What this is about
Large wrecks – ships the size of a freighter or bigger – cannot be salvaged in one run. They are work for several ships over several cargo trips. The real difficulty is not scraping but organisation.
Preparation
- Plan the time honestly. With one hour available you do not start a large wreck.
- Define sections. Before the first shot: who works where? Otherwise two scrape the same surface.
- Clarify the cargo chain. Where does the material go, who runs it, how often?
- Agree an end time. A large wreck is never “nearly done”.
Tasks and roles
- Scrapers. One or more ships on fixed sections.
- Cutter. Works with fracture and disintegrate on structures that have to be broken down (see structural salvage).
- Cargo. Shuttles. On large wrecks that is a full-time job of its own.
- Security. Mandatory, not optional. A large wreck with several ships beside it is visible from far away.
- Coordinator. One person keeps track of time, fill levels and sections and calls the end.
Equipment
For large wrecks it pays to split by task: one ship on surface, one on structure. Which heads and modules exist is in salvage components. Anyone going inside the wreck also needs zero-G FPS – different rules apply inside.
At a large wreck separating is what counts: fracture and disintegrate are their own functions, as is switching between heads.
| Game action | Default keyboard/mouse | Default joystick | Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toggle Fire Focused | Mouse left | Button 1 | toggle |
| Toggle Fire Left | Right Alt + A | not bound by default | toggle |
| Toggle Fire Right | Right Alt + D | not bound by default | toggle |
| Toggle Fire Fracture | Right Alt + W | not bound by default | toggle |
| Toggle Fire Disintegrate | Right Alt + S | not bound by default | toggle |
| Salvage Mode Gimbal (Toggle) | G | not bound by default | toggle |
| Relative Beam Spacing | Mouse wheel (axis) | not bound by default | axis |
| Salvage Beam Axis (Toggle) | Left Alt + Mouse right | not bound by default | axis |
| Cycle Focused Salvage Modifiers | Mouse right | not bound by default | single press |
| Focus all salvage heads | Left Alt + S | not bound by default | single press |
| Focus left salvage head | Left Alt + A | not bound by default | single press |
| Focus right salvage head | Left Alt + D | not bound by default | single press |
| Tractor Beam Vehicle- Increase Distance | Mouse wheel up | not bound by default | single press |
| Tractor Beam Vehicle - Decrease Distance | Mouse wheel down | not bound by default | single press |
Game default binding, game version 4.10.0-hotfix (55227). If you rebound it yourself, your binding applies.
HOTAS/HOSAS: the joystick column is the default binding of ONE stick. On two sticks you assign pitch, yaw, roll and lateral strafe yourself – which axis a manoeuvre needs is listed in the HOTAS / HOSAS section.
Sequence
- Fly in and circle once. Look first, then divide.
- Assign sections. Out loud, once, for everyone.
- Structure first, surface after – or the other way round, but not both at once on the same part.
- Cargo shuttles from the first full container on.
- Call the status. Every 20 minutes: where are we, how much time is left?
- Break off in time. At the agreed time, not when the wreck is empty.
- Goal
- Split a large wreck into sections as a group and work one section through completely.
- Preparation
- A large wreck, at least two ships, one cargo ship, an agreed time of at least an hour.
- Task
- Divide the wreck into sections before the first shot and assign them. Work one section through completely instead of starting everywhere. Note at the end: how long did one section take, and how often did the cargo ship have to run?
- Success criterion
- You have worked one section through completely and know how long that takes.
- Partner
- required
- Functions needed
- Toggle Fire Focused
- Toggle Fire Left
- Toggle Fire Right
- Toggle Fire Fracture
- Toggle Fire Disintegrate
- Salvage Mode Gimbal (Toggle)
Risk and reward
Large wrecks are the most visible operation an org can run in space: several ships, for hours, in one place. Doing that without security is not planning, it is hoping.
The return is high but it comes late – usually only after several cargo trips. Calculate the run over the whole time, not over the first container.
Typical mistakes
- Starting without sections. Two ships on the same surface are one ship.
- No cargo plan. Then salvage stops as soon as the first hold is full.
- No end time. Large wrecks eat evenings.
- Skipping security. This is exactly where that costs the most.
Next step
If you work large wrecks regularly you need fixed group roles – and preparation you do not reinvent every time: salvage run.