Sparks

A spark is a nanobot specialization installed on your character. While it is active, its bonuses apply to every robot you pilot — the spark for a faction's combat line, for example, raises weapon damage and critical chance level by level, while an industrial line raises core capacity and mining yield.

Each character has a default spark given at creation. Beyond that, sparks come in families — the basic default lines, per-faction combat/industrial/social lines (three levels each), paid Syndicate lines, and special limited lines — and a spark's exact bonuses are just a bundle of fixed skill levels you can see on the extensions page. The family overview below jumps straight to each family's sparks.

Unlocking (authorizing) a spark

Installing a spark you don't own yet requires unlocking it first (docked only). Depending on the spark, the server checks:

• a price in NIC (the paid lines — e.g. the Syndicate utility sparks and the limited special sparks),
• standing with the developer megacorporation (the per-faction lines need a minimum standing with that faction's megacorp, built by completing its missions),
• or an item taken from your inventory (some special sparks are unlocked with a key item).

Unlocking is one-time: once unlocked, the spark stays in your collection.

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Active: character created (default spark installed)
    Active --> Active: one spark at a time
    Active --> Cooldown: switch (costs NIC, per-spark)
    Cooldown --> Active: after 1 hour (new spark's bonuses apply to all robots)

Switching sparks

• You can only have one active spark at a time; installing another swaps it.
• Each switch costs NIC — the amount is per-spark (the common lines cost 10k, the paid special lines up to a million).
• There is a one-hour cooldown between switches: the server tracks when your current spark was activated and refuses a new one until the minute is over.

Because switching always costs NIC and takes an hour, pick the spark that matches the activity you are spending the most time on, and treat re- specializing as an occasional decision rather than a per-session one.

Spark families

The 47 sparks in 6 families at a glance: one box per family (spark count, how the line unlocks), in the order the lines were added (left to right, top to bottom). Click a box to jump to that family's sparks below. Scroll over the diagram to zoom, drag to pan, and use the ⟲ button to reset.

Event & special (9)

Unlock: nothing — these are the basic default lines. Each switch costs NIC (the amount is per spark, see the cards) and takes a one-hour cooldown — see Switching sparks above.

TM (Truhold-Markson) (9)

Unlock: standing with the TM megacorporation (2 → 4 → 6 by level). Each switch costs NIC (the amount is per spark, see the cards) and takes a one-hour cooldown — see Switching sparks above.

ICS (9)

Unlock: standing with the ICS megacorporation (2 → 4 → 6 by level). Each switch costs NIC (the amount is per spark, see the cards) and takes a one-hour cooldown — see Switching sparks above.

ASI (9)

Unlock: standing with the ASI megacorporation (2 → 4 → 6 by level). Each switch costs NIC (the amount is per spark, see the cards) and takes a one-hour cooldown — see Switching sparks above.

Syndicate (NIC) (5)

Unlock: a NIC price (1M per spark). Each switch costs NIC (the amount is per spark, see the cards) and takes a one-hour cooldown — see Switching sparks above.

Limited (6)

Unlock: a NIC price (25–50M per spark). Each switch costs NIC (the amount is per spark, see the cards) and takes a one-hour cooldown — see Switching sparks above.