So About That Silver-Fed Salvage-O-Matic - Is It Worth It?

PUBLICS SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT SILVER-FED:

• With the current exchange rate, it will cost 165g to buy.
• Over the course of 3000 uses, it would cost an additional 18g at 60c per use.
• Let's say those 3000 uses were used to salvage rare and/or exotic only.
• The 3000 salvages are likely to yield on average 1 ecto per salvage, which will be the bulk of the profit from those salvages, along with whatever mats they yield.
• Right now ectos are worth 16s. 3000 ectos have a trade post value of 480g.
• From the 165g used to purchase the Silver-Fed, and the 18g used by it over the course of 3000 salvages, the 480g made from ectos alone will look more like a profit of 297g, because it took 165g to purchase the Silver-Fed and 18g to use it over the course of 3000 salvages. It will then continue to cost an additional 18g per 3000 uses.
• But are we really talking about gold gain or gold loss? Well, we are really looking at gold loss. The difference between the use of Master Kits, Mystic Salvage Kits, or Silver-Fed, for the purposes of salvaging our rares and/or maybe exotics.
• Believe it or not, buying and using Master Kits will cost the exact same as the Silver-Fed, over the course of 3000 uses, 18g. At least they don't cost 500 gems to purchase.
• Using Mystic Kits "Fine + Journey + Mastery + 3 Shards = Mystic Kit" will cost 3g 16s and 36 shards over the course of 3000 uses. <- This is easily and by far the cheapest way to salvage rares and/or exotics.

So about that question: "Is the Silver-Fed worth it?" It's real simple, if you are a player who's level of salvage activity burns through Mystic Kits quicker than you can obtain shards to make them, then maybe. The Silver-Fed still won't be anymore cost efficient than Master Kits and it will still be taking 165g out of your pocket that you won't get back. It is however much much more convenient than allocating many slots in an inventory towards carrying around multiple Master Kits, and then needing to visit merchants to replace them so often. If you are a player who's salvage activity level finds your bank filling up with mystic shards, and you seem to have no problem with the management of always having a Mystic Kit on hand when you need them, then no. Just using your mystic shards to create Mystic Kits for salvaging rares and/or exotics is going to save you a lot of gold.

For those choosing to buy the Silver-Fed, know that it isn't about cost efficiency like the Copper-Fed. Buying the Silver-Fed is about convenience, and you will pay for that convenience.

The questions for me were

• I have the shared slot for it.
• Do I want to REMEMBER getting mystic kits?
• Am I ok with 1-2 inventory slots per character to be taken up by mystic kits?

My answer is "no" on both occasions, and 500 gems is an ok trade-off for the QoL.

@Trevor Boyer.6524 said:For those choosing to buy the Silver-Fed, know that it isn't about cost efficiency like the Copper-Fed. Buying the Silver-Fed is about convenience, and you will pay for that convenience.

Convenience is the only reason I bought it and well worth any extra costs for me. I hate grind and I don't want to spend a single moment thinking about what kits to use, how many charges do I have left, do I need to make more kits, etc.

@Boysenberry.1869 said:

@Trevor Boyer.6524 said:For those choosing to buy the Silver-Fed, know that it isn't about cost efficiency like the Copper-Fed. Buying the Silver-Fed is about convenience, and you will pay for that convenience.

Exactly. I sometimes put copper fed in farming profession inventory to make room for other things on shared, even. Can't care less about the loss of gold that can be rectified in an hour in a farming zone.

Cheers!

Your math is way to convoluted, allow me:

Based on https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Salvage_kit, we know that the economic advantage of a Silver-fed versus a basic Master Salvage Kit (and not taking into account a Mystic Salvage Kit with 0 value for Forge Stones) is exactly

• Master Salvage Kits and Silver-Fed have identical salvage results
• 1.44 copper per item salvaged (61.44c - 60c = 1.44c) in return
• this is a rebate or savings of 2.4% (1.44c / 60c = 2.4)
• 165 gold are 1,650,000 copper
• 1,650,000c / 1.44c = 1,145,833.3 items until you break even

Or simply put: not in this lifetime, this item is a pure convenience item. That said, I own one (next to the Copper-Fed) and am loving the combination of having both in a shared inventory slot each.

some discounts like during anniversary may worth the buy

The tl;dr is simpler:

• Silver-fed will never pay for itself no matter how often you use it, because the cost savings is nominal.
• Silver-fed (and Master|Mystic) kits are substantially better than Copper-Fed/Basic, probably by about 2-4 silver per use. Never use basic on ecto-bearing rares.

The 3000 salvages are likely to yield on average 1 ecto per salvage, which will be the bulk of the profit from those salvages, along with whatever mats they yieldThat's incorrect. The rate is 0.875 for using Silver-Fed/Master's/Mystic. It's much less for Basic/Copper-Fed (nearest estimates I can find are 0.66).

Here's the analysis for my tl;dr above. There are two questions to ask when considering cost efficiency of the Silver-Fed:

• How long will it take to pay off compared to using Mystic or Master Kits? (the non-gem shop equivalents)
• What's the difference in net value compared to using Basic or Copper-Fed Kits? (the cheaper & less productive alternatives from non-gem & gem-shop sources respectively)

Comparing Silver-Fed to Master's or Mystic Kits

tl;dr it's a 165 gold convenience item, not a cost-saver

Silver-Fed saves 1.44 copper over Master's. To save 165 gold would take 1 145 833 salvages (yes, over a million uses). In other words, it's never going to pay for itself, because in the six years since launch, no one has salvaged even 400 000 times, no one. (That includes all kits, not just silver-fed.)

It's worse if you compare to Mystic, since those actually cost less to use if you already own the mystic stones. In fact, those only cost 7 copper more than basic kits, so they are worth using these days on any gear with runes|sigils, as well as on rares.

Comparing Net Ecto Value, Silver-Fed versus Copper-Fed

tl;dr using Silver-Fed instead of Copper-fed generates about an extra 3 silver per use, before considering the extra value of mats gained from the increased number of symbols|charms|lucent-motes.

Data from a variety of sources shows that we get roughly 87-88 ecto for every 100 rares (L68+) salvaged with a Silver-Fed|Master|Mystic kit. Mileage varies because it's not a sure thing; that's just the average. There's very little data on rates from lesser kits, but there's enough to be sure it's a lot less. Roughly 60-66 ecto for every 100 rares. In the spirit of the OP's analysis, I'll take the lowest value for Silver-Fed (87) and the highest value for Basic (66), salvaging 100 rares. The value of ecto over the last 30 days has varied from 14.3 to 19s (depending on buy vs sell, which week). We'll use a lower number of 15.

• Silver-Fed: 1049 silver total value, from 60 silver in salvage costs resulting in 87 ecto worth 1109 silver after taxes.
• Copper-Fed: 839 silver total value, from 3 silver in salvage costs resulting in 66 ecto worth 841 silver after taxes

The price of ecto can drop to 6 silver and the Silver-fed will still remain better, again without accounting for the increased amount of other mats we get. And ecto has never been worth less than 11 silver since gw2tp.com started keeping track. In other words, there have been no circumstances since the game launched in which the basic kit was better to use in terms of net value.

Silver and Copper Fed kits, plus 2 shared inventory slots, equal never to have to worry about having salvage kits again. So, yes, the value lies in convenience, and convenience value is going to vary across individuals.

I agree that the convenience is the main reason to get one - like infinite gathering tools. It will take forever to break even on them (if you ever do) but it means never having to worry about running out and having to go get new tools and for a lot of people it's worth paying for that convenience.

Although it depends a lot on how much you're salvaging. It takes me a few weeks to get through a Mystic salvage kit normally (there are exceptions, I think I used 3 or 4 during Halloween when I was farming the Labyrinth for about an hour a day) and I can't remember the last time I had less than 100 mystic forge stones, so I stick to mystic kits. I've decided that if I ever run out of mystic forge stones I'll buy a copper and silver fed salvage kit, but I'm not sure that will ever happen.

I wouldn't buy one by itself, that's for sure, but I got mine in a gem store bundle along with a Copper-Fed and a bunch of other stuff, and when I had a spare shared slot, I added the Silver-fed to it for those moments when I think I can gain an advantage compared to the CFSoM. But I still wouldn't have bought one outright.

copper -o-matic is worth getting, but the silver... I would not get it. I can craft Mystic Salvage Kit till the end of the world.

@mazut.4296 said:copper -o-matic is worth getting, but the silver... I would not get it. I can craft Mystic Salvage Kit till the end of the world.

Sure you /can/ i always forgot to, and having multiple of them in my inventory at a time was killer. its all just a matter of convenience, is the convenience of not having to craft kits in the mystic forge and carry them around worth it to you?(rhetorical). For me, it was.

The answer is simple: I bought it because I couldn't be bothered returning to the Mystic Forge every single time I ran out of salvage kits. I make them for the daily and use them but that's about it. Ir's like gathering tools for me. I just want it because it means never having to restock on them.

@"Blocki.4931" said:The answer is simple: I bought it because I couldn't be bothered returning to the Mystic Forge every single time I ran out of salvage kits. I make them for the daily and use them but that's about it. Ir's like gathering tools for me. I just want it because it means never having to restock on them.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mystic_Forge_Conduit_(account_bound). My forge is always with me.

@Blocki.4931 said:The answer is simple: I bought it because I couldn't be bothered returning to the Mystic Forge every single time I ran out of salvage kits. I make them for the daily and use them but that's about it. Ir's like gathering tools for me. I just want it because it means never having to restock on them.

My Mystic forge conduit is always with me.

@Etterwyn.5263 said:

@Dante.1763 said:

@Blude.6812 said:

@Blocki.4931 said:The answer is simple: I bought it because I couldn't be bothered returning to the Mystic Forge every single time I ran out of salvage kits. I make them for the daily and use them but that's about it. Ir's like gathering tools for me. I just want it because it means never having to restock on them.

I really can't recall how I got mine mine, but I am sure I didn't have to buy it. So much stuff drops and is earned in so many ways as well as way too many currencies in this game I really have lost track because and it has become over whelming.

@Blude.6812 said:

@Blocki.4931 said:The answer is simple: I bought it because I couldn't be bothered returning to the Mystic Forge every single time I ran out of salvage kits. I make them for the daily and use them but that's about it. Ir's like gathering tools for me. I just want it because it means never having to restock on them.

Congrats? That item costs more than the cost of the silver fed.

I have the Copper Fed, and until the recent change, there was no point in the Silver Fed as you typically only get 3-5 rare items out of a meta, and I just keep a Mystic Salvage Kit on hand with every character.

Now that the salvaging of runes is a thing, one could argue that using the Silver Fed would provide more crafting materials as it has a higher chance of salvaging the rune, even on green/blue gear. BUT, I think that issue will solve itself within a few months: before long we're going to be complaining about having too many lucent motes in storage, and we'll be demanding ANET give us a gobbler for them. And at that point, the extra cost per salvage of the Silver Fed will no longer be justified.

TLDR: Get the copper fed, use it on anything green / blue, and use a Master / Mystic Salvage kit for anything yellow, just as you did before.

Considering that the game gives you more Mystic Stones than you ever have a use for (I don't think people even use these for precursor gambling anymore, since they ruin the chance you have of getting a specific weapon type), there's no reason to ever need the Silver-Fed...

People will laude the convenience, but you can easily just have a Mystic Kit on all your toons, which lasts anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending how much that character does farm events or raids/fractals. The only trouble a Silver-Fed would save you vs this is visiting the Mystic Forge every few weeks to restock a toon--but if you just make a new kit on Mystic Forge Daily day, it's a two-birds/one-stone scenario. AAAAAND when all is said and done, you now have an extra shared inventory slot--which is worth saying because a shared slot is a lot more expensive than a Silver_fed in the first place... The cost of each should really be combined in this experiment since if you don't have a shared slot for it, all the convince goes right out the window.

@Dante.1763 said:

@Blude.6812 said:

@Blocki.4931 said:The answer is simple: I bought it because I couldn't be bothered returning to the Mystic Forge every single time I ran out of salvage kits. I make them for the daily and use them but that's about it. Ir's like gathering tools for me. I just want it because it means never having to restock on them.

@borgs.6103 said:

@Dante.1763 said:

@Blude.6812 said:

@"Blocki.4931" said:The answer is simple: I bought it because I couldn't be bothered returning to the Mystic Forge every single time I ran out of salvage kits. I make them for the daily and use them but that's about it. Ir's like gathering tools for me. I just want it because it means never having to restock on them.

Specifically:

• The container for the account-bound version can be made for about 60 gold in mats. It's about 70-80g on the TP.
• The tradeable, unbound version costs ~150-300g on the TP. In theory, you can buy it, use it, and resell it and sometimes turn a profit, depending.

@borgs.6103 said:

@Dante.1763 said:

@Blude.6812 said:

@Blocki.4931 said:The answer is simple: I bought it because I couldn't be bothered returning to the Mystic Forge every single time I ran out of salvage kits. I make them for the daily and use them but that's about it. Ir's like gathering tools for me. I just want it because it means never having to restock on them.

Ah, confusion i guess, the one you linked to in the post above the one i qouted was the expensive one(since the entire link didnt get hyperlinked for some reason, it cut off the account bound part.)

You should never buy things from the gem store hoping to make a profit. The copper fed, for example, may return its value over a very long time, but that in itself is not a reason to buy it since there's like literally anything else you could do with the gold for better return.

It comes down to time saved, and the convenience of not having bad runs when you run out/forget out of kits in full maps-- and these things may not have a numerical value on it.

That being said, with Mystic kits having 10x the capacity and yellow items being less frequent than green/blue item, the silver fed isn't a particular ygood convenience item either.

But if you're stuck with Master's Kits for some reason, than the silver fed can be much more convenient though sorta margina.

@ArchonWing.9480 said:That being said, with Mystic kits having 10x the capacity and yellow items being less frequent than green/blue item, the silver fed isn't a particular ygood convenience item either.That entire depends on how one spends their time. I definitely get enough rares that (a) I've run out of mystic stones and (b) the silver-fed is an amazing convenience. That won't be true for the majority of players; that doesn't make it less true for me.

I had wrote this post after a big discussion about Silver-Fed amongst a trade post guild. No one really argued the idea that Silver-Fed is not worth the cost if a player has routine flow of mystic shards and mystic kits. No one really argued that it's convenient to have it so a player doesn't have to worry about kits, in which this case having both the Copper-Fed and Silver-Fed in shared inventory slots is pretty awesome. What they were discussing was deeper yet, players who use an extraordinary amount of salvage charges per day. So we're talking about guys who sit around and eyeball the trade post, looking for prices to drop on rares or putting in bids on these kind of items, buying them out and salving them all. Some of these guys claimed to salvage around 3000 rares a day, which is why I based the OP equation on the number 3000 for salvage charges. This gets into: "Is it more cost efficient to purchase and use the Silver-Fed or to purchase mystic stones? or really... just to annoyingly buy many Master Kits?"

Even with this kind of salvage activity, albeit convenient to have the Silver-Fed, the cheapest route is Mystic Kits, if you run out you go Master Kits. But when you're making that kind of gold return each day... just buy the Silver-Fed. Saves you a lot of routine grief purchasing Master Kits.

Copper fed will pay for itself in the form of time saving by reducing the number of trips to the vendor to stock up on kits. This translates to more time spent doing profitable things like meta events. Its especially useful if you salvage a lot of gear from unid bags. On the other hand silver fed has a lower cost alternative in mystic kits that also has 250 uses - plenty enough for anyone not doing mass salvaging. I recommend getting the silver fed though when its on special at least because you never know when its going to be useful and you can be more liberal in your use of mystic forge stones.