Threat Level

Threat level is a measure of how aware the Dream Plagues are of you presence. It increases over time, but as opposed to the Global Infestation it is a local measurement for the current landing and resets when you fly to a new destination.

Effects
The threat level determines the difficulty of raids on your city. It does not, at the moment, affect enemies encountered while exploring the map, or any other mechanics.

Threat Level Growth
The starting threat level when you land depends on the map difficulty (the red skulls). Difficulty 1 maps have a starting threat level of 0. Difficulty 2 maps start with a threat level of 4, and every additional skull increases the starting threat level by 5.

Threat level increases over time, and for the most part your actions do not have any effect on its rate (see exceptions below). The rate at which the threat level increases gets faster and faster the more you stay in the same map. For example, the first 5 threat levels (on top of the starting threat) will increase at a rate of one level every 8 to 10 cycles. The next 5 levels will increase at a rate of one level every 6 to 7 cycles. The more you stay in the same landing area, the faster the threat increases, which makes it safer to fly to a new location even if the starting threat level would be similar to your current level.

Additional mechanics that affect threat level increase

 * Every time Tiny activates the emergency teleport (ie when you die), the threat level progress increases by 2 cycles.
 * Some modifiers may affect the rate at which the threat level increases. These include your tribe, difficulty settings, map modifiers, and modules that can be crafted at ruins.
 * Some consumable items can stop threat level progress for a specific duration.