The U.S.S. Discovery is a grade 3 Rare Explorer with no faction allegiance, and it fills an unusual job for a ship its size: it works as a dedicated Mycelium harvester. Its ship ability pours a large speed bonus into gathering Mycelium, and a cloaking refit lets it slip through contested space to reach a node. You unlock the build at Shipyard level 21. If you farm Mycelium, it earns its spot in your dock.
How to get the U.S.S. Discovery
Building the Discovery needs 100 blueprints and a Shipyard at level 21. Once both are in hand, the build cost is 500,000 Tritanium, 50 units of 2★ Common Refined Gas, and 20,000 Dilithium, with a build time of 6 days 6 hours. The game data does not tie the blueprints to any single store or event, so plan to collect them from wherever they are offered when you go for the ship, and have the resources banked before you start the timer.
U.S.S. Discovery ability
The ship ability is Mycelium Harvesting. It raises the Discovery’s Mycelium harvesting speed by 1,860% at ship level 1, climbing to 4,500% at level 45. Ship abilities are always active, so the bonus applies the moment the Discovery attaches to a Mycelium node. In plain terms, this is what the ship is for: it clears a Mycelium node far faster than a general-purpose survey ship, which is the whole reason to level it.
U.S.S. Discovery active ability
The Discovery also carries two player-triggered abilities that run on their own, separate from the always-on harvesting bonus. Automated Defenses raises the ship’s combat effectiveness while it is attached to a mining node, which helps it hold its ground if another player comes to contest the Mycelium. Ship Cloaking hides the Discovery from view; the cloak ends when its duration runs out, when you enter combat, when you begin mining, or when you dock at a station. You activate each one yourself, and both grow more useful as the ship tiers up.
Stats and tiers
These are base values from the current game data; research, buffs, and officers raise them in play. The hull stays flat while the shield climbs steeply, which points to a ship you want to keep out of drawn-out fights.
| Tier | Warp (speed / range) | Impulse | Cargo (protected) | Shield HP | Hull HP | Health (displayed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 3.1 / 20 | 90 | 10,000 (2,000) | 1,845 | 2,427 | 2,136 |
| Tier 5 | 3.5 / 24 | 90 | 21,000 (5,400) | 5,343 | 2,427 | 3,885 |
| Tier 9 | 3.9 / 30 | 90 | 42,000 (10,800) | 18,037 | 2,427 | 10,232 |
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 below are at max tier 9. The kinetic slot is the Photonic Torpedoes; the two energy slots are Pulsed Phasers.
| Weapon | Type | Shots | Warm-up | Cool-down | Damage | Crit chance | Crit damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulsed Phaser | Energy | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4,435–5,322 | 10% | 150% |
| Pulsed Phaser | Energy | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4,435–5,322 | 10% | 150% |
| Photonic Torpedoes | Kinetic | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8,871–10,645 | 10% | 150% |
Crew slots and officer bonus
Officer slots open as the ship levels: 1 slot at level 5, 2 at level 10, 3 at level 20, 4 at level 30, and the full 5 at level 45.
| Ship level | Officer slots |
|---|---|
| 5 | 1 |
| 10 | 2 |
| 20 | 3 |
| 30 | 4 |
| 45 | 5 |
The ship also boosts your officers’ stats, stepping up a ladder as it progresses. On the Discovery the attack, defense, and health bonuses are identical at every step, so one column covers all three.
| Amount | Bonus (attack / defense / health) |
|---|---|
| 100 | 30% |
| 200 | 60% |
| 325 | 90% |
| 450 | 120% |
| 600 | 150% |
| 800 | 180% |
| 1,100 | 210% |
| 1,500 | 240% |
| 2,000 | 270% |
| 3,000 | 300% |
U.S.S. Discovery refits
The Discovery has two refits, and each costs 80 shards to unlock. Together they define how the ship handles a contested node.
| Refit | What it does |
|---|---|
| Section 31 Refit | A ship refit for the U.S.S. Discovery. |
| U.S.S. Discovery Cloaking | Enables cloaking for the Discovery and increases its base weapon damage by 100%. |
The cloaking refit does double duty: it unlocks the Ship Cloaking ability described above and adds a flat 100% to base weapon damage, which gives the Discovery real teeth if a fight breaks out at the node.
Crew for the U.S.S. Discovery
Crew the Discovery for its job first. Because the ship exists to harvest Mycelium, the bridge wants officers who speed up mining and protect cargo, so a raid on your haul costs you less. Since Automated Defenses rewards fighting back at the node, a captain whose ability adds shield or weapon strength earns its slot too. Rather than lock you to a crew that shifts with each update, check the Officer Tier List for the current mining and defensive picks. Crews move with the meta, so treat any single lineup as a starting point.
Best U.S.S. Discovery crews
Discovery PVE Crew Suggestions
Captain: Christopher Pike
Officer: Marlena Moreau
Officer: T’Laan
This combo is better against interceptors but can also be used against Battleships or kinetic based weapons.
Captain: Jean-Luc Picard
Officer: Beverly Crusher
Officer: Grace Chen
This is a good crew combo against non interceptor ships.
Discovery PVP Crew Suggestions
Captain: James T.Kirk
Officer: Spock
Officer: Leonard McCoy
A good crew when you want to do player vs player fighting in your discovery. Below deck crew should focus on defense.
Captain: Yuki Sulu
Officer: Alexander Marcus
Officer: Khan Noonien Singh
This crew combo focuses on reducing your opponents shields quickly allowing you to bring the pain on their hull. When in doubt I use this combo.
The U.S.S. Discovery in Star Trek
The U.S.S. Discovery, registry NCC-1031, is a Crossfield-class starship from Star Trek: Discovery, launched as a science vessel and reassigned as a warship during the Federation-Klingon war that opened at the Battle at the Binary Stars in 2256. Its defining feature is the experimental spore drive, which uses a galaxy-spanning mycelial network to jump instantly across vast distances. That drive made the ship one of Starfleet’s most valuable assets during the war, and it carries straight into the game as the Mycelium harvesting and instant-jump theme that shapes the Discovery here.
U.S.S. Discovery build cost by tier
Build and repair costs for every tier, carried over from the previous version of this page.
| Tier | Build cost | Repair cost | Build time | Repair time | Cargo | Protected cargo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 500,000 Tritanium 20,000 Dilithium 50 2* Common Gas |
13,545 Tritanium 542 Dilithium |
6d 6h 0m | 3h 30m | Base: 10,000 | Base: 2,000 |
| Tier 2 | 6,350,000 Tritanium 160,000 Dilithium 195 3* Common Gas 80 3* Common Ore 40 3* Explorer Parts 1,000 Spore Drive Component |
67,545 Tritanium 1,892 Dilithium |
16h 30m | 3h 42m | Base: 12,500 | Base: 2,800 |
| Tier 3 | 11,150,000 Tritanium 300,000 Dilithium 280 3* Common Gas 115 3* Common Ore 65 3* Explorer Parts 1,525 Spore Drive Component |
82,545 Tritanium 2,402 Dilithium |
1d 9h 0m | 4h 5m | Base: 15,000 | Base: 3,600 |
| Tier 4 | 24,450,000 Tritanium 636,000 Dilithium 480 3* Common Gas 185 3* Common Ore 110 3* Explorer Parts 2,590 Spore Drive Component |
107,745 Tritanium 3,002 Dilithium |
2d 7h 0m | 4h 26m | Base: 18,000 | Base: 4,500 |
| Tier 5 | 112,000,000 Tritanium 1,457,000 Dilithium 1,245 3* Common Gas 310 3* Uncommon Gas 435 3* Common Ore 170 3* Uncommon Ore 230 3* Explorer Parts 5,250 Spore Drive Component |
255,345 Tritanium 3,692 Dilithium |
3d 10h 30m | 5h 3m | Base: 21,000 | Base: 5,400 |
| Tier 6 | 178,450,000 Tritanium 2,319,000 Dilithium 1,850 3* Common Gas 445 3* Uncommon Gas 650 3* Common Ore 215 3* Uncommon Ore 355 3* Explorer Parts 7,875 Spore Drive Component |
273,945 Tritanium 3,932 Dilithium |
4d 14h 0m | 5h 46m | Base: 25,000 | Base: 6,500 |
| Tier 7 | 262,100,000 Tritanium 3,381,000 Dilithium 2,250 3* Common Gas 500 3* Uncommon Gas 790 3* Common Ore 225 3* Uncommon Ore 415 3* Explorer Parts 8,535 Spore Drive Component |
402,345 Tritanium 5,342 Dilithium |
5d 17h 30m | 6h 38m | Base: 30,000 | Base: 7,800 |
| Tier 8 | 398,700,000 Tritanium 4,600,000 Dilithium 2,815 3* Common Gas 500 3* Uncommon Gas 160 3* Rare Gas 985 3* Common Ore 235 3* Uncommon Ore 130 3* Rare Ore 515 3* Explorer Parts 9,465 Spore Drive Component |
547,545 Tritanium 6,212 Dilithium |
7d 10h 45m | 7h 40m | Base: 36,000 | Base: 9,300 |
| Tier 9 | 830,100,000 Tritanium 7,836,000 Dilithium 4,285 3* Common Gas 705 3* Uncommon Gas 235 3* Rare Gas 1,500 3* Common Ore 305 3* Uncommon Ore 155 3* Rare Ore 640 3* Explorer Parts 11,785 Spore Drive Component |
943,545 Tritanium 8,282 Dilithium |
9d 4h 0m | 8h 55m | Base: 42,000 | Base: 10,800 |
U.S.S. Discovery ship XP needed by level
Experience required to reach each level, with the health and shield bonuses that come with it.
Tier 1
Level 2: 800
Level 3: 1,000
Level 4: 1,400
Level 5: 1,700
Tier 2
Level 6: 2,400
Level 7: 2,900
Level 8: 3,900
Level 9: 4,600
Level 10: 6,000
Tier 3
Level 11: 7,000
Level 12: 8,500
Level 13: 9,500
Level 14: 11,000
Level 15: 13,500
Tier 4
Level 16: 15,000
Level 17: 17,500
Level 18: 19,500
Level 19: 23,000
Level 20: 25,000
Tier 5
Level 21: 29,000
Level 22: 31,500
Level 23: 36,000
Level 24: 39,000
Level 25: 42,000
Tier 6
Level 26: 47,000
Level 27: 51,000
Level 28: 57,000
Level 29: 61,000
Level 30: 69,000
Tier 7
Level 31: 72,000
Level 32
Tier 8
Level 36: 105,000
Level 37
Tier 9
Level 41: 154,000
Level 42
Resources to max out a U.S.S. Discovery
- 1,823,800,000 Tritanium
- 20,709,000 Dilithium
- 50 2* Common Gas
- 13,400 3* Common Gas
- 2,460 3* Uncommon Gas
- 395 3* Rare Gas
- 4,740 3* Common Ore
- 1,150 3* Uncommon Ore
- 285 3* Rare Ore
- 2,370 3* Explorer Parts
- 48,025 Spore Drive Component
Total Experience: 2,561,700
U.S.S. Discovery video
Unlocking the USS Discovery in STFC | How does the spore drive work? | Is it worth working on?
Is the U.S.S. Discovery worth it?
For a grade 3 Rare Explorer, the Discovery is a specialist worth building if you gather Mycelium, where nothing at its tier keeps pace with its harvesting speed. The cloak refit and Automated Defenses let it work contested nodes that would chase off a plain survey ship. It is not a scrap feeder and it is not a frontline warship, so combat players can pass. Mycelium farmers should chase it.