Guild Wars 2

I feel as though maybe I am missing something here…
I have singularly terrible luck trying to salvage ectos from rares, even if I use a Black Lion kit. Most of the people I know have from bad to average luck with this endeavour. Some time ago I made the decision to simply sell my rares. Currently ectos average between 25 and 30 silver each; rares sell for between 25 and 40 silver, depending on the item and supply. Assuming I buy ectos with every rare I sell, that translates to a 1:1 ratio (sometimes more, in my favour)
It’s not a great gain, no, but it is a certain gain.

Meanwhile, most people I know with luck similar to my own persist in salvaging rares… One fellow felt he did OK upon obtaining 4 ectos from a total of 6 rares. I told him that had he sold those rares and bought the ectos instead, he’d have ended up with at least 6. Yet, he still seemed to think he’d come out ahead.
I don’t understand. Is it the thrill of gambling maybe?

People can argue posting fees, but what about the cost of the salvage kit?

At this point, unless I want a shot at the rune/sigil contained in the item, I don’t see much point in salvaging.

So, if you salvage, and you don’t have great luck, why do you do it? I’m honestly a tad perplexed.

And people who salvage exotics? Unless the item has something like a Divinity rune, I don’t understand at all.

p.s This is NOT intended as a gripe thread about “nerfs” or the RNG etc. etc. I’m seriously just trying to satisfy a curiosity.

I’m okay with griping about RNG. This is why I pretty much always sell my rares. I like certainty.

Indeed, but there are already plenty of threads griping about the RNG and similar topics, I see no need to add to them.
As I said, I’m just genuinely confused as to why so many people continue to salvage when they have a low success rate. It reminds me of the gambler who is nearly broke and spends his last $100 betting on something that might just be “the big one.”

You might be interested in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambler%27s_ruin

Keep in mind when you salvage, you can also get the upgrade rune/sigil and regular mats on top of the ecto(s) as well as t6 mats. So sometimes you come out ahead, sometimes you don’t. I always salvage rares, then throw the sigils and runes in the forge for a chance at exotic sigil or rune. Or you can sell the rune/sigil, either way.

I tend to salvage my rares… some times I get nothing, other times I pull 3 ecto from a rare…. over a batch of 5 rares, if I get 6-7 ecto, I came out ahead. Sometimes I get t6 mats with the ecto which just makes things better. Sometimes it’s a dud. Oh well, no biggie, I still got a sigil and mats.

The one thing I will say is that I tend to only use BL kits that I’ve gotten ‘for free’ from map completion or chests that I opened with keys from map completion / dailies. I won’t go to the gem shop for BL kits to salvage, at that point, I might as well just buy the ecto.

Artemis Noir.3804:

I feel as though maybe I am missing something here…
I have singularly terrible luck trying to salvage ectos from rares, even if I use a Black Lion kit. Most of the people I know have from bad to average luck with this endeavour. Some time ago I made the decision to simply sell my rares. Currently ectos average between 25 and 30 silver each; rares sell for between 25 and 40 silver, depending on the item and supply. Assuming I buy ectos with every rare I sell, that translates to a 1:1 ratio (sometimes more, in my favour)
It’s not a great gain, no, but it is a certain gain.

Meanwhile, most people I know with luck similar to my own persist in salvaging rares… One fellow felt he did OK upon obtaining 4 ectos from a total of 6 rares. I told him that had he sold those rares and bought the ectos instead, he’d have ended up with at least 6. Yet, he still seemed to think he’d come out ahead.
I don’t understand. Is it the thrill of gambling maybe?

People can argue posting fees, but what about the cost of the salvage kit?

At this point, unless I want a shot at the rune/sigil contained in the item, I don’t see much point in salvaging.

So, if you salvage, and you don’t have great luck, why do you do it? I’m honestly a tad perplexed.

And people who salvage exotics? Unless the item has something like a Divinity rune, I don’t understand at all.

p.s This is NOT intended as a gripe thread about “nerfs” or the RNG etc. etc. I’m seriously just trying to satisfy a curiosity.

Well mine IS a gripe about RNG. Until they make it a definite (you will get blah from blah) you will have people that get 0 globs on a rare and multiple rares. What makes it so bad is people don’t realize just how bad the rare drops are for some people. Even those running dungeons with a little mf gear on aren’t getting anything.

But we’ll report it for yet another month while we’re told it’s all in our minds.

You get an average of 0.9 ecto per rare.

If the rare is above 30ish silver on TP, sell it, if it is below, salvage it.