Dust 514: Skill Points
Skill Points in Dust 514
Skill point's in Dust 514 are used in the same way as they are in Eve Online. Isk earned in Dust 514 buys Skill Books which are then activated. Each Skill has 5 levels of Learning, making it more effective.
What's slightly different in Dust 514 is how those Skill Points are acquired.
Dust 514 accounts and PSN ID
Each Dust 514 account is linked to one PSN ID. If you have multiple PSN accounts you can have one Dust Account for each one. Each Dust Account has 3 character slots you can make and each can be tailored to a specialisation, Sniper, Logistics etc, etc.
However, only one of these character, can be chosen to make use of a Passive SP boost at anytime. (in the same way only one character per Eve account can have an active Skill Queue). The Passive SP boost allows Skill Points to be earned by that character even while you're not playing.
These passive skill points build up in a pool. SP is also earned in game, using a number of criteria. Kills, destruction of vehicles, squad orders given or carried out and many others. These earned SP are also placed in the pool.
Each progressive level in a skill requires a larger number of SP to learn it, in the same way as time spend learning is increased per level in Eve. Once you have a large enough pool of SP you can activate the next level of a skill.
There is also a Daily SP Cap on all SP earned in combat. This is to stop the more hardcore players from gaining too much of an advantage over the 'Weekend Warriors'. The cap is reset after every down time.
Example
The 'Weaponry' skill is a base skill that is essential to all Merc's and as such it is given free and up to level 1 for all starting Merc's. It effects the use of hand held weapons in the game with a 2% modifier per level to handheld damage. It also unlocks the use of Weapon Upgrades. Basic at level 1, Enhanced at Level 3 and Complex at Level 5
It is a 1x skill, only using the base level of SP per level.
Level 1 = 6220 SP
Level 2 = 18,650 SP
Level 3 = 43,530 SP
Level 4 = 87, 060 SP
Level 5 = 155,460 SP
So the total amount of SP required for Level 5 Weaponry is 310,920.
It also gives you a 10% increase to damage to ALL handheld weapons across the board and unlocks access to Complex Level weapon upgrades that add another 10% to the damage of the weapon they affect (Sidearm, Light or Heavy). So Weaponry is an important skill to get high as quickly as possible.
Training Cost Multiplier
As noted before, Weaponry is a 1x Skill, meaning that it's SP requirements are as above and quite low. This 1x is the Training Cost Multiplier for the Skill.
Many skills have a Training Cost Multiplier greater than 1x
Assault Rifle Operation for example is 2x. Twice that of Weaponry and meaning that its Skill Point progression is as follows
Level 1 = 12,400 SP
Level 2 = 37,300 SP
Level 3 = 87,060 SP
Level 4 = 174,120 SP
Level 5 = 310,920 SP
As you can see, the SP requirement for increasing Assault Rifle Operation from Level 4 to Level 5 is the same amount of SP needed to get Weaponry all the way up to Level 5!
Some Skill Books, such as 'Gallente Scout Dropsuit Operation' have an 8x Training Cost Multiplier.
CCP have stated that it would take roughly seven years to get all the current skills in the beta up to level 5. And that there are more skills coming. Dust 514 is a game you are in for the long haul.
