Team manager Raylene Bates, of Dunedin, said the withdrawal of Olympic 1500m medallist Nick Willis, who is recovering from hip surgery earlier this year, had deprived the New Zealand team of its only other realistic medal contender.
"We are looking ahead to the London Olympic Games in 2012 and there are three development athletes in the team," Bates told the Otago Daily Times.
Otago has two athletes in the team, Shireen Crumpton in the marathon and Andrea Miller in the 100m hurdles.
Dunedin physiotherapist Helen Littleworth is in the support team.
Vili dominated at the Beijing Olympics and Bates expects this to continue at Berlin.
It has been a remarkable few months for Vili, who has recorded the seven best shot puts in the world this year.
Her best was a New Zealand record of 20.69m, in Rio de Janeiro in May.
Vili's best distance is 62cm better than the best throw of Anna Avdeeva (Russia), who recorded 20.07m last month.
Vili is defending the world shot put title she won in Osaka in 2007.
It is her fourth world championships after Paris in 2003, where she finished fifth, and Helsinki in 2005 (third).
New Zealand's next best prospect is United States-based distance runner Kimberley Smith in the 10,000m.
She finished fifth at the Osaka world championships two years ago.
Smith is also racing the 5000m, where she is ranked 16th, after running 14min 52.49sec in London last month.
Smith has not run 10,000m this year but her best time of 30min 35.54sec, which she ran in 2008, would rank her sixth on this year's times.
"Kimberley should make the final," Bates said.
"It is then up to what she can do on the day."
The three development athletes in the team are Monique Williams in the 200m, Miller in the hurdles and Nikki Hamblin in the 800m and 1500m.
It is the first senior championships for Williams, who won the World University Games 200m gold medal last month.
Her best time is the 22.98sec she ran in Sydney in February.
Miller broke her own New Zealand 100m hurdles national record when she ran 13.10sec in Geneva in June.
She proved she has the temperament for the big time by winning a bronze medal at the World University Games.
This is the first senior world championships for the Dunedin physiotherapist, who has her sights on next year's New Delhi Commonwealth Games and the London Olympics.
The women's marathon team is led by Crumpton, whose best time of 2hr 37min 3sec was at the world championships in 2005.
She is joined by overseas-based Mary Davies and Fiona Docherty, in a team that is aiming for a place in the top six.
Temperatures have been 32degC in Berlin and this could help Crumpton, who likes warmer conditions.
Athletics New Zealand has dropped three athletes originally named - Adrian Blincoe (5000m), James Dolphin (200m) and Rebecca Wardell (heptathlon) - because they had not reached the required standard close to the championships.
The world competition will run until August 23.
