How to Get Lots of Salvage in Red Faction: Guerrilla

Salvage is the currency on Mars in the game Red Faction. Salvage can be gathered by destroying EDF (Earth Defense Force) property and vehicles. Throughout the game, you will have the opportunity to collect salvage and trade it for new weapons, gear and upgrades. As the missions in the game progress, you will need bigger firepower and special tools to take out the enemy. One of the biggest obstacles in the game is needing better gear only to find that you don't have enough salvage to make the purchase. Here are a few easy ways that I have found to generate a lot of salvage in a short period of time.

Red Faction Missions

On your map, you should see your primary Red Faction missions indicated by a yellow fist icon. These missions have the largest salvage payout compared to the other missions in the game. When you complete a Red Faction mission, you get 100 salvage plus a bonus based on that regions morale level. For example, if the morale in the region is 75, you will get 75 salvage in addition to the 100 for the completing the mission.

Tip - In order to maximize your salvage potential, make sure that your area morale is really good before taking on a Red Faction mission.

Demolition Challenges

Demolition challenges are another great way of getting tons of salvage. In a demolition challenge, you will be required to destroy one or more buildings or structures. Sounds easy enough, right? Not so fast. These challenges are timed (usually 1-3 minutes) and you will be limited to a 2-3 preselected weapons with limited ammo. At the beginning of the game, you can expect to earn 25 salvage per demolition challenge. However, as you progress through the game, these challenges will be worth up to 100 salvage.

Transport Missions

These missions require you to steal a marked vehicle and return it to a Red Faction safehouse. Once you enter the marked vehicle, a countdown begins as you race back to your base. This also alerts that EDF, and they will shoot at you on sight. If the time runs out, or the vehicle is destroyed by EDF forces, it's game over and you will have to start the mission over.

Tip - Most of the vehicles will be stolen from EDF compounds. This can be challenging to escape the base without the marked vehicle being destroyed. Instead, focus first on destroying the EDF buildings around the vehicle. Once all the buildings are destroyed, the EDF will abandon their post forever. Even if you die and have to come back, the EDF will still be gone from the compound.

The Steamroller

This approach is my favorite. All you will need is a heavy duty vehicle (the garbage truck and APC work the best) and the vehicle salvage magnet upgrade. Find a large EDF compound and wreck havoc by driving around and smashing buildings and other structures with your vehicle. As the structures are destroyed, salvage will be scattered on the ground. With the salvage magnet upgrade, your vehicle will automatically collect the salvage as you drive over it. If the base is large enough, you can easily expect to gather 200-300 salvage. Not only is this a great way to collect salvage, but it is also one of the best offensive strategies for taking out a large number of EDF buildings at one time.