WOK Joachim, an Epic Augment defender
WOK Joachim is an Epic officer in Star Trek Fleet Command, added during the Wrath of Khan arc alongside the Augment Exiles content. He fills a narrow job well: keeping a survey ship alive when another player attacks it.
His appeal is survivability. Fly a survey ship into contested space, and if a player opens fire, Joachim’s ability stacks on a large amount of Apex Barrier, the game’s form of true damage mitigation. For commanders who mine or move cargo where they can be hit, that is the exact problem he solves.
He is not a captain pick and he does not add damage. Think of him as a defensive specialist for survey ships, and he earns his place on the right crew.
The WOK crew in STFC
The WOK crew is the set of five Wrath of Khan officers: WOK Carol Marcus, WOK Leonard McCoy, WOK Joachim, WOK Montgomery Scott, and WOK Saavik. They share one synergy group, and none of them has a captain maneuver, so a WOK crew always needs a captain from outside the group. Each one earns its seat from the bridge or from below decks instead.
| Officer | Rarity | Class | Bridge ability | Below-decks ability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WOK Joachim | Epic | Command | Apex Barrier when a player attacks your survey ship | Isolytic Defense against hostiles and players |
| WOK Carol Marcus | Epic | Science | More loot from Augment Exile hostiles | Shield mitigation after taking hull damage from non-armada hostiles |
| WOK Montgomery Scott | Epic | Engineering | More loot from armadas | Lowers enemy shield mitigation against non-armada hostiles |
| WOK Leonard McCoy | Rare | Science | Armor, deflection and dodge from health in Wave Defense | Armor, deflection and dodge against hostiles and armadas |
| WOK Saavik | Rare | Science | Isolytic Cascade damage in Wave Defense | Isolytic Cascade damage against non-armada hostiles that carry a state |
Joachim is the odd one out: the other four lean toward hostiles, armadas, and Wave Defense, while his bridge ability only matters when a player attacks a survey ship. The older Joachim officer, a Rare from Khan’s Crew, is a different officer with his own station combat kit.
Joachim’s Star Trek background
Joachim is a Human Augment and one of Khan Noonien Singh‘s most loyal followers. He fled Earth with Khan’s people after the Eugenics Wars and stayed at Khan’s side through their long exile, trusting Khan’s judgment even when it led nowhere good.
In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, after the Augments seized the USS Reliant, Joachim ran the helm and the weapons. He counseled Khan against chasing revenge on James T. Kirk, then followed his orders anyway. Joachim died in the battle in the Mutara Nebula, and over his body Khan swore to avenge him. The character was played by Judson Scott.
The game’s Wrath of Khan content leans on that loyalty. Joachim is the believer who keeps the faith even as Khan’s path turns toward ruin, which is where his in-game ability name, Unwavering Faith, comes from. It is a fitting fit: a follower whose whole value is standing firm and taking the hit.
WOK Joachim’s role in STFC
Joachim is a defensive officer for survey ships in player-versus-player situations. Survey ships are the backbone of your economy. They mine resources and haul cargo, and that cargo is what other players want to take. A raider who catches a loaded survey ship can walk away with a real chunk of your work, so a lot of survey crews are built around one goal: surviving the hit long enough to escape or absorb it. That is Joachim’s lane.
The mechanic behind him is Apex Barrier. Apex Barrier is true mitigation that applies after your other bonuses, so it lowers the damage that actually lands. Every 100 points of Apex Barrier lets your ship take about 1% more damage before it goes down. A large barrier turns a survey ship from a soft target into something a raider has to work much harder to crack.
Attackers can cut into the barrier with Apex Shred, and 100% Apex Shred halves whatever Apex Barrier you carry. Even halved, 75,000 at top rank leaves a large cushion. For a hull that is normally fragile, that reliability is the whole point.
Captain ability and officer ability
Captain ability: Chain of Command
Joachim has no captain maneuver. Putting him in the captain’s chair gives no bonus at all, so save that seat for an officer who actually buffs your ship. Use Joachim in a bridge officer slot instead, where his ability can do its work.
Officer ability: Unwavering Faith
When your survey ship is attacked by another player, Joachim raises your Apex Barrier at the start of combat. The amount grows as you rank him up, reaching 75,000 Apex Barrier at his top rank, as of the latest game update. The ability is written for defense against players, so it pays off in the moment a raider engages your survey ship and not in general hostile grinding.
One detail to plan around: this ability does not trigger if Tal is assigned to the bridge of the same ship. If you want Joachim’s barrier, keep Tal off that crew.
For a sense of how the barrier scales by rank, the progression is below. These figures are current as of the latest game update and can shift with future changes.
| Rank | Apex Barrier added |
|---|---|
| 1 | 10,000 |
| 2 | 20,000 |
| 3 | 35,000 |
| 4 | 50,000 |
| 5 | 75,000 |
Below deck ability: We Are Free
Joachim also carries a below deck ability called We Are Free, which raises your Isolytic Defense against both hostiles and players. Isolytic Defense cuts down a specific late-game damage type, so the value here depends on whether the things you fight deal isolytic damage. When they do, Joachim keeps contributing from below deck even on a ship where he is not on the bridge.
| Rank | Isolytic Defense bonus |
|---|---|
| 1 | 100% |
| 2 | 150% |
| 3 | 200% |
| 4 | 300% |
| 5 | 500% |
Where WOK Joachim shines
A few clear situations make him worth crewing:
- Running survey ships through contested or open space where other players can attack you, and you want the hull to survive the first volley.
- Protecting a mining run when you expect to be hit, since the extra barrier buys time to react, call for help, or simply outlast the attack.
- Filling a below deck slot on ships that face isolytic damage, where his We Are Free defense adds up over a fight.
Outside of survey ships under player fire, his main ability sits idle. He is a specialist, so he is excellent when the situation matches and easy to bench when it does not.
How to get WOK Joachim
WOK Joachim arrived through the Wrath of Khan progression bundles, which give a full unlock of the officer along with Joachim Affinity, the currency used to rank him up. The wider Augment content also feeds his progression: Champion missions and the Augment faction store have offered Joachim Affinity as a reward during that arc.
Ranking him up follows the usual curve. Each rank costs more than the last, so the climb to his top rank takes the most Affinity, while the early ranks come quickly and already hand you a usable barrier. Because event and store rotations change over time, check the current store and event schedule for how he is available right now rather than assuming a past offer is still live.
Joachim Affinity also comes from special Away Teams assignments for Khan, on top of the Champion Challenge missions in the Augment faction store. Unlike most Epic officers, he needs no faction credits, Officer XP, or badges to promote: shards and Affinity cover the whole climb.
| Rank | Shards to promote | Running total | Joachim Affinity | Level cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | 50 | 100 | 10,000 | 10 |
| 3 | 100 | 200 | 30,000 | 15 |
| 4 | 100 | 300 | 60,000 | 20 |
| 5 | 200 | 500 | 100,000 | 30 |
That adds up to 500 shards and 200,000 Joachim Affinity from recruitment to rank 5.
WOK Joachim’s character traits
His traits are Loyal, Pragmatic, and Wrathful. They cost Trait XP per level, and Wrathful is the long one at nine levels.
| Trait | Trait XP per level |
|---|---|
| Loyal (3 levels) | 1,500 / 2,700 / 3,800 |
| Pragmatic (4 levels) | 7,650 / 6,000 / 7,000 / 8,850 |
| Wrathful (9 levels) | 10,000 / 4,000 / 7,000 / 10,000 / 15,000 / 23,000 / 42,000 / 68,000 / 107,000 |
Synergies and crews
Joachim belongs to the Wrath of Khan officer group, so he is designed to sit on crews with other officers from that arc: WOK Carol Marcus, WOK Leonard McCoy, WOK Montgomery Scott, and WOK Saavik. Build around the job you want done, which is survey ship survival against players. Pair him with bridge and below deck officers that add mitigation, health, or escape utility for the survey hull, and keep Tal off the same ship so Unwavering Faith still fires.
Beyond that, there is no single locked crew. Match Joachim to the survey ship you actually fly and the threats you actually face, and treat his barrier as the anchor the rest of the crew is built around.
Frequently asked questions
Is WOK Joachim any good?
For his specific job, yes. If you run survey ships where players can attack you, his Apex Barrier makes the hull much tougher to destroy. If you never expose survey ships to other players, he will not see much use, since his main ability only fires in that case.
Where do you get WOK Joachim?
Through the Wrath of Khan progression bundles for the full unlock, with Joachim Affinity to rank him up. Affinity has also come from Augment Champion missions and the faction store. Check the current store and event rotations for present availability.
What ship is WOK Joachim best on?
A survey ship. His main ability only triggers while you are on a survey hull and a player attacks you, so that is where he belongs. On any other ship type, his bridge ability does nothing.
Does WOK Joachim work against hostiles?
His bridge ability does not, since it is limited to player attacks on survey ships. His below deck ability, We Are Free, does help against hostiles by raising Isolytic Defense, so he can still pull weight from below deck in the right fight.
What is the best WOK crew?
There is no single WOK crew, because the five officers do different jobs and none of them can captain. For survey ships under player fire, Joachim goes on the bridge. For hostile and armada work, WOK Carol Marcus, WOK Montgomery Scott, WOK Saavik, and WOK Leonard McCoy fit bridge or below-decks slots behind a captain from another group.
Should you put WOK Joachim in the captain seat?
No. His captain slot gives no bonus. Use a captain with a real maneuver and place Joachim in a bridge officer slot so Unwavering Faith can work.
The bottom line
WOK Joachim is a focused defensive officer for survey ships under player fire. If that matches how you play, he is a strong pick worth ranking up for the survivability he brings to your economy hulls. If your survey ships rarely get attacked, spend your Affinity and roster space somewhere closer to your day-to-day game.
