To salvage or expert salvage?

When trying to get raw materials for farming is it better to just salvage or to use an expert salvage on regular items. I usually keep both kits on me and use the regular salvage kits on the crap and the expert on highly salvageable items and items with upgrades. Does the chance you will get steel instead of iron from a regular item for example offset the high price of an expert salvage kit?

you have a chance of steel with the expert but no chance at all with the regular

as soon as i get to the yacks bend/kryta area i expert salvage everything except when i actually want hides instead of leather squares

otherwise i expert salvage only things i have found give a reasonable chance of steel (axes seem better than swords for example)

edit

with the price of steel down it is a harder call

when it was 200 and up it was well worth it

Here's a good thread about salvage:

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=9061

the only thing you need to keep in mind is whether or not it's worth the chance. The expert salvage kit costs 4 times as much as the regular salvage kit does.

@ 400 per salvage kit / 25 uses = 16 gold per use. If you aren't making atleast 16 gold per use you're wasting the salvage kit. Alot of people find themselves in the hole because they use the expert salvage kit on everything. Items that yield crafting materials worth 3 gold aren't helping you by using the salvage kit. (i.e. bows aren't good for materials...they always yield wood. so use the regular salvage kit)

This is what I've found from materials

Sword - Regular Salvage Kit
Axe - Expert Salvage Kit
Hammer - Expert Salvage Kit
Bow - Regular Salvage Kit
Staff - Regular Salvage Kit
Rod - Regular Salvage Kit
Focus Items - I often use the Expert Salvage Kit but only because I haven't clearly defined the advantages of expert over regular for these particular items....I'm hoping that different items will yield different results.

Now it certainly can't be this cut and dry...but it's definately a good start to get you going. The link Aniewiel posted is another great resource for when/where/how/why to use Expert or Regular. Just make sure your costs aren't higher than your returns.

I always use expert for weapons aside from staves and bows. You can get steel quite often. Focus items only ever seem to give granite or bones or something useless so I usually just sell them for the money. I also use expert salv on all armor drops where the armor level is above 30.

Personally I use expert on all Armor, Swords, Hammers, and Axes. And reg kit on everything else.

FWIW, I use the expert kits on weapons and armor above a certain point (21 or above armor, 8 min damage weapons, etc).

The better the weapon/armor, the more a chance you have of extracting rare materials via expert salvage.

After the armors get above 20, we dont even carry regular salvage kits any more