Salvage has two outputs with different economics: RMC from hull scraping and CMAT from structural munching, with CMAT worth roughly 50–60% more per SCU at recorded buyers.
Module choice is mechanical, not cosmetic — Abrade, Trawler and Cinch trade area of effect, efficiency and precision against each other.
Ship choice sets a hard box-size ceiling: 8 SCU on a Vulture, 24 SCU on a Reclaimer.
Where you sell matters more than beam technique; the recorded RMC spread is about 5,100 to 8,500 aUEC per SCU.
Where you are going
Contract Manager
Find legal salvage work.
Pyro RMC band
A wide band of buyers around 7,700 aUEC/SCU of RMC.
Seer’s Canyon
Top recorded RMC price, around 8,500 aUEC/SCU.
MIC-L1 / MIC-L4 / MIC-L5 / CRU-L4 / Ruin Station
Top CMAT band, around 13,000 aUEC/SCU.
The four salvage yards
No-questions-asked buyers for RMC, Scrap and cargo lawful terminals refuse.
What you need and why
The Baler is the standard three-module head; the Salvation is RSI’s bespoke fit.
No substitute listedThe balanced default — a sizeable area of effect with a respectable extraction rate.
Alternative: Trawler when speed matters more than yield.Precise focused beam for awkward hull geometry; slower on bulk RMC.
Alternative: Reposition the ship instead of swapping modules.A Vulture secures nothing over 8 SCU; a Reclaimer nothing over 24.
No substitute listedRepositions boxes without blocking ramps and walkways.
Alternative: Careful crew carrying.A loaded Reclaimer is 160 m of slow, obvious cargo.
Alternative: Run smaller Vulture loads on a lower-profile route.What to look for
Scraping gives RMC; munching gives CMAT and its raw refinable variants — different terminals, different money.
The 8 SCU limit on a Vulture is physical, not advisory.
Hickes Research and Deakins Research list RMC at zero — listed is not the same as buying.
The four salvage yards are unmonitored and outside armistice; the Admin and TDD terminals are not.
When it goes wrong
Check the module. A Trawler burns off more material through heat; on curved or fiddly geometry switch to Cinch, or reposition so the beam sits flat.
It is almost certainly over the hull’s box ceiling — 8 SCU on a Vulture, 24 on a Reclaimer. Split the output or bring a bigger ship.
Some terminals list a commodity with no active price. Read the actual figure, and always have a second buyer in mind.
Price is geographic. Pyro’s band sits near 7,700 and Stanton’s TDDs near 6,100 — decide the destination before the first beam, not after the hold is full.
None of the four record refuel or repair. Arrive with enough hydrogen and quantum to reach a real service station.
Stop salvage, secure the grid and leave. A stationary salvage ship never wins the opening exchange.
Rewards and progression
↳ RMC at roughly 5,100–8,500 aUEC per SCU depending on buyer
↳ CMAT at roughly 10,000–13,000 aUEC per SCU at recorded buyers
↳ Scrap at around 2,600 aUEC per SCU at the no-questions-asked yards
Departure checklist
□Fit the head and pick scraper modules for the job.
□Accept legal work or confirm the wreck is abandoned.
□Name your buyer and check its current price.
□Scan for contacts before opening beams.
□Scrape for RMC, then munch for CMAT.
□Keep every box inside the grid’s size ceiling.
□Secure the grid and clear the walkways.
□Extract before the risk changes, then sell.
- 01
Fit the head and the right scraper modules
Salvage heads take swappable modules and the choice is a real decision. Greycat’s Baler Salvage Head (size 2) is the standard head, designed to swap between three modules; RSI’s Salvation Salvage Head is the bespoke fit for that ship. The size-1 modules that go in it: Abrade (Greycat’s workhorse — a sizeable area of effect with a respectable extraction rate, the sensible default), Trawler (larger area of effect but less efficient, because the intense heat generates more burn-off — the speed option), Cinch (a small, focused, precise beam that takes longer to remove RMC but reaches every nook of a hull), and the ReadyGrip Tractor Module, which trades a scraper slot for a tractor beam built into the head. An Abrade plus a Cinch is a reasonable general loadout.
- 02
Find a legal target
Accept a salvage contract or visually confirm an abandoned wreck before opening beams. Read the contract text and scan for contacts first — ownership and legality states are what turn an easy hull into a crime stat. Remember that salvage is the most stationary industrial loop in the game; you are advertising your position for the whole session.
- 03
Strip the hull for RMC
Hull scraping produces Recycled Material Composite (RMC), the primary output and most of your income. Work flat, clean hull sections with controlled coverage rather than chasing every panel — burn-off from an oversized beam on curved geometry is material you never get paid for. Keep the ship clear of collision and stop immediately if the target moves, shows active crew, or attracts contacts.
- 04
Munch the structure for CMAT
Structural salvage produces Construction Materials (CMAT) plus the raw refinable variants Construction Material Salvage, Rubble and Pebbles. CMAT is worth substantially more per SCU than RMC — recorded buyers top out near 13,000 aUEC/SCU against RMC’s 8,500 — so on a large wreck the munching stage is usually where the run actually pays.
- 05
Process and stack without blocking yourself in
Process material into boxes, eject only when there is a clear grid slot, then tractor and lock each one. A Vulture only accepts boxes up to 8 SCU, so nothing larger will secure on its grid; a Reclaimer handles up to 24 SCU. Keep ramps, doors and crew paths clear — loose boxes are lost income and a collision hazard on the next hard manoeuvre.
- 06
Sell where the price is actually good
The RMC spread is wide and mostly geographic. Pyro pays best: Seer’s Canyon on Vatra tops the recorded list near 8,500, with a broad band around 7,700 across the Admin terminals at Endgame, Gaslight, Patch City, Rat’s Nest, Rod’s Fuel ’N Supplies and Dudley & Daughters, plus the outposts Ashland, Last Landings, Rustville and Fallow Field. In Stanton, Terra Mills HydroFarm sits near 8,200, Admin HUR-L4 and MIC-L4 near 7,000, the TDDs at Area 18, Commons and Cloudview plus CBD Lorville near 6,100, the Rayari research outposts near 6,000, and GrimHEX at the bottom near 5,100. For CMAT the top band is roughly 13,000 at Admin MIC-L1, MIC-L4, MIC-L5, CRU-L4 and Ruin Station, then about 12,000 at Port Tressler, Everus Harbor, ARC-L3, ARC-L4, MIC-L2, HUR-L4 and Terra Gateway.
⚠ These are prices recorded in the community database, not a live feed. Check the board before committing to a long haul — and note Hickes Research and Deakins Research both list RMC with no active price, so a terminal appearing on a list is not proof it is buying today. - 07
Know the no-questions-asked yards
Four sites are recorded as no-questions-asked buyers, unmonitored and outside armistice: Brio’s Breaker Yard on Daymar, Devlin Scrap & Salvage on Euterpe, Reclamation & Disposal Orinth on Hurston, and Samson & Son’s Salvage Center on Wala. They buy RMC (roughly 5,000–6,400) and Scrap (about 2,600), and they take cargo the lawful terminals refuse. Their recorded place services amount to a quantum marker and, at two of them, a freight elevator — no refuel, no repair, no clinic. Arrive with the fuel to leave again.
Field notes
↳ Abrade is the default scraper; go Trawler when speed beats efficiency and Cinch for awkward geometry.
↳ CMAT out-earns RMC per SCU at almost every recorded buyer — do not skip the munching stage on a big hull.
↳ A Vulture physically cannot secure a box over 8 SCU; a Reclaimer tops out at 24.
↳ Pyro pays roughly a quarter more for RMC than Stanton — worth it only if you can get home with it.
↳ The four salvage yards have no repair or refuel; treat them as one-way trips unless you carry margin.
↳ Stop early if contacts appear. A salvage ship is slow, stationary and visibly loaded.
Watch the route
Video mechanics can age between patches. Use the written route above as the current checklist.
Research sources
Route text is independently summarized and cross-checked against these references.
RSI — Vehicle services ↗api.star-citizen.wiki — salvage heads and scraper modules ↗UEX Corp — RMC and CMAT terminal prices ↗Star Citizen Wiki — Salvage ↗RSI — Patch notes ↗
