The NSEA Protector is an Epic grade 4 Explorer you build at Shipyard level 40. It is a specialist rather than a generalist. Its abilities hit Mirror Universe hostiles for huge bonus damage and mine Raw Trellium at an enormous rate, so it earns its slot when you work Mirror Universe content. Outside that arena a standard grade 4 Explorer will usually do more for you.
This STFC guide covers the NSEA Protector’s blueprints and build cost, its two passive abilities, the Omega-13 and Field Repairs actives, the research and materials that come with owning it, and the Galaxy Quest officers built around it.
How to get the NSEA Protector
The Protector needs 200 blueprints and a Shipyard at level 40 before you can start the build. The build cost is 55,200 4★ Common Refined Gas, 16,256,500,000 Tritanium, and 7,800,000 Dilithium, and the build takes 87 days and 14 hours. Treat the blueprints as a separate task and gather the resources while you collect prints.
Component upgrades use Beryllium Spheres, and several tiers also need a Quantum Flux Engine. The engines appear in the Mirror Universe tab as your Operations level rises.
| Quantum Flux Engine | Available from |
|---|---|
| Tier 4 | Operations 46 |
| Tier 6 | Operations 50 |
| Tier 12 | Operations 60 |
| Tier 14 | Operations 63 |
| Tier 15 | Operations 65 |
NSEA Protector abilities
The Protector runs two always-active ship abilities. Quantum Flux raises damage against Mirror Universe hostiles, starting at +5,000% at level 1 and climbing to +300,000% at level 75. Trellium Chompers raises the mining rate of Raw Trellium, from +540,000% at level 1 to +12,000,000% at level 75, and it makes the ship immune to the Magnetic Minefield Hazard in Mirror Universe Space. Both numbers look absurd because they apply only inside that one content type. Against anything else the Protector fights on its base stats.
| Ship level | Quantum Flux (damage vs Mirror Universe hostiles) | Trellium Chompers (Raw Trellium mining rate) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | +5,000% | +540,000% |
| 10 | +10,000% | +560,000% |
| 25 | +40,000% | +3,500,000% |
| 37 | +70,000% | +5,000,000% |
| 75 | +300,000% | +12,000,000% |
Level 25 is the first big step for both abilities, and the values then hold flat from level 37 to 40 before the final climb to 75. See Mirror Universe hostiles for targets and Trellium for where the Trellium comes from.
NSEA Protector active abilities
The ship also carries the Omega-13 Device, an activatable ability themed on the film’s time-reversing gadget. You aim it at a ship, and it rewinds time so that ship survives the battle intact. The share of hull health the protected ship keeps can be raised through research, and the K’ragk-Vort’t refit adds 10% more. Omega-13 does not work when the ship is hit by a Borg Cutting Beam or destroyed by a spatial hazard. Each use is powered by Omega-13 Matter, samples of distilled temporal energy.
The second active ability, Field Repairs, is unlocked by its own refit. Out of combat and away from dock, it instantly repairs 25% of the Protector’s hull health, so the ship can keep working a Mirror Universe route without flying home. A research project, Field Repairs (NSEA Protector), improves it further.
One interaction to watch: the officer Vemet can resurrect a ship with part of its hull health, and that effect takes precedence over Omega-13 and does not stack with it.
NSEA Protector research and materials
Owning the Protector opens extra content in the Mirror refinery. Raw Omega-Trellium refines there into Liquid Omega-Trellium, which claims Mirror refinery rewards, and the same refinery pays out Omega Mirror Dust, used to upgrade the Ω research in the Mirror Research Tree. Both refinery options are only available while you own the ship.
- Beryllium Sphere: upgrades the Protector’s components.
- Quantum Flux Engine: tier-up item for tiers 4, 6, 12, 14 and 15.
- Omega-13 Matter: activates the Omega-13 Device.
- Liquid Omega-Trellium: refined from Raw Omega-Trellium; claims Mirror refinery rewards.
- Omega Mirror Dust: from the Mirror refinery; upgrades Ω research.
Stats and tiers
Base values at three anchor tiers; research, buffs and officers raise them in play. The Protector caps at tier 15 and level 75.
| Tier | Warp (speed / range) | Impulse | Cargo (protected) | Shield HP | Hull HP | Health (displayed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 6.5 / 110 | 135 | 400,000 (30,000) | 165,236 | 137,696 | 151,466 |
| Tier 8 | 9.25 / 290 | 135 | 1,630,000 (140,000) | 1,480,739 | 1,233,949 | 1,357,344 |
| Tier 15 | 11 / 900 | 135 | 5,860,000 (546,000) | 11,450,915 | 9,542,429 | 10,496,672 |
The warp range of 900 at tier 15 is the standout line: this was the first ship in the game to break the Warp 10 barrier, which is why it reaches so far across the map.
Weapons and firing pattern
Warm-up is the round a weapon first fires; cool-down is the number of rounds between shots after that. Values below are at max tier 15.
| Weapon | Type | Shots | Warm-up | Cool-down | Damage | Crit chance | Crit damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon 1 | Energy | 2 | 1 | 1 | 282,616–348,552 | 10% | 150% |
| Weapon 2 | Kinetic | 2 | 1 | 1 | 408,358–510,444 | 10% | 150% |
| Weapon 3 | Kinetic | 2 | 2 | 2 | 408,358–510,444 | 10% | 150% |
| Weapon 4 | Energy | 2 | 2 | 2 | 282,616–348,552 | 10% | 150% |
The two kinetic batteries hit harder than the energy pair, and weapons 1 and 2 come online a round earlier than weapons 3 and 4, so the ship front-loads part of its damage.
Crew slots and officer bonus
Officer slots open up as you level the ship.
| Ship level | Officer slots |
|---|---|
| 5 | 1 |
| 10 | 2 |
| 20 | 3 |
| 30 | 4 |
| 40 | 5 |
| 45 | 6 |
| 55 | 7 |
The Protector also boosts the officers you crew on it. Attack, defense and health all get the same bonus, and it steps up as the ship’s officer-bonus stat rises. The ladder below shows the amount needed for each step.
| Amount | Bonus |
|---|---|
| 1,500 | 50% |
| 3,000 | 100% |
| 4,875 | 150% |
| 6,750 | 200% |
| 9,000 | 250% |
| 12,000 | 300% |
| 16,500 | 350% |
| 22,500 | 400% |
| 30,000 | 450% |
| 45,000 | 500% |
NSEA Protector refits
The Protector has two refits, each unlocked with 120 shards. Both lean into its survival theme.
| Refit | What it does |
|---|---|
| K’ragk-Vort’t | Costs 120 shards. Raises by 10% the maximum hull health that your ships keep when they survive a battle under the Protector’s Omega-13 protection. |
| Field Repairs (NSEA Protector) | Costs 120 shards. Unlocks the Field Repairs active ability, which instantly repairs 25% of the Protector’s hull health out of combat while the ship is undocked. |
Crew for the NSEA Protector
Because the ship’s whole value is its Mirror Universe combat and Trellium mining, crew it for the job you bought it for. For Mirror Universe hunting, put weapon-damage and hostile-damage officers on the bridge so the base attack is high before Quantum Flux multiplies it. For Trellium runs, swap to mining-rate and protected-cargo officers and let Trellium Chompers do the heavy lifting. The best specific picks shift with the meta, so check the Officer Tier List for current bridge crews before you commit shards.
Galaxy Quest officers for the Protector
Two officers from the same crossover are written for this exact ship, and both work from a bridge seat because neither has a captain maneuver.
| Officer | What it does on the Protector |
|---|---|
| Sir Alexander Dane | Raises loot from Mirror Universe hostiles by 100% to 200% while assigned to the NSEA Protector. Below decks he adds base impulse speed. |
| Laliari | Shortens the cooldown of the Protector’s Omega-13 ability. Below decks she adds Apex Barrier in Wave Defense. |
For a Mirror Universe hostile run, put Sir Alexander Dane on the bridge alongside a damage-focused captain and officer. If you use the Protector mostly as an Omega-13 escort, Laliari earns the seat instead.
The NSEA Protector in Star Trek
The NSEA Protector is not a Star Trek ship at all. It comes from the 1999 film Galaxy Quest, a comedy about the cast of a canceled sci-fi show pulled into a real space war by aliens who mistook their broadcasts for historical documents. Star Trek Fleet Command added it as a crossover, so there is no screen canon to draw on here. In the game’s own telling, the alien Thermians built the Protector to mirror the ship from their favorite television series, quirks and all, right down to its scientifically dubious quantum flux drive and its time-reversing Omega-13 Device. The result is a joke ship that fights like a serious one.
Is the NSEA Protector worth it?
For its grade band the Protector is a tool, not a daily driver. If you run Mirror Universe hostiles or farm Raw Trellium, the ability multipliers and the minefield immunity make it the obvious pick, and the record warp range helps it get around. If you do not touch Mirror Universe content, a general-purpose grade 4 Explorer will earn its slot more often. Chase it when you have a clear Mirror Universe reason and the resource stockpile to cover a long build.
Owning it also opens the Liquid Omega-Trellium and Omega Mirror Dust options in the Mirror refinery, so a Mirror Universe player gets value from the ship even on days it stays docked.
