I'm just curious, is this game skill based or lvl based.

Skill, mostly. Which makes the game what it is and is why I play :)

Skill, meaning the person's skills, not the character's.

lvl

based on what you can buy.

skill based on how you play.

ego-based.

/runs

ego-based.

You need level 3 combat to get a heavy battery. Add in light weapon 3 and you can get a real dog fighter.

-Vulture mkIII with neutron blasters and a heavy battery.

But keep your eye on one of the following super deadly combos that are within reach of low levels.

-Itani Border Guardian Centurian with Neutron mkIII
-Serco Vulture Guardian with Neutron mkIII
-Orion Rev-C Centurian with Axia Advanced Positrons.
-Corvus Vulture with Law Enforcement Neutrons blasters.

These are the top dog fighters.

There is always more equipment available at the higher levels, especially trade ships and mining beams, but at least you can get into a real dog fighter at fairly low level.

Skills matter more than level.
the strength vs level graph would rise quickly and level off
strength vs skill would start up slowly, then grow indefinitely

of course, you can't get one without the other, so go botting, and never pass up a pvp fight.

Levels buy you stuff at first, you can level within a week to where you have what matters most. Then skills get you the fun where you play your character. More important is how you position yourself in the social environment of the RP ingame. What guild you join or not, what "role" you want to play and what you use your skills for. You can do anything you want. All my levels are above 10 and there isnt any equipment I can get that really matters. At this point skills matter if you want get into PvP.