Industrial Dispensation
IntroductionInstead of requiring combat points, certain upgrades or items will instead accept your experience with aiding in the economic development of the alliances and related industries. What does THAT mean? It means they will look at your points in salvaging, asteroid hauling, trading, and atmospheric salvaging to see if you've done enough to offset the combat point requirement. Note that this is not a new point category, nor is it just adding all of those points together.
Checking Availability
When available, special industrial dispensation is indicated in the POINTS command in upgrade stores. If you don't have a high enough rating, the eligibility column will show the word 'no' followed by a number. This number is your dispensation rating, which is determined by how much experience you have in industrial tasks relative to the requirements for that particular item. Don't know what that means? You don't really need to. The numbers range from 0 to 9. 0 means you have no experience in the area of industrial activity (relative to the requirements of the particular item or upgrade) and 9 means you're just about there. When your rating is high enough, the eligibility column will switch to the word 'yes' with an asterisk, indicating that you don't have sufficient combat points but you do have a high enough dispensation rating to purchase the item or upgrade. Note that the dispensation rating will only appear after you have sufficient license points.
So, in a nutshell: If you don't have enough combat points, you may still be eligible for an upgrade or item. Check the POINTS command. If you see a number in the eligibility column, that's how close you are to getting your item without combat points. The range is 0-9, with higher being better. Sal sal sal (or whatever) until you see a YES in the column!
Eligible Upgrades and Items
As of this writing, the following things are eligible for dispensation:
Relativity Drive Enhancements
Starship Drive Engagement Matrix
Slip Drive Optimization
Subwarp Drive Optimization
Replacement Wormhole Drive
Replacement Bardenium Cannon
Replacement Laser Turret
Replacement Sensor Array
Additional Storage Room
Remove Additional Storage Room
Level Two Storage Upgrade
Three-person freight carrier
Three-person bulk freighter
Related Topics: Points (Command)