Voth Battlezone Walkthrough: Learn to love the dilithium pinata
The Voth Battlezone is the best place in the game to make dilithium. Over this past dil weekend we were getting well over 20,000 dilithium an hour. During normal times, you can still get a whole bunch of dilithium on this map because the rewards are completely out of line with rewards from pretty much everything else in STO. And, unlike that Ferengi's asteroid, the Voth BZ is kind of fun so you won't want to gauge your eyes out with a spoon after doing it for an hour.
If you don't want to read this walkthrough, you can do pretty well if you just follow 3 rules:
Here is a map.
Yes, you do want to go to the Voth BZ
Before you start shooting dinos...
What you need
Well, not much if you're at peace with the idea of being a sponge.
If you actually want to do it well, though, get a primary weapon that can shoot long distances, like a split beam, a TR-116b, or a Herald staff. I use my antiproton split beam rifle because there are lots of small targets so a split beam can kill them faster, and the enemies don't have much shields except for the bosses, and there is little reason to kill the bosses quickly (more on that below).
Equip Frosted Boots. Running fast is essential to bonus dil! [strike]If you do not have Frosted Boots, message me in-game and I'll send you stuff so that you can get them in the winter event store (@alex284).[/strike] Edit: It turns out you have to have gone to the winter event to have access to its store, not just have the store's currency. Oh well! Get the boots at the winter event!
Other than that, just use your best ground gear.
For boffs, do whatever you want, although having a few heals is helpful. Healing is one of the few things boffs do competently.
How to get there
Either travel to the Solanae Dyson Sphere near the Jouret system in the Beta Quadrant or transwarp to "Sphere Space: Allied Zone."
Right as you warp in, you'll see some dialogue boxes in the lower right of your screen. Click "Ground Battlezone Shuttle." Choose 2 boffs.
You will beam in to the Command Center. A short distance in front of you is Commander Arnold.
Talk to him to get daily bonus missions that are essentially what you would be doing in the Voth BZ anyway. If this is your first time, you have to get his missions one at a time and turn them in to get the next. If you've done them before, you can get all 4 at once.
Check how many people are in your instance by clicking "Change instance" on the map UI. If you are worried that you won't contribute enough, switch to an instance with more players.
Phase 1: Turning Capture Points blue
There are 3 regions (Park, City, and Outskirts), each of which is divided into 7 capture points. If you do stuff in a capture point, it gets captured and turns from red to blue.
There are 3 kinds of capture point: Communications Relay (like a fireball symbol on your map), Generator Control (a capital omega), and Artillery (looks like a mortar). Here's what to do in each.
Communications Relay
Stand in the circle and kill the Voth. If there are more players than Voth, the capture of that point will advance.
Generator Control
Start the device at one end of the track (it's shiny and you press F when near it). Use the accelerator next to it to go faster. Now you'll have to use 2 other consoles to keep it moving when the NPC tells you to (the 3rd then the 5th consoles, and they'll be shiny and you'll press F again), while defending the point from the Voth. It's over when the device makes it to the other end of the track.
Artillery
There are 5 generators with 3 consoles on each (they shine and you press F to use them). Kill the Voth around each generator and use the consoles to disable it. The generators reset if you don't move fast enough. If you're alone, you can kill the Voth and do the first two consoles on each generator and then quickly go through the third console on each generator at the end because the generators won't reset unless all 3 consoles on it were used.
The Solanae have such bad computer security, you literally only have to press F to hack their systems.
Here are some general tips for all Capture Points
How to do Commander Arnold's bonus missions
These are worth over 2500 dil for all 4, and they're super easy. If this is your first time doing these missions, go back to Commander Arnold to turn them in after each one.
When enough Capture Points have turned blue, the meters on the right side of your screen will change and an NPC will announce that the Voth are stealing Omega particles. Phase 2 is starting! The Dinos are here!
Phase 2: V-rexes
Phase 2 isn't hard in that it can fail (it won't fail), but it's where a lot of dilithium gets thrown around very quickly and it'll take some practice to maximize your share.
In each region there will be a giant dinosaur, aka the V-Rex. The spawn areas are marked on the map above. This is what it looks like:
Run to it and shoot it. When it dies, run to the V-Rex in another region. When that one is dead, run to the third region and kill that V-Rex. If others kill one in another region before you get there, you will not get credit for killing that dino.
You get 672 dil for each V-Rex you help kill, plus a giant sack of dil that depends on how many V-Rexes you helped kill.
If you do not help kill at least 1 V-Rex, then you will not get a giant sack of dil and Cyberetic Implants at the end.
Here are some tips:
Repeat the BZ as many times as you like - there's no cooldown! Don't stress it, get in there, and follow other people around until you figure it out.
If you don't want to read this walkthrough, you can do pretty well if you just follow 3 rules:
- If you can shoot it, shoot it.
- If it's shiny, run up to it and press F.
- If other players are running in a direction, run with them.
Here is a map.
Yes, you do want to go to the Voth BZ
Before you start shooting dinos...
What you need
Well, not much if you're at peace with the idea of being a sponge.
If you actually want to do it well, though, get a primary weapon that can shoot long distances, like a split beam, a TR-116b, or a Herald staff. I use my antiproton split beam rifle because there are lots of small targets so a split beam can kill them faster, and the enemies don't have much shields except for the bosses, and there is little reason to kill the bosses quickly (more on that below).
Equip Frosted Boots. Running fast is essential to bonus dil! [strike]If you do not have Frosted Boots, message me in-game and I'll send you stuff so that you can get them in the winter event store (@alex284).[/strike] Edit: It turns out you have to have gone to the winter event to have access to its store, not just have the store's currency. Oh well! Get the boots at the winter event!
Other than that, just use your best ground gear.
For boffs, do whatever you want, although having a few heals is helpful. Healing is one of the few things boffs do competently.
How to get there
Either travel to the Solanae Dyson Sphere near the Jouret system in the Beta Quadrant or transwarp to "Sphere Space: Allied Zone."
Right as you warp in, you'll see some dialogue boxes in the lower right of your screen. Click "Ground Battlezone Shuttle." Choose 2 boffs.
You will beam in to the Command Center. A short distance in front of you is Commander Arnold.
Talk to him to get daily bonus missions that are essentially what you would be doing in the Voth BZ anyway. If this is your first time, you have to get his missions one at a time and turn them in to get the next. If you've done them before, you can get all 4 at once.
Check how many people are in your instance by clicking "Change instance" on the map UI. If you are worried that you won't contribute enough, switch to an instance with more players.
Phase 1: Turning Capture Points blue
There are 3 regions (Park, City, and Outskirts), each of which is divided into 7 capture points. If you do stuff in a capture point, it gets captured and turns from red to blue.
There are 3 kinds of capture point: Communications Relay (like a fireball symbol on your map), Generator Control (a capital omega), and Artillery (looks like a mortar). Here's what to do in each.
Communications Relay
Stand in the circle and kill the Voth. If there are more players than Voth, the capture of that point will advance.
Generator Control
Start the device at one end of the track (it's shiny and you press F when near it). Use the accelerator next to it to go faster. Now you'll have to use 2 other consoles to keep it moving when the NPC tells you to (the 3rd then the 5th consoles, and they'll be shiny and you'll press F again), while defending the point from the Voth. It's over when the device makes it to the other end of the track.
Artillery
There are 5 generators with 3 consoles on each (they shine and you press F to use them). Kill the Voth around each generator and use the consoles to disable it. The generators reset if you don't move fast enough. If you're alone, you can kill the Voth and do the first two consoles on each generator and then quickly go through the third console on each generator at the end because the generators won't reset unless all 3 consoles on it were used.
The Solanae have such bad computer security, you literally only have to press F to hack their systems.
Here are some general tips for all Capture Points
- You don't have to team to do the BZ, but these points can be hard if you're not good at ground and they're all faster if you're moving with a group. Find someone else and follow them around. Seriously, just stalk a stranger. They'll be happy to have the company. You don't have to be teamed to have the benefit of working together.
- You get 42 dil for each point, but your giant sack of dil at the end of the zone increases the more capture points you help with/sponge. There is a low limit, though, so you don't have to run around like crazy trying to get every Capture Point.
- Avoid the minibosses as much as you can. They give junk rewards and they will kill you.
- Collect the little circles that give buffs that the Supply Runners and other enemies toss around, especially the red ones that increase your damage. These bonuses look like Combat Supply, but they're much bigger than Combat Supply bonuses.
- Keep an eye on the meter on the right side of the screen showing "Battlezone Ally Control." It starts as all red and turns blue as the zone progresses. When it gets totally blue, the next phase will start, so knowing when that is soon going to happen is essential.
How to do Commander Arnold's bonus missions
These are worth over 2500 dil for all 4, and they're super easy. If this is your first time doing these missions, go back to Commander Arnold to turn them in after each one.
- Secure Voth Points: Look at your map UI. One region has a giant white circle on it when this mission is active. If you're alone, go there and capture/sponge at 2 points. If you are teamed, go anywhere and capture 2 points.
- Acquire Battlezone Command Credits: When you turn a capture point blue, a bunch of pink balloons will drop all around you like you're the 1 millionth customer at Gay-mart.
These are command credits and they're essentially worthless except you need 20 of them to complete this bonus mission and 10 more for the next one. Some players can get weirdly possessive about them, but remember that a) if everyone can pick them up then they belong to everyone, and b) they're worth 1/10 of a Dyson mark, so there are many better things to fight over. - Call in Reinforcements at Capture Points: After a point is blue you'll see an interact window in the lower-right that says something about reinforcements. Click this. You'll need 30 Command Credits total to get an ensign and a lieutenant (the bare minimum to finish this mission), and you already have 20 from the previous mission.
- Defeat Voth in the Battlezone: Just shoot things for 5 minutes and get dil. Bigger Voth count as more than 1 Voth, but Swarmers don't count as Voth at all. You get more dil if you kill over 20, then over 40, then over 60. There is no point in getting more than 60. You can do this mission again 1 hour after you turn it in to Commander Arnold, so turn it in quickly if you plan to spend a lot of time in the BZ.
When enough Capture Points have turned blue, the meters on the right side of your screen will change and an NPC will announce that the Voth are stealing Omega particles. Phase 2 is starting! The Dinos are here!
Phase 2: V-rexes
Phase 2 isn't hard in that it can fail (it won't fail), but it's where a lot of dilithium gets thrown around very quickly and it'll take some practice to maximize your share.
In each region there will be a giant dinosaur, aka the V-Rex. The spawn areas are marked on the map above. This is what it looks like:
Run to it and shoot it. When it dies, run to the V-Rex in another region. When that one is dead, run to the third region and kill that V-Rex. If others kill one in another region before you get there, you will not get credit for killing that dino.
You get 672 dil for each V-Rex you help kill, plus a giant sack of dil that depends on how many V-Rexes you helped kill.
If you do not help kill at least 1 V-Rex, then you will not get a giant sack of dil and Cyberetic Implants at the end.
Here are some tips:
- This is why you should pay attention to the meter in the previous phase. You don't want to be on the other side of a region when the V-rexes show up because they can die fast. You will see some players camping at the spawn points, which is annoying, but this is why they do it.
- Know where the transporters are before the V-Rexes spawn, so you can run directly to them. The City transporter is useless, though, since the Command Center is closer to that V-Rex than the transporter is.
- Outskirts's V-Rex and transporter are the closest together, followed by Park, then City. When I'm playing alone, I like to end Phase 1 at Park to get that V-Rex, then go to Outskirts, then try to get City's dino. This way the only transporter-to-dino path I run twice is Outskirts, which is the shortest. But it depends on where other players are, too. Ending Phase 1 in a region where you're alone mean you will get, at most, 1 V-rex.
- Use Frosted Boots to run faster, and that Delta reputation trait "Physical conditioning."
- You have to do a certain amount of damage (not exactly known, but it's less than 10% of the dino's total HP) to get rewards for killing a V-rex, and the V-Rex will reset if no one is shooting at it. Leaving a V-Rex alive to go to the next one is possible, but it's hard and don't try it if you don't know what you're doing. You do not want a V-Rex to reset after you leave and then the other 2 die as you're running to them, leaving you without a giant sack of dil.
- Getting 1 out of 3 V-Rexes is fine when you're starting out at the BZ. If you watch other players, you'll see the best paths to run.
- Concussive Tachyon Emission (T5 Delta reputation active trait) can be used strategically. It drops the V-Rex's shields for a little while, then it fully heals them. If you show up at a V-Rex that's almost dead and you're worried about not getting enough shots in for it to count as one of your kills, then restoring its shields means you can shoot at it longer.
Repeat the BZ as many times as you like - there's no cooldown! Don't stress it, get in there, and follow other people around until you figure it out.
