The Bird of Prey Scout is a low-level neutral hostile you’ll meet across open space at levels 31 to 33. It flies as an Explorer, sits at warp 25, and drops Mycelium Spore, a refining material. Because it’s an Explorer, a Battleship-class ship counters it cleanly. It’s a light target, good for early Mycelium farming and a steady trickle of ship XP while you grind through the low 30s.
How to beat the Bird of Prey Scout
The Bird of Prey Scout only spawns as an Explorer, so you counter it with a Battleship. In STFC’s combat triangle, Battleships beat Explorers, which means a Battleship at a similar or higher tier clears these without much trouble. There is nothing to swap between levels here: the hull never changes, so one Battleship covers the whole 31 to 33 range. If your Battleship sits a few tiers above the spawn, you can auto-run these and barely watch the fights.
The class match matters because a Battleship’s bonus against Explorers both lifts your damage and softens the hits coming back. This ship mixes energy and kinetic fire, with its single kinetic shot landing the biggest hit, so a Battleship with balanced defense rides out its output. Keep your ship’s health topped up between kills so a bad crit streak never turns into a repair timer.
For crew, put a captain that boosts weapon damage against hostiles in the captain’s chair, then fill the other seats with officers that add damage or mitigation. At this level a cadet crew still holds up: Cadet Kirk as captain with Cadet Spock and Cadet Uhura is a cheap, reliable starter that most players already have. For current best-in-slot picks, check the Officer Tier List. Crews shift with the meta, so treat any named lineup as a starting point rather than a fixed answer.
Where to find the Bird of Prey Scout
These scouts cluster in neutral systems at warp 25. The level 31 spawns spread across a wide band of systems, while the level 33 version shows up in a few deeper spots. Match your warp range to 25 and pick whichever listed system sits closest to your base to cut travel time between kills. Because the two level bands sit so close together, you never have to re-crew or re-ship as you move from the 31 systems to the 33 systems, which makes this an easy hostile to farm in long sessions.
| Level | Warp | Systems |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | 25 | Aletara, Blys, Evans, Kraatu, Orai-12, Pandosia, Sentaros, Tauro-34, Velata |
| 33 | 25 | Ferrer, Kavka, Ordesia |
Rewards and what it drops
The Bird of Prey Scout drops Mycelium Spore, a raw resource you collect and refine into materials for upgrades. Each kill also hands out ship XP, and that payout grows as you fight the higher-level spawns, from 555 at level 31 up to 627 at level 33.
| Drop | What it is |
|---|---|
| Mycelium Spore | A raw material you gather from these kills and refine into higher-tier resources |
Bird of Prey Scout stats
Stats vary by level and climb steeply, so the jump from 31 to 33 is bigger than it looks. These are the low and high anchor rows.
| Level | Total strength | Hull HP | Shield HP | Attack | Defense | Ship XP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1,143,802 | 131,650 | 190,150 | 483,872 | 499,030 | 555 |
| 33 | 1,740,896 | 203,420 | 293,820 | 732,306 | 759,970 | 627 |
Bird of Prey Scout firing pattern
This ship carries two energy weapons that fire every round and one kinetic weapon that fires every other round. The kinetic shot hits about twice as hard per shot, so the rounds where it lands are the ones to time repairs or mitigation around. Against a well-tiered Battleship none of it stings much, but if you push into a fight close to your own level, expect the spikes on the kinetic rounds.
| Weapon type | Count | Damage per shot | Fires | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 2 | 73,243-89,519 | Every round | 10% (1.5x) |
| Kinetic | 1 | 146,486-179,038 | Every other round | 10% (1.5x) |
The Bird-of-Prey in Star Trek
The Bird-of-Prey is one of Star Trek’s most recognizable warship designs, tied most closely to the Klingon Empire. It first appeared in the film The Search for Spock: a compact raider with a forward-swept wing profile, a cloaking device, and enough firepower to punch above its size. Romulans flew an earlier Bird-of-Prey back in the original series, and the name has stuck to small, fast attack ships ever since. In Star Trek Fleet Command, unaffiliated raiders fly stripped-down versions like this Scout, leaning on the design’s speed and low cost instead of any single government’s colors.
Is the Bird of Prey Scout worth grinding?
It’s a solid early farm if you need Mycelium Spore or a steady flow of ship XP, and the single Explorer hull makes it one of the simpler targets to auto-run. It won’t carry you long past level 33, but while you’re sitting in that band it’s easy value. Bring a Battleship, match warp 25, and clear the listed system closest to your base.