Rank



In Star Trek Online, ranks denote the level of a character or NPC. Ranks are taken from those which they themselves, in the case of Starfleet are derived from the U.S. Navy. Higher ranks denote more powerful NPCs and unlock new abilities and systems to the player.

Player characters
A player's character progress through various ranks, comprised of between 5 and 10 levels. The character progresses to higher levels by earning Experience Points  via playing the game (i.e., killing NPC or player enemies, completing missions/assignments and so on). Players will earn Space and Ground points as they level up, which can be invested in skill tree to improve and individualize the character.

New systems (e.g., Duty Officers, Crafting or Admiralty) and various player abilities are unlocked at specific levels (see below). At each new rank, a new tier of playable starships, the next column of the skill tree, as well as a new Personal trait slot are unlocked.

In addition, a player unlocks new pips or uniform decorations that can be attached to their uniform at a Tailor.

Ship Requisitions
At levels 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 (for Lifetime Subscription players) and 61 players receive a free Starship Requisition token. Each token can be used to buy one of the following ships: † ''Only available for free from level 50 for players with a Lifetime Subscription. Otherwise available for free by using the Vice Admiral Starship Requisition Token, granted at level 61''

Bridge officers
Bridge officers have four ranks, each one unlocking higher rank powers. Officers are promoted by expending Expertise on them.

The lowest Bridge officer rank names differ slightly from those used for players as players start from Cadet, Warrior and Citizen and are promoted past Ensign, Bekk and Uhlan in the tutorial. Likewise, Dominion players are promoted straight to Elder First.

Note that some very rare special bridge officers will always display a Starfleet/KDF rank, even for Romulan Republic players, who might thus have a BOff with the rank "Commander" (= Subcommander).

NPCs
Ranks for ground and space NPCs are similar to bridge officer ranks and denote their difficulty.

Other usage
In addition, there are other tier ranking systems in-game:
 * The duty officer system is currently composed of four "commendation ranks", for each commendation category. Individual duty officers also have ranks that vary depending on quality and department.
 * The holdings of the Fleet Advancement System are leveled up through different "tiers".
 * The personal Reputation System also lets your character progress through six "tiers" in each reputation faction.