Playable faction

While there are presently six playable factions in Star Trek Online, there are only two "allegiances": Starfleet and the Klingon Defense Force (KDF). In order to be members of the same self-organised 5-players group as well as of a fleet, players have to have the same allegiance. However, there is no faction vs faction PvP (except for War Zones and private queue-PvP) and PvE queue group content is completely cross-faction/allegiance.

Nevertheless, each playable faction offers a number of unique storyline missions, exclusive access to certain player races, costume options and starships, as well as a specific UI, rank-up voices and rank names.

Note that some species in playable factions may also be present in NPC factions, such as Vulcans and Orions. Playable factions may also be encountered as an antagonistic NPC faction by other playable factions.

Ships
Access to playable starships is split between Starfleet (all variants) and the KDF; these two faction groups cannot access the other's faction-locked ships. Allies can access their ally's ships and cross-faction ships can be used by all.

The below table gives an overview of this, but note some individual ships are exceptions to these general rules. Furthermore, some ships may not be available until the character reaches the 25th century or chooses an ally. Many Dominion ships must first be levelled-up on a Dominion character.

Visual effects
Factions come with unique ground and space visual effects that cannot be changed. These effects cover activities such as transporters, scanning and warp.

Allegiances
Because of the original PvP dynamic of the game, the Starfleet and the  Klingon Defense Force are Star Trek Online's primary factions. All other factions ally with one of these two factions at some point in their storyline, which gives them access to the majority of the endgame content (such as cross-faction missions, access to allied Fleets and starships).


 * Faction Romulan Republic.png At the end of Romulan Republic players will be asked by Proconsul D'Tan to ally with either the Starfleet or the Klingon Defense Force.
 * Faction TOS Starfleet.png Completing the will transport TOS Starfleet players to 2409 Earth Space Dock where they will automatically be allied to the 25th century Starfleet.
 * Faction Dominion.png At the end of Jem'Hadar players will be asked by Loriss to ally with either the Starfleet or the Klingon Defense Force.
 * Faction DSC Starfleet.png Completing the will transport DSC Starfleet players to 2409 Earth Space Dock where they will automatically be allied to the 25th century Starfleet.

Allied factions are termed in-game as either Federation-aligned or Klingon-aligned in terms of the content they can access. Cross-Faction Content refers to content accessible to both allegiances.

Starfleet (post-Star Trek: The Next Generation era)

 * Main article: Starfleet

Star Trek Online was originally conceived as being centered around Starfleet gameplay. The player takes the position of a contemporary Starfleet officer in the vein of the main characters of the Star Trek: The Next Generation era, although the setting is a few decades post the events of the series.

  Starfleet

Klingon Defense Force

 * Main article: Klingon Defense Force

The Klingon faction was initially implemented as a mostly PvP-centered mini-faction and characters started at level 20 (and only once a player had reached level 20 on the Starfleet faction). When Legacy of Romulus was introduced the Klingon Faction was given a new tutorial and broadly equal standing.

  Klingon Defense Force

Romulan Republic

 * Main article: Romulan Republic

The Romulan faction was introduced with Legacy of Romulus and puts players in the role of a breakaway faction of Romulans (not the Romulan Star Empire from canon, which is an antagonist to the Republic). To make up for the smaller amount of content, and allow Romulan characters to participate in the Starfleet vs Klingon PvP, Romulan characters ally themselves to one of those two main factions. This allows them to play their ally's missions, fly their ships and visit their homeworlds.

  Romulan Republic

TOS Starfleet (Star Trek: The Original Series era)

 * Main article: TOS Starfleet

The TOS Starfleet faction is the Federation from Star Trek: The Original Series. Players begin in the 23rd century but only have one episode arc there before their continuity joins to the main Starfleet faction. They retain their unique effects but broadly integrate entirely into the Starfleet faction from an early level. They lack the number of faction-exclusive the Romulans have and cannot visit their starting faction hub once they move to the 25th century.

  TOS Starfleet

Dominion

 * Main article: Dominion

Dominion characters start at level 60 with sections of their reputation and R&D filled out. After their introductory episode, they ally (similar to Romulan Republic faction) to either the Starfleet or the Klingons. This allows them to play their ally's missions, fly their ships and visit their homeworlds. While they do not have a full-size faction-exclusive hub, instead using the shared Deep Space 9 zone, in there they do have a faction-exclusive vendor room located at the southern tip of Deep Space 9 Promenade.

  Dominion

DSC Stafleet (Star Trek: Discovery era)

 * Main article: DSC Starfleet

The DSC Starfleet faction is the Federation from Star Trek: Discovery. Players begin in the 23rd century but only have one episode arc there before their continuity joins to the main Starfleet faction. They retain their unique effects but broadly integrate entirely into the Starfleet faction from an early level. They lack the number of faction-exclusive the Romulans have and cannot visit their starting faction hub once they move to the 25th century.

  DSC Starfleet