Adaptive Weaponry is a Combat research that raises your base Weapon Damage against Assimilated (ASM) faction ships, from 8% at level 1 to 100% at level 10. It unlocks at R&D Department 48 and is aimed squarely at players grinding Borg-assimilated targets.
What Adaptive Weaponry does
Ships flagged to the Assimilated faction are the Borg-assimilated targets you fight across Borg content. This project doubles your base weapon damage against them at max level, which shortens fights, cuts repair bills, and raises your daily throughput against those targets. Against everything else it does nothing, which is what keeps its cost reasonable for what it gives.
| Level | Weapon Damage bonus | Requires R&D Department | Research required | Cost | Base time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8% | 48 | 4★ Kinetic Shockwave 1, 4★ Energy Blast 1 | 20K 4★ Common Refined Gas, 3.1B Dilithium, 20K 4★ Common Refined Ore, 20K 4★ Common Refined Crystal | 2.3 yr |
| 2 | 16% | 49 | — | 24K 4★ Common Refined Gas, 5.2B Dilithium, 300 Pattern Disruptor, 24K 4★ Common Refined Crystal | 3.1 yr |
| 3 | 24% | 50 | — | 6.6K 4★ Uncommon Refined Ore, 9.2B Dilithium, 1.2K Pattern Disruptor, 6.6K 4★ Uncommon Refined Gas, 6.6K 4★ Uncommon Refined Crystal | 3.9 yr |
| 4 | 32% | — | — | 14B Dilithium, 3.8K Pattern Disruptor, 55K 4★ Common Refined Ore, 16K 4★ Uncommon Refined Gas | 4.8 yr |
| 5 | 41% | — | — | 66K 4★ Common Refined Gas, 20K 4★ Uncommon Refined Ore, 21.5B Dilithium, 11.7K Pattern Disruptor | 6.1 yr |
| 6 | 51% | — | — | 3.5K 4★ Rare Refined Gas, 19.2B Dilithium, 19K Pattern Disruptor, 84K 4★ Common Refined Ore | 4.2 yr |
| 7 | 61% | — | — | 4K 4★ Rare Refined Ore, 32K 4★ Uncommon Refined Ore, 28.8B Dilithium, 50K Pattern Disruptor | 5.1 yr |
| 8 | 73% | — | — | 4.6K 4★ Rare Refined Gas, 4.6K 4★ Rare Refined Ore, 43.2B Dilithium, 68K Pattern Disruptor | 6.7 yr |
| 9 | 85% | 51 | — | 14K 5★ Common Refined Gas, 23B Dilithium, 14K 5★ Common Refined Ore, 152K Pattern Disruptor, 14K 5★ Common Refined Crystal | 8 yr |
| 10 | 100% | 52 | — | 20K 5★ Common Refined Gas, 34.6B Dilithium, 20K 5★ Common Refined Ore, 204K Pattern Disruptor, 20K 5★ Common Refined Crystal | 9.6 yr |
Unlock requirements
Level 1 needs R&D Department 48 plus 4★ Kinetic Shockwave 1 and 4★ Energy Blast 1. Later levels raise the R&D bar and add further weapons-line prerequisites, listed per level above.
Cost and research time
Per-level costs are in the table above. Maxing all 10 levels totals about 110K 4★ Common Refined Gas, 201.8B Dilithium, 159K 4★ Common Refined Ore, 44K 4★ Common Refined Crystal, 509.9K Pattern Disruptor, 58.6K 4★ Uncommon Refined Ore, 22.6K 4★ Uncommon Refined Gas, 6.6K 4★ Uncommon Refined Crystal, 8.1K 4★ Rare Refined Gas, 8.6K 4★ Rare Refined Ore, 34K 5★ Common Refined Gas, 34K 5★ Common Refined Ore, 34K 5★ Common Refined Crystal. The base research time adds up to roughly 53.8 yr on paper; research speed bonuses cut real timers to a small fraction of that, so use it to compare levels, not to plan your calendar.
Is Adaptive Weaponry worth it?
Yes if assimilated targets are part of your routine; the damage doubling is one of the larger single-target-class boosts in the tree. Otherwise it can wait behind the general-purpose damage lines. See the Combat Research guide for the full branch and the hostile guide for picking targets.