Skills & Progression

Character, on the far left of the bottom bar, is the character you're currently playing. It shows your portrait and name, your Character Level, your Credits, and every skill in the game with its current level and how far you are through that level.

Switch Character is always there at the bottom of that screen, however long the skill list gets, and takes you to the same character selection you already use.

Your Character Level is a single number for everything you've trained. You start at Level 1, and every skill level you earn adds one to it.

So a character with Mining 4, Refining 2 and Welding 1 is Character Level 5: three levels earned in Mining, one in Refining, and none yet in Welding. A brand-new character with all three skills at Level 1 is Character Level 1.

Skills start at Level 1, so a skill you've never touched adds nothing. That also means adding a new skill to RuneSpace won't change anyone's Character Level until they actually train it. There's no separate Character XP to earn — the number simply follows your skills.

Some missions also grant skill XP when you complete them: Cut Your Teeth grants +100 Mining XP, Waste Not grants +100 Refining XP, Hold It Together grants +100 Welding XP, and Out of the Weather grants +250 Welding XP on top of what the welding itself paid. Not every mission pays in XP — 10,000 Hours pays 50 Credits instead, because its practice welds already earned their own Welding XP as you did them.

Higher Mining and Refining levels raise your chance of success on each attempt, up to a level where success is guaranteed. Levels have a cap, and every skill shows its current level and XP right where you use it — Mining at The Jag, Refining at the Processing Yard, and Welding at the Workbench, the Cargo Hold repair, and the Crew Stop repair. The Character screen shows all of them in one place, whichever one you're standing next to.