Scoring
What does a system's score mean in Old Light?
Every system has a public score summarising how developed it is. It rolls up structure investment, so higher levels across more structures give a higher score. Score is the only strength hint you get on a system without sending a probe.
Every system has a public score, a single number that summarises how developed it is. Higher structure levels mean a 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.
The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42.
Common questions
How is empire score calculated?
Your empire score is the sum of every claimed system's score, and it is the leaderboard number. You can grow it tall by pushing a few systems to high levels, or wide by claiming more systems at modest levels.
Does score tell me how strong a system is in battle?
No. Score shows investment but not which structures got the levels, so two systems with the same score can be very different opponents. It also says nothing about the fleet in orbit; a low-scoring system can hold a large one.
