Ship unlock order: what builds at every Shipyard level
- Shipyard level is the biggest gate on which ships you can build. Every hull has a minimum level, on top of blueprints, research or an event.
- Up to Shipyard 20 most blueprints come straight from Combat or Station research nodes, so research is the fastest route to your early fleet.
- From Shipyard 21 the Federation, Klingon and Romulan lines repeat at higher power, with blueprints from faction stores and mission chains; from 58 it is mostly faction-store bundles.
- Blueprint sources change often, especially for ships tied to a running event, so check the event itself.
This is a level-by-level list of what unlocks and where the blueprints usually come from: research nodes, PVE chest drops from hostiles in a matching level band, mission chains, faction stores, or event and Offers tab bundles.
You begin with the Realta (level 1), unique to your account. Most of this range comes from research nodes in the Combat or Station trees, which hand you the blueprints directly: Orion Corvette (5), ECS Fortunate (7), Phindra (10), Turas (12), Talla (14), Envoy (16) and Kehra (20). PVE chest drops from hostiles in a matching level band are a second source. The Jellyfish (12) comes from a list of story missions. At level 18 the USS Franklin comes from the weekly Cosmic Cleanup event, while the Botany Bay and North Star come from mission lists. Build the Botany Bay early: it stays relevant well past early game.
This is where faction identity starts. Weekly Cosmic Cleanup gives the USS Discovery (21), Vi'dar (25) and Sarcophagus (30), and the Mining Monday event gives the Ferengi D'Vor (23). Vahklas (22) and Kumari (24) are Combat research nodes. The Federation, Klingon and Romulan ships at 26 (USS Mayflower, Legionary, D3 Class) come from story missions plus the Faction and Away Teams stores, and their Hijacked versions from the Outlaw Faction Store. Bortas, USS Saladin and Centurion (28) all come from the mission "Deeper". The Stella is level 27 and the Borg Cube 28. Level 30 adds the K'vort, USS Antares, Valkis and Serene Squall.
FULL DETAIL — 6 MORE SECTIONS
Meridian (25) is in the Offers tab. The USS Franklin-A is listed at 25, built by scrapping a level 41-45 Franklin, and the 31-40 page also lists it at 35. USS Reliant (26) is in the Offers tab. ECS Horizon (26) drops from hostiles level 30 to 42. Separatist D3 Class (26) appears occasionally in Event Stores. The Stella (27) is in the Offers tab and occasionally in the Event Store; see our dedicated guide for its scrap-and-rebuild loop.
The Amalgam is level 31. The "Warzones" mission chain delivers B'rel, USS Intrepid and Gladius together at 32. The Mantis is 33. The missions "Summoner" and "Specialist" unlock Augur, D4 Class and USS Enterprise at 34. Several ships here have their own Helpshift FAQs: USS Voyager (34), USS Defiant and Vi'dar Talios (35), D'Vor Feesha (35, built by scrapping a level 41-45 D'Vor), USS Cerritos (36, via the California Class event every Wednesday), USS Titan-A (37) and ISS Jellyfish (39, from its monthly event). At level 40, Monaveen, Enterprise NX-01, Gorn Eviscerator, NSEA Protector and The Vindicator all land together. This section is just the unlock gate.
The same Klingon, Federation and Romulan triangle from the 20s repeats here at higher power: B'chor, USS Hydra and Vorta Vor (41), K'T'inga, USS Kelvin and Valdore (42), Korinar, USS Newton and Pilum (46), and Hegh'ta, USS Enterprise-A and Tribune (50). All come from the Faction store, Away Teams store and Offers tab, backed by PVE chest drops. Named ships also land here: USS Relativity (42, DTI Faction Store and event store), SS Revenant (42, Continuum Refinery, events and store), GS-31 (45, events and its faction store) and USS Dauntless (45, from the Refinery).
Nova (52) and the Corvus, USS Northcutt and Vor'Cha trio (53) come from named mission chains: Catalyst, and a set of faction-specific storylines. Quv'Sompek, Sanctus and USS Crozier (56) follow the same pattern. The Borg Sphere (55) is sold as blueprint bundles in the Faction Store and runs its own progression system, covered in our dedicated guide. From level 58 the pipeline simplifies to faction-store blueprint bundles: USS Beatty, Mow'Ga and Vrax at 58, then Rotarran, D'Deridex and USS Enterprise-D at 60.
From here every ship is a faction-store purchase: Selkie (61), USS Akira, Negh'Var and Minerva (63), Velox, USS Titan and Kos'Karii (66), USS Newgrange, Grishnar and Divitae (68), and USS Enterprise-E, Krencha and Scimitar (70). The exception is the U.S.S. Vengeance (also 70), whose blueprint sourcing changes with each Vengeance event. Check the event notes each time rather than assuming last event's method still applies.
The current top of the ladder is entirely faction-store sourced: Aphelion (71), Praefortis, USS Socrates and IKS Boreth (73), USS Stargazer, Snakehead and IKS Ak'voh (76), and USS Enterprise M414, Admonition and IKS Gre'thor (80). Expect this range to keep extending as Scopely raises the level cap; we will update this guide as new tiers are confirmed.