The Alliance Bird-of-Prey is a Mirror Universe hostile in Star Trek Fleet Command. It spawns in two separate bands: a lone level 35 version in Mirror Cardassia, then levels 45 to 70 across mirror space at warp ranges from 75 to 800. It only appears as an Interceptor, so an Explorer is the ship to bring. Kills in the main band pay Raw Trellium-A and Raw Trellium-D, and its Deadlock ability hull breaches your ship the moment combat starts.
How to beat the Alliance Bird-of-Prey
Every Alliance Bird-of-Prey is an Interceptor, and Explorers beat Interceptors, so the counter choice is settled before you undock. There is no Battleship or Explorer variant of this hostile, which means nothing changes between the level 35 spawn and the level 70 one: the same Explorer counter applies across the whole range.
Its two built-in abilities work as a pair. Deadlock hull breaches your ship at combat start and holds the breach for the entire fight. Dismantlement and Photophobia then cash in on it: at the start of any round in which your ship is hull breached, the Bird-of-Prey gains 20% weapon damage and 10% Isolytic Damage for that round. Since Deadlock makes the breach permanent, both bonuses are effectively always on. There is no way to play around the combo, so plan for a short fight: bring the strongest Explorer you can field and repair between kills instead of counting on your shields to carry a long exchange.
For crew, the principle beats any fixed list: a captain whose ability raises weapon damage against hostiles, backed by officers that add damage or mitigation. The cadet trio of Cadet Kirk as captain with Cadet Spock and Cadet Uhura can still handle the level 35 spawn, but the 45-plus band wants stronger combinations, so check the officer tier list for current picks. Crews shift with the meta, so treat any named combination as a starting point.
Where to find the Alliance Bird-of-Prey
The level 35 version sits alone in Mirror Cardassia at warp 50; nothing spawns between 35 and 45, so don’t go hunting for the missing middle levels. The main band starts at level 45, where seven systems at warp 75 give you plenty of room to farm, then thins out as it climbs: by level 68 the spawns demand a warp range of 800. That jump from warp 230 at level 60 to warp 800 at level 68 splits the grind in two, and most players will live in the 45 to 60 band for a long while before the top systems open up.
| Level | Warp | Systems |
|---|---|---|
| 35 | 50 | Mirror Cardassia |
| 45 | 75 | Mirror Aletara, Mirror Archanis [Extract], Mirror Ganalda, Mirror Khitomer, Mirror K’amia, Mirror Urthak, Mirror Yadow |
| 48 | 120 | Mirror Hoeven [Extract], Mirror Kronos, Mirror Ty’Gokor |
| 50 | 125 | Mirror Morska |
| 58 | 230 | Mirror Beta Penthe |
| 60 | 230 | Mirror Velata |
| 68 | 800 | Mirror Carraya [Extract] |
| 70 | 800 | Mirror Gya’han |
Rewards and what it drops
From level 45 up, every kill pays Raw Trellium-A, and from level 48 up Raw Trellium-D joins it. Both scale steeply: Trellium-A runs from about 5 per kill at the bottom of the band to 3,500 at level 70, and Trellium-D from 8 to 4,400. The odd one out is the level 35 spawn, which drops 5,000 to 10,000 Parsteel instead of Trellium; treat it as a mission-level target, not a farming stop. Ship XP climbs from 703 at level 35 to 51,800 at level 70, so higher kills pay off twice.
| Drop | What it is |
|---|---|
| Raw Trellium-A | A Mirror Universe arc grind material; 5 to 3,500 per kill from levels 45 to 70 |
| Raw Trellium-D | A second mirror-space grind material, dropping from level 48 up at 8 to 4,400 per kill |
| Parsteel | Basic construction resource; only the level 35 spawn drops it, at 5,000 to 10,000 per kill |
Alliance Bird-of-Prey stats
There is only one hull variant, but stats climb steeply with level: the level 70 version is over 50,000 times stronger than the level 35 one.
| Level | Total strength | Hull HP | Shield HP | Attack | Defense | Ship XP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 945,043 | 115,290 | 115,290 | 420,023 | 409,730 | 703 |
| 58 | 2,208,190,221 | 2,579,244,738 | 1,719,496,492 | 38,890,331 | 19,929,275 | 9,838 |
| 70 | 49,666,459,537 | 55,579,707,336 | 37,053,138,224 | 2,308,102,692 | 1,041,934,065 | 51,800 |
Alliance Bird-of-Prey firing pattern
The Bird-of-Prey carries one energy weapon that fires every round and a pair of kinetic weapons that fire every other round, all after a one-round warm-up. The kinetic pair is the real threat: each shot hits roughly three times harder than the energy weapon, so the damage arrives in alternating spikes. A round with the kinetic volley deals roughly 343,000 to 420,000 total damage at level 35 before crits, while the off rounds carry only the energy shot. Every shot has a 10% chance to crit for 1.5x. The figures below come from the level 35 record; higher levels hit far harder, but the rhythm holds.
| Weapon type | Count | Damage per shot | Fires | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 1 | 52,956–64,723 | Every round | 10% (1.5x) |
| Kinetic | 2 | 145,249–177,527 | Every other round | 10% (1.5x) |
The Klingon-Cardassian Alliance in Star Trek
The Bird-of-Prey is the signature Klingon raider, and in the mirror universe it flies for the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. That timeline opened in the original series episode “Mirror, Mirror,” where the Terran Empire ruled through fear, and picked back up in Deep Space Nine’s “Crossover”: after Spock reformed the Empire, it fell to the combined Klingon and Cardassian fleets, and the Alliance took its place with Terrans as slave labor. Intendant Kira governed the mirror Terok Nor, Regent Worf led the Alliance military, and ships like this one enforced their rule. Star Trek Fleet Command’s Mirror Universe arc casts it as a standard Alliance patrol craft.
Is the Alliance Bird-of-Prey worth grinding?
Yes, once you are into the Mirror Universe arc and need Trellium. The 45 to 60 band is the sweet spot for most players: seven systems to farm at level 45 alone, with drop amounts that scale fast as you climb. Skip the level 35 spawn unless a mission sends you there, since it only pays Parsteel. Match your warp range to the table, bring the Explorer you can repair cheapest, and expect the hull breach every single fight.