TIERS
> ANALYSIS signal strongest at the hub. fading outward.
> 0 · HUB
- The dense core. Short, cheap jumps between well-linked systems, and little left to mine.
- BODIES
- 800–1,200 mass · 0–0 planets · 3–6 fields · 0–0 moons each
- MIX
- 55% iron · 30% silicate · 12% carbon · 3% copper
- STARS
- heat 600–900 · mass 0.8–1.2
> 1 · RELAY
- The first ring, where every empire starts. Iron, silicate and carbon, and a little copper. It runs out along the spiral arms, from a few jumps to a few dozen jumps from the Hub.
- BODIES
- 10,000–12,000 mass · 1–3 planets · 2–5 fields · 0–2 moons each
- MIX
- 50% iron · 30% silicate · 15% carbon · 5% copper
- STARS
- heat 600–900 · mass 0.8–1.2
> 2 · STATIC
- Longer jumps and richer deposits. Copper becomes common, and ice appears.
- BODIES
- 15,000–23,000 mass · 2–4 planets · 2–5 fields · 0–3 moons each
- MIX
- 42% iron · 20% silicate · 18% copper · 12% carbon · 8% ice
- STARS
- heat 600–900 · mass 0.8–1.2
> 3 · FADE
- Sparse and far apart. Some neighbours can only be reached by going back inward. Rich in copper and ice.
- BODIES
- 50,000–75,000 mass · 2–5 planets · 2–6 fields · 1–4 moons each
- MIX
- 33% iron · 30% ice · 17% silicate · 12% copper · 8% carbon
- STARS
- heat 600–900 · mass 0.8–1.2
> 4 · DEADZONE
- The edge. No signal reaches it, and the jumps out are the longest in the game. Its furthest systems trail well over a hundred jumps from the Hub. The richest deposits, and exotics.
- BODIES
- 100,000–140,000 mass · 2–6 planets · 3–7 fields · 1–5 moons each
- MIX
- 33% iron · 17% silicate · 17% ice · 15% copper · 10% exotics · 8% carbon
- STARS
- heat 600–900 · mass 0.8–1.2
> SHATTERED
- A planet broke apart long ago. Its fragments share one orbit with their dense cores on the surface, among drifting debris.
- SHARE
- hub 1.5% · relay 1.5% · static 2% · fade 2.5% · deadzone 3%
> ICE MOON
- A giant planet with a crowd of icy moons.
- SHARE
- hub 0% · relay 0.5% · static 2% · fade 2.5% · deadzone 2.5%
> COLLAPSED
- Almost everything fell into one huge planet, with a thin belt left over.
- SHARE
- hub 1% · relay 1% · static 1.5% · fade 1.5% · deadzone 2%
> CROWDED BELT
- Few planets and one wide, crowded belt of fields.
- SHARE
- hub 2.5% · relay 2.5% · static 2% · fade 1.5% · deadzone 1%
> YOUNG
- Still forming: many small bodies on crossing orbits, merging and breaking apart.
- SHARE
- hub 0.5% · relay 1% · static 1.5% · fade 2% · deadzone 2%
> STRIPPED CORES
- Planets whose crusts were blasted away, leaving bare metal cores.
- SHARE
- hub 0% · relay 1% · static 1.5% · fade 1.5% · deadzone 2%
> RINGED GIANT
- A giant planet circled by a ring of debris from a moon it tore apart.
- SHARE
- hub 0.5% · relay 1% · static 1.5% · fade 1.5% · deadzone 1.5%
> DARK
- A dim, cool star. Everything is frozen, and ice survives close in.
- SHARE
- hub 0% · relay 0.5% · static 1.5% · fade 2.5% · deadzone 3.5%
> COMET CLOUD
- Icy bodies on long, stretched orbits that shed trails each time they swing near the star.
- SHARE
- hub 0.5% · relay 1% · static 1.5% · fade 2% · deadzone 2.5%
> FROZEN GIANT
- A huge icy world far out, with many moons.
- SHARE
- hub 0% · relay 0% · static 1% · fade 2% · deadzone 2.5%
> SNOWBALL
- An inner planet under a thick crust of ice, boiling slowly away.
- SHARE
- hub 0% · relay 1% · static 1% · fade 1% · deadzone 1%
> FURNACE
- A very hot star. Its inner planets are still molten and slowly cooling, and no ice survives close in.
- SHARE
- hub 0% · relay 2% · static 1% · fade 0.5% · deadzone 0.5%
> HOT GIANT
- A giant planet hugging its star.
- SHARE
- hub 1.5% · relay 1.5% · static 1% · fade 1% · deadzone 0.5%
> LAVA WORLD
- A planet near its star, molten from a recent impact and slowly cooling.
- SHARE
- hub 0% · relay 1.5% · static 1% · fade 0.5% · deadzone 0.5%
> SCORCHED BELT
- A belt close to the star, its ice long gone: pure rock and metal.
- SHARE
- hub 1.5% · relay 1.5% · static 1% · fade 0.5% · deadzone 0.5%
> RESONANT CHAIN
- Planets on evenly spaced, unstretched orbits, each taking twice as long as the last.
- SHARE
- hub 1% · relay 1% · static 1% · fade 1% · deadzone 0.5%
> EMPTY
- A star with almost nothing around it.
- SHARE
- hub 1% · relay 1% · static 1.5% · fade 2.5% · deadzone 3%
> EXOTIC FIELD
- A field rich in exotics, found only at the edge.
- SHARE
- hub 0% · relay 0% · static 0% · fade 0% · deadzone 2.5%
> BLACK HOLE
- A collapsed star: very heavy and almost dark. Its bodies are frozen, and race round it on short orbits that make collisions hard.
- SHARE
- hub 0% · relay 0% · static 0.3% · fade 0.8% · deadzone 2%
- STAR
- heat 5–20 · mass 15–30
> NEUTRON STAR
- A small, dense remnant that burns fiercely close in. Inner bodies are scorched bare; ice survives only far out.
- SHARE
- hub 0% · relay 0% · static 0.5% · fade 1% · deadzone 1.5%
- STAR
- heat 2500–4000 · mass 1.3–2
> NEBULA
- A star inside a cloud of gas and dust. The cloud dims its light, so its bodies run cold, and leaves more matter around it.
- SHARE
- hub 0% · relay 0% · static 1% · fade 2% · deadzone 3%
- STAR
- heat 250–400 · mass 0.8–1.2