Harry Kim, the reputation officer
Harry Kim is a rare Science officer in Star Trek Fleet Command, and his value comes down to one job: he speeds up how fast you earn faction reputation. Put him on your bridge and every positive reputation reward you collect gets a percentage boost on top.
That makes him a quiet workhorse rather than a combat star. He has no captain maneuver at all, so he never sits in the captain’s chair for a bonus. His worth shows up when you are grinding standing with the Federation, Klingons, Romulans, or any other faction you want to climb.
If you are working toward faction ships, store access, or reputation-locked rewards, Harry Kim can shave real time off the grind. This guide covers what he does, how his abilities scale, what he costs to rank up, and when it makes sense to crew him.
Star Trek background
Harry Kim is Ensign Kim from Star Trek: Voyager, the ship’s operations officer. He came out of Starfleet Academy with a strong record in analytical operations and engineering, and Voyager was his first posting. Fresh, eager, and a little green, he was the youngest senior officer on the ship.
That first assignment turned into the defining event of his career. Voyager was thrown roughly 70,000 light-years from home into the Delta Quadrant, stranding the crew far outside Federation space. Kim spent the long years of that journey as one of the youngest faces on a ship trying to find its way back, and the friendships he formed aboard became the anchor of his story. A piece of Star Trek trivia that sticks with fans: he stayed an ensign for almost the entire run, never getting the promotion his record seemed to earn. In the game his flavor text leans on the idea that the journey home mattered as much as reaching it.
Harry Kim’s role in STFC
Harry Kim is a utility officer built around reputation farming. He is not a damage dealer, a mining buffer, or a station defender. His single bridge ability raises all positive reputation gains, so he earns his slot whenever you are deliberately building standing with a faction.
Reputation matters because so much of the game sits behind it. Climbing positive standing with a faction opens up that faction’s ships, unlocks and stocks its faction store, and clears reputation-gated rewards. You raise a faction’s reputation mostly by killing the hostiles it is at war with and running its missions, which means a lot of repeat combat. Anything that makes each of those rewards count for more, the way Harry Kim does, trims hours off the climb.
He also carries a below-decks ability that can apply Morale during fights against non-player hostiles and armadas, which gives him a small secondary use even when reputation is not your goal. More on that below.
Abilities
Captain ability: Unfit To Lead
Harry Kim has no captain maneuver. The ability is named Unfit To Lead, and putting him in the captain’s chair gives no benefit whatsoever. Treat his captain seat as dead weight and always hand the captain slot to an officer with a real maneuver. Harry Kim belongs in a regular bridge officer seat, never as captain.
Officer ability: Are We Friends?
This is the reason to use him. When Harry Kim sits on the bridge, all of your positive reputation gains go up by a set percentage. That covers reputation from missions, hostile kills, and the other sources that award standing. The bonus grows each time you promote him. The values below are current as of the latest game data.
| Rank | Reputation bonus |
|---|---|
| 1 | 7% |
| 2 | 10% |
| 3 | 15% |
| 4 | 20% |
| 5 | 30% |
At maximum rank he adds 30% to positive reputation, which stacks up fast over a long grind. Because the boost is a flat percentage on top of what you already earn, it works no matter which faction you are chasing.
Below decks ability: To the Journey!
From a below-decks slot, Harry Kim has a chance at the start of a round to apply Morale to your ship for one round when you fight non-player hostiles or armadas. The chance starts low and climbs steeply as you promote him, reaching reliable territory at the top ranks. Morale is a handy combat state, so this gives Harry Kim a reason to ride below decks on a hostile-grinding or armada ship even on a run where reputation is not the point.
Where Harry Kim shines
Reputation grinds are his home. He earns his place in a few clear situations:
- Building faction reputation. Any time you are killing faction hostiles or running missions to raise standing with the Federation, Klingons, Romulans, or another faction, his bridge ability speeds the whole process.
- Reaching reputation-gated content. Faction ships and faction store stock sit behind reputation tiers, so a steady boost gets you to them sooner.
- Below-decks Morale. On a ship that fights hostiles or armadas, parking him below decks gives a shot at Morale without spending a bridge seat on him.
He is a poor fit for pure PvP, mining, or station defense. When reputation is not on your to-do list, he usually stays on the bench, and that is fine. He is a tool you pull out for a specific job rather than a permanent fixture.
How to get Harry Kim
Harry Kim is a rare officer, so his shards come from the channels rare officers usually rotate through. Check current event rewards, faction store stock, and recruit token pools, since availability shifts with the game’s event calendar. Rather than counting on a single fixed source, watch the rotations and grab shards when he shows up.
Shard cost by rank
These figures are the shards needed to promote into each rank, current as of the latest game data.
| Rank | Shards to promote |
|---|---|
| 1 | 40 |
| 2 | 40 |
| 3 | 100 |
| 4 | 180 |
| 5 | 190 |
That comes to 550 shards in total. The early ranks are cheap, so even a partly built Harry Kim hands you a usable reputation boost long before you finish him. If you only have a handful of shards, getting him to rank 2 or 3 is already worth doing for an active faction grind.
Synergy and crewing
Harry Kim gives no class synergy bonus. His Command, Engineering, and Science synergy values all read zero, so he does not feed synergy to the rest of your crew the way many officers do. He also has no standout named synergy partners in the game’s data.
That shapes how you crew him. You are not building around Harry Kim; you are slotting him in for the reputation boost while two other officers carry the captain maneuver and the second bridge ability. Pick a captain whose maneuver helps you survive the hostiles you are farming, add a third bridge officer that fits that fight, and let Harry Kim work the reputation gain in the background. If you have spare below-decks room, his Morale chance is a small bonus on top.
Frequently asked questions
Is Harry Kim any good in STFC?
For his one job, yes. If you are grinding faction reputation, his bridge ability is a real time-saver. Outside of reputation farming he has little use, so whether he is worth building depends on how much faction grinding you actually do.
Should I use Harry Kim as captain?
No. He has no captain maneuver, so the captain seat wastes him. Keep him in a regular bridge slot and give the captain chair to an officer with a real maneuver.
Where do you get Harry Kim shards?
As a rare officer he cycles through events, faction stores, and recruit pools. Stock and event availability change often, so check the current store and event rotations rather than relying on a fixed source.
How many shards does Harry Kim cost to max?
550 shards in total, spread as 40, 40, 100, 180, and 190 across his five ranks.
What ship is Harry Kim best on?
Whatever ship you are using to farm faction reputation. He cares about the reputation you earn, not the hull, so put him on the ship you already fly against the faction you want to grind. For his below-decks Morale chance, a hostile or armada ship gets the most out of him.
Should you chase Harry Kim?
Harry Kim is a specialist, and a cheap one to start. If you have faction reputation to grind, and most players do at some point, his low early ranks and steady reputation boost make him an easy officer to slot in and benefit from right away. If faction standing is not something you are working on now, he can sit until it is, then earn his keep the moment you start the climb.
