So one of the coolest things about City of Heroes is that It is not equipment based. Or at least it was not until the invention system. But now we have this incredibly complex system of salvage and recipes and frankly it is incredibly bloated and complex.
What I suggest is pretty simple: Instead of recipes requiring specific salvage to complete, why not change it so for common recipes just make it require a certain number of common salvage. For Uncommon recipes, they require uncommon salvage. And of course for Rare Recipes, they require rare salvage. But please lets get rid of this need to collect certain salvage! Its a dinosaur of game design.
While I would suggest that it be one for one with our current system. Like a rare recipe would require 1 rare, 1 uncommon, and 2 common salvage of any kind, this can be tweaked for game balance or simplicity. Like a rare recipe might need 3 rare salvage. Or if it's a purple 5 rare salvage. I dont know the intention of how rare certain recipes are meant to be so I would leave that up to devs who have access to that sort of thing. It could require a few updates or testing to see how it effects the game economy as a whole. But I know that for the most part salvage is salvage on /ah and they are pretty much worth the same influence in given categories.
The reasons why I want to change this system are that trying to organize a salvage system in my super group base is a freaking nightmare and how incredibly difficult it is to show new players how to use this system. It should NOT require youtube videos and googling or constant diving into /ah to be able to use this otherwise fun and rewarding invention system.