The Chrono Deflector is a Rare Chaos Tech in Star Trek Fleet Command, a temporal artifact you slot onto a ship rather than an officer or a building. Its main job is defense. At the start of a fight it raises your Apex Barrier for three rounds against hostiles and invading entities, and it layers critical damage and shield repair on top. This is a hostile-grinding piece first, with real armada value along the way.
What the Chrono Deflector does
All three of the Chrono Deflector’s buffs fire at the start of battle and last three rounds. The headline effect is a large Apex Barrier boost when you fight hostiles or invading entities, which raises how much damage your ship absorbs before its hull is at risk. One condition sits in the data: this Apex Barrier buff does not apply if the officer Tal is on your bridge, so plan your crew around keeping Tal off it.
| Buff | Unlocks at tier | Unlock value | Max value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Barrier at start of battle vs hostiles or invading entities (if Tal not on bridge) | Tier 1 | 500% | 2,500% |
| Critical Damage at start of battle vs armadas or invading entities | Tier 1 | 20% | 350% |
| Shield Repair per round at start of battle vs hostiles, armadas or invading entities | Tier 2 | 2.5% | 30% |
In play, the Chrono Deflector front-loads survivability against hostiles while the critical-damage line pays off on armadas, so one artifact covers both halves of a grinder’s day. The shield-repair line keeps healing you each round, which matters most on longer fights against tougher targets.
How to get the Chrono Deflector
Chaos Tech uses its own economy, all of it routed through the Continuum refinery. You open a Chaos Tech slot on a ship (or pull a piece back off) with Chaos Tech Fusion Rods, earned in the Continuum refinery or bought from the store. The artifact materials themselves come from Chaos Tech Fragments, which you exchange into Chaos Tech materials in the refinery once you have picked up excess Chaos Tech shards. Everything you need to bring the Chrono Deflector into service runs through that refinery loop, so steady Chaos Tech income is the real gate, not any one purchase.
Upgrading the Chrono Deflector
Tiers and levels do two different jobs. Tiering up spends Chaos Tech Tier-Up Catalyst, raises the level cap (from 5 at tier 1 up to 60 at tier 12), and unlocks the shield-repair line once you reach tier 2. Levels then spend Chaos Tech Reactor and Chaosmatter to scale every buff value toward its maximum.
| Tier | Level cap | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 5 | Starting tier (no cost) |
| Tier 7 | 35 | 9,200 Chaos Tech Tier-Up Catalyst |
| Tier 12 | 60 | 10,300 Chaos Tech Tier-Up Catalyst |
Reaching max tier costs 92,900 Chaos Tech Tier-Up Catalyst in total. Taking it from level 2 to level 60 costs 59,825 Chaos Tech Reactor and 139,900 Chaosmatter. You gather both level-up resources by defeating Assimilated El-Aurian hostiles and exchanging their loot in the Continuum refinery, or from the store.
Best ships and uses for the Chrono Deflector
The game files it under the Hostiles use case, and that is where it earns its keep. Put it on your hostile-grinding ship, the one that clears rep and loot spawns day in and day out. Because the Apex Barrier and shield-repair lines key off hostiles while the critical-damage line keys off armadas, it suits a crew that does both, so it doubles nicely on a solo-armada runner too. Keep Tal off that bridge so the Apex Barrier buff stays active. For target selection and level bands, our hostile guide and solo armadas guide pair well with this piece.
The Chrono Deflector in Star Trek
The Chrono Deflector is an original Star Trek Fleet Command device rather than a screen artifact, but it borrows from established canon. The Krenim, a species from Star Trek: Voyager, were the masters of temporal weaponry, most famously the timeship at the center of the “Year of Hell” story, so any tech built from a Krenim wreck carries that reputation for bending time against an enemy. The Orion Syndicate is Star Trek’s long-running criminal network. In the game’s own lore the Syndicate salvages a shattered Krenim hull and turns hull hits into stored tachyonic energy, then dumps that energy back into the ship’s systems. The catch, per the same lore, is that a good share of test vessels tore themselves apart in a quantum implosion.
Is the Chrono Deflector worth it?
For a Rare piece it packs a lot of defensive value, and the split between hostile and armada effects makes it flexible. Chase it if you spend real time grinding hostiles and running solo armadas, and level it as your Chaos Tech Reactor and Chaosmatter income allows. Players focused purely on player-versus-player fleets will get less from it, since its buffs target hostiles, armadas, and invading entities rather than other captains.