I have been noting as of late a slow trickle of new players entering the Dyson Sphere Ground Battlezone with little to no idea what is going on, so I decided to compile all my knowledge about the zone into a thread for players who want to learn a little bit more, or new players who want to know how it works.
Part 1: Starting Out in the Battlezone
When you first enter the battlezone, with two of your bridge officers you will enter into the the Ground Battlezone Command Center, where you will be greeted by a cutscene telling you the bare basics of the Battlezone.
Following this you will recieve your first mission from Commander Arnold. Proceeding through the four missions he has to offer is the first step of getting into the Battlezone, you will get them on after the other and following this you can do all four simultaneously.
The missions are ...
*Capture Voth Points: In this mission you are given a random zone of the three available, and have to capture 2 points
*Acquire Battlezone Command Credits: In this mission you are charged with acquiring Battlezone Command Credits
*Call in Reinforcements at Captured Points: In this mission you must call in reinforcements with Command Credits at points that are under Allied Control
*Defeat Voth in the Battlezone: In this mission you kill as many Voth as you can before the time limit runs out
All of these will be covered in more detail later on
Part 2: Types of Points in the Battlezone
There are three types of points to capture in the Battlezone ...
*Comm Array
*Artillery Point
*Generator Point
*Transporter
The comm array:
this is shown as something similar to a fire on your minimap
The most straightforward to capture of all the points, all this point involves is standing on a certain point and killing the Voth who try to kill you, until a timer runs out and the point is captured. The timer is only active if two criteria are met. First, there must be at least one allied Pplayer on the point. Second, there must be no Voth on the point. The enemies at this point aappear at frequent intervals, with Voth Exosuits beaming when the timer is at 1/3, 2/3 and almost complete.
The Artillery Point
This is shown as a Artillery Gun on your minimap
The artillery point is the most complicated of the points in the Battlezone, when you enter the point, you will see voth artillery firing into the air nearby. The artillery is powered by 5 generators, which you are charged with disabling. Each generator is guarded by a mix of Voth Scientists, Voth Medics and Bio-Engineerd Dankanosuars. Not all three classes will be present at one generator. I t is also worth noting that a point may have a voth antiproton beam turret beam in randomly. To turn of a generator you must perform three tasks, accomplished by interacting with three consoles on the side of each generator. Each takes only a few seconds, and when it is complete the top of the generator lowers by a third of it's height. Once a generator is fully disabled, it will start a self-repair sequence that takes three minutes to complete, therefore all 5 generators must be powered down in three minutes, starting from the 1st generator powering down. When all three generators are powered down, an NPC will announce that the Voth are sending reinforcements to re-power the artillery. 1,2 or 3 Exosuits of varying classes (Both factors are determined by the number of people present in the point) will jetpack down, once you kill them, the capture is complete.
The generator point
This is shown as on Omega symbol on your miinimap
The Generator is a fairly straighforward point to capture, but is pretty difficult.
You start by interacting with a console on one side of the long rail, this starts the object moving towards the generator and triggers the Voth to beam in. There is a box like structure under the rail right after the first console, interacting with this will speed up the objects movement on the raill. Every so often the generator will stop, the lights on the rail will go from bluish to red and more will beam in. One will be at the console across from the one you are ssupposed to be interacting with and will have "Repairing console" over the top of his head, if tthe time next to it finishes, the object will move backwards. When the object enters the generator, the capture is complete.
The Transporter
This is shown as a double sided thick arrow on your minimap
There are three transporters, one per section of the Battlezone
They are linked to corresponding transporters in the Command Center and to each other
They must be held for people to use transporters to enter a section of the Battlezone
The transporters are guarded by a mix of Medics, Specialists and Turrets. Once all voth guarding the point are defeated, you will be able to interact with a console attached to the transporter that will unlock the point.
Rewards and Strategy for these points will be covered later
Part 3: Currencies of the Battlezone and where to find them
Dyson Joint Command Marks
These marks are used in the Joint Command Reputation system.
They can also be converted through the reputation system into dilthium at a rate of 500 dilithium for 50 marks.
*Capturing a Comm Array, Generator or Artillery Point rewards 10 marks
*Capturing a transporter rewards 5 marks
* Securing a Silo (To be discussed later in detail) rewards 25 marks
* An additional mark reward is given for the number of secured silos in your instance.(The rewards scale based on the number captured)
*all the missions given by Commander Arnold
Dilthium
I am sure you all know what dilthium is and how to use it, so I will just go over where you can get it.
*Capturing a Comm Array, Artillery Point or Generator gives 60 dilithium.
*Capturing a transporter gives 30 dilithium
*All the missions given by Commander Arnold
*Capturing a Silo gives 480 dilithium
*If all three silos in your instance are captured, you get a bonus 1700 dilithium (The rewards scale based on the number captured)
*you can convert 50 marks into 500 dilithium
Command Credits
Used to call in reinforcements to hold captured points
You must collect 20 for Commander Arnold
Gathered by walking through them
Pink small rounded icon when on the ground
*Capturing a Point scatters approximately 30 credits around the area
*Capturing a transporter scatters approximately 20 credits around the area.
*when a point is being recaptured by the Voth, killing a voth drops a credit worth 4 instead of 1
Voth Cybernetic Implants
Used in Equipment Projets in the Dyson Joint Command Reputation
Can convert sets of 3 into 1000 dilthium
*When all three silos are captured, you will be rewarded 5 Implants (The rewards scale based on the number captured)
Part 4: Omega Silos
This may be the most important part of this guide, the Omega Silos are the most rewarding and most frequently botched part of the zone.
The basics
When a set number of points across the whole battlezone are captured, All the points are placed under Dyson Joint Command's control and the Voth begin trying to extract Omega Particles from the Omega Silos. The Omega Silos can be found before the zone transistions, as a blank spot in each of the zones. Like the transporters there is one silo per zone. You must stop the Voth from extracting the particles and defeat the Bio-Engineered V-Rex that is at each of the three silos. Also Bio-Engineered Dankanosaurs may beam down to aid their larger cousins in attempting to kill the players.
The medics
The medics are THE MOST IMPORTANT and the MOST NEGLECTED part of the Omega Silos fight. When the medics are dead, the Voth are not removing particles and the levels of Omega Particles in the Silo will begin to slowly regenerate.
Strategy
Aside from the medics, the strategy is fairly simple during the silo stage of the battlezone. Common tactics are to place chroniton mines, mortars, turrets or transphasic bombs in the area where the medics beam in, killing them with little player interference.
Something important to note is the types of attacks the V-rex use:
The first is basically a mass mortar delivery where the V-Rex stops moving and launches large volleys of mortar rounds into the air, the place where they are going to land is marked by a purple circle, when the green circle inside reaches the center, that is when the mortar lands.
The second is a set of beam rifles build into its body, occasionally the V-Rex will stop moving and fire sets of beam arrays in all directions, basically a ground version of fire at will.
The third type of attack is physical, this is an attack where the V-Rex will either stomp you into the ground, or use its head to knock you aside. Both cause significant damage and knockback.
Progress meters and Moving between V-Rex
The red and blue bars in the lower right below your mission journal are changed during this, during this stage they display Overall Control like normal (irrelevant because all points are auto captured and held during this stage), as well as three smaller meters below. The smaller meters indicate the progress the voth have made in draining the omega particles from each silo.
These silos are located in the City, Park and Outskirts. The simplest way to move between the silos is to use the transporters in each section. These allow you to beam directly between the sections of the zone.
Moving to and from the park should be done using the transporter there, there is a direct line of sight from the transporter to the V-Rex .
Moving to and from the Outskirts should also utilize the transporter. When you beam into the zone, simply turn 180 degrees, move straight across the bridge in front of you, and you will see the V-Rex on your right.
Moving to and from the city is the most complicated. It is easiest to beam to the Command Center and run to the V-Rex in the city from there (the middle tunnel leads to the city) go from the tunnel and take a left, then just keep going straight and you will run right into it.
Part 5: Strategy for Capturing Points
The Comm Array
Engineers play a key role in these points. A well set up engineer will sit in the middle of the point, dropping shields generators, force field domes, cover shields, nanite medical generators and biotech turrets and utilizing the new Shield Pulse modules.
Tactical players can sit inside this fortress and focus on pouring out Damage on the incoming voth, with far less worry about being killed.
Omega Generators
This point has tactics that involve distraction. Often one player with significant ability to withstand damage or ability to dish out large spike damage will engage the Voth surrounding the point while another player, typically a player not specced for jumping straight into pitched combat, will trigger the points along the generator.
Alternate StrategyI usually activate 2 panels on the first 3 artillery generators I find, then activate all 3, and then complete the final 2. That gives you enough of a head-start, and you avoid that too many Voth respawn in the mean time. written by mustrumridcully0
Artillery
These points can actually be soloed the simplest of all, first eliminate the enemy around one generator, then use the first two consoles to lower the generator to 1/3 height, since it doesnt start to regenerate until it has been fully lowered. You then go around, doing the same for the other 4 generators. By this time the Voth will most likely have beamed replacements in to replace those you killed, so do the rounds again, doing the final step. If it is only you, all that will drop in is a Polyanax Class Exosuit, which a single player can defeat.
Part 6: The Enemies
Exosuits
Exosuits are the second strongest voth soldier type, and the strongest one that can be found in quantities of 2 or more. The variants are Polyanax and Decentrus.
Polyanax is the weaker of the two, it features a repulsing bubble around it that cannot be penetrated unless there is a cover shield between you and the Exosuit. It features cannon type weaponry and mortars of fairly strong power, and medium armor.
Decentrus is the most strong, these are most commonly seen when there are many 4+ players working to capture an artillery point, the exosuits sent to recapture the point will be a pair of Decentrus class Suits. These suits have no repulsor shield, but they can negate incoming damage for sohrt periods, have very strong weaponry and strong health and resists.
Infantry
Voth Specialists: These are the cannon fodder of the Voth infantry, they utilize Voth Antiproton Wide Beam Pistols, and have no shields, as well as average health. They are identified by the orange robes they wear.
Voth Medics: These are a stronger class, and can be painful to kill in pairs. The reason for this, besides their slightly over average shields and strong health, is their ability to resurrect their allies. If there is a pair of medics and the second one is not killed quickly following the first, there is a good chance the second will resurrect the first, and leave you where you started. They utilize Voth Antiproton High Density Beam Rifles. They are identified by the voth armor they wear
Voth Spec Ops: The Elite Infantry of the Voth. They are seperated from the Medics by the use of a helmet with the armor. They are capable of using stasis beams that disable you, this can be lethal when an number of voth are around, as you cannot kill them, and take damage. They are deadly at range, utilizing the Voth Antiproton Sniper Rifles to great affect, and if allowed to close the gap, may charge forward and attack you with melee weaponry, knocking you back and dealing above average damage.
Bio-Engineered Dankanosuars: These are the smaller of the two Dinos you will face. They have weapons mounted on either side of their head that fire a rapid set of bolts, dealing average damage. Their primary attack is to jump on the player, pinnning them to the ground and attacking them with their jaws while they are down, this proves extremely dangerous when combating mechs and larger dinosaurs, as the mortars, if fired quickly enough, will land on you before you are free to move.
Bio-Engineer Furiadon: These are basically mini V-Rex, they will only appear at a point when HEAVY player presence (5+) is present, appearing solo at generators and in pairs at Comm Arrays. They utilize all the same attacks as a V-Rex, however they cannot put out as many mortars or do as much damage per attack. MORE TO FOLLOW, WILL BE UPDATED RAPIDLY WITH MORE INFO
When in the Battlezone, depending on which section you are in, you have a chance to encounter 1 of the 6 minibosses in the zone. I recommend that unless you have some ground experience and high quality (rep) gear, you engage these in groups only. When they die, they will spawn around 20 command credits and a number of random buffs.
If you are in the Park, you may encounter one of two Dinosaurs who are basically mini V-rex. These fight simillar to the V-rex, except the power of their attacks and their armor is significantly reduced. It is best to keep moving while fighting these.
If you are in the Outskirts you may encounter one of two voth generals, these generals are very tough on their own, and they also beam in groups of Voth Spec Ops infantry to aid them when attacked.
If you are in the City, you may encounter one of 2 Inquisitors. These bosses utilize mech suits similar in design to the Decentrus class Exosuit, but are slightly tougher and issue slightly more damage.
Part 7: Equipment and Abilities
This is a dangerous zone to play in, therefore some equipment (non-rep and rep) is good to have when fighting in this zone
These recommendations are preceding the Dyson Reputation, once you have that unlocked, i recommend using the Ground Set that comes with it, and using this gear on your 2 bridge officer instead.
Very Rare MK XI Armor with [RegHP] mod: Integrated Targeting, Polyalloy Weave, Recoil Compensating and Energy Dampening armor with these requirement can be acquired from the Borg Story Mission "a Gathering Darkness" Credit to skollulfr for recommending this
The above armor is very well equipped to allow the player greater survivability in the zone, thanks to its many HP based mods.
Weapons
When searching for weapons to use in the battlezone, it is important to note, that since Voth cant adapt, they are going to take the most damage from rapid fire weaponry, therefore Full Auto and Minigun weapons are both excellent choices for the battlezone
Kits and Modules
Engineering: Force Field Dome, Shield Pulse, Nanite Medical Generator (or normal version if you have not reached that tier of the Counter-Command Reputation) Chroniton Mine Barrier, Shield Generator. All of these modules have a chance of dropping in Very Rare MK XI form, from the Borg Mission "Assimilation" with the exception of the Nanite Medical Generator, which is purchased from the Counter-Command Reputation, Alternatively all of these (except the Nanite) can be purchased on the exchange for prices ranging from 350k to 2 million ec.
The above equipment set is discussed earlier in the guide, but basically serves as a redundant heal system, with the Force Field Dome serving to block the charges of the Dankanosuars and the melee of the Voth Spec Ops troopers.
Chroniton Mines are included because of how objective focused the battlezone is, often you will be fighting around a certain point, and with how melee based many Voth troops are, as well as the slow moving mechs, you can do large amounts of damage. HEAVY emphasis on these for engineers is advisable. for non-engineers pursuing the mortar "spam" you can equip those bridge officers with Chroniton Mine Barrier as well. Credit to duncanidaho11 for explaining this
Tactical is not an area of ground combat I am intimately familiar with, feel free to add to this part.
Science Kits(added by mustrumridcully0)
Okay, there will probably be some disagreement on this, since I can't say I am an expert on ground combat. I am, for example, really bad at healing myself.
But I usually use kits that have at least the following
- Electro-gravitic Field
- Exothermic Field
- Nanite Health Monitor
- Medical Tricorder
I think the first two powers are awesome together. Anesthizine Gas and Tachyon Harmonic also are good options for your offensive side.
Nanite Health Monitor is great for me because, as mentioned, I am bad at healing myself at least the Nanite Health Monitor will track my health.
So a full kit I might suggest is
- Electro-gravitic Field
- Exothermic Field
- Tachyon Harmonic
- Nanite Health Monitor
- Medical Tricorder
For kits I would recommend an MK XII Xindi Experimental Kit Frame, for engineers, look for [Fab] and/or [Armor]
Bridge Officers
As is mentioned above in passing, you are allowed to take 2 bridge officers with you to the Battlezone. Equipping them with the above armor will significantly help your ability to function. A common tactic is to take two engineers with you, both trained to beam in quantum mortars, then use the Duty Officer that grants extra Mortars, and lay mortars everywhere, creating a lethal zone. Credit to skollulfr for this as well
Assuming you do not do the above, a science officer equipped to heal and debuff, alongside either a DPS equipped Tactical or Fabrication equipped Engineer, is optimal for combat in the zone.
An excellent science officer that you can bring down the the zone, is the Tier 5 Dyson Reputaition Reward Nelen Exil, who has both Shield Stripping and Self-Resurrecting abilities. (recommended by tekehd)
Also an excellent and deadly strategy is to load your tray and officers with combat pets, the Romulan Reputation gives Reman and Romulan consumable security escorts, and there are many other coombat pets you can use at the same time. (recommended by coolheadal)
Traits
There are now a number of traits with excellent affect on ground combat, i will not get into the Xindi traits, as I have not tested them as of yet.
Adrenal Release: This is an essential trait to have on ground, this is a toggle trait, that allows the user a 10 second burst where they lose 100 damage resistance and gain 50% damage, if you are mobile enough to avoid attacks, or are in a large web of engineer heals, this becomes a straight 10 second damage boost.
Very nice outline of what is needed to be done. As a returning player I found this post to be very helpful.
Glad to hear it, i was waiting for interest to add to it, i think there are a couple sections i missed.....
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rattler2Member, Star Trek Online ModeratorPosts: 58,581Community Moderator
edited July 2014
Threads like this should get sticky status, or a whole section devoted to them.
And I appreciate someone going through the trouble of writing a walkthrough like this for everyone. It really shows you care.
If I could, I would +1 this instantly.
Threads like this should get sticky status, or a whole section devoted to them.
And I appreciate someone going through the trouble of writing a walkthrough like this for everyone. It really shows you care.
If I could, I would +1 this instantly.
As someone who spent a lot of time away from the game, I'm still running around in MK XI gear. Do I need to have better gear before trying this? Should I work on other reputation gear first?
"Let me guess, my theories appall you, my heresies outrage you, I never answer letters and you don't like my tie" - The Doctor
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!" -Agatha Heterodyne
These points can actually be soloed the simplest of all, first eliminate the enemy around one generator, then use the first two consoles to lower the generator to 1/3 height, since it doesnt start to regenerate until it has been fully lowered. You then go around, doing the same for the other 4 generators. By this time the Voth will most likely have beamed replacements in to replace those you killed, so do the rounds again, doing the final step. If it is only you, all that will drop in is a Polyanax Class Exosuit, which a single player can defeat.
I didn't know that before. I use to bypass the artillery points until there were a few more players hitting them before I joined.
As someone who spent a lot of time away from the game, I'm still running around in MK XI gear. Do I need to have better gear before trying this? Should I work on other reputation gear first?
I find rep gear to be helpful, but if you are smart about it, MK XI gear can suffice. You can contact me in game @jarodroto123 if you need some help with that.
I do recommend that if you are going to try in MK XI gear, look for armor and shields with the [Ap] mod and [Cap] shields dont hurt either....
don't join the tag and run to the next rex gang. more than a few times the voth won a silo because everyone was trying to get all three and one or two rexes didn't go down.
there are 6 minibosses they can be pretty tough.
one is a rex bataraza (or something like that) a baby rex, basically
two is Inquisitor Dran, he's in a mech. you can solo him pretty easily, but he has a lot of hitpoints
three is another inquisitor, just like Dran
four is a general who wanders the outskirts. he is one tough SOB and always has an escort of spec ops.
I'm not sure who the fifth and sixth minibosses are but there are accolades for beating all six.
look at your weapons. unlike the Borg who adapt, you WANT rapid fire here. stow the shotguns because you want range. the city and park are full of swarmers. look for miniguns and autofire rifles. and you want the weapon DPS to be at LEAST 105 DPS
killing an exposed voth with an exploit attack will sometimes make them regenerate.
one tactic for most exosuits is to get right up under them, they can't target you well. the other is to circle them constantly moving but sometimes they can get a bead on you.
I generally bring an engineer and a medic. I also give them both hortas. (We got one free last year, and you can get one as a reward for rerunning "mine enemy".) The hortas aren't terribly effective, but if they get close to an enemy, their acid ignores shields.
I didn't see the generals mentioned in the write up. They can be a nasty surprise for someone not expecting boss level enemies wandering around randomly.
I didn't know that before. I use to bypass the artillery points until there were a few more players hitting them before I joined.
And personally, how I do it.... because it prevents as many voth respawns, is I go counter-clockwise around the points (As this puts you approaching from the direction of the first panel on each point to be activated), clear voth, activate the 2 panels, move to next, at last one, activate all three, then go back clockwise activating the last panel at each.... usually only the final two (first one you activate and the one next) and sometimes three have a chance to spawn more voth, so you can usually get two or three without even having to kill more voth.
don't join the tag and run to the next rex gang. more than a few times the voth won a silo because everyone was trying to get all three and one or two rexes didn't go down.
Rexes not going down doesn't lose a silo.... Medics (as they are called Engineers) taking all the Omega at a silo lose that Silo. If you're at a silo solo the best thing to do is concentrate on the Medics..... if you're not.... then you're the reason the Silo was lost, not the taggers.
Rexes not going down doesn't lose a silo.... Medics (as they are called Engineers) taking all the Omega at a silo lose that Silo. If you're at a silo solo the best thing to do is concentrate on the Medics..... if you're not.... then you're the reason the Silo was lost, not the taggers.
While taggers can be the reason you are solo, yes if you were the only one there, and didnt kill the medics, it was your fault. The V-Rex can stay alive indefinitely as long as the medics stay dead.
don't join the tag and run to the next rex gang. more than a few times the voth won a silo because everyone was trying to get all three and one or two rexes didn't go down.
there are 6 minibosses they can be pretty tough.
one is a rex bataraza (or something like that) a baby rex, basically
two is Inquisitor Dran, he's in a mech. you can solo him pretty easily, but he has a lot of hitpoints
three is another inquisitor, just like Dran
four is a general who wanders the outskirts. he is one tough SOB and always has an escort of spec ops.
I'm not sure who the fifth and sixth minibosses are but there are accolades for beating all six.
look at your weapons. unlike the Borg who adapt, you WANT rapid fire here. stow the shotguns because you want range. the city and park are full of swarmers. look for miniguns and autofire rifles. and you want the weapon DPS to be at LEAST 105 DPS
killing an exposed voth with an exploit attack will sometimes make them regenerate.
one tactic for most exosuits is to get right up under them, they can't target you well. the other is to circle them constantly moving but sometimes they can get a bead on you.
While not killing the medics can cause a silo to fall, only the Rex counts towards your rewards. I'f I'm trying to tag all 3, I'll tag the Rex going in, kill medics, tag the Rex going out again, and then go to the next silo. You don't have to be there when the Rex falls, but you (or one of your boffs) needs to damage it at least once.
While not killing the medics can cause a silo to fall, only the Rex counts towards your rewards. I'f I'm trying to tag all 3, I'll tag the Rex going in, kill medics, tag the Rex going out again, and then go to the next silo. You don't have to be there when the Rex falls, but you (or one of your boffs) needs to damage it at least once.
This is correct, and a valid tactic as long as the following are met
1) THE MEDICS DIE-This has to happen, if you tag and run without making sure they are dead...you are just setting yourself up
2) Once you tag all 3, you dont go AFK-this tactic is common and disgusts me, you are just making it harder for everyone
3) instead of going AFK, go to the dino that is the closest to failing, and help out.
Good stuff here, to gather. The Bosses are all over the 3 sites now. Out-skirts ones are the worst to take out. You need other players to help keep the guard away from you so you can take out the Boss General since he can call in SAT Strike on you.
Undine weapons works nice. I was using Voth pistol XII purple cost a lot but worth it. Take out all targets except for the large massive Bio-Dino. Undine Rife Beam can do that. But the new rep award larger weapons seem effective like the beam rife instead of pluse ones.
I always bring down two ENG and give them the max health and the best weapons. EC 800K-1M New Combat Horta (made at memory alpha before R&D Crafting) attached to them along with the other cool toys. So you have spawned 3x combat drones, 1x combat horta, and 1x combat jack dog along with 3x combat security 3 and 2x combat clones of yourself or your BOF. Many extra mortars should be enough right.
Good stuff here, to gather. The Bosses are all over the 3 sites now. Out-skirts ones are the worst to take out. You need other players to help keep the guard away from you so you can take out the Boss General since he can call in SAT Strike on you.
Undine weapons works nice. I was using Voth pistol XII purple cost a lot but worth it. Take out all targets except for the large massive Bio-Dino. Undine Rife Beam can do that. But the new rep award larger weapons seem effective like the beam rife instead of pluse ones.
I always bring down two ENG and give them the max health and the best weapons. EC 800K-1M New Combat Horta (made at memory alpha before R&D Crafting) attached to them along with the other cool toys. So you have spawned 3x combat drones, 1x combat horta, and 1x combat jack dog along with 3x combat security 3 and 2x combat clones of yourself or your BOF. Many extra mortars should be enough right.
Thank You for this thread, I found it very helpful.
I've been playing since LoR, but I've ignored the Battlezone until now. I've finished up my Omega/Rom/Nukara reps, so I guess Dyson's next on my hitlist, so reading this thread helped prep me for what I need to do.
Thank You for this thread, I found it very helpful.
I've been playing since LoR, but I've ignored the Battlezone until now. I've finished up my Omega/Rom/Nukara reps, so I guess Dyson's next on my hitlist, so reading this thread helped prep me for what I need to do.
Glad to hear it, ive been in the battlezone since it was on tribble ^.^ figured i should share what i have learned
This is correct, and a valid tactic as long as the following are met
1) THE MEDICS DIE-This has to happen, if you tag and run without making sure they are dead...you are just setting yourself up
2) Once you tag all 3, you dont go AFK-this tactic is common and disgusts me, you are just making it harder for everyone
3) instead of going AFK, go to the dino that is the closest to failing, and help out.
Indeed, I'll tag.... knock out the medics, and then head to the next, tag, knock out medics, next.... tag knock out medics.... I will then head to whichever zone has the lowest omega and spend the time killing medics and shooting rex inbetween when no medics are there to kill. I will do this till the rex is dead at that zone. I will then check the status to see if omega is low or dropping at another zone, and go there to take out medics and then engage in rex killing there (it really peeves me when I get to a zone where one rex has already been killed and I find 9 people shooting at the rex while the medics are over there sipping on tea and syphoning off omega).
And if I pass through a rex zone while going between capture points I stop for a few seconds and drop a party amp on anyone hanging around waiting on rexes to show up..... as since they have nothing better to do, they can dance for my amusement for a few seconds. Small price to pay for all the work I am doing for them soloing capture points.
Indeed, I'll tag.... knock out the medics, and then head to the next, tag, knock out medics, next.... tag knock out medics.... I will then head to whichever zone has the lowest omega and spend the time killing medics and shooting rex inbetween when no medics are there to kill. I will do this till the rex is dead at that zone. I will then check the status to see if omega is low or dropping at another zone, and go there to take out medics and then engage in rex killing there (it really peeves me when I get to a zone where one rex has already been killed and I find 9 people shooting at the rex while the medics are over there sipping on tea and syphoning off omega).
And if I pass through a rex zone while going between capture points I stop for a few seconds and drop a party amp on anyone hanging around waiting on rexes to show up..... as since they have nothing better to do, they can dance for my amusement for a few seconds. Small price to pay for all the work I am doing for them soloing capture points.
HAHAHAHAHAHA, we need to team up sometime (@jarodroto123)
One thing I'll add is a heavy emphasis on chroniton mines for yourself and/or boffs. They do tremendous damage, can be deployed right on top of enemy spawnpoints or along the paths they'll come in (very useful against big mechs), they can nullify spec ops voth and raptors with ease given their heavy use of melee attacks, and because you're often fighting around a particular objective any mine laying that goes on is likely to find a target [eventually]. They can also help a lot during the final boss fight if you treat mines as a slow, area of effect melee attack. :P
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
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When in the Battlezone, depending on which section you are in, you have a chance to encounter 1 of the 6 minibosses in the zone. I recommend that unless you have some ground experience and high quality (rep) gear, you engage these in groups only. When they die, they will spawn around 20 command credits and a number of random buffs.
If you are in the Park, you may encounter one of two Dinosaurs who are basically mini V-rex. These fight simillar to the V-rex, except the power of their attacks and their armor is significantly reduced. It is best to keep moving while fighting these.
If you are in the Outskirts you may encounter one of two voth generals, these generals are very tough on their own, and they also beam in groups of Voth Spec Ops infantry to aid them when attacked.
If you are in the City, you may encounter one of 2 Inquisitors. These bosses utilize mech suits similar in design to the Decentrus class Exosuit, but are slightly tougher and issue slightly more damage.
Part 7: Equipment and Abilities
This is a dangerous zone to play in, therefore some equipment (non-rep and rep) is good to have when fighting in this zone
These recommendations are preceding the Dyson Reputation, once you have that unlocked, i recommend using the Ground Set that comes with it, and using this gear on your 2 bridge officer instead.
Very Rare MK XI Armor with [RegHP] mod: Integrated Targeting, Polyalloy Weave, Recoil Compensating and Energy Dampening armor with these requirement can be acquired from the Borg Story Mission "a Gathering Darkness" Credit to skollulfr for recommending this
The above armor is very well equipped to allow the player greater survivability in the zone, thanks to its many HP based mods.
Weapons
When searching for weapons to use in the battlezone, it is important to note, that since Voth cant adapt, they are going to take the most damage from rapid fire weaponry, therefore Full Auto and Minigun weapons are both excellent choices for the battlezone
Kits and Modules
Engineering: Force Field Dome, Shield Pulse, Nanite Medical Generator (or normal version if you have not reached that tier of the Counter-Command Reputation) Chroniton Mine Barrier, Shield Generator. All of these modules have a chance of dropping in Very Rare MK XI form, from the Borg Mission "Assimilation" with the exception of the Nanite Medical Generator, which is purchased from the Counter-Command Reputation, Alternatively all of these (except the Nanite) can be purchased on the exchange for prices ranging from 350k to 2 million ec.
The above equipment set is discussed earlier in the guide, but basically serves as a redundant heal system, with the Force Field Dome serving to block the charges of the Dankanosuars and the melee of the Voth Spec Ops troopers.
Chroniton Mines are included because of how objective focused the battlezone is, often you will be fighting around a certain point, and with how melee based many Voth troops are, as well as the slow moving mechs, you can do large amounts of damage. HEAVY emphasis on these for engineers is advisable. for non-engineers pursuing the mortar "spam" you can equip those bridge officers with Chroniton Mine Barrier as well. Credit to duncanidaho11 for explaining this
Tactical is not an area of ground combat I am intimately familiar with, feel free to add to this part.
Science Kits (added by mustrumridcully0)
Okay, there will probably be some disagreement on this, since I can't say I am an expert on ground combat. I am, for example, really bad at healing myself.
But I usually use kits that have at least the following
- Electro-gravitic Field
- Exothermic Field
- Nanite Health Monitor
- Medical Tricorder
I think the first two powers are awesome together. Anesthizine Gas and Tachyon Harmonic also are good options for your offensive side.
Nanite Health Monitor is great for me because, as mentioned, I am bad at healing myself at least the Nanite Health Monitor will track my health.
So a full kit I might suggest is
- Electro-gravitic Field
- Exothermic Field
- Tachyon Harmonic
- Nanite Health Monitor
- Medical Tricorder
For kits I would recommend an MK XII Xindi Experimental Kit Frame, for engineers, look for [Fab] and/or [Armor]
Bridge Officers
As is mentioned above in passing, you are allowed to take 2 bridge officers with you to the Battlezone. Equipping them with the above armor will significantly help your ability to function. A common tactic is to take two engineers with you, both trained to beam in quantum mortars, then use the Duty Officer that grants extra Mortars, and lay mortars everywhere, creating a lethal zone. Credit to skollulfr for this as well
Assuming you do not do the above, a science officer equipped to heal and debuff, alongside either a DPS equipped Tactical or Fabrication equipped Engineer, is optimal for combat in the zone.
An excellent science officer that you can bring down the the zone, is the Tier 5 Dyson Reputaition Reward Nelen Exil, who has both Shield Stripping and Self-Resurrecting abilities. (recommended by tekehd)
Also an excellent and deadly strategy is to load your tray and officers with combat pets, the Romulan Reputation gives Reman and Romulan consumable security escorts, and there are many other coombat pets you can use at the same time. (recommended by coolheadal)
Traits
There are now a number of traits with excellent affect on ground combat, i will not get into the Xindi traits, as I have not tested them as of yet.
Adrenal Release: This is an essential trait to have on ground, this is a toggle trait, that allows the user a 10 second burst where they lose 100 damage resistance and gain 50% damage, if you are mobile enough to avoid attacks, or are in a large web of engineer heals, this becomes a straight 10 second damage boost.
Glad to hear it, i was waiting for interest to add to it, i think there are a couple sections i missed.....
And I appreciate someone going through the trouble of writing a walkthrough like this for everyone. It really shows you care.
If I could, I would +1 this instantly.
Thank you, I appreciate the compliment.
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!" - Agatha Heterodyne
I didn't know that before. I use to bypass the artillery points until there were a few more players hitting them before I joined.
I find rep gear to be helpful, but if you are smart about it, MK XI gear can suffice. You can contact me in game @jarodroto123 if you need some help with that.
I do recommend that if you are going to try in MK XI gear, look for armor and shields with the [Ap] mod and [Cap] shields dont hurt either....
that works too
And that's another useful bit of information for a newb who's never set foot there. I didn't know if we brought Boffs or not.
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!" - Agatha Heterodyne
don't join the tag and run to the next rex gang. more than a few times the voth won a silo because everyone was trying to get all three and one or two rexes didn't go down.
there are 6 minibosses they can be pretty tough.
one is a rex bataraza (or something like that) a baby rex, basically
two is Inquisitor Dran, he's in a mech. you can solo him pretty easily, but he has a lot of hitpoints
three is another inquisitor, just like Dran
four is a general who wanders the outskirts. he is one tough SOB and always has an escort of spec ops.
I'm not sure who the fifth and sixth minibosses are but there are accolades for beating all six.
look at your weapons. unlike the Borg who adapt, you WANT rapid fire here. stow the shotguns because you want range. the city and park are full of swarmers. look for miniguns and autofire rifles. and you want the weapon DPS to be at LEAST 105 DPS
killing an exposed voth with an exploit attack will sometimes make them regenerate.
one tactic for most exosuits is to get right up under them, they can't target you well. the other is to circle them constantly moving but sometimes they can get a bead on you.
I generally bring an engineer and a medic. I also give them both hortas. (We got one free last year, and you can get one as a reward for rerunning "mine enemy".) The hortas aren't terribly effective, but if they get close to an enemy, their acid ignores shields.
I didn't see the generals mentioned in the write up. They can be a nasty surprise for someone not expecting boss level enemies wandering around randomly.
And personally, how I do it.... because it prevents as many voth respawns, is I go counter-clockwise around the points (As this puts you approaching from the direction of the first panel on each point to be activated), clear voth, activate the 2 panels, move to next, at last one, activate all three, then go back clockwise activating the last panel at each.... usually only the final two (first one you activate and the one next) and sometimes three have a chance to spawn more voth, so you can usually get two or three without even having to kill more voth.
Rexes not going down doesn't lose a silo.... Medics (as they are called Engineers) taking all the Omega at a silo lose that Silo. If you're at a silo solo the best thing to do is concentrate on the Medics..... if you're not.... then you're the reason the Silo was lost, not the taggers.
While taggers can be the reason you are solo, yes if you were the only one there, and didnt kill the medics, it was your fault. The V-Rex can stay alive indefinitely as long as the medics stay dead.
Added, thank you for your feedback!!
This is correct, and a valid tactic as long as the following are met
1) THE MEDICS DIE-This has to happen, if you tag and run without making sure they are dead...you are just setting yourself up
2) Once you tag all 3, you dont go AFK-this tactic is common and disgusts me, you are just making it harder for everyone
3) instead of going AFK, go to the dino that is the closest to failing, and help out.
Undine weapons works nice. I was using Voth pistol XII purple cost a lot but worth it. Take out all targets except for the large massive Bio-Dino. Undine Rife Beam can do that. But the new rep award larger weapons seem effective like the beam rife instead of pluse ones.
I always bring down two ENG and give them the max health and the best weapons. EC 800K-1M New Combat Horta (made at memory alpha before R&D Crafting) attached to them along with the other cool toys. So you have spawned 3x combat drones, 1x combat horta, and 1x combat jack dog along with 3x combat security 3 and 2x combat clones of yourself or your BOF. Many extra mortars should be enough right.
Time will only tell!
Heheh Pet Spam FTW (works really well TBH)
I've been playing since LoR, but I've ignored the Battlezone until now. I've finished up my Omega/Rom/Nukara reps, so I guess Dyson's next on my hitlist, so reading this thread helped prep me for what I need to do.
Glad to hear it, ive been in the battlezone since it was on tribble ^.^ figured i should share what i have learned
Indeed, I'll tag.... knock out the medics, and then head to the next, tag, knock out medics, next.... tag knock out medics.... I will then head to whichever zone has the lowest omega and spend the time killing medics and shooting rex inbetween when no medics are there to kill. I will do this till the rex is dead at that zone. I will then check the status to see if omega is low or dropping at another zone, and go there to take out medics and then engage in rex killing there (it really peeves me when I get to a zone where one rex has already been killed and I find 9 people shooting at the rex while the medics are over there sipping on tea and syphoning off omega).
And if I pass through a rex zone while going between capture points I stop for a few seconds and drop a party amp on anyone hanging around waiting on rexes to show up..... as since they have nothing better to do, they can dance for my amusement for a few seconds. Small price to pay for all the work I am doing for them soloing capture points.
HAHAHAHAHAHA, we need to team up sometime (@jarodroto123)
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!