IMPORTANT TIP: Looting junk for crafting!

[SIlverblade-T-E]

Your character has weight limits, you can soon get bogged down with weight, there's TONS to loot, so what to KEEP? (except really good weapons, arrmour etc of course)

Simple, you want loot that gives you the most types of materials per item!

A screwdriver will only give 1 Steel
But an adjustable Spanner will give Steel and 1 Gear, so the spanner is a better item to take
however there is also the issue of weight, some items are very light but give many parts, others heavy, so you need to sort out which is best

Coffee mugs for example only give 1 ceramic, iirc but a coffee pot gives several items

also VERY important: keep an eye out for items with unusual names
instead of a "typewriter" you may see something like "Sorenson Typewriter"
the NAME tag lets you know that it's a rare item with more parts than normal

You also want to carry back to home a range of different materials NOT just the same one!
So when discarding toss out stuff you have a lot of.

Additionally, you REALLY want to get the Armour crafting Perl level 1, it lets you make "pocketted" armour that adds a lot to how much you can carry ;)

another big tip is to take the SCRAPPER perk, as you can then break down heavy items at the right type of workstation, into much lighter materials!
so if you find an armour workstation you can scrap normal, average types raider armour which aren't very useful or valuable, down into lighter to carry leather etc which you may want.
Ton of crappy pipe weapons? scrap em down into steel, screws etc instead!
Pipe weapons are THE main source of COPPER!

:)

[redstar213213]

How do I break stuff down into usable building material

[Zekiran]

Originally posted by redstar213213:

How do I break stuff down into usable building material

The paragraph directly above your post.

another big tip is to take the SCRAPPER perk, as you can then break down heavy items at the right type of workstation, into much lighter materials!
so if you find an armour workstation you can scrap normal, average types raider armour which aren't very useful or valuable, down into lighter to carry leather etc which you may want.

[steventirey]

You don't need the Scrapper perk to break down any item. Weapons and armor can be scrapped at any appropriate workbench at any time. Provided it is something that is modifiable. The only thing Scrapper does is to give you uncommon and rare materials when scrapping armor and weapons. Some settlement objects you build as well.

Any weapon or armor that can't be upgraded at a station has to be dropped on the ground in a settlement. You enter Build Mode, and you can scrap them. While junk items don't need to be scrapped (it will automatically do it if you need something the junk item contains), you can do so the same way.

[Rezznor7]

Originally posted by redstar213213:

How do I break stuff down into usable building material

You can break down armor and weapons at armor and weapon stations (the Scrapper perk just gives you more items from each break down), but as far as the small items you pick up as you progress on your merry way, the only way to break those down is either 1) at a Settlement Workbench, and even then only in the creation of settlement building, or 2) at the aforementioned Armor and Weapon stations, where the items can be broken down into components when you are Modding your armor or weapons.
For example, a Typewriter can be broken down into Gears, Screws, and Springs, which would certainly save weight as the Typewriter can weigh 5 pounds, but the components broken down to only weight .1 each. That is a tremendous saving in weight if you have a lot of items you have scavenged. But unless you have a weapon or armor piece that you can further mod, or decide to change the existing mod type on such a piece, you cannot break the Typewriter down, and must carry it along your journeys.
Or sell them! Some items are worth much more than their broken down components, or even against other items of similar type. For example here, any piece of a Giddyup Buttercup toy is worth a lot of caps, especially one in complete condition found at the Wilson Atomatoys factory. I never break those down, always sell them.

[SIlverblade-T-E]

Originally posted by Pookie101:

With a scrapper perk maxed out a modded assault rifle can give over 20 Aluminium which is nice.

For me personally I use the salvage beacon mod. Loot a place, chuck everything in a container outside and stick in a beacon and someone travels from a location you build, picks up the loot and delivers it to what ever settlement you want, which takes around 24 hours or so. Lore friendly and you can get back to doing fun stuff right away

"Salvage Beacon" mod is a MUST HAVE, IMHO :)
makes game way way more easier and believable
why would you leave all that useful loot behind , when you could have a cart, wagon or helpers to take it all back?