Salvaging

Salvaging is a mechanic in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. In order to salvage, Rex uses a cylinder to dive into the Cloud Sea at Salvage Points in search of treasures. After some time passes, he comes back with any treasure he found, such as s, treasure troves or monsters. In-universe, salvaging is also a line of work, which Rex is a part of, practiced mainly in the Nopon Trade Guilds, such as the Argentum Trade Guild, and Mor Ardain. Salvaging is first done during the Main Story Quest, Big Job Preparations, as a tutorial, and is then fully unlocked after completing the quest.

Gameplay
In order to salvage, a cylinder must be used. They can be found at, given away from s interactions, crafted or obtained through quests.

Afterward, the player must find a Salvage Point, which are usually found next to the Cloud Sea, and interact with it. The cylinder list will appear, where one of the currently held cylinders must be chosen, organized by the quality of the cylinder. Upon choosing a cylinder, a series of 3 "button challenges" will be given for the player to hit, similar to s button challenges. The button challenges may differ depending on the Salvage Point. Successfully or partially completing these challenges will affect the amount of items and treasure troves salvaged by Rex, while failing to do so will make the chance of monsters appearing higher.

Upon completing all three button challenges, Rex leaps into the Cloud Sea and returns some time later. The items he salvages consist of collectibles, usually fishes or mechanical parts, and treasure troves. Those appear on the ground nearby, with any monsters Rex brought along appearing right behind them.

Rewards
Salvaging will yield some collectibles along with treasure troves. Up to three treasure troves can be salvaged at a time, with their rarities varying from a wooden treasure trove, to the rarer red treasure trove and the much rarer white treasure trove. Many things can affect the amount of collectibles and the number and rarity of treasure troves brought up while salvaging.
 * The cylinder used, with a higher quality cylinder yielding better results. As an example, a Golden Cylinder will always yield red treasure troves or better while a Premium one will always yield white treasure troves.
 * The Salvaging Mastery.
 * Whether the button challenges were successfully hit or not.

Treasure troves brought up while salvaging contain some amount of along with treasure collectibles, which can in turn be traded at item trading shops for more gold and Boosters.

Additionally, some key items needed to complete quests must be salvaged and some enemies only encountered through salvaging can drop special items, such as the Gluttonous Marrin dropping the Lucky Core Crystal.

List of salvageable enemies
A list of enemies encountered through salvaging.

Lore
People who salvage are called salvagers, with most of them practicing the activity as a job. Some, like King Eulogimenos in his younger days, salvage as a hobby. Salvaging plays a key role in Alrest's economy, with many of its manufactured products being made from salvaged parts. As such, trade hubs such as the Nopon trade guilds dabble heavily in the trade, while the very industrialized Empire of Mor Ardain uses many salvaged items, both for its own development and as its main exports. The town of Chilsain is where most of the salvaging takes place within Mor Ardain.

Known salvagers
A list of all known salvagers in Alrest, with their salvager rank if theirs is known.


 * Amalthus
 * (Bana-Level Salvager)
 * Don Dondon (Legendary Salvager)
 * Dudan
 * Ekurt
 * Eulogimenos
 * Garram
 * Hamoosh
 * Kisasa (unranked)
 * Monell
 * Nel
 * Noporikh
 * Pittman
 * Rex (up to Divine Salvager)
 * Sachair
 * Sokoko (Mushroom-Feast Salvager)
 * Spraine
 * Tiwitiwi
 * Tortor

Trivia

 * According to Tiwitiwi, an average of 360 salvagers die every year.