Thought Maker is a Common Chaos Tech artifact that slots onto a ship and pays off when you grind hostiles. Its main buff raises your Apex Barrier at the start of every round of a non-Armada hostile fight, and a second buff increases the resources those hostiles drop. It won’t headline a war fleet, but as a cheap, early way to make a hostile-grinding ship tougher and more profitable, it earns its slot.
What Thought Maker does
Thought Maker carries two buffs, both active from tier 1 and both scaling as you level the piece. The headline effect increases Apex Barrier for 5 rounds at the start of each round while you fight non-Armada hostiles, so the protection refreshes as a fight drags on. The second effect increases the resources your ship pulls from those same non-Armada hostiles.
| Buff | Unlocks at tier | Unlock value | Max value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Barrier vs non-Armada hostiles (5 rounds) | 1 | +10 | +100 |
| Extra resources from non-Armada hostiles | 1 | 1% | 20% |
At max level the barrier bonus reaches +100 and the resource bonus 20%, so a fully built Thought Maker keeps a grinding ship alive longer and returns more loot per kill. Apex Barrier is a damage-mitigation stat, so a higher value soaks more of each incoming hit, and refreshing it every round matters most in longer fights against tougher hostiles.
How to get Thought Maker
Thought Maker is Chaos Tech, so it lives in the Continuum system rather than the standard Forbidden Tech refinery. You open a Chaos Tech slot on a ship using Chaos Tech Fusion Rods, which also let you remove a Chaos Tech piece from a ship later. The materials that build and feed the piece come through the Continuum refinery: excess Chaos Tech shards convert into Chaos Tech Fragments, and you exchange those Fragments for the Chaos Tech materials you need. You can also pick up the Continuum currencies from the store. As a Common piece, its material costs stay low next to the Epic Chaos Tech, which makes it one of the easier artifacts to unlock and build out.
Upgrading Thought Maker
Two upgrade tracks run in parallel. Tiers raise the level cap and are bought with Chaos Tech Tier-Up Catalyst, and levels scale the buff values using Chaos Tech Reactor and Chaosmatter. Thought Maker caps at tier 4 and level 20, so it tops out faster than the Epic pieces.
| Tier | Level cap | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Starting tier |
| 3 | 15 | 4,300 Chaos Tech Tier-Up Catalyst |
| 4 | 20 | 4,400 Chaos Tech Tier-Up Catalyst |
Reaching max tier costs 10,900 Chaos Tech Tier-Up Catalyst in total. Leveling from 2 to 20 costs 7,660 Chaos Tech Reactor and 18,650 Chaosmatter. You gather Chaos Tech Reactor and Chaosmatter by defeating Assimilated El-Aurian hostiles and exchanging their loot in the Continuum refinery.
Best ships and uses for Thought Maker
Both buffs only fire against non-Armada hostiles, so Thought Maker belongs on whatever ship you send to grind hostiles for loot and daily goals. Put it on your main hostile grinder and pair it with a crew built for the same job. Skip it on armada ships and PvP setups, where neither buff does anything. If you’re working through hostile territory, our hostile guide covers which targets and crews suit each stage of the game.
Thought Maker in Star Trek
The Thought Maker comes from the Next Generation episode “The Battle.” It is a Ferengi mind-control device, a glowing sphere that clouds a target’s memory and bends them to the wielder’s suggestions. DaiMon Bok used it against Captain Picard to avenge his son, who died years earlier at the Battle of Maxia when Picard commanded the U.S.S. Stargazer. Under its influence, Picard began reliving that battle and nearly turned the Enterprise-D’s weapons on his own crew. The Enterprise officers traced the signal and broke Bok’s hold before he could finish his revenge.
Is Thought Maker worth it?
Thought Maker is a fair pickup for anyone who spends real time grinding hostiles, and its low Common cost makes it easy to build early. The barrier and loot bonuses are useful on a dedicated grinder, but the effects are narrow and the piece is Common, so take it as far as your Chaos Tech materials comfortably allow and spend your bigger upgrades on higher-rarity tech.