Salvaging items

What does it mean to salvage an item?

I found an item that has the description "highly salvageable."

Buy a salvage kit and use it to break down items into crafting materials.

And once I have crafting materials, who do I go to? What kind of items can be crafted?

Is there a manual for this game that tells me all these things?

There is a guide available in the Guides section of the main page.

Well, what I do is stockpile salvage materials. Then I sell them to the Material Trader when they are in high demand - you can check how much he will pay for a bundle (10) of an item by talking to him. Find out a good price and only sell when it is at least that price. I try to hold back at least 10 or 20 or so of each item. You'll have plenty of gold in no time.

The craft materials are used to make armor and later weaponry/other items. Using this method, I almost always have all the materials I need.