Maintenance for the week of November 4:
• [COMPLETE] ESO Store and Account System for maintenance – November 6, 9:00AM EST (14:00 UTC) - 6:00PM EST (23:00 UTC)
what materials deconstruct into by character level or provision level?
You can't deconstruct food and drink so Provisioning level does matter. For things like blacksmithing it is determined by item itself. You are Level 50. Your blacksmithing passive is at the lowest level. Your buddy hands you a Level 35 dagger. It will deconstruct into Level 35 materials.
There are three levels involved with crafting. Character level determines what you can use if you make it, and the UI will inform you if you go above that. It will not stop you making it for another character to use. Crafting skill level determines what ranks you can spend skill points in, which lead to crafting ranks determining what material level you can use. A level 30 character could reach rank 10 in crafting, and make CP160 ruby items for others, but too much crafting is going to make that level catch up!
On the deconstruction side, you will not get materials beyond your crafting rank, but you can get lower level materials from a lower level item. The higher level item deconstruction gives full inspiration, even if the material return is missing.
Since established players jump from level 50 (CP10) straight to the account’s CP level, the 10-159 range behaves strangely for the first and only character to pass through. In that range drops could be anywhere else in the range, and won’t necessarily match the character’s level. That is the usual reason you would have items in your inventory to deconstruct that are higher than you can use. Deconstructing when you have multiple characters is either done by the high-rank character with passives and slotted Green tree perks if you want material returns. The new characters get fed all the intricates, regardless of level, for maximum inspiration to level up their crafting. In that situation, they are usually deconstructing from the bank.