There is no shortage of loot in Last Epoch, with dozens of items dropping from enemies all across the various regions of the map. Your inventory will likely be flushed with loot by the time you finish the tutorial, so you need to know everything you’re able to do with all of the items you’re acquiring.
You can choose to sell the loot at an Armorer’s Shop, which is located in every major settlement in Last Epoch, wear the items on your character, or drop them on the ground. There’s also a hidden fourth option, however, which is to salvage the item and receive crafting materials, affixes, and more. To see how you can salvage your items in Last Epoch, take a look at the guide below.
Salvage items in Last Epoch
Unlike other ARPGs, there is no distinct option to salvage specific items in your inventory. Instead, you have to make your way to the Forge (anvil icon on your map) or simply press “F.” The Forge is the only place you can salvage gear in Last Epoch.
At the Forge, you can insert any piece of loot you have in your inventory into the big gear slot on the left side of the screen. Be careful, though, as you only want to select pieces of gear you wish to salvage. You can also place other items in the slot to give them new affixes or increase their forging potential, but you need to ensure you know the salvaging process before trying that.
Once your item is in the gear slot, select the “Use a Modifier Item” option near the bottom of the screen. Here, you need to use a Rune of Shattering, which is the only way to salvage an item in Last Epoch. Any other Rune does not grant you the ability to salvage an item. The Rune of Shattering has a firebird icon on it and can be acquired like any other piece of loot in the game.
After you have equipped your item and the Rune of Shattering in the Forge, press the big, red “Shatter” box at the bottom of the screen. This will deconstruct the item and return all of its Affix Shards and Glyphs to your inventory. I suggest placing all of your crafting items in the Forge so they don’t clog up your inventory, which is done by pressing the “Transfer Materials” box located on the right side of the inventory screen.
With your item shattered, you can no longer use it in Last Epoch. For the most part, you can only salvage common and rare items, so Legendary or Unique items won’t be salvageable. The purpose of the salvage system is to acquire shards and glyphs to use for crafting in Last Epoch, which is an entirely different feature.