Upgrade R&D Department to Level 5 is an early station mission in Star Trek Fleet Command. Its one objective is to raise your R&D Department to level 5. It needs only warp 1 to start and finish, and the game lists a recommended level of 1, so the upgrade is the only requirement. The reward is 110 Tritanium and one 1 Minute Repair Speed Up, and completing it unlocks Upgrade Shipyard: Level 5. It is a small reward for a step every new station takes.
Upgrade R&D Department to Level 5 objectives
The story line explains that the R&D Department unlocks additional upgrades for the Shipyard and Ships. There is a single objective and no choice split:
- Upgrade R&D Department to Level 5.
No system is named, no hostile is listed and nothing is donated. The mission clears as soon as the F&E-Abteilung reaches level 5.
Wo und welcher Warp
Warp 1 to start and warp 1 to complete, with no pickup system. The whole mission happens on your station.
The recommended level is listed as 1, and at this stage of the game the upgrade itself is quick.
What R&D Department 5 costs
In current game data, level 5 of the R&D Department costs 800 Parsteel and takes 22 minutes to build. It requires Operations 5, Akademie 5 and Tritanium Warehouse 3.
The Tritanium Warehouse requirement is new at this level. Levels 1 to 4 only ask for Operations and the Academy, so check the warehouse first if the upgrade will not start. The mission right before this one is Upgrade Tritanium Warehouse: Level 3, which takes care of it.
Upgrade R&D Department to Level 5 rewards
| Belohnung | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tritanium | 110 |
| 1 Minute Repair Speed Up | 1 |
Completing the mission also unlocks Upgrade Schiffswerft: Stufe 5.
How Level 5 compares with the early R&D missions
| Mission | Tritanium | Repair speed ups | Level cost and build time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct the R&D Department | 25 | Keine | 100 Parsteel, 3m |
| Upgrade R&D Department to Level 2 | 30 | Keine | 200 Parsteel, 4m |
| Aufwertung der F&E-Abteilung auf Stufe 4 | 50 | 1 × 1 Minute | 500 Parsteel, 13m |
| Upgrade R&D Department to Level 5 | 110 | 1 × 1 Minute | 800 Parsteel, 22m |
Level 5 more than doubles the Tritanium of Level 4, and the payouts keep climbing from there: Upgrade R&D Department to Level 9 pays 340 Tritanium and five 1 Minute Repair Speed Ups.
Why the Shipyard mission comes next
The chain moves straight to Upgrade Shipyard: Level 5, which pays 125 Tritanium. In current game data, Shipyard level 5 requires R&D Department 5 and Operations 6, so finishing this upgrade clears one of the two requirements for the next mission.
Tips
R&D 5 also raises the Research Speed Bonus to 6%, up from 3% at level 2, so every research after this one runs a little faster.
Keep upgrades running back to back. At this stage each building level takes minutes, and the station Missionen chain from one to the next, so there is no reason to leave a builder idle.
