Items in Entropia Universe do not break. They decay: every use removes a small amount of their TT value, permanently, and you top the value back up by repairing.

That loss is the real cost of the activity. It is not a maintenance annoyance layered on top of the game, it is the game's pricing model.

How it works

Each item has a maximum TT value and a current one. Using it moves the current value down. Repairing at a terminal or with a repair tool moves it back up, and you pay the difference in PED.

So the arithmetic is simple, and it is the same for every item you own:

What an item cost you to use = the TT value it lost.

You pay that either at the repair terminal, or by holding a less valuable item. There is no way to use something without paying it.

Everything decays

  • Weapons decay per shot.
  • Amplifiers decay per shot alongside the weapon they are attached to.
  • Armour decays when it absorbs a hit.
  • Healing tools decay per use.
  • Mining finders and excavators decay per drop and per extraction.
  • Vehicles decay as they take damage and as they are used.
  • Crafting machines are not yours, but the blueprint and the materials are consumed in their own way.

Only a few things are exempt, and they tend to be the free-to-play tools, which is precisely why those activities are free.

Why this matters more than the sticker price

New players think about what equipment costs to buy. Experienced players think about what it costs to run.

A weapon's purchase price is recoverable: you can sell it again, and if you bought it at sensible markup you get most of that back. Decay is not recoverable. It is spent the moment it happens, and over any real amount of play it dwarfs the purchase price.

This is why two weapons at the same price can have completely different economics, and why the stat that matters is not damage but damage per unit of cost. See Choosing a weapon.

Working out your cost per kill

For hunting, the useful figure is the total cost of killing one creature. It is made up of:

  • Ammunition used, including any markup you paid for it.
  • Weapon decay across the shots it took.
  • Amplifier decay, if you use one.
  • Armour decay from the hits you took.
  • Healing decay and consumables from patching yourself up.

Miss any of those and your cost is understated, which makes your return look better than it is. Armour and healing are the two most commonly forgotten, and on a creature that hits hard they are not small.

Repair properly

Two practical habits:

  • Repair before an item gets low. An item's effectiveness can be affected by its condition, and running equipment down to nothing is not saving money, it is deferring a cost while doing worse work.
  • Repair at the right place. Repair terminals are the normal route. Repair tools let you do it in the field and are worth having for long sessions away from a settlement.

The uncomfortable summary

Decay means the cost of playing is continuous and roughly proportional to how hard you play. Doubling your damage per second roughly doubles your spend rate. Bigger creatures, bigger weapons and bigger sessions are all bigger bills.

This is not a reason to play timidly. It is a reason to know your numbers, which is what Reading a return figure is about, and what Entropia Central Tracker records for you automatically.