Quark, Son of Keldar

by David Runyon, Staff Writer

29th December 2008

Obviously, Quark sees play in Ferengi decks, but usually in his orange-clad Rules of Acquisition persona rather than the domesticated red version previewed in the First Anthology and formally released with Blaze of Glory. Is it because his red clashes with the rest of the Ferengi orange? I don’t think so.

Although Quark’s standard persona has plenty of reasons to play him, he’s a lonely soul. Quark Son of Keldar (besides being dual-affiliation) has the benefit of being a little green married man! Aside from his unusual (for a Ferengi) skills of Honor and Leadership, he buffs his wife Grilka’s attributes by three—and she returns the favor. This pumps Quark up from a lackluster 5-7-4 (his Rules of Acquisition persona tops out at 7-8-3) to a positively mighty 8-10-7! Of course, his mighty Klingon lady totals up at 11-11-10, which is nothing to laugh at either.

These two don’t just have powerful attributes; they also have a number of useful skills. The two of them together have 3 Honor, 2 Leadership, 2 Computer Skill, Biology, and Greed. Throw in just one more Honor and you’ll have three personnel completing Wormhole Negotiations before you know it.

Quark Son of Keldar is a natural combo with Rule #33. Just like the Son of Keldar himself, Rule #33 comes in two “colors:” First Edition and Second Edition. The First Edition version plays off of Quark’s Greed, scoring points or drawing cards. The Second Edition version buffs Quark’s attributes even further when facing a dilemma, adding two to each attribute until the end of the turn. With Rule #33 (Second Edition), Quark and Grilka total 21-23-19. This is an attribute total (63) higher than any other high-profile married couple in the game. Odo and Kira Nerys (Deep Space 9) total 16-14-21 (51) when fighting Cardassians; Worf, Son of Mogh and Jadzia Dax (Blaze of Glory) total 16-15-18 (49). The Mirror Siskos (14+18+15 = 47) beat the O’Briens by a hair (17+16+13 = 46), who in turn tie the Manheims (17+20+9 = 46). The Soong-Tainers (12+23+9 = 44) tie with the Paris-Torres pair (13+15+16 = 44) and the Crushers (16+16+12 = 44). Beverly Picard and her alternate hubby, Jean-Luc Picard, fall just one short (16+17+10 = 43). Not even the one-night-only couple Data and Jenna D’Sora (15+18+17 = 50) beat Quark.

I know it’s a little early for Valentine’s Day, but I hope you’ll realize the romance between Quark Son of Keldar and Grilka.
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