XP

XP Bar can be found at the bottom of the screen, and will notify the player if a cap has been reached for the current system.

Like in any game, Experience (XP) represents the learned knowledge and past experiences that can be put to use. Vanguard Galaxy uses a simple levelling system where getting to level 2 requires a thousand XP, but getting to level 60 requires millions, with the experience gained from actions also scaling appropriately.

Experience Gain

In Vanguard Galaxy, XP can be through all activities and interactions with the world. Examples are, but not limited to:

Mining asteroids
Salvage wrecks
Combat kills
Missions/Quest Rewards

Every level will grant the player a single Skill Point, but more can be gained through quests and other activities. See Skills for more information.

XP Cap

Depending on the area player is in and their progression through the main questline, player can encounter following level caps:

Zone Caps and Effects
Zone	Level Cap	Maximum Skillpoints	Notes
Prologue	10	20	Prologue is a separate mini-sandbox teaching the player tutorials of game mechanics.
Frontier	30	60	The first half of Canis Majoris proper. See Navigation.
Conquest	60	120	The first half of Canis Majoris proper. See Navigation and Conquest Zone.

ECHO and XP Penalty

Running the game in Idle Mode using ECHO results in penalties to XP gain and other activities. These can partially be offset by autopilot Skills. Technically, any downsides of using ECHO are offset by the fact player is using ECHO, and ECHO can diligently work in the background, gaining XP, loot and reputation while the player is away.

XP Gain

Gaining XP depends on a few key factors.

Your current Level
The Level of the System
The Level of the POI (POI = Point of Interest, such as a mining field, ancient wreck, combat zone, etc.)
The Level of the Asteroid Field and the Asteroids
The Level of the Salvage Field and the Wrecks

Gaining XP form levels below Captain's current level is difficult as there is little left to learn. All activities in such areas will grant only a single XP point. Thus, mining ore in a level 15 asteroid field, while being level 25, generates +1XP per ore.

With this in mind it's almost always better to go to a higher level system than player current Level.