Salvage question

Is there some kind of rule of thumb for salvaging a wepon vs selling it to the merchant? Whenever I get a drop I am not sure if i keep it and sell it to the merchant or salvage it for materials or maybe an item upgrade.

It depends on whether the item has a useful mod, you need materials, or you need cash. Generally you break even on salvaging crafting materials, I usually don't bother salvaging weapons for materials unless I'm out of space or in dire need of materials. As for mods, I'd check the price check section of this forum to tell you what is and isn't valuable.

I'm not sure if this is the best way or not, but this is what I do.

I salvage all white items, as they usually aren't worth much. I sell all blue and purple items, unless they have a mod I want, then I salvage them to try to get the mod.

I only use expert or superior salvage kits, as you have a chance to get rare materials and you can make a good profit selling these.

Since I salvage all white items, I keep all the materials and check the material traders. When the price is up for a certain material I sell all that I have, unless I know that I am going to need that material for something. Which is easy to know as weapons and armor are really the only thing you need it for, and you should determine early on which weapons and armor you are gunning for.

Livingston