A Klingon Bird-of-Prey entering and leaving cloak
Cloaking technology is a form of stealth used most commonly by races such as the Klingons and Romulans for their starships. Similar technology can also be used on individuals, notably the Jem'Hadar.
While cloaking technology is on nearly all Klingon Empire and Romulan Republic ships, the Federation uses it sparingly; only a handful of Starfleet ships are capable of using a cloaking device, and none natively, outside of the Voth Phase Decoy Console.
Other NPC factions which use cloaks include the Romulan Star Empire, Reman Resistance, Voth, Borg Collective (alternate timeline only), and Rebel Klingons.
For more information on Stealth and Stealth Detection mechanics, visit the Starship Stealth and Starship Perception pages.
Types of cloaking device
There are different types of cloaks in use on starships. Most notably the Cloak and Battle Cloak. Both of these conceal the player which can they lay an ambush and decloak at will with a damage bonus. However unlike the Cloak, the Battle Cloak can be triggered while at Red Alert. However, triggering the cloak in combat means dropping your shields while under fire, which makes your ship vulnerable.
In a further difference, the Enhanced Battle Cloak also allows the firing of torpedoes and deployment of mines while under cloak (however your ship becomes temporarily targetable while doing so). There are further variations on these, detailed below;
| Cloak Type | Stats | Faction | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloak | –5 Current Shield Power per sec +25 Defense Rating |
Klingon Empire & Certain Cross-faction Starships & Starfleet Intel Ships |
None |
| Certain Starfleet ships | [Console - Universal - Cloaking Device] | ||
| –5 Current Shield Power per sec +50 Defense Rating |
Cross-faction | Intel Cardassian Ships only | |
| Battle Cloak | –5 Current Shield Power per sec +3 Flight Speed |
Klingon Empire & Certain Cross-faction Starships |
None |
| Starfleet | Stealth Fighter Set 3 set bonus Starfleet Assault Cruiser Technology Set 3 set bonus | ||
| Enhanced Battle Cloak | –15 Current Shield Power per sec +15% All Damage bonus strength |
Romulan Republic Klingon Empire |
None |
| Romulan Cloak | –5 Current Shield Power per sec +50 Defense Rating |
Romulan Republic | None |
| Romulan Battle Cloak | –5 Current Shield Power per sec +3 Flight Speed |
Romulan Republic | None |
| Scimitar Battle Cloak | After 3 sec, +__ Stealth -5 Current Shield Power per sec (negated w/ Singularity Distributor Unit) |
Romulan Republic | Dreadnought Warbirds only (Scimitar, Falchion, Tulwar, Flambard, Khopesh, Shamshir) |
| Cloak of T'Kuvma | –5 Current Shield Power per sec +50 Defense Rating |
Klingon Empire Klingon-allied Romulan Republic |
On Sarcophagus Dreadnought Carrier only |
| Voth Cloak | –5 Current Shield Power per second +75 All Damage Resistance Rating |
Cross-faction. Limited to Voth Starships |
Voth Cloak Technologies 2 set bonus |
| Voth Battle Cloak | –5 Current Shield Power per second +75 All Damage Resistance Rating |
Cross-faction. Limited to Voth Starships |
Voth Cloak Technologies 3 set bonus |
| Voth Phase Cloak | Stealth, Spawns Decoy Cloaks you for up to 20 sec |
Cross-faction Any Starship |
[Console - Universal - Voth Phase Decoy] |
| Dark Mode | After 3 sec, +5,141.3 Stealth -5 Current Shield Power per sec |
Starfleet | Section 31 Intel Science Destroyer and Section 31 Command Heavy Battlecruiser |
| Image Refractors | After 3 sec, +____ Stealth for 20 sec Heal 100% of Hull Capacity while Stealth |
Cross-faction Any Starship |
[Console - Universal - Hull Image Refractors] |
Starships with cloaking devices
Romulan starships
A Romulan Scimitar firing whilst cloaked
The Romulans have been one of the longest continual users of cloaking technology and believe most other powers stole the technology from them. ( “Butterfly”) All Romulan Warbirds are equipped with either a Romulan Cloak or a Romulan Battle Cloak which are more advanced than their standard counterparts. A handful of ships are alternatively equipped with a Romulan Enhanced Battle Cloak.
The Romulan console [Console - Universal - Cloaked Barrage] from the Scimitar Dreadnought Warbird (& usable on any Scimitar) enables the ship to fire all weapons while cloaked for a short period.
The only Romulan faction ships without any sort of cloaking device are the following:
Tier 2:
Tier 3:
Tier 4:
- D'deridex Warbird Battlecruiser
- D'ridthau Warbird Battlecruiser
- Ar'kif Tactical Warbird
- Ar'kala Tactical Warbird
Tier 5:
- Dhelan Warbird Retrofit
- Mogai Heavy Warbird Retrofit
- D'deridex Warbird Battlecruiser Retrofit
- Ha'apax Advanced Warbird
- Mirror Ha'apax Advanced Warbird
- Ha'nom Guardian Warbird
- Mirror Ha'nom Guardian Warbird
- Ha'feh Assault Warbird
- Mirror Ha'feh Assault Warbird
- Fleet Dhelan Warbird Retrofit
- Fleet Mogai Heavy Warbird Retrofit
- Fleet D'deridex Warbird Battlecruiser Retrofit
- Fleet Ha'apax Advanced Warbird (T5)
- Fleet Ha'nom Guardian Warbird
- Fleet Ha'feh Assault Warbird
- Haakona Advanced Warbird
- Daeinos Warbird Destroyer
- Ar'kif Tactical Carrier Warbird Retrofit
- Fleet Ar'kif Tactical Carrier Warbird Retrofit
- Fleet Daeinos Warbird Destroyer
- Mirror Dhelan Warbird Retrofit
- Aves Dyson Science Destroyer
- Harpia Reconnaissance Science Destroyer Warbird
- Tyton Strategic Science Destroyer Warbird
- Caprimul Surveillance Science Destroyer Warbird
- Mirror Mogai Heavy Warbird Retrofit
- Mirror T'varo Light Warbird Retrofit
Klingon starships
While the Klingon Empire had a type of cloaking device before the Federation discovered the Romulans had developed a device, cloaking devices did not become standard for the Klingon Defense Force until later. The vast majority of Klingon starships are equipped with either a basic Cloak, or a Battle Cloak. Ships such as the Vo'Quv Carrier are a very rare exception for the KDF.
In general, Klingon Battlecruisers, Raptors and Support Vessels have a standard cloak, while Destroyers and Raiders have a Battle cloak, though there are many exceptions. Starships made by other members of the Klingon Empire, such as those of Ferasan, Gorn, Lethean, Nausicaan and Orion design, do not possess cloaking devices.
Tier 3:
Tier 4:
Tier 5:
- Vo'Quv Carrier
- Gorn Varanus Fleet Support Vessel
- Orion Marauder Flight Deck Carrier
- Nausicaan Guramba Siege Destroyer
- Fleet Nausicaan Scourge Destroyer Retrofit
- Nausicaan Scourge Destroyer Retrofit
- Fleet Orion Corsair Flight Deck Carrier Retrofit
- Orion Corsair Flight Deck Carrier Retrofit
- Fleet Vo'Quv Carrier
- Korath Temporal Science Vessel
- Krenn Temporal Destroyer
- Gorn Varanus Support Vessel
- Mirror Vo'Quv Carrier
Tier 2:
Tier 3:
Tier 4:
Tier 5:
- Qin Heavy Raptor
- Negh'Var Heavy Battlecruiser
- Vor'cha Battlecruiser Retrofit
- Bortas Heavy Battlecruiser
- Bortasqu' Command Cruiser
- Bortasqu' Tactical Cruiser
- Bortasqu' War Cruiser
- Fleet Qin Heavy Raptor
- Fleet K't'inga Battlecruiser Retrofit
- K't'inga Battlecruiser Retrofit
- Fleet Tor'Kaht Battlecruiser Retrofit
- Fleet Somraw Raptor Retrofit
- Somraw Raptor Retrofit
- Fleet Negh'Var Heavy Battlecruiser
- Mirror Vor'cha Battlecruiser
- Mirror Qin Heavy Raptor
- Kamarag Battlecruiser Retrofit
- Fleet K'maj Battlecruiser Retrofit
- Mogh Battlecruiser
- Fleet Mogh Battlecruiser (T5)
- Mirror Negh'Var Heavy Battlecruiser
- Nov Dyson Science Destroyer
- Chontay Dyson Tactical Science Destroyer
- MoQ Dyson Battle Science Destroyer
- Ta'Sub Dyson Command Science Destroyer
- Mirror Somraw Raptor Retrofit
Cross-faction starships
Any starship can be cloaked by using either [Console - Universal - Hull Image Refractors] or [Console - Universal - Voth Phase Decoy]. Alternatively, some starships have a native cloaking ability that doesn't depend on any console.
The Voth Cloak Technologies set grants the following starships:
Voth Cloak when 2 pieces are equipped
Voth Battle Cloak when 3 pieces are equipped
Federation cloaking technology
Cloaked Federation Galaxy Dreadnought
The Treaty of Algeron, signed in 2311 by the Romulan Star Empire and the United Federation of Planets, prohibited Federation cloaking devices. This agreement has been a source of controversy in Starfleet, where some officers believed it severely limited tactical options and put the Federation at a disadvantage. Although the Federation initially agreed to follow the treaty after the destruction of the Romulan homeworld, in early 2409 Starfleet was authorized to develop and implement cloaking technology on selected ships.
[Console - Universal - Cloaking Device] is a universal starship console that grants the basic Cloak ability. It is available from the Federation Dreadnought Cruiser and the Tactical Escort Retrofit but can be equipped on the Dreadnought Cruiser and Avenger Battlecruiser (and their variants). Adding the consoles from the two other Tactical Escort ships gives a three set bonus from Stealth Fighter Set which turns it into a Battle Cloak, but this is only possible for a Tier 5 Tactical Escort or higher.
A Battle Cloak is also available from the Starfleet Assault Cruiser Technology Set 3 set bonus, available to the Intel Assault Cruiser. One of the three consoles of that set, [Console - Universal - Incremental Phase Cloaking Device], functions as a primitive cloaking device but with very different functionality to the normal devices mentioned above. Federation captains also have access to some cross-faction starships that have or can use cloaking devices (see comprehensive list below).
While not a traditional cloaking device, the Section 31 Intel Science Destroyer's Dark Mode provides a stealth bonus and invisibility near-equivalent to a basic cloaking device, and provides a similar damage boost at termination of the mode.
Federation cloakable starships
Quantum Singularity Manipulation
Quantum Singularity Manipulation is a form of cloaking available as an active reputation trait from the Romulan Reputation. It cloaks the player's ship, regardless of the ship or player faction, and allows the ship to continue firing without breaking the cloak.
Penetration of cloaks
An Emission-Seeking Torpedo heading towards a cloaked ship
Efficiency of cloak's stealth is linked to auxiliary power level and cloaks can be penetrated through some perception abilities. The value of these abilities are primarily in PvP. In many PvE queues and missions an NPC cloaks for plot reasons and cannot be detected. Of note, abilities include;
- Antiproton Sweep
- Attack Pattern Lambda
- Charged Particle Burst
- Emission-Seeking Torpedo
- Tachyon Detection Field
- Tachyon Detection Grid
- Sensor Scan
Cloaked mines
Mines can sometimes be cloaked until activated. Examples of these include the those from the Tractor Beam Mine Launcher and the Subspace Anesthezine Mine.
Personal cloaks
Personal cloaking goes under a variety of names but is most frequently seen among NPCs as the Jem'Hadar Shroud. As a player ability is also termed a Stealth Module.
External Links
- Cloaking device at Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki.
- Cloaking device at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek Wiki.