Interplexing Beacon is an Epic Forbidden Tech built for one fight: Conqueror Borg while you are flying the Borg Sphere. Its headline buff raises your Hyperthermic Stabilizer against Conqueror Borg Obliterators, and two later buffs strip Critical Chance and Shield Mitigation off both the Obliterator and the Suppressor. Outside that matchup it does nothing, which makes it either a must-have or a shelf piece depending on how you play.
What Interplexing Beacon does
The primary buff is defensive in a specific way. Hyperthermic Stabilizer is the stat that answers the Conqueror Borg Obliterator’s hyperthermic damage, and this piece pushes it from 10% at unlock all the way to 100% at max tier and level. That buff is live from tier 1, so the Beacon starts helping the moment you slot it. The other two buffs arrive later, at tier 6, and they work on both Conqueror Borg Suppressors and Obliterators.
| Buff | Unlocks at tier | Unlock value | Max value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Increases Hyperthermic Stabilizer against Conqueror Borg Obliterators | 1 | 10% | 100% |
| Reduces Critical Chance of Conqueror Borg Suppressors and Obliterators | 6 | 0.5% | 25% |
| Decreases Shield Mitigation of Conqueror Borg Suppressors and Obliterators | 6 | 0.5% | 25% |
Every value above applies only while you are on the Borg Sphere and only against those targets. In practice a maxed Beacon means the Obliterator’s hyperthermic damage lands far softer, its crits come less often, and more of your damage gets through the enemy’s mitigation instead of being absorbed. The two tier 6 buffs are nearly worthless at their unlock values, so the real payoff sits at the top of the level range.
How to get Interplexing Beacon
Forbidden Tech unlocks through the refinery rather than through a build queue. You collect Forbidden Fragments at the matching rarity and exchange them there to unlock the piece, and the game points to Q’s Trials and special rewards as where those fragments come from. Since this is an Epic piece, Epic Forbidden Fragments are the ones you need.
You also need somewhere to put it. Forbidden Tech Fusion Rods unlock the Forbidden Tech slots on a ship, and they are what you spend again if you ever want to pull a piece back off. Fusion Rods come from the Forbidden Tech refinery and the store. Excess Forbidden Tech parts convert into Forbidden Tech Credit Pieces, which you exchange for Forbidden Tech Credits in the refinery, so nothing you over-collect goes to waste.
Upgrading Interplexing Beacon
Two tracks run in parallel. Tiers go from 1 to 12, and each tier raises the level cap and can switch on buffs that were dormant before, which is how the Critical Chance and Shield Mitigation buffs turn on at tier 6. Levels go from 1 to 60 and scale the values you already have. Tier-Up Catalysts drive the tier track, Protomatter drives the level track, and Reactors are what you spend to attempt an upgrade in the first place. Probability Devices raise the chance an upgrade attempt succeeds.
| Tier | Level cap | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Starting tier, no cost |
| 7 | 35 | 17,490 Rare Borg Plexus |
| 12 | 60 | 16,800 Epic Borg Plexus |
Taking the piece from tier 1 to tier 12 costs 120,840 Rare Borg Plexus and 47,250 Epic Borg Plexus in total. Levelling it from 1 to 60 costs 92,190 Epic Borg Cortical Subunit and 54,060 Rare Borg Cortical Subunit. Those are large numbers, and they are the reason most players tier this piece in bursts around Borg content rather than in one push.
Best ships and uses for Interplexing Beacon
There is only one correct home for it. The buffs read “while on the Borg Sphere,” so slotting it anywhere else gives you a dead piece of tech. Put it on the Sphere and fly the Sphere at Conqueror Borg targets, specifically the Conqueror Borg Obliterator and the Conqueror Borg Suppressor. The Hyperthermic Stabilizer buff points at the Obliterator alone, so if that is the hostile blocking your progress, this is the piece that moves the needle. Our hostile guide covers the wider grinding setup around those runs.
Interplexing Beacon in Star Trek
The interplexing beacon is real screen canon, from Star Trek: First Contact. After the Borg follow the Enterprise-E back to 2063, a group of drones takes the deflector dish and starts converting it into an interplexing beacon, a transmitter powerful enough to call the 24th century Collective back through time to assimilate Earth. Picard, Worf, and Lieutenant Hawk go out onto the hull in magnetic boots to stop it. Hawk is assimilated during the fight and does not survive, and Picard blows the dish clear of the ship before the signal can go out. The game’s version keeps the idea of a beacon that ties drones to the hive mind and turns it into a weapon you can point back at the Borg.
Is Interplexing Beacon worth it?
If Conqueror Borg content on the Sphere is part of your routine, yes, and it is worth taking past tier 6 so the Critical Chance and Shield Mitigation buffs actually carry weight. If you are not flying the Sphere against those targets, skip it and spend your fragments and Protomatter on something your ships can use everywhere. This is a specialist tool that pays well inside its lane and returns nothing outside it.