As of 1.0 stable, the Threat Level of a planet is directly related to the planetary biome of planet, not the character. The biome of a planet can be identified by the highlighted keywords in its description, while their threat level is identified by the "Threat" keyword.
- Tier 1 - Low - Iron - Barren1, Asteroid Field, Lush
- Tier 2 - Moderate - Tungsten - Desert, Forest
- Tier 3 - Risky - Titanium - Ocean, Snow, Dry Grassland
- Tier 4 - Dangerous - Durasteel - Mutated, Jungle, Toxic
- Tier 5 - Extreme - Aegisalt, Ferozium, Violium - Frozen, Dark, Frigid Ocean
- Tier 6 - Inconceivable - Solarium - Magma, Volcanic, Scotched
1 Barren planets do not have any ores on them
2 All planets also have coal, copper, silver, gold, core fragment and diamond ores. These are not used as the primary material for most weapons and armor.
All enemies receive a damage multiplier based on the thread level of the planet they're on, so the same enemy species on a Scotched planet (Inconceivable threat) will do significantly more damage than one on a Lush planet (Low threat). Higher threat level planets will also require more EPP upgrades as their environments are less hospitable.
Planets with higher threat level contains higher tiered ores, inclusive of all lower tiered once - eg. a Mutated planet (Dangerous threat) will have Iron, Tungsten, Titanium and Durasteel ore. In general, you need the previous tier's armor and weaponry to explore planets of the next threat level, thus creating a natural progression system, not unlike that of Terraria.
Right click the item you want to hold with your right hand and left click the item you want to hold with your left hand. Both items must be in your toolbar and they have to be 1-handed items, such as 1-handed swords, axes or flashlights. You can combine any of them freely.
Best Answer
Yes, the Tech Upgrades need to be crafted and used in order. Durasteel unlocks Aegisalt, which unlocks Ferozium, which unlocks Cerulium, which unlocks Violium, which unlocks Rubium, which unlocks Impervium gear.
The main reason for this, is that the tech upgrades (and all of Sector X) are currently just placeholders, since the latter half of the game hasn't really been built properly yet. Restricting the build order of the tech upgrades is, as of right now, the only thing preventing a player from jumping straight to top-tier stuff right away upon reaching Sector X.