What is the ACQ Score?
The ACQ Score (Acquisition Score) tells you how valuable it is to fight for a contested system. It's a number between 0 and 10, where:
- 10 = Perfect target - Fight for this!
- 8-10 = Excellent - High priority
- 6-8 = Good - Worth fighting for
- 4-6 = Average - Situational
- 2-4 = Below Average - Probably skip
- 0-2 = Poor - Avoid
Color Coding
🟢 Excellent
8-10
🟡 Good
6-8
🔵 Average
4-6
🟠 Below Avg
2-4
🔴 Poor
0-2
How is it calculated?
The score has 4 ingredients that get mixed together:
1. Quality 40%
"How nice is the system itself?"
Max contribution: 4.0 points
Quality consists of 3 sub-components (max 50 each = 200 total):
- Population (0-50): Logarithmic scale
- < 100k = 0 points (small pads, low value)
- 500k = 7 points (still small)
- 1M = 10 points (medium stations start here)
- 100M = 30 points (large stations)
- 1B+ = 40-50 points (very high population)
- Economy (0-50): Fixed values + synergy bonuses
- High Tech = 50, Industrial = 40, Military = 35
- Extraction = 30, Refinery = 25, Service = 15
- Agriculture/Tourism = 10, Colony = 5
- Mining (0-100): (Base Ring + Hotspots) × Reserve Multiplier
- Base Metallic Ring = 50 points
- Platinum Hotspot = +20 points
- Monazite Hotspot = +15 points
- Reserve Multipliers:
- Pristine: 2.0× (Example: 50 + 20 = 70 × 2.0 = 140, capped at 100)
- Major: 1.0× (Example: 50 + 20 = 70 × 1.0 = 70)
- Common: 0.5× (Example: 50 + 20 = 70 × 0.5 = 35)
- Depleted: 0.1× (Example: 50 + 20 = 70 × 0.1 = 7)
- Special Economy-Mining Synergies:
- Monazite + Refinery = +25 bonus (Best match!)
- Monazite + Tourism = +15 bonus (Second best)
- Monazite + Military = +10 bonus (Third best)
- Platinum + Industrial = +10 bonus
Why this matters: A nice system is worth fighting for, even if we're losing!
2. Acquisition Potential 25%
"How many NEW systems do we get if we win?"
Max contribution: 2.5 points
- If we win this contest, other nearby systems come into our control range
- More new systems = Higher score
- Uses logarithmic scale (20+ systems = max score)
⚠️ What "Possible new ACQ" means:
These are COMPLETELY NEW systems that would appear on the contested list if we win this system and upgrade it to Fortified/Stronghold!
- NOT counted: Systems already contested (they're already on the list!)
- COUNTED: Brand new systems that come into range when this system becomes Fortified
- Example: If we win "System A" and it becomes Fortified, "Possible new ACQ: 15" means 15 systems will newly appear on our contested list
Important: This contested system likely ALSO covers other systems already on the contested list. That coverage is tracked separately in the Coverage component (20% weight).
Why this matters: Winning one system that brings 20 more is much better than winning one that brings 3!
3. Coverage Support 20%
"Do we have backup nearby?"
Max contribution: 2.0 points
- Counts nearby Strongholds (30 LY range) and Fortified systems (20 LY range)
- Strongholds count more (0.4 points each)
- Fortified count less (0.2 points each)
- 2 Strongholds + 1 Fortified = Max coverage (1.0 normalized)
Why this matters: Systems with good backup are easier to defend after we win!
4. Progress Advantage 15%
"Are we already winning the fight?"
Max contribution: 1.5 points
This looks at our progress vs the opposition's progress:
- Dominating (60%+ and ahead by 20%) = 1.0 normalized
- Strong lead (+30%) = 0.85
- Good lead (+15%) = 0.70
- Slight lead (+5%) = 0.55
- Tied (±5%) = 0.45
- Slight deficit (-15%) = 0.30
- Behind (-30%) = 0.15
- Far behind (worse) = 0.05
Why this matters: Low effort wins are nice, but not the main factor!
Example Calculations
Example 1: Perfect System (Score: 10.0)
System: Delkar
- Quality: 200/200 →
4.0 points (Industrial + Platinum + Monazite!)
- Acquisition: 20 systems →
2.5 points
- Coverage: 3 Strongholds + 5 Fortified →
2.0 points (capped)
- Progress: We're dominating (75% vs 15%) →
1.5 points
Total: 10.0/10 - FIGHT FOR THIS!
Example 2: Worth Fighting Despite Losing (Score: 9.2)
System: Amazing Mining Hub
- Quality: 180/200 →
3.6 points (Great economy + mining!)
- Acquisition: 15 systems →
2.32 points
- Coverage: 1 Stronghold + 2 Fortified →
1.6 points
- Progress: We're losing badly (15% vs 75%) →
0.08 points
Total: 9.2/10 - STILL WORTH IT! Quality + expansion outweigh progress!
Example 3: Easy Win, Poor Value (Score: 5.7)
System: Easy Target
- Quality: 40/200 →
0.8 points (Poor system)
- Acquisition: 3 systems →
1.16 points (Not many)
- Coverage: 2 Strongholds + 3 Fortified →
2.0 points
- Progress: We're dominating (85% vs 10%) →
1.5 points
Total: 5.7/10 - Meh. Easy win but not valuable.
Key Takeaways
- Quality matters most! (40% weight) - Nice systems are always worth fighting for
- Expansion is key! (25% weight) - Systems that unlock many others are valuable
- Support helps! (20% weight) - But not a deal-breaker
- Progress is nice but not critical (15% weight) - We'll fight for great systems even if losing
Philosophy
"We fight for nice systems that expand our territory, not just for easy wins!"
- A high-quality mining hub with great expansion potential is worth 9+ points even if we're losing
- An easy win on a poor system might only be worth 5-6 points
- The best targets (10/10) are great systems where we're already winning
Tooltip Information
Hover over any ACQ Score in the contested coverage table to see the detailed breakdown:
Strategic Priority Score
Total: 8.97
Components:
Progress: 0.08
Coverage: 2.00
Quality: 2.4
Pop: 27.3
Econ: 24.0
Mining: 70.0
Acquisition: 25 systems (1500.0)
This shows you exactly where the score comes from!