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[ | ]
- See also: Starship weapon mark level
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.
Levels | Starship Tier | Gear Mark | Rank | Rank | Rank | Rank | Rank [1] | Experience points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | Tier 1 | Standard Issue | Cadet | Lieutenant Junior Grade | Warrior | Citizen | Fifth | 0 |
1 | Tier 1 Tier 6[2] Tier 4[3] |
Mark I-II | Lieutenant | Fourth | 6,500 | |||
10 | Tier 2 | Mark III-IV | Lieutenant Commander | Centurion | Third | 33,500 | ||
20 | Tier 3 | Mark V-VI | Commander | Subcommander | Second | 93,500 | ||
30 | Tier 4 | Mark VII-VIII | Captain | Commander | First | 173,500 | ||
40 | Tier 5 | Mark IX-X | Rear Admiral, Lower Half | Brigadier General | Subadmiral I | Master First | 263,500 | |
45 | Mark XI-XII | Rear Admiral, Upper Half | Major General | Subadmiral II | Senior First | 313,500 | ||
50 | Tier 5-U Tier 6 |
Mark XIII-XIV | Vice Admiral | Lieutenant General | Vice Admiral | Elite First | 366,000 | |
55 | Admiral | General | Admiral | Revered First | 428,500 | |||
60 | Mark XV | Fleet Admiral | Dahar Master | Fleet Admiral | Honored First | 491,000 | ||
65 | 578,500 | |||||||
Spec.[4] | 155,872[4] |
- ↑ Jem'Hadar captains begin at level 60. NPCs and Bridge Officers use these rank names, and they appear in the rank progression reward list.
- ↑ Since Rise of Discovery, All Tier 6 ships have become Scaling ships and are now available to all players after finishing their faction's tutorial.
- ↑ The Prototype Walker Light Exploration Cruiser, Kobayashi Maru Freighter, and Tong'Duj Freighter are all Tier 4 level scaling starships
- ↑ Each subsequent specialization level after reaching level 65.
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.
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 Shield Array Mark X on a shuttle would have an extra capacity of 50% (1,875 in a basic shuttle), but a Shield Array Standard Issue-S 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.