Scoring
Every system has a public score. A single number that summarises how developed it is. Higher levels across more structures = higher score. Ownership, borders, and score are visible on every system across the galaxy; score is the only "how strong is that?" hint you get without a Probe.
System score
The score on a system rolls up its structure investments. Bigger structures, bigger score. A fresh system at level 1 across the board scores low; a maxed-out system scores high.
Empire score
Your empire score is the sum of every system score across your claimed systems. It's the leaderboard number. Two routes to grow it:
Tall - push a few systems to high levels.
Wide - claim more systems and keep each at modest levels.
Both work. They're different bets on where the next conflict will come from.
What score doesn't tell you
Score is a hint, not a battle prediction. It tells you "this system has had a lot of investment" but says nothing about which structures got the levels. A system with a high score could be 90% extractors or 90% reactor. Two systems with the same score can be wildly different opponents.
Score also gives no indication of fleet in their orbit. A low scoring system can have a massive fleet floating around.
That's where Probes earn their cost.
