The Art of Misdirection is a Borg-arc mission in Star Trek Fleet Command where you pull the Borg’s attention so nearby civilians can slip away. The job is a distraction: draw the Borg out, feed them their own Inert Nanoprobes, then quietly withdraw. It picks up at your station and reaches warp 18 at its farthest point, with a single fight in the middle. Finish it for 62,000 Dilithium and 19 three-star Uncommon Refined Crystal. It is short and light on combat, worth clearing as you move through the arc.
The Art of Misdirection objectives
The mission runs as a straight sequence with no branching choice. Work through the steps in order:
- Go to a Borg-controlled system: Metra Gamma.
- Collect 5,000 Inert Nanoprobes.
- Defeat the Borg probe at Metra Gamma, a hostile of roughly 347,000 ship strength.
- Donate 5,000 Inert Nanoprobes.
- Go to an Independent system: Opla.
- Return to your station.
The collect step and the donate step use the same resource, so the 5,000 Inert Nanoprobes you gather early in the run are the same 5,000 you hand back later. Two travel legs bookend a single fight, which keeps the whole thing fast once you have the nanoprobes ready.
Where and what warp
The mission starts at your station and sends you first to Metra Gamma, the Borg-controlled system, at warp 18. That is the deepest leg and the number to plan your warp range around. The later stop, the Independent system Opla, sits closer in, so the return trip is easier than the outbound one. Assign a ship that can already reach warp 18 before you begin; if it falls short, you will stall on the very first objective and the rest of the steps stay locked behind it.
The Art of Misdirection rewards
Completing the mission pays 62,000 Dilithium and 19 three-star Uncommon Refined Crystal. It also continues the Borg storyline and unlocks the next mission in the arc. For the small amount of effort involved, the Dilithium alone makes it an easy clear, and the Refined Crystal is a useful bonus for refining work at this stage.
Tips
Stockpile Inert Nanoprobes before you start. You collect 5,000 and then donate the same 5,000, so arriving with a supply already in your hold, or knowing a quick farming spot in Borg space, saves you a return trip mid-mission.
Check your warp range first. Metra Gamma at warp 18 is the gate on this mission; a ship that falls short cannot reach it, and every later step waits behind that first jump.
Bring one combat-ready ship. The lone Borg probe sits near 347,000 strength, which a solid mid-tier ship clears on its own, so there is no need to bring a full fleet.
Expect to meet this mission inside the wider Borg arc rather than seeking it out on its own. It slots into the surrounding run of Borg missions, so most players reach it mid-storyline while working the chain around it.
The Opla stop is the wind-down. Once the probe is down and the nanoprobes are handed over, the trip to the Independent system and the return to your station just close the mission out, so there is nothing left to fight or farm after Metra Gamma.
