Dovin basals functioned as a type of organic defense mechanism employed by the Yuuzhan Vong. Typically, they were integrated into the neuroengine of a Yuuzhan Vong vessel, serving purposes such as propulsion, defense, and other diverse functions.
These spherical organisms, varying in size, possessed the capability to generate intense gravitational fields, primarily utilized for propulsion and protective shielding. Dovin basals could create miniature black holes capable of absorbing energy weapon blasts directed at spacecraft, as well as nearly anything else, ranging from proton torpedoes to concussion missiles. Groups of dovin basals could create inhibition fields, a type of force field, that trapped enemies. These fields could also yank ships out of hyperspace.
Dovin basals also had the capability to significantly deplete deflector shields of nearby enemy ships. However, technicians from the New Republic developed a countermeasure to this shield-draining tactic. By enlarging the sphere of influence of the inertial compensator to a radius of thirteen meters, they could safeguard the shields, mitigating external stresses. Nevertheless, if a sufficient number of dovin basals focused their gravitational beams on the shields, the inertial compensator would overexert itself, leading to the vessel's destruction.
Dovin basals were cultivated in conjunction with yammosks. A yammosk would form a bond with the dovin basals under its care, treating them as offspring; a healthy yammosk would foster the growth of faster dovin basals. The dovin basals used for ship propulsion were telepathically linked to the yammosk, which would steer the vessel to protect its "children" from harm. Notably, the Yuuzhan Vong's navigation system relied on their gravitational technology, with each ship having a unique gravitic signature, akin to a fingerprint.
Certain Yuuzhan Vong ships also carried a Keeper, housing a powerful dovin basal. These were deployed to counter the strategies of the inhabitants of the Promised Land, sometimes unleashing concentrated firepower to weaken the gravitic organisms. Keepers were heavily guarded and assigned a more formidable warship for protection. These protector ships possessed an exceptionally large dovin basal, presumably for enhanced shielding. Moreover, dovin basals could be weaponized against planets: a potent dovin basal deployed on a planet's surface could target a moon, decelerating its orbit and causing it to collide with the planet, resulting in mutual destruction, a tactic known as Yo'gand's Core. Another tactic involved inserting planetary shielding teams who, upon deployment to a world, would place a dovin basal on a moon in orbit. This allowed the planet's defense platforms to be swept out of position.
Dovin basal mines were extensively used as interdiction tools throughout the Yuuzhan Vong War. Due to the organisms' inherent gravitic properties, they could easily navigate space and enter battlefields, where they could be commanded to strip the shields of enemy ships.
A subspecies of dovin basal, resembling small stars, was employed as a jamming device. These were deployed onto enemy ships in the Promised Land, where they generated gravitic distortions that prevented the enemy from sending any transmissions as they were sucked into a black hole.
Master Shaper Nen Yim engineered a specialized breed of dovin basals, which she installed on a captured Sekotan Personal Starship. These served as a prototype for a new type of dovin basal capable of collapsing gravity disturbances, such as those created by an Interdictor.
Singularity mines were a smaller variety of dovin basal employed as mines, creating a minute quantum singularity to consume nearby objects.
The Mabugat kan represented a species bred from dovin basals. It was utilized to disrupt HoloNet communications.
The initial use of dovin basals as a devastating weapon occurred on the planet Ygziir within the Yuuzhan Vong home galaxy, orchestrated by the ancient Warmaster Yo'gand during the Cremlevian War. Subsequently, they were instrumental in powering the exodus of the Yuuzhan Vong Worldships from their home galaxy to their Promised Land.
During the Yuuzhan Vong War, the alien invaders employed this tactic against Sernpidal through its moon Dobido, and Kalarba through the orbiting Hosk Station and its living moon Indobok. The dovin basals proved to be a formidable weapon for the Yuuzhan Vong, effectively stripping enemy ships of their shields until the New Republic devised methods to counteract this advantage.
The planet Tynna provided an ideal environment for dovin basal cultivation, resulting in the degradation of its crystal blue waters to a sickly pale yellow by the Yuuzhan Vong, while the native Tynnan population stood by in fear. This enabled the Yuuzhan Vong empire to cultivate dovin basals of sufficient size for the conquest of Coruscant and to disable the planetary shield.
During the conquest of Borleias, the Yuuzhan Vong deployed a planetary shield team onto its surface to position a large dovin basal on the planet's moon, which was then used to sweep away the orbiting defenses.
The Yuuzhan Vong also initiated the process of seeding hyperspace routes with dovin basal interdictor mines, programmed to pull enemy ships out of hyperspace. They were also secretly used to map the gravitic signature of Yuuzhan Vong ships and report them to the Warmaster.
Qelah Kwaad also participated in the use of merging dovin basals with that of a navigational drone which were used to disrupt the infidel use of the HoloNet by destroying the transceiver stations.
Following the conclusion of the Yuuzhan Vong War, all surviving dovin basals reverted to their pre-engineered state on Zonama Sekot and integrated into the planet's ecosystem.