Mark

The Mark, or Mk, level of an item corresponds directly to the minimum rank a player must hold in order to be able to equip the item. The odd-numbered Marks (e.g. I, III, V, VII, IX) correspond to slightly lower-quality versions of the next Mark up. In other words, a Mk III item is a lower-quality version of a Mk IV item, both of which can be used by their corresponding rank (Lt. Commander). The higher the mark number, the greater the items' abilities, and the higher the minimum level of the player that is allowed to equip this item.

Mark Tiers
Each mark has a minimum rank that a player must achieve before items of that mark can be equipped. Marks can also be divided into tiers, based on the maximum tier of starship they are appropriate to. Note though that if desired a player can equip any lower mark of item in any tier of ship.

Mark ∞ and "(Standard Issue)" items level up as the player does. "Standard Issue-S" likewise levels, but are limited to use on fighters and shuttles.

Standard Issue
When a non-Dominion player gets their first command, or any player commissions a Tier 6 starship, it is equipped with Standard Issue equipment by default. Similarly newly recruited bridge officers are equipped with Standard Issue personal shields and weapons. Federation standard issue is effectively Mark 0, and represents the base for the statistics of each type of item.

Starships come equipped with special equipment that scales with the player. Rather than gaining discreet bonuses as with mark numbered items, the bonuses attributed the these items increases linearly with the player's level. Pieces of this equipment have names ending in "(Standard Issue)" (i.e. in parentheses) to distinguish them from those ending in "Standard Issue" (i.e. without parentheses) that have fixed low-level bonuses that do not increase with the player's level.

Klingon Standard Issue
By contrast, Klingon Standard Issue equipment is equivalent to Mk II. This is probably due to the lack of a tutorial and low level content for Klingon players. Some Klingon starships also come with uncommon standard issue items. These are:
 * - Has a +55% bonus to shield capacity
 * - Has bonus +10 accuracy

Standard Issue-S
Shuttles and other auxiliary craft come equipped with special equipment that scales with the player. Rather than gaining discreet bonuses as with mark numbered items, the bonuses attributed the these items increases linearly with the player's level. For instance, a basic shield array gains 5% capacity for every mark number, but a shuttle shield array gains 1% for each level of the player. This means that a on a shuttle would have an extra capacity of 50% (1,875 in a basic shuttle), but a  owned by a Vice Admiral level player (level 51) would gain a bonus capacity of 51% (1,888 in a basic shuttle).

Note: there are also Mk I-S and Mk XI-S special items that do not scale with the player.

Tier Infinity

 * Main article: Level Scaling Equipment

These rare items level up as the player does. Looking at the table of Marks and Ranks above, generally the quality of these items will be better than the lower mark level for your rank, but not as good as the higher mark level of your rank. Many find it cheaper to simply hang on to these rather than purchase new items every rank up.

Upgrading Marks
Most non-Standard Issue items (including even some with infinity tier) can have their Mark increased via the Gear Upgrade System, which will increase both the bonuses they provide, and also the minimum level of the captain that is allowed to equip these items.