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Salvage Specialist is a job in the Cargo department.

As a Salvage Specialist, you act as one of the crucial links in the station's supply chain. Use the Salvage Magnet to pull in debris and asteroids, strip them for loot and ore, and return to the station. Be sure to bring a GPS and memorize station coordinates so that you do not get lost in space.

= The Salvage Bay =
At the start of the round, you will spawn in the Salvage Bay, a subsector of [[Cargo]] accessible only to Salvage and the [[Quartermaster]]. The Salvage Bay will often consist of a small locker room attached to a larger chamber filled with the machinery necessary to perform your job.

This is where you'll pull in new debris, process ore and scrap into valuable materials, refill your air supply, and store any extra loot or equipment that the [[Quartermaster|QM]] lets you hold on to. Acquaint yourself with the layout of your workspace, and take note of what's available to you.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Name
!Description
|-
|<center>Gas Tank Dispenser</center>
|A simple vending machine loaded with 10 Oxygen and Nitrogen tanks.
|-
|<center>Mass Scanner Computer</center>
|A computer that shows you a non-interactive map of the station, the locations of any shuttles, and any debris / wrecks. Up is not necessarily north. You will see the computer's location (your location) marked in green.
|-
|<center>Ore Processor</center>
|The destination for any ore that you mine out in the void. The machine processes raw ore into usable materials.
|-
|<center>Ore Box</center>
|A large crate that can store significant quantities of raw ore.
|-
|<center>Oxygen/Nitrogen Canisters</center>
|Cans filled with Oxygen or Nitrogen. To refill your gas tank or jetpack, attach it to the canister, put the pressure up to max, open and close the release valve, and then eject the tank from the container. Always be sure to shut the release valve before taking your gas tank, as failing to do so will release the canister's contents into the rooms atmosphere.
|-
|<center>Recycler</center>
|A recycler, identical to the one found in Disposals. It serves as a processor for the scrap you find out on debris, turning it from worthless garbage into piles of useful materials. It can also process some of the loot you find into rarer materials like gold or silver, so decide in advance if you prefer to sell small items like coins and rings or recycle them instead.
|-
|<center>Salvage Expedition Computer</center>
|A computer that offers three rotating expeditions to nearby planets. Lists the planet's common hostiles, biome, and other modifiers like time of day and atmosphere. Once an expedition is claimed, a coordinates disk will print from the machine, which can be inserted into shuttle consoles to FTL to the mission site.
|-
|<center>Salvage Magnet</center>
|Used to pull in debris, salvage wrecks, and asteroids for you to plunder. Note that it will attempt to pull in debris in the direction that the magnet is facing, and blockages in space such as shuttles can cause it to fail.
|-
|<center>Salvage Vendor</center>
|A vending machine stocked with spare tools, equipment, and weaponry for Specialists to utilize.
|-
|}

= Salvage Equipment =
Salvaging is a dangerous job, and inexperienced Salvage Specialists often end up lost in space or dead on debris with no way for the station to rescue them. At the start of the shift, a variety of vital equipment will be available to you in the Salvage Bay. You should, at minimum, always take a Spationaut Hardsuit, Oxygen/Nitrogen Tank, and GPS before departing.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Name
!Description
|-
|<center>Explorer Gas Mask</center>
|Although it's not strictly necessary, as your hardsuit provides you with internals support, the Explorer Gas Mask should still be equipped as it provides minor damage resistances to the wearer.
|-
|<center>Fire Extinguisher</center>
|The poor man's jetpack.  Fly through space by aiming and shooting the extinguisher's nozzle in the opposite direction of where you wish to fly. You can refill it with water once it runs dry, which is why most Salvage Bays have sinks.
|-
|<center>Global Positioning System (GPS)</center>
|Shows your current position as (x,y) when in your hand. Note that negative numbers are different to positive numbers, (x,y) is not equal to (-x,y). You can use it to return to the station coordinates in case you get lost in space. '''It is highly recommended that you note the Station's coordinates in Cargo Comms before leaving on any salvage runs. Note that your PDA also functions as a GPS when held in the hand.'''
|-
|<center>Grappling Gun</center>
|For those who wish to fly in style. Available in the Salvage Vendor. Must be used in combat mode. Firing it with left-click shoots a grappling hook that attaches to walls, and holding right-click will reel you in. Cycling the gun will reset the Grappling Gun. Note that this "gun" is completely harmless and will not damage hostiles.
|-
|<center>Handheld Radio</center>
|A pocket-portable radio. When turned on, it will automatically broadcast any nearby speech to other active radios. Useful for expeditions, or when the station's comms are down.
|-
|<center>Magboots</center>
|Equip and turn on magnetic boots to gain a steady hold on the wreck's surface. Active magboots will decrease your speed, but you'll be able to move normally in zero gravity and become immune to slips.
|-
|<center>Ore Bag</center>
|Can be equipped to your belt slot. While worn, it will automatically collect nearby ores from the ground. Vital for mining trips.
|-
|<center>Oxygen Tank/Nitrogen Tank</center>
|To survive in space for longer than a minute, you will need to breathe. Put it in your tank storage slot and turn on your internals to provide air while in space. Holds up to 5 Liters of gas. You can refill your tank by putting it inside a canister as described in the previous table. Slime or Vox Specialists should use Nitrogen tanks, and all other Specialists should use Oxygen.
|-
|<center>Pickaxe</center>
|The standard tool for mining any sort of ore. Can destroy multiple chunks of rock by wide-swinging it while wielded. Bring it along on asteroid mining trips, and leave it at home for debris or wrecks.
|-
|<center>Proto-Kinetic Accelerator (PKA)</center>
|A robust weapon with a variety of uses. The PKA can be used to mine ore or break structures, and deals a solid 25 Blunt damage per shot, making it the perfect weapon to kill Space Carp and other monsters. Has perfect accuracy when wielded, but shoots terribly otherwise. You can also use it to propel yourself backwards in space, but this is a slow process. The PKA has unlimited ammo but requires an automatic reload between each shot.
|-
|<center>Salvage PDA</center>
|Your PDA. It comes preinstalled with the Astronav GPS program, giving it GPS capability when held in the hand.
|-
|<center>Spationaut Hardsuit</center>
|The obvious component; without it, you will succumb to the low pressure of space. You will find a Spationaut Hardsuit in your suit locker. After you equip the suit, you'll have to close the helmet via the action menu on the left. Comes with an integrated flashlight, Geiger counter, and provides the wearer with minor resistances to brute damages and a robust 70% resistance to radiation damage.
|-
|<center>Survival Knife</center>
|A decent knife that can be stowed in a pocket. Swings quickly, does decent damage, and allows you to carve up dead Carp and other monsters for more loot.
|-
|<center>Utility Belt (and tools)</center>
|Typically comes fully equipped with a Crowbar, Wrench, Screwdriver, Wire Cutters, Welding Tool, and Network Configurator. These tools are vital for debris or salvage wrecks, allowing you to wrench anchored containers, pry open airlocks, disassemble crates and furniture, etc.
|}

= Types of Salvage =

== Salvage Magnet Pulls ==
The Salvage Magnet gives the user a choice between five different pieces of salvage, split between three categories; '''Debris''', '''Asteroids''', and '''Salvage Wrecks'''. Offers will cycle every three minutes. Once a piece of salvage has been pulled in, it will generally spawn in space 50-100 meters off in the direction the magnet is facing, where it will remain for six minutes before disappearing. Debris and Asteroids will have gravity, while Salvage Wrecks will not. '''Any items or structures onboard a piece of salvage when it disappears will disappear along with it.'''

Before pulling something in with the Salvage Magnet, you should always confer with your fellow Specialists and consider asking the [[Quartermaster]] for any input. Don't be that guy that pulls in a salvage wreck when [[Engineering]] is begging for steel to rebuild the station.

=== Debris ===
The most straightforward form of salvage, debris consists of a few pieces of randomly generated wrecked flooring sprinkled with walls, airlocks, equipment, lockers, and racks. The two main draws of debris are '''Loot''', which can be found scattered around the floor and within lockers, and '''Scrap''', various pieces of Debris-only garbage which can be recycled for large amounts of basic materials. To maximize your haul, unwrench one of the many lockers onboard and drag it along with you, filling it with any scrap or interesting loot you can find. Make sure you get your loot off the Debris before it despawns!

Debris will almost always contain some number of Space Carp, and rarely host the more dangerous Sharkminnow. They can be dealt with rather easily with your PKA, as long as you keep out of their range or shoot them from the safety of space. Remember to butcher them with your knife afterwards for Carp Fillet and Teeth.

=== Asteroids ===
When pulling in asteroids, Specialists can easily read their contents on the Salvage Magnet. Generally speaking, asteroids containing rarer materials like Gold, Silver, Uranium and Plasma should be prioritized over those containing Coal, Iron, or Quartz. Basic materials can be acquired from scrap on debris, or purchased by cargo if necessary; rare metals are not so easily acquired.

Once an asteroid has been pulled, be sure to equip an Ore Bag for easy storage and grab a pickaxe before heading out into the void. Asteroids are far safer than other forms of salvage and lack enemies, so mining should be relatively straightforward. Be sure to dump your haul into the Ore Processor once you get back, and inform cargo so they can take advantage of the materials.

=== Salvage Wrecks ===
By far the most dangerous and diverse option on the Salvage Magnet, Salvage wrecks come in three sizes (Small, Medium, and Large) and consist of a number of premade wrecks for you and your crew to explore and loot. Salvage wrecks feature a much wider variety of loot, as they can feature equipment and structures from any department. They also feature a wide variety of threats, including space bears, invisible space snakes, venomous space spiders, angry space kangaroos, and other dangers.

Salvage wrecks generally lack ore and materials, and are far more of a gamble than other magnet options. Some wrecks feature nearly nothing of value to the station; others may include power generators, alien artifacts, deadly weaponry, or rare equipment. Always be willing to think outside the box when looting a Salvage Wreck, and keep an Appraisal Tool handy to decide whether something is worth grabbing or not.

== Blue and Red Debris ==
At the start of the round, a number of small chunks of blue and red debris will spawn in a rough halo around the station. These chunks are usually quite spaced out from one another, and usually require a shuttle or jetpack to travel to.

Blue debris chunks are comparable to smaller versions of magnet debris, with carp, ticks, and sharkminnows. Loot spawns in the form of crates rather than scattered junk, and can range from generally useless boxes of books and janitorial supplies to stacks of uranium and plasma. This makes them a decent option for quickly finding stacks of rare materials.

Red debris chunks are essentially tiny asteroids with randomized ore spawns. These are usually so small as to not be worth focusing on for mining, and miners should instead consider pulling asteroids with the magnet or mining on an Expedition or the VGRoid.

== Round-start Wrecks ==
At the beginning of the shift, a variety of wreckage has a chance to naturally spawn in the space surrounding the station. These wrecks are very similar to Salvage Wrecks, often featuring valuable loot with the potential for deadly enemies on board. Round-start wrecks will not despawn, meaning they can generally be explored at your leisure.

== The VGRoid ==
Often spawning hundreds of meters away from the main station, the VGroid or Big Asteroid is a massive asteroid full of rare minerals and scattered with abandoned research facilities. Reaching the VGRoid generally requires a shuttle or jetpacks, and should generally not be explored alone due to the exceptional dangers within.

The asteroid itself is full of rare minerals that can be found in huge veins, allowing for salvage to easily acquire enough materials to supply the entire station. However, many of the caves within the asteroid contain deadly enemies, such as Goliaths and Xenos, making mining hazardous to the unprepared. Some of these caves also contain small vaults which house valuable loot.

The facilities built into the asteroid are massive, and contain large amounts of rare loot in addition to basic materials and contraband. They are similarly dangerous however, often containing Goliaths and Hivelords. Always be sure to explore them with a clear route of escape available.

== Salvage Expeditions ==
Serving as one of the most advanced forms of Salvage, Expeditions are dangerous missions which require the use of a shuttle to bring a salvage team to a nearby planet, where mineral riches and forgotten treasure await. In order to begin an expedition, A Salvage Expeditions Computer must be used to select one of three available missions. Missions will list their general difficulty, the type of monster to be encountered on the planet, the planet's biome, and the various environmental factors on the planet such as air quality, temperature, and time of day.

'''Difficulty, Duration & Recommended Salvagers:''' Expeditions, as currently implemented, will always have Moderate difficulty, a Duration of 11 minutes, and the Recommended number of Salvagers will always be 2. In general, consider the other factors in the expedition to get an idea of it's difficulty, and bring the entirety of Salvage along on the Expedition.

'''Hostiles:''' Expeditions will either be listed as having Carp, which means they'll feature regular Space Carp and rarely a toned-down version of the Space Dragon, or they'll be listed as having Xenos, which means they'll have a much wider variety of Xeno enemies. Carp expeditions will be the far safer option, as Space Carp have simple AI and die very quickly, whereas Xenos are more intelligent, capable of prying open doors or vaulting over obstacles, and generally deal more damage and tank more hits. See the (Pending) Threats section for more details on enemy types.

'''Biome:''' The most important factor to consider when choosing your expedition. Biomes will generally determine both the type of dungeon you'll encounter as well as the density of ore available, though neither of these factors is stated up front.

* Snow biomes are generally preferable, featuring huge ore deposits and large facilities to explore with solid loot inside. Beware of plasma pools, which will immediately light you on fire on contact.
* Grassland biomes are also decent, usually featuring smaller facilities and less ore, though they are certainly pretty to look at (And give you the unique bragging right of having touched grass!).
* Lava planets are another good choice, featuring large pools of deadly lava both inside and outside the facility, but also offering unique security dungeons and good ore deposits as well.
* Caves are usually the worst option, featuring small, scattered rooms with decent loot, and scattered ore deposits. Beware of chasms, which will kill you instantly and permanently if touched.

'''Atmosphere, Temperature & Time of Day:''' A planet's atmosphere can either be Breathable, meaning that it'll have standard air levels breathable by most species (Vox not included), or Dangerous, meaning that the planet's air will be composed of Nitrous Oxide that will cause anyone without internals to fall asleep constantly. The temperature of a planet is mostly self explanatory: Hotter planets can cause you to overheat, colder planets can cause you to freeze. Wearing your hardsuit will protect you from either extreme of temperature. Time of day is similarly self explanatory, with visibility being the best on planets with Daylight and the worst for those at Night.

After selecting an expedition, all other options will become locked, and an expedition disc will print from the Expeditions Computer. Until this expedition is completed, no other expeditions can be undertaken. To begin the expedition, simply insert the disc into a Shuttle Console, open the FTL menu and pilot the shuttle within FTL range of the expedition's destination, and make the jump.

Your shuttle will land at Coordinates 0, 0 upon the new planet. You'll have 11 minutes to explore, mine, and loot, before the shuttle automatically departs from the planet. If there is a dungeon present on the planet, you will also receive a notification in the chat log telling you the direction it's in. Be sure to reorient your camera to the planet's compass by using Numpad 8. You'll receive chat updates on your remaining expedition time at the 5 minute, 2 minute, and 45 second mark, and special expedition music will begin playing at the 2 minute mark, further intensifying the race back to the shuttle. After the 11 minutes is up, the ship will make an automatic FTL jump back to the station, and the Expeditions computer will start a cooldown timer for the next Expedition.

Here are a few extra tips to consider when undertaking an Expedition:

* Always, always, always remember that you have a GPS in your Salvage PDA. When the 2 minute mark hits and the music starts playing, you should generally pull out your PDA and begin the trek back to coordinates 0, 0, which is where your shuttle will always be located.

* While on an Expedition planet, your headset radio will not work, as you're no longer within range of the station's Telecommunications Servers. Make sure that everyone brings along a Handheld Radio, which will automatically transmit any nearby speech to other active Handhelds when active in your hand or pocket. You'll have plenty of Handhelds for everyone in your Salvage Vendor and Lockers.

* Before you leave on an Expedition, make sure to bring spare supplies along to increase your chances of survival. Does everyone have a Handheld Radio? Spare ore bags and pickaxes? What about spare Oxygen or Nitrogen tanks? Did you grab medkits or spare topicals? Having these items can save your life, so don't sleep on them.

* Generally, a single Expedition has enough ore to last you an entire shift. Bring along multiple ore bags, and consider wrenching down an Ore Box on your shuttle as well. The classic 2-1 rule (2 Specialists loot the dungeon, while 1 mines for ore) is always a good baseline to follow. As always, prioritize things that Cargo can't order, such as Gold, Silver, and Uranium.

* Landing on expedition planets/FTLing back to the station can often cause bugs. When landing on a planet, be prepared for the possibility that your shuttle will land inside the dungeon, and be prepared to fight mobs. When FTLing back from a planet, the shuttle can rarely land inside of the station or thousands of tiles away from it, in which case you should Ahelp for assistance.

* When looting dungeons, be sure to consider looting machines in addition to smaller items. RTGs are always useful to have, and most dungeons will feature engineering rooms with everything necessary to equip your shittle with infinite power (RTGs, SMES's, Substations, and APCs). Random shuttle parts, such as thrusters, gravity generators, and gyroscopes can spawn throughout dungeons, giving you a shot at upgrading your ship on the fly.

* Expeditions are currently the (maybe?) only way for Cloning technology to be acquired in a regular round. However, getting cloning set up requires a '''Cloning Pod, Cloning Console Computer, and Medical Scanner''', which can be found on Expeditions as either machine boards or completed machines. You'll also require Biomass cubes, which can be found on Expeditions, or created by grinding up bodies in a '''Biomass Generator''', also found on Expeditions. Getting all of this technology together often requires multiple Expeditions, is extremely luck-based, and requires a significant amount of time. But the bragging rights are immense.