Key ships plus how to acquire them and ships to scrap
Following lists are key ships that are important for game progress
First Federation ship. Not necessary to have it at ops 26.
Though dailies become a bit harder for Kumari at ops 28 before the USS Saladin gets strong enough but skipping it helps with ops progression.
It becomes an important ship to be scrapped regularly at ops 39+ as max'ing Mayflowers become easier and the rewards from scrapping helps with progression
First Klingon ship. Not necessary to have it at ops 26.
Though dailies become a bit harder for Kumari at ops 28 before the Bortas gets strong enough but skipping it helps with ops progression.
It becomes an important ship to be scrapped regularly at ops 39+ as max'ing D3s become easier and the rewards from scrapping helps with progression
First Romulan ship. Not necessary to have it at ops 26.
Though dailies become a bit harder for Kumari at ops 28 before the Centurion gets strong enough but skipping it helps with ops progression.
It becomes an important ship to be scrapped regularly at ops 39+ as max'ing Legionaries become easier and the rewards from scrapping helps with progression
The USS Saladin will be the main workhorse for most Federation aligned players until the obtain their Enterprise. Even then the Saladin will continue to be useful until the Enterprise reaches 4+ million in power.
Its powerful first shot makes it ideal for removing stubborn ships from bases and gives a major advantage during PVP battles especially with John Harrison on the bridge.
The Bortas is the mainstay of any Klingon aligned player. It is a slow but powerful ship for breaking bases.
The Centurion is a good looking ship. It is an all rounder with fast warp speed.
The rare faction ships (USS Intrepid/B'Rel/Gladius) are another range of ships between the 2nd line uncommon ships and epic ships. They become available once a player reaches ops 32 and upgrades the shipyard to level 32.
These ships' abilities are purely against hostiles and with the epic ships (USS Enterprise/D4/Augur) only 2 ops levels away, there is not much benefit to obtain these ships.
Therefore it is not recommended to get these ships and to hold out for the epics.
The ship that most star trek fans joined the game for. It is the main G3 ship. An all rounder, it is the easiest to upgrade as it the game will give more rare gas than crystal or ore (rare minerals are the blocking factors for most players to tier up the epic ships).
Smallest of the epics but fast and deadly. Once a prey is spotted, there is no running away from this ship. If it can't win a fight, it can fly really fast to get away.
This ship is also difficult to max out as it requires large amounts of crystals that are also demanded by base guns and mining ships.
Augur is a battleship and it lives up to that billing. Strong at cracking bases and incredible at grinding hostiles. No other ship lasts as long or is as effective when it comes to grinding hostiles.
Unfortunately, the augur is slow and can never run from a fight if ever a bigger foe spots it.
This ship is also difficult to max out as it requires large amounts of rare ore which is in short supply in the game.
First Federation G4 ship. Not necessary if you already have an ISS Jellyfish.
At ops 42, having the Kelvin will mean diverting much needed materials from building construction. A low level Kelvin can still be taken down by a strong G3 Epic ship and costs a large amount to repair.
First Klingon G4 ship. Similar to the Kelvin, is not necessary if you already have the ISS Jellyfish.
First Romulan G4 ship. Worse than the Kelvin and K'T'inga, the Valdore is an explorer just like the ISS Jellyfish and requires the same materials. Definitely avoid this if you already have the ISS Jellyfish.
The ISS Jellyfish is a ship introduced during one of the arcs as coming from an alternate universe. It is only available via SLB events or Epic Armada chests or by exchanging of ISO emulsions from a 3 star territory service.
It is not recommended to use ISO emulsion as the exchange rate is very bad and the ISO emulsion is needed for territory research.
The Jellyfish requires large amounts of G4 materials not to mention Tritanium to level up so it is recommended to only upgrade when necessary or ops progress can be impacted.
Consider switching sides to the Romulans to get the Pilum instead?
A strong ship and you should get it if you are aligned with the Klingons.
One of the strongest ship in the G4 range. Definitely a must have.
Although the USS Enterprise is the best G3 Epic ship, unfortunately, the USS Enterprise A does not do quite as well.
Small and deadly package.
The Tribune is the strongest of the G4 epics.
Uncommon & Rare Ships
These can be sourced by hitting the respective "Heavy Transports" in either Sol/Kronos/Romulus.
They can also be sourced by exchanging them with faction credits in the faction stores or away credits in the Away Teams Store or whenever an event store offers them (not recommended)
Epic Ships
Epic ships can be sourced from the various stores.
The following ships are special purpose ships created by the game for specific purposes. Other than the D'Vor which is available through the loyalty chests, the rest can only be sourced by completing battlepass events or through event stores.
Specialized in mining data. Has large protected cargo.
Get it and max it.
Explorer with high warp range (based on research). The spore drive allows it to jump to any system instantly. Its ability to summon is also useful to bring other ships instantly regardless whether the destination system is out of range of the target ship.
The ship is also specialized in harvesting mycelium spores and also allows refining of raw mycelium. It is increases the scoring for the weekly "Anamolous Phenomena" event making it easier to complete.
This is a must have ship. Get it and make sure to max it before you reach ops 40.
Specialized in mining latinum. Get at least one and max it to increase latinum refinery output.
Specialized in mining concentrated latinum. Can be acquired by scrapping a level 41+ D'Vor.
Specialized in mining ISO. It has a long warp range, allowing it to go into territory even if the base in deep space. As it levels up, it also increases the amount of ISO that the refinery can refine.
Specialized in battling the borg. It is highly effective in killing borg probes and a group of these ships can even destroy a mega cube armada.
Its high cargo capacity and high impulse speed has seen it become the go to ship by pirates looking to steal cargo from miners that are over protected limit (OPL).
Specialized in eclipse/apex, the stella makes short work of any eclipse transport or armada. Its special ability allows it to get more loot from the hostiles/armadas killed than with other ships.
Scrap the Stella to get the particles required for outlaw research that can make the Stella even stronger. The particles can also be exchanged in the outlaw store for minerals.
Most players will need at least 2 Stellas for the game.
Specialized in defending while on nodes. Really slow and weak when not on a node. Not recommended to obtain this ship.
This ship is made for raiding bases with large amounts of resources. The regular cargo space and small percentage of target cargo means it is only worth it to use this ship on bases with resources of at least tens of billions.
The Franklin is specialized in hitting swarm. The only time it is used is for swarm dailies and the weekly "Threat from beyond" events. Scrap the Franklin to get the Franklin-A. From the get go, the Franklin-A is stronger than even the maxed out Franklin.
Regularly scrapping ships can help boost the supply of much needed materials. Consider this a mechanism to exchange G2 minerals for G3 and G3 for G4 at favorable rates.
This regular activity is recommended for those in mid 30 ops level and above where there is no longer any requirements for G2 materials.
This early stage miner is a good candidate for scrapping. Build as many as required and level them to the maximum level to get G3 crystals and gas.
This beginner battleship is easy to build and max out. Build, level up and scrap as many as required to get G3 ore and crystals.
Although the above 2 ships are able to supply all 3 types of G3 minerals, the Turas can provide more gas than the Envoy. Build and scrap as required.
The following table shows the G3 minerals obtained when a max level ship is scrap.
| Max Level Ship |
Common
Ore |
Uncommon Ore |
Rare Ore |
Common Crystal |
Uncommon Crystal |
Rare Crystal |
Common Gas |
Uncommon Gas |
Rare Gas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Envoy |
|
|
|
118 | 33 | 1 | 64 | 18 | 1 |
| Talla | 153 | 43 | 1 | 82 | 24 | 1 | |||
| Turas | 57 | 16 | 1 | 105 | 30 | 1 | |||
| Phindra |
|
|
|
76 | 22 | 1 | 41 | 12 | 1 |
Start building, level up to max level and scrap this ship when there is a need for large amount of G4 gas and ore. This is especially helpful when upgrading buildings above level 39.
The D3 is easy to build and level up to max. Scrapping the D3 gives large amount of G4 crystal and gas. Scrap as many D3s as required to upgrade buildings level 40 and above.
The Legionary can be scrapped to obtain valuable G4 ore and crystal that are heavily required to upgrade buildings above level 39.
The following table shows the G4 minerals obtained when a max level ship is scrap.
The Stella is meant to be constantly scrapped. Scrapping a max'ed Stella will provide 467,000 Stella particles. These are required for some of the researches under the Outlaw research tree. These researches are crucial to not only make the Stellas stronger but other ships as well.
The Stella particles can also be used to exchange for G3 minerals (ore/crystal/gas) in the Outlaw store.