Borg Alcove is a Rare Forbidden Tech, an artifact that slots onto a ship rather than joining a crew. Its largest number is hull health on Voyager, which climbs to 1,800% at max tier and level, and it also adds critical hit chance against Delta Quadrant hostiles, better hostile and Outpost rewards, and extra critical damage. It is an Exploration piece built around one ship, so its value rests on whether you fly that ship.
What Borg Alcove does
The item opens with a small critical hit bonus for Voyager against Delta Quadrant hostiles, then turns into a survivability upgrade as you tier it. Hull health is what changes how the ship plays. A Voyager carrying several times its base hull can stay in higher level Delta Quadrant space and keep grinding instead of running home to repair. The two buffs that arrive later are written for hostiles generally, not only Delta Quadrant ones.
| Buff | Unlocks at tier | Unlock value | Max value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voyager critical hit chance against Delta Quadrant hostiles | 1 | 1% | 25% |
| Hull health on Voyager | 3 | 40% | 1,800% |
| Hostile and Outpost rewards | 6 | 5% | 35% |
| Critical damage against hostiles | 8 | 10% | 150% |
Three of the four buffs are dormant when you first unlock the piece, so an alcove sitting at a low tier does very little. The payoff sits at tier 6 and above, where the reward bonus and the critical damage bonus switch on and start scaling with level. Values above are current as of the latest game data.
How to get Borg Alcove
Forbidden Tech unlocks with rarity matched fragments in the refinery. For a Rare piece that means Rare Forbidden Fragments, which the game lists as rewards from Q’s Trials and from special rewards. You also need somewhere to put it: Forbidden Tech slots on a ship are opened with Forbidden Tech Fusion Rods, and those same Fusion Rods are what pull a piece back off a ship later. Fusion Rods come from the Forbidden Tech refinery and the store. Spare Forbidden Tech parts turn into Forbidden Tech Credit Pieces, which exchange for Forbidden Tech Credits in the refinery.
Upgrading Borg Alcove
Tiers and levels do different jobs. A tier up raises the level cap and switches on the later buffs at the tiers listed above, paid for with Forbidden Tech Tier-Up Catalyst. Levels scale the values you already have and cost Forbidden Tech Protomatter. Both kinds of upgrade also burn Forbidden Tech Reactor, which the game describes as what you spend to attempt an upgrade, and Probability Devices raise the chance an attempt succeeds. Max tier is 12 and max level is 60.
| Ebene | Level cap | Kosten |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Starting tier, no cost |
| 7 | 35 | 32 Forbidden Tech Reactor, 4,200 Forbidden Tech Tier-Up Catalyst |
| 12 | 60 | 32 Forbidden Tech Reactor, 4,900 Forbidden Tech Tier-Up Catalyst |
Getting all the way to tier 12 runs 352 Forbidden Tech Reactor and 57,000 Forbidden Tech Tier-Up Catalyst in total. Levelling from 2 to 60 costs a further 1,856 Forbidden Tech Reactor and 475,975 Forbidden Tech Protomatter. That is a long project, and the reward buff at tier 6 is the first point where the spend starts paying you back.
Best ships and uses for Borg Alcove
Two of the four buffs name Voyager by ship, so the alcove goes on U.S.S. Voyager and nowhere else if you want everything it offers. Put it on any other hull and you are paying Rare fragments for two buffs out of four. The intended loop is Delta Quadrant hostile grinding: the critical hit bonus is written for those targets, the hull bonus keeps Voyager alive against them, and the reward and critical damage bonuses apply to hostile fights wherever you take them. If you are building that rotation, the hostile guide covers target selection and grinding fundamentals.
Borg Alcove in Star Trek
Regeneration alcoves are where Borg drones stand when they are not working. Each alcove holds a drone upright, recharges its implants, and links it to the Collective while it rests, which is why Borg vessels are built as banks of alcoves rather than crew quarters. The Enterprise-D crew found rows of them aboard the cube in “Q Who”, and Voyager’s own crew installed a modified alcove in a cargo bay so Seven of Nine could regenerate after being severed from the Collective. The game takes that idea and wires an alcove into a ship’s computer, with the flavor text admitting the host vessel might get assimilated for the trouble.
Is Borg Alcove worth it?
Chase it if Voyager is a ship you actually fly in the Delta Quadrant. For that player the hull health buff alone changes what you can grind, and the reward bonus at tier 6 pays for itself over time. If Voyager sits in your dock, spend your Rare fragments on something that works on the hulls you fly. Half of this piece is locked to one ship, and no amount of tiering changes that.