The Benzar Smuggler is a neutral hostile you fight in the level 19 to 30 range, out in the trade lanes around Benzar. It only spawns as a Battleship, so the fastest kills come from an Interceptor. Every one you destroy drops Dilithium, the refined mineral you spend on research, ship building, and tier upgrades. Warp 17 reaches the early spawns, while the level 30 version sits behind warp 23.
How to beat the Benzar Smuggler
Die Benzar Smuggler only appears as a Battleship. In the combat triangle, Interceptors beat Schlachtschiffe, so bring an Interceptor and you open every fight with a damage advantage. Nothing changes between levels here: the hull stays the same from 19 to 30, so one Interceptor build carries you across the whole band. That single-hull consistency is what makes this hostile easy to farm. You never have to keep a second ship on hand or swap crews when you move up a level, which keeps your grinding runs fast and your repair bills low.
For crew, put a captain in the chair who raises your weapon damage against hostiles, then fill the other seats with Offiziere that add damage or cut incoming hits. At these levels the cadet crew still holds up: Cadet Kirk as captain with Cadet Spock and Cadet Uhura below him is cheap to unlock and enough to clear Benzar Smugglers cleanly on a countered hull. For current best picks, see the Officer Tier List. Crews shift with the meta, so treat any named lineup as a starting point rather than a fixed answer.
Where to find the Benzar Smuggler
The low-level Benzar Smugglers cluster in Nabok at warp 17. As you climb, the spawns spread across K’amia, Nasturta, S’mtharz, Iezat, and the Oppidum systems, still at warp 17 to 18. The level 30 version pulls back into deeper space at warp 23, so keep a ship that can make the jump. If you are farming a specific level for its Dilithium payout, park near the systems that list it below and let respawns come to you rather than chasing single targets across the map. The mid-band levels around 26 to 28 give you the widest spread of systems, so they are the easiest to find a fresh target in when a system gets picked clean.
| Ebene | Warp | Systeme |
|---|---|---|
| 19–20 | 17 | Nabok |
| 21 | 17 | K’amia, Nabok |
| 22 | 17 | K’amia, Nabok, S’mtharz |
| 23–25 | 17 | K’amia, Nabok, Nasturta, S’mtharz |
| 26 | 17 | Iezat, K’amia, Nasturta, Oppidum Pulvis, S’mtharz |
| 27 | 17 | Iezat, K’amia, Nasturta, Oppidum Frumenti, Oppidum Pulvis, S’mtharz |
| 28 | 18 | Iezat, Nasturta, Oppidum Frumenti, Oppidum Pulvis, S’mtharz |
| 29 | 18 | Iezat, Nasturta, Oppidum Frumenti, Oppidum Pulvis |
| 30 | 23 | Iezat, Oppidum Frumenti, Oppidum Pulvis |
Rewards and what it drops
The Benzar Smuggler is a single-resource farm. Its only drop is Dilithium, in batches that grow with the hostile’s level, from roughly 47 at the low end to over 110 at level 30. The ship XP it hands out also climbs steadily across the band, from a little over 200 at level 19 to more than 500 at level 30, so grinding it doubles as a way to level whatever hull you are flying. Dilithium is one of the resources you burn constantly in the mid game, on research nodes, new ship construction, and pushing ships up a tier, so a hostile that pays it out reliably is worth keeping on your route.
| Ablegen | What it is |
|---|---|
| Dilithium | A refined mineral you spend on research, ship construction, and tier upgrades. One of the core mid-game currencies. |
Benzar Smuggler stats
Stats climb steeply with level, so the jump from the low end to the top of the band is large.
| Ebene | Total strength | Hull HP | Shield HP | Angriff | Verteidigung | Ship XP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 16,477 | 3,440 | 2,580 | 6,937 | 6,530 | 211 |
| 25 | 44,463 | 9,600 | 7,200 | 17,313 | 18,750 | 364 |
| 30 | 155,450 | 34,800 | 26,100 | 62,000 | 63,000 | 520 |
Benzar Smuggler firing pattern
The Benzar Smuggler carries two weapon types. Its two Energy weapons fire every round for steady, moderate damage, while its single Kinetic weapon hits much harder but only fires every other round. Time your repairs or shield boosts for the rounds the Kinetic gun comes up, since that is where the biggest spikes land.
| Weapon type | Count | Damage per shot | Fires | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energie | 2 | 1,058–1,293 | Every round | 10% (1.5x) |
| Kinetic | 1 | 2,539–3,103 | Every other round | 10% (1.5x) |
The Benzites in Star Trek
Benzar is the homeworld of the Benzites, a Föderation member species from the Alpha Quadrant. Benzites have smooth blue skin and, in their early history away from home, often wore a small respiration device to breathe in other atmospheres. Mordock became the first Benzite at Starfleet Akademie and shared the Daystrom Prize, and Ensign Mendon served aboard the Enterprise-D. During the Dominion War, the Dominion captured Benzar, and Romulanisch forces later helped take it back. The smugglers here are opportunists working the contested trade routes near that world, not a Benzite fleet.
Is the Benzar Smuggler worth grinding?
Yes, if you need Dilithium in the early game. The Benzar Smuggler is a low-risk source of it across a wide level band, and the ship XP it pays out helps level whatever hull you are grinding on. It drops nothing exotic, so it is a workhorse rather than a jackpot. Match your warp to the level you want, 17 for most and 23 for the level 30s, and bring an Interceptor to keep the fights quick.