ELevels and Power
Your commander levels up from experience earned in combat and contracts, one skill point at a time on a curve that climbs faster with every step; your fleet's toughness is read a different way entirely, as a Power rating computed straight from each ship's fire, shield and hull, the same number shown for every player, sentinel and Corsair alike.
Your commander levels up from experience earned in combat and contracts, one skill point at a time on a curve that climbs faster with every step; your fleet's toughness is read a different way entirely, as a Power rating computed straight from each ship's fire, shield and hull, the same number shown for every player, sentinel and Corsair alike.
A level says how long you have played. Power says what you can actually survive.
Climbing the Level Curve
Each level asks for more experience than the last, growing fast enough that the difference between an early level and a late one is measured in hours of play, not minutes. Level 2 hands you your first skill point; from there the curve keeps climbing, so reaching a high level and holding many points is a mark of a long-lived commander, not a single evening's session. See Character Skill Tree for what those points buy.
Ships Don't Level, They're Rated
An individual ship never gains experience and never ranks up on its own; its stats never change no matter how long you fly it. Only your commander does, through the skill tree above. That is why a high-level commander can still be reduced to a single starter ship, and why the game reads a fleet's real strength a different way: a Power rating built straight from the combat stats a ship is actually carrying, fire, shield and hull, using the exact same formula whether the hull belongs to you, to a Nexus Protectorate patrol, or to a Crimson Corsair raider. See Combat for what those stats do once the shooting starts.
Reading Power
Power sits next to your Level in the footer and on your profile card, covering your whole fleet, and it replaces the old, meaningless level number on every radar contact you scan. Because every ship is rated by the same formula, comparing two Power numbers is a fair fight: a lone, unremarkable combat hull reads near the bottom of the scale, and a contact whose Power dwarfs your own is worth a second look before you commit to it.
By the Numbers
- Skill points from leveling - 1 per level, starting at level 2
- Power rating shown - footer, profile card, and every radar contact
- Power formula - identical for player ships, sentinels and Corsairs alike
A Tournament season wipes your level and your skill tree alike; your fleet's Power starts back at the same bare baseline as everyone else's.