Harvesting, mining and salvage: choose the tool for the result
Searching, destroying and dismantling an object can produce different results. Choose the action around the material you need, not just attack speed.
Description
High block damage means faster destruction, but does not describe every condition for receiving materials. Perks and equipment can boost specific harvesting types. A mining bonus need not apply in the same way to component salvage.
Salvage is not ordinary destruction
Wrenches and later salvage tools recover parts from suitable objects. Smashing an appliance with a random weapon is not equivalent to dismantling it. Check the material card and its relevant source.
A car offers two stages: searching its inventory and then salvaging it. An engine, battery or particular component is not guaranteed from every object or every dismantling stage.
Start a mine with an exit
Prepare straightforward access back to the surface. Do not excavate directly beneath important house supports. Leave room to hide or move away when you hear enemies.
Bring lighting, repairs, food and water. A full backpack and broken tool deep underground can turn an ordinary return into a difficult fight. Use shorter work cycles before expanding production.
Compare resources per minute of the whole job
Faster swings do not always produce more resources if you spend longer waiting for stamina or returning for repairs. Include gathering, recovery, transport and preparation for the next trip.
An illustrative calculation: collecting 600 units in 6 minutes with a 4-minute return gives 60 units per minute overall. Collecting 500 in 5 minutes with a 1-minute return gives about 83. This is a time model, not a specific tool's statistic.
Keep materials in the form your next step needs
Scrap, smelted materials and finished components serve different purposes. Before mass scrapping, check recipes for planned stations, vehicles and repairs.
A rare component can matter more than another stack of common ore. List critical materials before leaving so you do not sell or process something you will shortly need.
What to do
- Decide whether you need loot inside, the object's basic material or salvaged components.
- Search the container before destroying it.
- Match the tool: axe for wood, pickaxe for stone and metal, shovel for soil and a salvage tool for suitable appliances.
- Watch inventory space, tool condition, stamina and your return route. Keep enough supplies for repairs.
Worked example
You need mechanical parts rather than just iron. Searching and properly salvaging suitable appliances serves a different purpose from rapidly destroying metal blocks with a pickaxe.
Common mistake
Choosing a tool only by damage without checking which type of material it should recover.