Swarm Armadas

Swarm armadas in Star Trek Fleet Command spawn in seventeen systems at three levels. The level 40 Swarm Horde sits in Kiju, Miset, Araxian, Estar, Uyik, Siieqa, Vahok, Nobeau, Huik and Iusum (warp 75 to 90). The level 44 Horde sits in Vugef, Begekou, Hobu and Hedex (warp 100), and the level 48 Horde sits in Raxo, Widis and Beilum, deep in Swarm space. They pay Swarm Advanced Biotics: 40 at level 40, 60 at level 44 and 80 at level 48. The ordinary Swarm hostiles, the Swarm Clusters, run from level 15 to 50 in their own systems, listed further down.

You need the USS Franklin-A before you can command a Swarm armada, and each attack starts with Rare Armada Directives.

Swarm armada locations

Three Swarm armada tiers spawn in fixed systems. The warp shown next to each system is the range you need to reach it; the level 47 to 50 systems (Hedex, Widis, Raxo and Beilum) have no direct warp figure and are reached through Swarm space instead.

Armada level	Power	Hull health	Systems (warp)	Swarm Advanced Biotics
40	254,905,719	500,000,000	Kiju (80), Miset (90), Araxian (75), Estar (75), Uyik (80), Siieqa (85), Vahok (80), Nobeau (90), Huik (85), Iusum (75)	40
44	510,082,816	1,000,000,000	Vugef (100), Begekou (100), Hobu (100), Hedex (Swarm space)	60
48	1,040,286,914	2,000,000,000	Raxo (Swarm space), Widis (Swarm space), Beilum (Swarm space)	80

Power doubles at each step: about 255 million at level 40, 510 million at level 44, and just over a billion at level 48. Level 48 is the highest Swarm armada, so there is no level 50, 55 or 60 Swarm armada to look for.

Level 40 swarm locations

Level 40 is the most searched level because it is where the first Swarm armada sits. It spawns across ten systems at warp 75 to 90: Araxian, Estar and Iusum (warp 75), Kiju, Uyik and Vahok (warp 80), Siieqa and Huik (warp 85), and Miset and Nobeau (warp 90). Those same systems carry the level 37 to 43 Swarm Clusters, so one trip covers both the armada and the regular ships around it.

Where to find Swarm hostiles by level

Most people searching for Swarm locations want the ordinary Swarm ships rather than the armadas. The Swarm Cluster runs from level 15 to 50 and drops Frequency Modulators up to level 35, then Frequency Modulator Mk. II from level 37. It is an Interceptor at every level, so bring an Explorer.

Level	Systems	Warp	Drop per kill
15	Andvaris, Kohva	13	Frequency Modulators 1 to 2
16	Omtose, Caldik	13	Frequency Modulators 2 to 3
17	Altamid	13	Frequency Modulators 4 to 5
18	Herias	13	Frequency Modulators 6 to 8
19	Ezani	15	Frequency Modulators 10 to 14
20	Beta Vordunn, Idran	15 / 25	Frequency Modulators 18 to 24
22	Klaiz	15	Frequency Modulators 30 to 41
24	Er’Yozun, Lahrel	22	Frequency Modulators 51 to 69
26	Alpha Horunia, Sayo	22	Frequency Modulators 86 to 116
28	Redmond, Ortek	22	Frequency Modulators 145 to 196
30	Fontaine, Von	23	Frequency Modulators 245 to 331
32	Adelphi, Fyrsta	23	Frequency Modulators 414 to 559
35	Dalogn, Vesali	27	Frequency Modulators 699 to 944
37	Araxian, Iusum, Estar	75	Frequency Modulator Mk. II 3 to 4
39	Kiju, Uyik, Vahok	80	Frequency Modulator Mk. II 14 to 18
41	Siieqa, Huik	85	Frequency Modulator Mk. II 25 to 32
43	Miset, Nobeau	90	Frequency Modulator Mk. II 43 to 54
44	Begekou	100	Frequency Modulator Mk. II 72 to 90
45	Vugef	100	Frequency Modulator Mk. II 121 to 152
46	Hobu	100	Frequency Modulator Mk. II 204 to 256
47	Hedex	Swarm space	Frequency Modulator Mk. II 348 to 436
48	Widis	Swarm space	Frequency Modulator Mk. II 590 to 738
49	Raxo	Swarm space	Frequency Modulator Mk. II 1,003 to 1,254
50	Beilum	Swarm space	Frequency Modulator Mk. II 1,705 to 2,132

The jump between level 35 and level 37 is the one to notice. Everything up to Dalogn and Vesali sits at warp 27 or below, and then the level 37 systems need warp 75. That gap is where most players stall, and it is a warp problem rather than a combat problem. From level 44 upward each system holds a single Swarm level, so Begekou, Vugef, Hobu, Hedex, Widis, Raxo and Beilum form a ladder you climb one system at a time.

A second Swarm ship, the Swarm Agressor, appears from level 28 to 52 but has no fixed system. It shows up through events and the Swarm arc rather than on the map, and it is far tougher than a Cluster of the same level, reaching about 4.3 billion hull at level 52.

Crew for Swarm armadas

The long-standing crew for Swarm armadas is William T. Riker as captain with Six of Eleven and Khan alongside him, with below decks weighted toward attack.

Riker captains because Swarm armadas throw a lot of small hits rather than a few large ones, which suits a crew built around sustained damage. Six of Eleven covers the Swarm-specific side, and Khan adds the raw attack that turns a long fight into a shorter one. If you are short an officer, fill the captain seat first and weight below decks toward attack. Swarm armadas are a damage race more than a survival test. Crew picks shift with the meta, so check the officer tier list for newer options.

Armada Directives and where they come from

Swarm armadas launch with Rare Armada Directives, the same standard directives that start other PvE armadas rather than a Swarm-specific item, at 100 directives per launch. There are four reliable sources: the Alliance Store, where you buy chests with the Armada Credits you earn from defeating armadas; Daily Goals, which award Uncommon directives for milestones; the Leader Chest, which can drop higher-tier directives when you start and defeat an armada yourself; and the Armada Control Center, where upgrading the building raises how many directives you generate. The Armada Control Center is the one players under-use, because it raises output permanently rather than one chest at a time.

What Swarm armadas drop

Swarm armadas pay Swarm Advanced Biotics, the material the Swarm arc runs on: 40 per level 40 Horde, 60 per level 44 Horde and 80 per level 48 Horde. Every player who joins a successful armada attack shares in the rewards, which is why coordinating a full group matters more than any single ship in it.

What you are fighting

Swarm Hordes have no shields at all, only hull: 500 million at level 40, 1 billion at level 44 and 2 billion at level 48. Shield piercing does nothing for you here and armor piercing does everything. Each Horde runs five weapons: two Energy weapons that fire three shots every round, two Kinetic weapons that fire three shots every other round, and one heavy Kinetic weapon that fires a single huge shot on a long timer. At level 40 that heavy shot deals 12.4 to 14.9 million, about 45 times a regular Kinetic shot. Every weapon has a 10% crit chance at 1.5x.

Horde	Weapon type	Count	Damage per shot	Fires	Crit
Level 40	Kinetic	2	267,424–320,912 x3 shots	Every other round	10% (1.5x)
	Kinetic	1	12,402,726–14,883,269	Every 15 rounds	10% (1.5x)
	Energy	2	133,714–160,461 x3 shots	Every round	10% (1.5x)
Level 44	Kinetic	2	483,699–580,444 x3 shots	Every other round	10% (1.5x)
	Kinetic	1	12,402,726–14,883,269	Every 15 rounds	10% (1.5x)
	Energy	2	241,847–290,223 x3 shots	Every round	10% (1.5x)
Level 48	Kinetic	2	2,480,508–2,976,636 x3 shots	Every other round	10% (1.5x)
	Kinetic	1	123,002,254–147,602,674	Every 10 rounds	10% (1.5x)
	Energy	2	620,122–744,162 x3 shots	Every round	10% (1.5x)

The practical read: build for armor piercing and sustained damage, ignore shield piercing, and expect the fight to be decided by how much damage your group puts out between those heavy shots.

Swarm Horde defense and piercing

Horde	Armor	Shield deflection	Dodge	Armor piercing	Shield piercing	Accuracy	Crit chance / damage
Level 40	113,708	113,708	113,708	35,529	7,106	7,106	10% / 150%
Level 44	341,124	341,124	341,124	71,058	14,212	14,212	10% / 150%
Level 48	682,248	682,248	682,248	106,587	21,318	21,318	10% / 150%

Where to go next

For armadas outside Swarm space, the armada locations page covers targets by faction and level, and solo armadas covers the ones you can run without a group. Formation armadas are the three-target variety.