Salvage Bench in PoE 2: What You Need to Know

The Salvage Bench in Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2) is an incredibly useful feature for players looking to make the most out of their gear, salvage valuable materials, and prepare for the tough challenges of the late game. While PoE 2 brings a host of new mechanics to crafting, the Salvage Bench stands as one of the core ways to refine your items and build up the resources you need to upgrade your gear or create something entirely new.

In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about the Salvage Bench in PoE 2—how it works, how to use it effectively, and what items are worth salvaging.

What Is the Salvage Bench?

The Salvage Bench allows you to break down your unwanted or low-tier items to obtain Crafting Materials and Currency that are useful for upgrading your gear. When you find items with Rune Sockets or Quality, these can be salvaged for valuable materials like Armorer's Scrap and Blacksmith's Whetstone, which can be used to improve your equipment.

Think of the Salvage Bench as a way to extract the hidden potential in your gear—essentially recycling it into useful resources that will serve you well in the future. The more you use it, the better you'll get at recognizing what items are worth salvaging and how to maximize your returns.

How to Use the Salvage Bench in PoE 2

To use the Salvage Bench, all you need to do is find it in a location like the Ziggurat Refuge (or another crafting hub), select the item you want to salvage, and place it into the bench's slot. The Salvage Bench will then give you a certain amount of materials depending on the type of item you're breaking down.

Here are a few key things to remember:

• Rune Sockets: Items with Rune Sockets are some of the most valuable items to salvage, as these materials are used to upgrade your gear.
• Quality Items: Even if an item isn’t a high-tier drop, items with the Superior tag (denoting Quality) can provide useful materials when salvaged.

What Materials Can You Get From Salvaging?

When you salvage gear, the game will drop a variety of crafting materials that are valuable in upgrading your gear. Some of the most common materials you can obtain include:

• Armorer’s Scrap: Used for improving armor or weapons, this is one of the more common materials.
• Blacksmith's Whetstone: This is another common material that can improve your gear, especially for physical-damage builds.
• Shards: Shards are used in crafting, and you’ll often need a significant amount to craft or upgrade high-end items.
• Artificer’s Orb: This is a higher-tier material that can be used for adding a Rune Socket to gear.

You can use these materials to upgrade your items, craft new gear, or improve the quality of your existing gear.

Salvage Bench vs. Crafting Bench: What’s the Difference?

While both the Salvage Bench and the Crafting Bench serve crafting purposes, their functions are slightly different:

• Salvage Bench: Focuses on breaking down existing gear to recover resources that you can use for crafting or upgrading. It’s all about recycling.
• Crafting Bench: Allows you to directly modify your gear, adding or changing stats based on the available mods.

The Salvage Bench is about resource recovery, while the Crafting Bench is about item customization. Together, they provide a comprehensive crafting experience, allowing you to fine-tune your gear and get the most out of every piece of loot.

When Should You Use the Salvage Bench?

It’s important to know when to use the Salvage Bench. Here are a few tips on which items to salvage and when:

• Salvage Low-Tier or Unwanted Gear: If you find yourself picking up lower-level gear that doesn’t fit your build, it’s better to salvage it for crafting materials. This way, you can turn your junk loot into useful resources.
• Salvage High-Quality Gear with Rune Sockets: Even if an item isn’t great stat-wise, if it has Rune Sockets or a high Quality stat, it’s usually worth salvaging.
• Don’t Salvage Everything: While salvaging is useful, it’s still a good idea to hold onto certain high-tier items, especially those with unique properties. You’ll want to keep any Rare or Unique items in your stash if they could be useful later on.

Buy Materials for Crafting

If you’re looking for specific Crafting Materials and don’t want to spend the time salvaging gear, you can also buy them directly. Platforms like SSEGold offer a wide range of crafting materials, so you can avoid the hassle of farming and jump straight into crafting your perfect gear.

Final Thoughts

The Salvage Bench in PoE 2 is an invaluable tool that lets you extract the value from your unwanted gear and turn it into useful materials for crafting or upgrading. Whether you're looking to upgrade your existing gear, craft new items, or just get a few extra materials, the Salvage Bench is a key part of the game's crafting system.

Understanding when and what to salvage is crucial to maximizing your resources and taking your gear to the next level. There in POE 2, the Reforging Bench is also an important part of the crafting system. If you want to know more about it, you can read our guide here.

By using the Salvage Bench wisely, you can make sure that you're always prepared for the challenges ahead in PoE 2’s ever-changing world.