Surviving the Trenches: A beginner's guide to fighting the Vaadwaur on Kobali Prime

silverlobes

This is written to help any new players who are hitting Kobali Prime for the first time, and who may be finding the Vaadwaur trenches a challenge.

I'm writing from the perspective of someone who plays with an engineering character, not tactical or science. If you play either of those careers, you may or may not be able to extrapolate and transpose the following for your own style of gameplay.

"Good evening, do you have a moment so we can discuss the Rules of Acquisition with you?"




"Fail to prepare; Prepare to fail..."

"Remember the six 'P's: Proper Planning Prevents P*ss Poor Performance."

The first time I played the missions on a now defunct character, I didn't know what was going on, and wound up respawning. A Lot. I didn't really have much idea on kits and boff powers, beyond letting the boffs do their default thing (I hadn't even worked out at that point, how to train them in new skills) I forget which weapons I was using, I think a split-beam phaser rifle, but they weren't really up to the task of dealing with how the Vaadwaur act, and how they act in the trenches. But from observing how the Vaadwaur were putting my character down, that showed me how I needed to be thinking and fighting. The old maxim of "Know Your Enemy" really applies here.

Vaadwaur Tactics:
Fighting Klingons on the ground, they tend to charge and attack, but can be fought face to face. Not so with the Vaadwaur.

Vaadwaur move in packs of three or more. They use Polaron weapons which in a pack, hit pretty rapidly. will drain your shields with each hit, they move quickly, and they will try and flank you.

So how do you counter this?

By mirroring their tactics.

You need to employ: Aggression, Defensiveness, and Mobility

How can you be both aggressive and defensive? By using defensive heals and boosts to counter the effects of their weapons, and then using that resistance to allow you to be aggressive towards the attacker. Keep moving. If you stand still, they will try and flank you. So don't give them the chance. Keep moving, and firing on the run.

I've seen players going into the trenches with heavy-weapons like the Boolean cannon, and while I've tried that, and it is survivable, personally, I prefer to equip a weapon which still allows for full sprinting without being slowed down.

The Vaadwaur use polaron weapons, so I consider it only right to return the favor. But by tooling up with dual pistols off the exchange, as that allows for a much faster rate of returning fire, than what they're dishing out. It's a bit like going up against the Fek'lhri with their anti-proton turrets, and the constant barrage which they put out. The only difference, is this time, you're the one putting out the barrage, not being on the receiving end of it

Rate of fire is pretty much the key to overwhelming a Vaadwaur patrol. The piercing plasma rifle, is fast, but not really fast enough. A full auto Federation rifle? Forget about it... Having the right weapons plays a significant part in changing the environment from 'difficult and frustrating' to 'rather fun to run around, blasting on fools' Run into the trenches armed with TR-116Bs, and you're respawning quickly It needs the speed of the dual pistols (of six pistols) to really give the Vaadwaur a taste of their own medicine, and cut through them.


Your boffs are your teammates: Look after them, and they will look after you.



Let them run off doing their own thing, while you try and do your thing, and that's when they can be overwhelmed. If they go down, you then have to revive them, leaving yourself vulnerable to attack. Without them, you can also be overwhelmed. Stick close to them; You benefit from them, they benefit from you

Choice in boffs: Personally, I go for a tactical boff, and an engineering boff. Beam turrets take too long to set up to be effective in this situation, and the fight is over before they can be effective. But mines are good for creating a defensive perimeter for if you're going to be stopping to actually interact with the equipment in the trenches, such as tapping their communications. Medical generators can also be helpful. I won't say 'lifesavers', because they take too long to set up, and heal too slowly, to be considered a 'last ditch' in a fight, but, they're good to use after a fight, to bring everyone back up to full health before moving on to the next objective. I find that having an engineering boff, means one boff taking on the role of 'team medic', which allows the player to focus on their own survival, and any objective at hand, rather than having to think about healing the team too.



Gear: I'm not using anything spectacularly expensive (assuming you have a reasonable exchange budget ) Think survivability. Shield boosts and health heals being a priority. I'm personally using two different shield recharges, Reroute Power to Shields to heal Kek, Shield Pulse to heal the boffs, and Scarab Plating as a backup for if shields fail while still on cooldown (with hypos and shield charges also loaded as emergency backups) to save that damage coming straight out of the health.



Stuff like drones can be fun to use, but their deployment time, like the time taken to call down an Orbital Strike, is time which could simply be used hammering the fire key I left them loaded, but mines really are more useful.

While it's possible to tank a Vaadwaur attack (or is 'turtle' the correct term?) it requires attention and management. Tanking the attack and not fighting back, will just waste the boost by letting it time out, and you'll still be taking fire. So use the heals and boosts, then unleash the fury against the attackers.


Why have I focussed on the trenches? The trenches amplify the Vaadwaur's 'swamp and flank' tactics, with not just one patrol, but several patrols, from multiple approaches. In the trench intersections, where some device interaction is required for a mission, it is very easy to get cornered and swamped, with no option but to fight your way clear. Other maps, such as defending the city bridge, they're coming from one direction, and easy (or easier) to defeat, and more options to evade or take cover.

But not in the trenches...

Master the trenches, and the Vaadwaur become handleable in all other environments

Of course, these are simply my own experiences and thoughts, your findings may vary