Disclaimer: These concepts are for entertainment only and are in no way an official SONY concept for Planetside.

Empire Tech Levels - The ongoing Endgame of Planetside

1) The Basics
2) Resource Points and Tech Levels
3) Attaining Empire Tech Levels
4) Empire Tech Certs
5) Resource Missions
6) Recap

You may click here to view the original Empire Tech Level proposal made on 09-13-2003 on the old Planetside forums. Link courtesy of Web.archive.org.

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The Basics:

• Each base generates Resource Points over time for an Empire.
• Much like Experience Points do for Battle Ranks, Resource Points go towards increasing your Empire's overall Tech Level.
• Tech Level grants you Empire Tech Certs, which provide more equipment options.
• Tech Level also increases the sophistication and perks of a Sanctuary's Capital City.

Resource Points and Tech Levels:

• Every Planetary Cycle, the Resource Points are delivered back through the lattice to a friendly Capitol or Empire Sanctuary.
• The Resource Points are added to the Empire Resource Reserves, bumping up the Tech Level for that faction.
• Tech Level is the measure of how developed your Empire is.
• At certain levels, your Empire attains Tech Cert Points, used to augment, specialize, or diversify your standard certifications. These augmentations are intended to provide more options and versitility, not firepower.
• Resource Points must have a lattice link to a Capitol or to the Sanctuary Warpgates to count toward the Empire Resource Reserves. Cutting off your enemies links is an effective strategy to keeping your opponents from becoming more developed as a civililzation.

Attaining Empire Tech Levels:

• Each Empire Tech Level requires a threshold of Resource Points to be crossed.
• Only a fraction of this threashold value, however, is needed to maintain the new Tech Level. This can be refered to as a Level Maintenance Cost.
• The Empire Resource Reserves will continually pay for the Maintenance Cost, even if no new points are flowing in. Should the Cost not be paid during a regular cycle, the Empire loses a Tech Level and the Empire Tech Cert Point that went with it.
• If a player no longer has the necessary cert points to acquire a Cert Upgrade, the upgrade is lost and the player can no longer acquire new augmented equipment at the terminals.
• Any equipment still in the player's possession or in storage, however, still be used by the player, regardless of Tech Level.

Empire Tech Certs:

• Tech Cert Points can be spent on augmented equipment, or Cert Upgrades. You must have the standard Cert to qualify for the upgrade.
• Equipment can be stored in lockers and garages for later use or for when an Empire's Tech Level has dropped.
• The examples listed below are a few of the possible upgrades for Tech Certs

Resource Module Missions

• Players do not have to wait for a Planetary Cycle to conclude before Resource Points are delivered back to their Empire.
• Players may acquire a Resource Module from any Base that has accumulated Resource Points, and personally deliver it to a Capitol or Sanctuary repository.
• Enemies will be able to see the Resource Module on the move, so caution is advised.
• Delivering a Resource Module, not only quickly transfers valuable Resource Points to your Empire's Tech Level, but the player is rewarded with experience points.
• Resource Module extraction is also useful for saving an Empire's resources if a base is about to be captured and the planetary cycle has not yet concluded.

Recap:

• Holding onto bases generates resource points.
• Resource points flow back through an unbroken lattice to a Capitol or to a warpgate back to Sanctuary.
• These points accumulate every 'planetary cycle' till they increase the Empire Tech Level another notch.
• With each Level, Tech Cert Points are awarded. These cert points may go to purchasing variants and options for vehicles and weapons.
• Also, as the Empire rises in Level, the Sanctuary Capital improves it's architecture and overall sophistication.
• To maintain a Tech Level, an empire must pay a maintenance cost, a small percentage of the threshold amount for that Tech Level.
• If the Empire cannot maintain the upkeep, a Tech Level is lost and a Tech Cert Point with it.
• Any special vehicles or weapons acquired during the "good times" can be stored in lockers or a vehicle garage for later "lean times.