Guild Wars 2

Ballistas lack a clearly defined purpose in GW2 WvW.

I believe they were originally conceived as the “anti siege, siege weapon” capable of taking out other siege weapons if need be.

But due to the positioning of defensive siege, trying to save them from the massive AoE fields spammed on to walls, the Ballista never really sees much action. This is also due to the direct-fire shot, rather than an arcing show, making it impossible to hit targets up on walls.

The range is also a weakness since Catapults and Trebuchets have a much further range and thus are much more viable “anti siege” weapons.

The only quality Ballistas have is delivering heavy burst damage to a choke-point, but even that pales in comparison to what a Superior Arrow Cart can do.

So it’s not a great “anti siege” weapon.

It’s not a great “anti personel” weapon.

It has a rather limited range.

It has a limited firing angle.

They need to be exposed if they want to hit targets.

Yeah, Ballistas suck in pretty in every imaginable way. So how can they be improved?

I throw the ballista blueprints I get on top of dead spiked bodies. Only the bodies of the kitten s who attack me as I run across map to return to my group after re-spawn. If you make me have to fight you off (looking at you, thief who kept lurking in the back of by the buildings at greenvale all night) then once I kill your silly kitten I’m going to desecrate your corpse too.

It’s a good way to get rid of those prints you get as drops.

Other than that, ballista has no real uses.

Dee Jay.2460:

But due to the positioning of defensive siege, trying to save them from the massive AoE fields spammed on to walls, the Ballista never really sees much action. This is also due to the direct-fire shot, rather than an arcing show, making it impossible to hit targets up on walls.

The way walls work is a much broader problem, in my opinion. The raised edges on the walls, which keep opponents from pulling you off, actually block the shots of defenders on the wall, often forcing them to hop up on the edge where the can be pulled off. And crenellation is even worse. It blocks defensive siege while doing nothing to stop AoE attacks that can hit behind it. Those defense features should benefit the defender, not penalize them or get in the way. Why would defenders build them into their fortifications if they are worthless? ANet needs to figure out how to have fortifications cast defensive shadows against AoEs and need to make the edges on walls be transparent rather than obstructive to outgoing fire.

That said, there are a few places were ballistas are quite useful for shooting down tunnels, including in the Lord’s Room tunnel in the Hills keep and inside the Pangloss camp. They can also be quite useful for defending a Lord’s Room because they have no minimum range and the spread shot one gets from expertise can be quite effective against a charge.

But perhaps the best use for ballistas, especially if you use a superior ballista or have ballista mastery, is Hylek shooting off the back of Quentin Lake tower. From the edge of the platform by the Lord’s Room, you can defeat hostile Hylek, defeat the Krait to get the Hylek on your side, and harass enemy players trying to do the same, all from the comfort of Quentin Lake tower. And, yes, I can do enough damage with expertise, even without a superior ballista, to kill Hylek even when there is nobody else down there fighting them and they are rapidly healing (usually takes 2-3 shots).

If ANet wants to improve the ballista, I would make the shots a bit faster, because the main weakness I see in them is that it’s very hard to hit rapidly dodging opponents with them.

There needs to be at least one piece of cheap siege to throw on dead enemies.

I would like the ballista’s firing height to be raised a bit, then it can fire over the raised lip of walls when on top and be set back a little bit on the walls.

Surely the siege builders can throw a couple of books under the ballista to make them more than tombstones for thieves who picked on the wrong person.

Half a human height or so, Anet can do the testing and tweaking.

Respawn.6802:

I would like the ballista’s firing height to be raised a bit, then it can fire over the raised lip of walls when on top and be set back a little bit on the walls.

As I said in my reply, the raised lip of walls should not be blocking fire from defenders at all, and that would solve the problem, too. A character firing a ranged weapon can be blocked by the lip, too, even though they look like they are firing far above it.

Oh wow, Ballistae are still in the game? I’d completely forgotten about those…

Dee Jay.2460:

This is also due to the direct-fire shot, rather than an arcing show, making it impossible to hit targets up on walls.

Clearly you need to go hang out on Elona for a bit. They are scary-fast-building-pros at using ballis in just this manner. It’s like an off-broadway dance troop at times.

*Elona shuffles in.
*BAM! five ballis are up, one guy does a pirouette.
*Oops, all your siege is gone, even as you’re running to it.
*Elona bows, leaves.
*10 minutes later the big big blob arrives (often with golems dancing towards your tower).

The big problem with bali’s is the cost vs reward. Supply is sparse. Balisa are prone wherever you place them. Therefor you’re throwing away a lot of supply to get one up for a fight. Supply that will be needed for rams, golems, and AC’s.

Reduce the cost dramatically so that a two people can put one up. Say 20 supply for a regular, 30 for a superior (2x 15 supply). Then to stop a 60 man zerg from drop 30 instant bali’s, put in a high siege cap in a small area for bali’s (So a single bali can only have four other bali’s close by in its radius), say 1200. Then we could get a lot more bali action because the cost isnt going to outweigh the ten seconds of usefulness they’ll provide in open field/lip placement anti infantry/siege warfare.

Hell, another option could be to add a new line to ballista mastery: Ballistas become auto placed like traps (or prints have a third option), which costs 15 supply. He can only have one placed in this way at any one time (like traps). That way a Bali Master can bring and lay his own bali’s in a fight.

Carize.8532:

I throw the ballista blueprints I get on top of dead spiked bodies. Only the bodies of the kitten s who attack me as I run across map to return to my group after re-spawn. If you make me have to fight you off (looking at you, thief who kept lurking in the back of by the buildings at greenvale all night) then once I kill your silly kitten I’m going to desecrate your corpse too.

It’s a good way to get rid of those prints you get as drops.

Other than that, ballista has no real uses.

I think what you are doing here, sir, is the classic misuse of the ‘Shame Ram’ that is often employed in these circumstances.

I think there’s a reason they’re only like 20c ea….

They’re definitely situational, but I’m actually liking ballistas more than arrow carts. The only reason people love the ACs more is because there’s still so many militia out there who don’t watch their health bar, and they get kills that way. The ACs success is predicated on poor play by the option, but the ballista, on the other hand, doesn’t even give squishier folks the option of paying attention. That stopping power can be so good when used right.

Really, I think the two should be used in tandem. Maybe even set up to help defend an offensive siege position where you’ve built a wall adjacent cata with that knock down or a flame ram with that fiery fear.

There currently isn’t a blockade type mechanism in game. Maybe ballistas can be upgraded to become a line of defense?