The Ballista is an Iron Age artillery unit. It is produced in the Ballista Camp, and is the last unlocked unit of the Iron Age.
Compared to the Stone Thrower of the previous age, it gains +1 attack and +1 defense, along with a very important +1 to range. This allows it to hit most targets across the map on the first turn.
It has an attack bonus on hills and is effective against heavy class units, such as the Legionnaire. However, the low damage means that is is only reliably effective against ranged units and other artillery units.
It is followed by the Catapult of the Early Middle Ages. It should be discontinued afterwards as they will be weak against all higher age units.
Usage[]
The Ballista can be used as fire support by staying behind the army. A full group of Ballistas can be used in combat against melee classes, but vulnerable if the opponent contains fast or light units, such as Mounted Warriors and Soldiers.
Overall, the Ballista is a good unit that can have uses in taking out enemy Archers and Ballistas.
Against Same Age Units[]
Soldiers[]
The Ballista is very weak against the Soldier. Soldiers are very resistant to the attacks of Ballistas, and can take minimal damage if sheltered in trees or bushes. The moderately high movement speed of Soldiers allows them to easily get to Ballistas. Ballistas should be defended by Legionnaires or Archers, to prevent Soldiers from reaching friendly Ballistas.
Archers[]
The Ballista is very effective against the Archer. The Archer has low defense, and is exposed easily by the Ballista, as the Ballista has the upper hand of range. Two hits are often sufficient to kill Archers, but it should be noted that Archers have very high damage and if Archers get a clean shot to the Ballista, it will have a severe impact on the Ballista.
Mounted Warrior[]
The Mounted Warrior is a significant threat to the Ballista. Mounted Warriors can reach Ballistas on the other side of the map in 2 turns, and deal massive damage. Meanwhile, Ballistas are unable to do significant damage to Mounted Warriors. If a player has Ballistas in play, he/she should prioritize to take out any Mounted Warriors early in the match. It should be noted that the AI will almost always target artillery units, so any Mounted Warriors will attack Ballistas if it can do so.
Legionnaires[]
The Ballista is somewhat effective against the Legionnaire, because of their bonuses, but because of the Legionnaire’s tough defense, the Ballista only does small amounts of damage to them. The biggest advantage Ballistas have over the Legionnaire is their incredible range and the Legionnaires slow movement, meaning the Ballista is able to get in a lot of hits before the Legionnaires do attack back. If Legionnaires aren’t on plains or if Ballistas are on hills, the damage increase will be significantly greater.
Updates[]
- The attack value was reduced by one (from 5 to 4) in update 1.05.
- The attack and defense boost against Heavy Units was raised from 2 to 4 in the 1.06 update.
History[]
The Ballista was developed in ancient times by the Ancient Greeks. The Roman army put the ballista into use, where it was a very important and powerful weapon that can launch a bolt over 500 yards away. It was primary used as an anti-personnel weapon, but it was also used as a siege engine against fixed fortifications. It was very accurate, but traded accuracy for range. However, the ballista relied on fair weather to operate, as damp or wet weather can damage the ropes used in the artillery piece.
Gallery[]
Ballista in battle with a Military Drummer boost
Other Military Units[]
Legend: 
= Light Unit Class 
= Ranged Unit Class 
= Artillery Unit Class 
= Heavy Unit Class 
= Fast Unit Class