitch?

21 salvaged ecotics (shaman and magi) with BL kits and no insignias?

So is there a way to tell if there crafted or not?

Sniper.3487:

I guess im confused on crafted vs. non-crafted. They were shaman an magi. Are any shaman and magi exotics craftable? Cause if not then theres some exotics out there that have some sort of glitch?

21 salvaged ecotics (shaman and magi) with BL kits and no insignias?

So is there a way to tell if there crafted or not?

Maybe you replied before I edited my post. I thought you may be confused between the two, read my last sentence.

Yes shaman and magi exotics, without any suffixes, are craftable now because people can buy the inscriptions and craft them into exotics. Suffixes are the “….of something” in the name, e.g. Shaman blah blah Helm of the Dolyak. The “of the Dolyak” is the suffix and that determines the rune you get for armor.

Sniper. if you had hoarded from long time, by which I mean before December 10th patch, I guess the armor obtained before that patch might not yield insignias. Or you kit was just broken.

Sniper.3487:

I guess im confused on crafted vs. non-crafted. They were shaman an magi. Are any shaman and magi exotics craftable? Cause if not then theres some exotics out there that have some sort of glitch?

21 salvaged ecotics (shaman and magi) with BL kits and no insignias?

So is there a way to tell if there crafted or not?

It sounds like you either had terrible luck, used a crappy Salvage kit, or Salvaged the wrong armor type. What was the name of the Armor? And what Kit did you use?

All “Named” Armor, Dungeon Armor, and Armor with a Rune already in it (“Helm of Melandru”, etc….) are considered Non-Craftable. If there is no Rune then it is considered to be Craftable Armor. And as long as they meet the correct designation (Magi, Shaman, etc…) there will be a chance to receive an Insignia, but the chance is based on the Salvage Kit you used. Pretty much same goes for weapons, but there are a few exceptions.

By the way, for a list of named armor with insignia that you can salvage:

• Rabid – Khilbron, Vatlaaw, Galrath
• Dire – Jatoro, Errol, Yakkington
• Shaman – Tahlkora, Reyna, Jalis

No named armor for Magi, Soldier, or Cavalier.

inscription / insignia do NOT have the same drop rates as their stated ‘rarer’ materials.
with MSK, you have a 42.35% chance of getting it
with BLSK, you have a 61.21% chance of getting it
I personally tested these with over 400 exotics each

Shaman’s and Magi armor that didn’t give insignia… only thing that comes to mind is it was crafted. a simple way to tell if it was crafted: crafted has no socket. So If you were salvaging “Shaman’s Emblazoned Coat” = no insignia. If you were salvaging “Shaman’s Acolyte Coat of the Dolyak” = chance at insignia.
Out of 21 salvages with BLSK, the chance of getting 0 is low enough that it’s out of the question (.00000023% = 1 in 433,395,730)
Another simple way to tell which should and shouldn’t give insignia: “Draconic”, “Emblazoned”, “Exalted” are all the exotic crafted armors and do not give insignia.

There are several exotic weapons that don’t give inscriptions even though they should:
Guild Defender, King’s Remembrance, The Ugly Stick, Poyaqui’s Noggin, Occultist Flame, Scepter of the Highborn, Defiant Blaze, Faithful, Monsoon, Dire Pearl.
I’m not 100% sure, but out of 10 salvages each (5 with each kit), I got 0, so I’m pretty sure and don’t want to keep testing = 0.0559%

And a few exotic weapons that should give inscriptions but I haven’t tested due to cost:
Azureflame, Courage, Feathers of Dwayna, Jormag’s Breath, Komalie’s Sacrificial Blade, Kryta’s Salvation, Melandru’s Gaze, Genesis, Eye of Rodgort, Glint’s Scale, Lidless Eye, Squeedily Spooch, Titans’ Vengance, Arachnophobia

I salvaged my third AC soldier helm with BLC kit today and no inscription. I hope I am just unlucky and don’t do something wrong.

I had some hoarded for a while but I bought a few of them the day I salvaged. If you search “armor” and “exotic”.. I simply when from cheapest and scrolled down to a magi and shaman armor that were about 75silver with no runes in them (if I remember correctly). I bought about 5 of each (magi, shaman)… The rest I had but were similar in value cause I sold the more expensive drops I got.

So no as I just read, it could be they were crafted. Someone got the inscription and crafted it and then decided to sell it for 75silver? Not a very lucrative idea imo.

The kit I used was 2 separate Black lion kits seeing as I got no insignia’s from the 11 magi so I switch kit. Got zero insignia’s from the 11ish shaman with another bl kits.

probably they were crafted… figures (looked to easy to make money buying them at 50-75silver and slavaging a 2-3 gold item every 2ish salvages..plus the globs..lol) to good to be true..lol

some real-world examples:
https://tradingpost-live.ncplatform.net/search?text=&type=0&rarity=5&levelmin=0&levelmax=80
(you need to go to https://tradingpost-live.ncplatform.net/authenticate first)
sort by price, start at ones with sell listings:
1) Cleric’s Exalted Masque 70s (NO insignia)
2) Berserker’s Duelist Mask of Strength 74s (YES insignia)
…
34) Giver’s Draconic Coat 77s (NO insignia)
35) Giver’s Emblazoned Helm 77s (NO insignia)
36) Carrion Pit Fighter Gauntlets of the Afflicted 77s (YES insignia)
…
76) Magi’s Exalted mantle 78s (NO insignia)
79) Magi’s Draconic Boots 78s (NO insignia)
98) Magi’s Emblazoned Gloves 78s (NO insignia)
100) Magi’s Draconic Helm 78s (NO insignia)
110) Magi’s Exalted Gloves 78s (NO insignia)

so, yeah. the first many magi’s items would not give insignia

ACTUALLY
I added the search term “Magi’s” and it returned 18 items; all crafted. apparently there are no exotics with “Magi’s” prefix that can drop in the wild.
there are no named armor sets with magi stats either… is the only source of magi insignia from dungeon armor? (dungeons with magi armor: AC, TA, HotW)

I should point out that most of those others in the top-100 list probably would give a profit if salvaged – just not magi’s. BLSK is about 1g per use + 77s to buy item, 61% chance of getting insignia = if you get 2.9g back from selling everything salvaging gives you you break even. insignia sells for maybe 3.2g + ectos sell for around 61s = 3.2g after tax = 30s profit. of course, this depends entirely on the sale price of the insignia

Mystic.5934:

some real-world examples:
https://tradingpost-live.ncplatform.net/search?text=&type=0&rarity=5&levelmin=0&levelmax=80
(you need to go to https://tradingpost-live.ncplatform.net/authenticate first)
sort by price, start at ones with sell listings:
1) Cleric’s Exalted Masque 70s (NO insignia)
2) Berserker’s Duelist Mask of Strength 74s (YES insignia)
…
34) Giver’s Draconic Coat 77s (NO insignia)
35) Giver’s Emblazoned Helm 77s (NO insignia)
36) Carrion Pit Fighter Gauntlets of the Afflicted 77s (YES insignia)
…
76) Magi’s Exalted mantle 78s (NO insignia)
79) Magi’s Draconic Boots 78s (NO insignia)
98) Magi’s Emblazoned Gloves 78s (NO insignia)
100) Magi’s Draconic Helm 78s (NO insignia)
110) Magi’s Exalted Gloves 78s (NO insignia)

so, yeah. the first many magi’s items would not give insignia

ACTUALLY
I added the search term “Magi’s” and it returned 18 items; all crafted. apparently there are no exotics with “Magi’s” prefix that can drop in the wild.
there are no named armor sets with magi stats either… is the only source of magi insignia from dungeon armor? (dungeons with magi armor: AC, TA, HotW)

I should point out that most of those others in the top-100 list probably would give a profit if salvaged – just not magi’s. BLSK is about 1g per use + 77s to buy item, 61% chance of getting insignia = if you get 2.9g back from selling everything salvaging gives you you break even. insignia sells for maybe 3.2g + ectos sell for around 61s = 3.2g after tax = 30s profit. of course, this depends entirely on the sale price of the insignia

Neither Berserker (nr. 2) nor Carrion (nr.36) Insignias (or Incriptions) are salvageable from any kind of gear as Zerker and Carrion are craftable.

So it is accurate that non-craftable armor insignia (e.g. Soldier’s, Rabid, Shaman) CAN be salvaged from dungeon armor?

DarkSpirit.7046:

By the way, for a list of named armor with insignia that you can salvage:

• Rabid – Khilbron, Vatlaaw, Galrath
• Dire – Jatoro, Errol, Yakkington
• Shaman – Tahlkora, Reyna, Jalis

No named armor for Magi, Soldier, or Cavalier.

Pay more attention to this post.

That’s named dropped armor though. I’m looking for confirmation that dungeon armor with non-craftable stats (like AC gear with Soldier’s stats) do give the insignia when salvaged.

From the Dec 10th updates notes :

Changes to Rewards
Ascended armor can now drop anywhere that ascended materials or other ascended items can be found.
Loot dropped by the Karka Queen has been improved; she also has a chance to drop Settler’s insignias.
Sentinel’s insignias can now be purchased from the guild vendor.
Exotic armor pieces with the stat combos Rabid, Dire, Magi’s, Soldier’s, Cavalier’s, and Shaman’s now have a chance to salvage their insignia.

Dark was giving you more info than asked for…ya just missed it.

Wanze.8410:

Mystic.5934:

some real-world examples:
https://tradingpost-live.ncplatform.net/search?text=&type=0&rarity=5&levelmin=0&levelmax=80
(you need to go to https://tradingpost-live.ncplatform.net/authenticate first)
sort by price, start at ones with sell listings:
1) Cleric’s Exalted Masque 70s (NO insignia)
2) Berserker’s Duelist Mask of Strength 74s (YES insignia)
…
34) Giver’s Draconic Coat 77s (NO insignia)
35) Giver’s Emblazoned Helm 77s (NO insignia)
36) Carrion Pit Fighter Gauntlets of the Afflicted 77s (YES insignia)
…
76) Magi’s Exalted mantle 78s (NO insignia)
79) Magi’s Draconic Boots 78s (NO insignia)
98) Magi’s Emblazoned Gloves 78s (NO insignia)
100) Magi’s Draconic Helm 78s (NO insignia)
110) Magi’s Exalted Gloves 78s (NO insignia)

so, yeah. the first many magi’s items would not give insignia

ACTUALLY
I added the search term “Magi’s” and it returned 18 items; all crafted. apparently there are no exotics with “Magi’s” prefix that can drop in the wild.
there are no named armor sets with magi stats either… is the only source of magi insignia from dungeon armor? (dungeons with magi armor: AC, TA, HotW)

I should point out that most of those others in the top-100 list probably would give a profit if salvaged – just not magi’s. BLSK is about 1g per use + 77s to buy item, 61% chance of getting insignia = if you get 2.9g back from selling everything salvaging gives you you break even. insignia sells for maybe 3.2g + ectos sell for around 61s = 3.2g after tax = 30s profit. of course, this depends entirely on the sale price of the insignia

Neither Berserker (nr. 2) nor Carrion (nr.36) Insignias (or Incriptions) are salvageable from any kind of gear as Zerker and Carrion are craftable.

sorry, my bad. wasn’t paying enough attention to that part of what I was saying.

Zaxares.5419:

That’s named dropped armor though. I’m looking for confirmation that dungeon armor with non-craftable stats (like AC gear with Soldier’s stats) do give the insignia when salvaged.

they do.
look closely at the gear stats and make sure you’re getting the right ones. each dungeon merchant has 3 stat types, and I’m pretty sure all the names are the same.

Mystic.5934:

snip

There are several exotic weapons that don’t give inscriptions even though they should:
Guild Defender, King’s Remembrance, The Ugly Stick, Poyaqui’s Noggin, Occultist Flame, Scepter of the Highborn, Defiant Blaze, Faithful, Monsoon, Dire Pearl.
I’m not 100% sure, but out of 10 salvages each (5 with each kit), I got 0, so I’m pretty sure and don’t want to keep testing = 0.0559%

Sure wish I read this yesterday before I nuked 10 king’s remembrances with a blsk hoping to get a rabid inscription. I needed the dark matter anyways, so it wasn’t a total write off. So we can make the data 0/15 on King’s remembrance with blsk.

I’ll throw this question out – Does anyone know if it is true that all of the champ loot bag exotics with relevant stats do not give the inscription when salvaged? Or do some work?

I didn’t realize specific exotics could be got from champ bags O.o I guess they said that much – I just didn’t pay attention cause I never have one drop, you know.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Fallen_Adventurer%27s_Backpack
wiki says it can give: Impaler (Berserker), King’s Remembrance (Magi), Lord Taeres’s Shadow (Berserker), Monsoon (Magi), Song of the Temptress (Clerics), Super Hyperbeam Alpha (Berserker)
so far your theory holds true!
other items champ bags can drop that sound familiar: Guild Defender, Scepter of the Highborn, Occultist Flame (not specified which bag it comes from, but it’s in the gallery)
Checking the others I listed:
Defiant Blaze = chests from FotM, MF, chests in dungeons, random drop. clearly that’s where a lot of inscription-giving exotics come from, yet no Shaman’s
The Ugly Stick = MF, daily dragon chest, random drop. less clear, but still fairly common place to get exotics, no Rabid

Mystic.5934:

I added the search term “Magi’s” and it returned 18 items; all crafted. apparently there are no exotics with “Magi’s” prefix that can drop in the wild.
there are no named armor sets with magi stats either… is the only source of magi insignia from dungeon armor? (dungeons with magi armor: AC, TA, HotW)

They also exist as drops from Fractals but those are account bound and they have the same name regardless of stats.

The other drops are rabid, cavalier and soldier.

Mystic.5934:

I didn’t realize specific exotics could be got from champ bags O.o I guess they said that much – I just didn’t pay attention cause I never have one drop, you know.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Fallen_Adventurer%27s_Backpack
wiki says it can give: Impaler (Berserker), King’s Remembrance (Magi), Lord Taeres’s Shadow (Berserker), Monsoon (Magi), Song of the Temptress (Clerics), Super Hyperbeam Alpha (Berserker)
so far your theory holds true!
other items champ bags can drop that sound familiar: Guild Defender, Scepter of the Highborn, Occultist Flame (not specified which bag it comes from, but it’s in the gallery)
Checking the others I listed:
Defiant Blaze = chests from FotM, MF, chests in dungeons, random drop. clearly that’s where a lot of inscription-giving exotics come from, yet no Shaman’s
The Ugly Stick = MF, daily dragon chest, random drop. less clear, but still fairly common place to get exotics, no Rabid

There is a slightly more general list and table on the generic champ bag page http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Champion_loot_bag. I’ll see if I can pick out some “favorable” inscription salvage candidates that are not on your list to test.

Could it be that none of the named rabid/magi/etc. weapons salvage into the inscriptions? Has anyone successfully pulled an inscrip off of a named exotic?

Regardless of whether the champ bag hypothesis is correct, it would be nice to get some sort of dev confirmation that this is/is not working as intended. IIRC the guidance was that non-craftable weaps/armor with the right stats can salvage the inscription. This guidance is clearly not the case. Furthermore, it requires too much out-of-game forum & wiki digging to figure out that “oh, actually that rabid exotic won’t work”.

DarkSpirit.7046:

SandraSolace.7682:

2. All exotics

Except for crafted exotics. For weapons, some of the named exotics also do not drop inscriptions (e.g. Ugly Stick)

Just salvaged ‘Ugly Stick’ using BLSK. Got 2 ecto’s, bloodlust rune, and a rabid inscription.

Enigmoid.1264:

DarkSpirit.7046:

SandraSolace.7682:

2. All exotics

Except for crafted exotics. For weapons, some of the named exotics also do not drop inscriptions (e.g. Ugly Stick)

Just salvaged ‘Ugly Stick’ using BLSK. Got 2 ecto’s, bloodlust rune, and a rabid inscription.

Then perhaps we were just unlucky or you must be very lucky or there is a recent fix on the server side. As Mystic said, he only tried salvaging 10 times and got no inscription out of Ugly Stick. I tried a few times with BLSK too and never got any inscription from Ugly Stick. We can’t possibly try to salvage hundreds of each and every named exotics out there without burning through our gold. So the list can’t be of 100% certainty.

I do (salvage hundreds of each and every named exotic, that is)
I’ll give The Ugly Stick another try.
In the meantime, here is my list of named weapons that can drop inscriptions:
Atlatl, Dragonshot, Silence, Al’ir’aska, Shield of the Wing, Bramblethorn, Skybringer, Chalice of the Gods, Tinwail, The Malestrom, Dunn, Trosa’s Short Bow, Razorstone, Kevin, Drakestrike, Winged Spatha, Droknar’s Forgehammer, Jora’s Defender, Axiquiotl, Gearbore, Dragonfury, Vera, Infinite Wisdom, Handheld Disaster, Firelighter, Final Curse, Scorchrazor’s Fist, Remnant of Ascalon, Limitless Furnace, Alderune’s Last Stand, Malefacterym, Finn, Breath of Flame, Khrysaor the Golden Sword, Kenshi’s Wing

and insignia:
khilbron, vatlaaw, galrath, jatoro, errol, yakkington, reyna, jalis, tahlkora, galrath, vatlaaw, Jalis, Reyna, Errol, account-bound Armageddon armor (I get that last one in FoTM)

I started with a list of named exotics (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/List_of_named_weapons), selected the ones with the right stats, then bought several of each and salvaged them to test. then did the same with armor (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Named_armor)

thehipone.6812:

There is a slightly more general list and table on the generic champ bag page http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Champion_loot_bag. I’ll see if I can pick out some “favorable” inscription salvage candidates that are not on your list to test.

I found that list :P ty. I never knew the reason, just that some exotics didn’t give inscriptions. For my purposes, I didn’t need to know why, so I didn’t look further. I think you’re on to something with the generalization of champ bag exotics not giving them. though it’s probably not the only reason some exotics don’t give inscriptions

thehipone.6812:

Could it be that none of the named rabid/magi/etc. weapons salvage into the inscriptions? Has anyone successfully pulled an inscrip off of a named exotic?

This is not the case. the list above contains several rabid stats (alderune’s last stand, axiquiotl, bramblethorne, dragonfury, drakestrike, final curse, glint’s scale, kevin, lidless eye, malefacterym, titan’s vengance, trosa’s short bow, etc.). but no named exotics give magi inscription. The only named exotics I know of with magi stats are King’s Remembrance, Monsoon, Scepter of the Highborn – all of which are on my list of exotics that don’t give inscriptions.

I agree that it’s messed up that there are any that don’t give inscriptions when they should, especially since they didn’t say this could be the case when they announced that you could get them.

Mystic – thanks for your work and willingness to share all of your research.

The tl;dr on this thread seems to be:
-Named exotic weapons with rabid/shaman/dire stats that ARE NOT specific champ loot bag drops WILL salvage with a chance to give the inscription
-Named exotic weapons with rabid/shaman/dire stats that ARE specific to champ loot bags DO NOT give the inscription. List of specific champ bag exotics here http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Champion_loot_bag.

Specific cases:
-There are no exotic weapons that can be bought on the TP that can salvage into a Magi’s inscription
-It is unknown whether items created by fixed Mystic Forge recipes (x mystic coins, 1 eldritch scroll+other stuff)). However, they tend to be relatively expensive compared to the price of the inscription.

Other sources of inscriptions:
-Items bought with dungeon tokens can yield the inscription/insignia if they have the right stats (I have not yet found an exception, has anyone?)
-The account bound exotic items dropped in fractals also yield the inscription/insignia if they have the right stats.

Unfortunately, if you need an inscription or insignia for crafting and want to try to salvage it, you need to do your homework to avoid wasting gold.

EDIT: Removed note about Ugly Stick based on two reports of successful rabid inscrip salvage.

thehipone.6812:

Mystic – thanks for your work and willingness to share all of your research.

The tl;dr on this thread seems to be:
-Named exotic weapons with rabid/shaman/dire stats that ARE NOT specific champ loot bag drops WILL salvage with a chance to give the inscription
-Named exotic weapons with rabid/shaman/dire stats that ARE specific to champ loot bags DO NOT give the inscription. List of specific champ bag exotics here http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Champion_loot_bag.

Specific cases:
-The jury is still out on whether the Ugly Stick can salvage into a rabid inscription
-There are no exotic weapons that can be bought on the TP that can salvage into a Magi’s inscription
-It is unknown whether items created by fixed Mystic Forge recipes (x mystic coins, 1 eldritch scroll+other stuff)). However, they tend to be relatively expensive compared to the price of the inscription.

Other sources of inscriptions:
-Items bought with dungeon tokens can yield the inscription/insignia if they have the right stats (I have not yet found an exception, has anyone?)
-The account bound exotic items dropped in fractals also yield the inscription/insignia if they have the right stats.

Unfortunately, if you need an inscription or insignia for crafting and want to try to salvage it, you need to do your homework to avoid wasting gold.

all looks good.
as to dungeon exotics: I have yet to hear of any of them that don’t give inscription/insignia when they should. I don’t do enough dungeons to test all of these, but I’m assuming they all work as expected.
I really wish each item said what it’s stat type is, instead of us having to look up the name of that combination of stats.

well, looks like we were simply unlucky before. I just salvaged The Ugly Stick with a BLSK and got a Rabid Inscription. Time to move where it is on my list

Quick question for Mystic: In your data is there any difference in salvage rates between armour or weapon types? Do daggers and great-swords yield inscriptions at the same rate? What about insignias from gloves versus chests?

I have an inkling that there may be a difference, but this is based on a very small data set ( I might have to but a large sword to compensate

Mystic.5934:

well, looks like we were simply unlucky before. I just salvaged The Ugly Stick with a BLSK and got a Rabid Inscription. Time to move where it is on my list

Short of a stealth update on their servers, that would be weird, since you said that you did salvage hundreds of each and every named exotic and did not obtain an inscription from the Ugly Stick before. Thanks for sharing the list.

Cormac.3871:

Quick question for Mystic: In your data is there any difference in salvage rates between armour or weapon types? Do daggers and great-swords yield inscriptions at the same rate? What about insignias from gloves versus chests?

I have an inkling that there may be a difference, but this is based on a very small data set ( I might have to but a large sword to compensate

I never directly compared any of what you’re asking. But what I’ve observed is that there is no difference in the drop rates of ectos, inscriptions, and insignia between weapon/armor and dagger/greatsword and glove/coat and etc.
What I did:
I made an app that gets TP prices from gw2spidy, then calculates what is expected to salvage out of each item (did that by hand – going through every exotic and seeing what stat type it has), then compares it to how much it costs to buy the item, then gives a list of items to buy. I started with a ballpark approximation of 75% chance of getting an inscription (one of my guildies did a lot of SE to get exotics and salvage for inscriptions to level his weaponsmith – he gave me the 75% estimate)
I slowly stepped it up, first buying about 20 suggested items, recording the drop rates and such. pretty soon I noticed some items never gave inscriptions (Guild Defender, namely). I had a better drop rate percentage by this time – about 60%. I then set out to find all exotics that should give inscriptions but didn’t. started with 5 of every exotic and salvaged with MSK. then, of those that gave 0 inscriptions, I bought 5 more and salvaged with BLSK (I didn’t know there was a difference at this point, so I was covering all the bases). That gave me my final list of what does and does not give inscriptions (Ugly Stick apparently snuck through this)
I thought there might be a difference between MSK and BLSK, so I tested it with like 20 exotics each and found MSK was noticeably lower (first estimate was 50% vs. 60%)
Then I decided to test MSK vs. BLSK and the true drop rates. I bought 800 exotics – 400 that should give a profit from MSK, 400 that should give a profit from BLSK. Pretty much all named exotics.
Salvaged them, got a result of about 42% and 62%.
Later I tested ecto drop rate of exotics (which turned out to be higher than rares)
When insignia salvaging came out, I assumed the same drop rates. I bought 10 of every named armor that should give insignia and found that they all did.
Then I bought about 200 named exotic armor, salvaged them with MSK and BLSK, confirmed they were close enough that they were likely the same compared to inscription salvage rate (differed by less than 1%), so I averaged them with my other results (25 with MSK, 193 with BLSK)
I’ve salvaged thousands of exotics since then. Used to salvaged rares, but they seem not to give much profit anymore. Some more than others.

However, there IS a difference in how much basic materials you get from salvaging dagger vs. greatsword and coat vs. gloves and etc. This is what I think those returns are:
Heavy Coat = 2.45 ore
Heavy other = 1.35 ore
Medium/Light Coat = 3.1 leather/scrap
Medium/Light other = 2.1 leather/scrap
I tested this by buying a bunch of blue items of the same type over several levels and salvaged and counted the returned materials. about 100 of every type tested.
And some weapon types give ore, some give wood, some give either:
Ore = greatsword, sword, dagger, warhorn
Either = Hammer, Harpoon Gun, Spear, Axe, Mace, Pistol, Rifle, Shield
Wood = Long Bow, Short Bow, Staff, Trident, Scepter, Torch, Focus
(I use these numbers to figure out which items to buy to make a profit while salvaging for luck)

DarkSpirit.7046:

Short of a stealth update on their servers, that would be weird, since you said that you did salvage hundreds of each and every named exotic and did not obtain an inscription from the Ugly Stick before. Thanks for sharing the list.

I had only salvaged 10 ugly sticks before (5 with MSK, 5 with BLSK). the hundreds comment was about exotics that I knew would give inscription/insignia.

Mystic.5934:

I do (salvage hundreds of each and every named exotic, that is)
I’ll give The Ugly Stick another try.
In the meantime, here is my list of named weapons that can drop inscriptions:
Atlatl, Dragonshot, Silence, Al’ir’aska, Shield of the Wing, Bramblethorn, Skybringer, Chalice of the Gods, Tinwail, The Malestrom, Dunn, Trosa’s Short Bow, Razorstone, Kevin, Drakestrike, Winged Spatha, Droknar’s Forgehammer, Jora’s Defender, Axiquiotl, Gearbore, Dragonfury, Vera, Infinite Wisdom, Handheld Disaster, Firelighter, Final Curse, Scorchrazor’s Fist, Remnant of Ascalon, Limitless Furnace, Alderune’s Last Stand, Malefacterym, Finn, Breath of Flame, Khrysaor the Golden Sword, Kenshi’s Wing

and insignia:
khilbron, vatlaaw, galrath, jatoro, errol, yakkington, reyna, jalis, tahlkora, galrath, vatlaaw, Jalis, Reyna, Errol, account-bound Armageddon armor (I get that last one in FoTM)

I started with a list of named exotics (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/List_of_named_weapons), selected the ones with the right stats, then bought several of each and salvaged them to test. then did the same with armor (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Named_armor)

thehipone.6812:

There is a slightly more general list and table on the generic champ bag page http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Champion_loot_bag. I’ll see if I can pick out some “favorable” inscription salvage candidates that are not on your list to test.

I found that list :P ty. I never knew the reason, just that some exotics didn’t give inscriptions. For my purposes, I didn’t need to know why, so I didn’t look further. I think you’re on to something with the generalization of champ bag exotics not giving them. though it’s probably not the only reason some exotics don’t give inscriptions

thehipone.6812:

Could it be that none of the named rabid/magi/etc. weapons salvage into the inscriptions? Has anyone successfully pulled an inscrip off of a named exotic?

This is not the case. the list above contains several rabid stats (alderune’s last stand, axiquiotl, bramblethorne, dragonfury, drakestrike, final curse, glint’s scale, kevin, lidless eye, malefacterym, titan’s vengance, trosa’s short bow, etc.). but no named exotics give magi inscription. The only named exotics I know of with magi stats are King’s Remembrance, Monsoon, Scepter of the Highborn – all of which are on my list of exotics that don’t give inscriptions.

I agree that it’s messed up that there are any that don’t give inscriptions when they should, especially since they didn’t say this could be the case when they announced that you could get them.

+1 for research and sharing.

Could it be a stealth update on the Ugly Stick (and maybe other items as well) instead of RNG?

Lord Kuru.3685:

Could it be a stealth update on the Ugly Stick (and maybe other items as well) instead of RNG?

Did you download an update to the client in the last 5 weeks? I didnt.

It’s possible. I last salvaged an Ugly Stick a couple weeks after inscription salvaging first came out. But I doubt they would of fixed that one and not any others that don’t give inscriptions when they should.
But it looks like other people have tested it between when I did and this thread, so I’m gonna go with rng.

Wanze.8410:

Lord Kuru.3685:

Could it be a stealth update on the Ugly Stick (and maybe other items as well) instead of RNG?

Did you download an update to the client in the last 5 weeks? I didnt.

Not all updates require a change in the client code. Some updates only require a server-side change or vice versa. RNG updates like these would probably only require a server-side change, you are not updating any graphics asset on the client side or changing the user interface.

Mystic.5934:

It’s possible. I last salvaged an Ugly Stick a couple weeks after inscription salvaging first came out. But I doubt they would of fixed that one and not any others that don’t give inscriptions when they should.
But it looks like other people have tested it between when I did and this thread, so I’m gonna go with rng.

So it is possible that besides the Ugly Stick, those other named exotics that you previously categorized as not returning an inscription, may in fact return an inscription now.

Wanze.8410:

Lord Kuru.3685:

Could it be a stealth update on the Ugly Stick (and maybe other items as well) instead of RNG?

Did you download an update to the client in the last 5 weeks? I didnt.

They’ve made some changes in the past that doesn’t require any update or even a server reset. I believe one of those was disabling a MF recipe.

DarkSpirit.7046:

So it is possible that besides the Ugly Stick, those other named exotics that you previously categorized as not returning an inscription, may in fact return an inscription now.

If you find one that now works, let me know

Some things have to be server-side. otherwise hacking is very easy. Diablo 2 comes to mind as an example. I remember there being battle.net multiplayer and open multiplayer. Battle.net was isolated from single player (stored server-side), while open used your single player character (stored client-side). in Battle.net multiplayer, the worst hacking was multiplying an item (you remember those omega golems? :P). in open multiplayer, people could basically write the stats on items. They would give a small charm +90,000 all stats along with 20 other attributes then multiply it 40 times.
If gw2 relied on the client for things like drop rates, people could edit their client’s code for things like: they get a precursor every time they kill a bandit, eternity drops from killing rabbits, 50,000g reward for completing AC, probably even things like giving the PvP amulet stats to every item in their inventory.
server-side drop tables could be edited without us downloading an update. I believe they don’t change them very often, but they could be changed without us knowing. They certainly wouldn’t change one item that was faulty knowing that there were 8 others that were also faulty

Sorry if I missed this somewhere above, but what is the approximate chance to recover insignias/inscriptions using black lion salvage kits?

And is the blsk the best option for attempting to recover insignias/inscriptions?

This would apply to account-bound exotics I’ve gotten while running fractals (i.e. ‘Armageddon’ armors, ‘Ceremonial’ weapons, and various accessories/rings/amulets).

Sorry :P I have so much info it can easily turn into walls of text.

with MSK, you have a 42.35% chance of getting the inscription/insignia
with BLSK, you have a 61.21% chance of getting the inscription/insignia

BLSK is the best option if you want the insignia/inscription.
however, BLSK also costs a bit less than 1g atm (compared to 61c for Master SK). If you factor in the price and return rate of the insignia/inscription, you’re probably just about breaking even. Unless there is also a valuable socket (worth 1g+), I recommend MSK.

Armageddon armors from fotm can certainly be salvaged for insignia. Make sure the stats are the right type to be able to give insignia (you’ll have to either memorize which stats can or go to the wiki). Ceremonial weapons can indeed be salvaged for inscriptions. I believe they are all Dire?
Accessories/rings/amulets will never give you an inscription or insignia – wrong item type.

DarkSpirit.7046:

By the way, for a list of named armor with insignia that you can salvage:

• Rabid – Khilbron, Vatlaaw, Galrath
• Dire – Jatoro, Errol, Yakkington
• Shaman – Tahlkora, Reyna, Jalis

No named armor for Magi, Soldier, or Cavalier.

You can get Magi, Soldier and Cav named armour from Fractals and those do salvage into insignias.

Xavi.6591:

DarkSpirit.7046:

By the way, for a list of named armor with insignia that you can salvage:

• Rabid – Khilbron, Vatlaaw, Galrath
• Dire – Jatoro, Errol, Yakkington
• Shaman – Tahlkora, Reyna, Jalis

No named armor for Magi, Soldier, or Cavalier.

You can get Magi, Soldier and Cav named armour from Fractals and those do salvage into insignias.

Probably, but they are not named armors. Named armors in the game are only these:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Named_armor

Just salvaged a Shaman’s inscription from Defiant Blaze with a BLSK.