Server Ascension and the G4-G7 power climb
- Ascension is server-wide. You cannot trigger it. G4 lifts the Ops cap from 39 to 50, G5 to 60, G6 to 70 and G7 to 80.
- G6 adds ten Ops levels and the Sigma resources. Raiding Sigma needs the target's base resources depleted first.
- Ion Particles gate the three Barrage research nodes. You get one at Ops 42, one at Ops 47, and one only from select Special Event Stores.
Ascension raises a whole server's level cap and unlocks the next content tier. An individual player cannot trigger it. Each server ascends at its own pace, based on its economy and player progress. G4 Ascension lifts the Ops cap from 39 to 50. G5 takes it to 60. G6 expands it to 70 and brings Sigma resources, ships, missions and research. G7 raises it to 80 with late-endgame systems. G4 usually comes about 6 months after a server opens. G5 comes about a year after. G6 and G7 depend on the server. Two servers of the same age can be at different stages.
G6 adds 10 Operations levels, up to 70. It also adds the Sigma resources: Sigma-Parsteel, Sigma-Tritanium and Sigma-Dilithium. Buildings of level 61 and up generate them. You can refine them from raw Sigma, which only G6 survey ships can mine. You can also raid them from stations, from level 61. To raid Sigma, the station's base resources must be depleted first. A resource filter view switches between Sigma and standard quantities. You can convert between Sigma and standard resources in both directions.
Interceptor Barrage, Explorer Barrage and Battleship Barrage raise the base damage of each hull type. Each needs one Ion Particle to start. Ion Particles are rare. You get the first by completing the mission "Familiar Face" at Ops 42. You get the second by completing "A Light in the Darkness" at Ops 47. The third only appears in select Special Event Stores, so you cannot plan for it.
FULL DETAIL — 4 MORE SECTIONS
Six new Faction Ranks unlock 13 new G6 ships. Gold Refits for G6 ships are available in the Faction Store. Picard (Epic) and Data (Rare) join as new crew options for the PvE side of G6. The update adds 275+ missions, 120 systems and 68 Combat Tree research nodes. One part of the tree is for Hazard Daily Goals and events. Daily goals also get better rewards, including a new Hazard type.
G4 now goes through the Ascension Research Tree: see the Update 93 guide. G5 arrives as a gift in your Gift Section when your server is eligible. Claiming it opens G5 space, up to Ops 60. G6 content becomes available automatically through an update and in-game notices. Then you can build G6 ships, mine Sigma and play Hazard Dailies to reach Ops 70. G7 timing varies by server. Announcements come in game before your server ascends. To prepare, upgrade ships, buildings and research, finish Armadas with your alliance, and save key resources. Some events, such as Upgrade Operations Building for Ops 70 or 80, only run on servers that have already ascended.
G7 is the next expansion after G6. It adds Ops 71 to 80, new ships, deeper research, new faction ranks and alliance activities. It keeps using G6's Sigma resources and timers. It adds its own materials: raw and refined Ore, Gas and Crystal at G7 quality, broken and refined ship parts by hull type, and FKR faction-specific ship parts. New ships unlock in tiers by Shipyard level. A Rare, Aphelion, comes at Shipyard 71. Uncommons come at 73: U.S.S. Socrates, I.K.S. Boreth and Praefortis. More Rares come at 76. Epics come at 80, including the U.S.S. Enterprise M414. Surge is a new alliance activity. A G7 player starts a short hostile hunt of about 3 minutes, and alliance members score points. G7 players earn Primordial Plasma for Combat Tree research. Alliance members in G4 to G6 earn materials for Orthogonal ships. Officer caps apply only to PvE content above level 71. Level 70 and below, and PvP, are unchanged.
Void Configurations (formerly called void tokens) are automatic drops from the "Ad Astra Per Aspera" chest once your server ascends into G6 -- you don't obtain them any other way. They gate specific missions on the road to higher level ranges: The Edge of Existence needs just 1 donated, while The Road Least Traveled (the current last level-capped mission in that chain) needs 1,000 collected. If a mission is asking for Void Configurations you don't have, the fix isn't to hunt for them elsewhere -- it's to keep playing until your server's own Ascension state produces more.