The U.S.S. Cerritos is a grade 4 Epic Explorer from the Independent faction, built around one unusual job: supporting another ship in a fight instead of carrying the fight itself. You unlock it at Shipyard level 36. For armadas and coordinated battles with a crewmate it earns its slot, but for solo grinding it is a niche pick.
How to get the U.S.S. Cerritos
Building the U.S.S. Cerritos takes 100 blueprints and a Shipyard at level 36. Once you have the blueprints, the build cost is 13,650,000 Tritanium, 1,575,000 Dilithium, and 1,400 units of 3★ Common Refined Gas, and construction runs 34 days and 12 hours. The game data does not tie the blueprints to a specific store or event, so treat the source as whatever offer or store happens to carry them when you are ready to build.
U.S.S. Cerritos ability
The Cerritos ship ability is called Keep It Together, and it stays active the whole time. When the Cerritos supports another ship, it adds to the support duration: 5 seconds at ship level 1, rising to 305 seconds at level 60. The supported ship then gains combat bonuses based on the Cerritos research the recipient has completed. In play that means the Cerritos is only as strong as the setup around it. The longer it holds a lock on a teammate, the more that teammate gets out of the arrangement.
That level scaling is the reason to keep tiering the Cerritos even though it does little damage on its own. A low-level Cerritos drops off its buff after a few seconds, while a maxed one can prop up a partner for over five minutes. If your alliance runs it in armadas, the ship on the receiving end wants the matching Cerritos research done so the bonus actually lands.
U.S.S. Cerritos active ability
The Cerritos carries two player-triggered abilities on top of the always-on one. Cerritos Support lets you actively back another ship, sharply improving its combat performance based on that ship’s Cerritos research. Ship Cloaking hides the Cerritos until the cloak expires or you enter combat, begin mining, or dock at a station. Both run on cooldowns that shorten as the ship tiers up. Cloaking is unlocked through a refit (covered below); until you buy it, Cerritos Support is the button you will lean on.
Stats and tiers
Base values from the current game data; research, buffs, and officers raise them in play.
| Tier | Warp (speed / range) | Impulse | Cargo (protected) | Shield HP | Hull HP | Health (displayed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 4.1 / 48 | 85 | 30,000 (500) | 77,900 | 32,052 | 54,976 |
| Tier 6 | 4.6 / 85 | 85 | 30,000 (500) | 139,388 | 92,354 | 115,871 |
| Tier 12 | 5.2 / 160 | 85 | 30,000 (500) | 222,657 | 162,889 | 192,773 |
Weapons and firing pattern
Warm-up is the round a weapon first fires; cool-down is how many rounds pass between shots after that. Values are at max tier 12.
| Weapon | Type | Shots | Warm-up | Cool-down | Damage | Crit chance | Crit damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon 1 | Energy | 1 | 1 | 1 | 18,340–22,008 | 10% | 150% |
| Weapon 2 | Energy | 1 | 1 | 1 | 18,340–22,008 | 10% | 150% |
| Weapon 3 | Kinetic | 2 | 2 | 2 | 23,802–28,563 | 10% | 150% |
Weapon 3 is the heaviest hitter: a two-shot kinetic gun that warms up on round 2, so the Cerritos leads with its two energy weapons before the kinetic comes online.
Crew slots and officer bonus
| Ship level | Officer slots |
|---|---|
| 5 | 1 |
| 10 | 2 |
| 20 | 3 |
| 30 | 4 |
| 40 | 5 |
| 45 | 6 |
| 55 | 7 |
The Cerritos also boosts the officers you crew on it. Attack, defense, and health all step up by the same ladder as your officers’ underlying stats grow, so a stronger bridge climbs the bonus faster.
| 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% |
U.S.S. Cerritos refits
The Cerritos has two refits, each unlocked with ship shards.
| Refit | What it does |
|---|---|
| Cerritos Refit | A ship refit for the U.S.S. Cerritos, unlocked with 120 shards. |
| U.S.S. Cerritos Cloaking | Enables cloaking for the Cerritos and raises its base weapon damage by 350%. Unlocked with 120 shards. |
Crew for the U.S.S. Cerritos
Because the Cerritos exists to prop up another ship, the crew that decides the outcome is usually the one on the ship it escorts, not the Cerritos itself. On the Cerritos, favor officers that keep it alive and keep its support running so Keep It Together has time to pay off. Specific picks move with the meta, so check the Officer Tier List for current recommendations rather than locking into one bridge.
The U.S.S. Cerritos in Star Trek
The Cerritos is a California-class starship and the main setting of Star Trek: Lower Decks, the animated comedy that follows the junior crew who keep a support ship running. In canon the California class handles second contact: the follow-up missions and supply runs that come after a flagship makes first contact. The show leans into the underdog framing, a ship and crew capable of more than Starfleet gives them credit for, and the game’s own description echoes that idea almost word for word.
Is the U.S.S. Cerritos worth it?
For a grade 4 ship, the Cerritos is a specialist. Its value is highest if you play with an armada or a coordinated partner who has invested in Cerritos research, since Keep It Together and Cerritos Support only shine when there is a teammate to buff. If you mostly grind alone, a standard combat Explorer will serve you better. Build it for the support role, not for raw solo firepower.