The way to improve Ballista

[Cream Soda]

1. That's what I said, someone killing players and getting gate breach and scoring a few less petras than someone else that leeches the whole match should be recognized more. I'm not seeing what the disagreement here is.

2. There's only so much defense you can stack, especially for mages unless you're full timing Earth Staff, Darksteel/Carapace, etc. Also, not everyone has 1700 hp?

3. Whatever the current resist system is, it doesn't work as well as it should. I recently played a 6v6 match where the whole entire other team consisted of a RDMs and BLMs, and even at the end of an hour long match of getting spam slept I was still consistently getting slept for 30-45 seconds, I don't see it working at all to be honest.

4. You know what I mean by being in combat and it doesn't involve having to pull your weapon out. -.-

1. Well, tbh I can score more than the score whore and still be in the action. I had a match where it was 7 on 7. Instead of splitting GBs I let them 6 be in one pt and me being on my own. I did damage and only killed when I had 5p and ready to score (I'd turn if someone was at like 5% and let the party kill so they could get GB if they needed). Even doing this, I got top score and most a very good number of kills. Scoring and killing + scoring is the diff between MVP with 200 ballista points and MVP with 230+ BP

2. Mages can do just fine in the damage mitigation department. In most cases I find them harder to kill unless you spam lethe waters.

3. Poison pots?

4. The idea of losing petra is just dumb. Guard rook, kill score whores, or force them to use petra eater to get away. Not that hard.

[Antithesis]

Ok added a list to the OP. Let me know if theres anything else that can be added, expanded, etc w/e.

[Cream Soda]

in reguards to the OP

"* Improve the efficiency of Pet Jobs (SMN, BST, PUP.)

* Adjust the problem that comes with Gear swapping."

I can agree to bst and pup, but SMN can be very efficient in ballista. Fully merited Geocrush hurts like hell (never has hit me for under 500 dmg, averages 600, and goes up to 700-800) with the additional effect of stun, allowing the smn to run off to safety.

As for the gear swapping, its fine as it is. Myself and at least on other have explained why already in this thread.

[SilverBreeze]

1. Well, tbh I can score more than the score whore and still be in the action. I had a match where it was 7 on 7. Instead of splitting GBs I let them 6 be in one pt and me being on my own. I did damage and only killed when I had 5p and ready to score (I'd turn if someone was at like 5% and let the party kill so they could get GB if they needed). Even doing this, I got top score and most a very good number of kills. Scoring and killing + scoring is the diff between MVP with 200 ballista points and MVP with 230+ BP

2. Mages can do just fine in the damage mitigation department. In most cases I find them harder to kill unless you spam lethe waters.

3. Poison pots?

4. The idea of losing petra is just dumb. Guard rook, kill score whores, or force them to use petra eater to get away. Not that hard.

2. I find Mages ridiculously easy to kill as long as you diaga them, dispel, then kick their face in. The exception is RDMs which most people don't bother trying to kill unless they have a Lethe +1.

3. Poison pots are great for waking you up from sleep, but you don't always have one and half the time the Cathlicon that just saved your ass just made you vulnerable to sleep again. My point is, if sleep resistance is there, and it doesn't dissapear as you die, and its "fine" as it is, then where the hell was it after getting slept 20-25 times in a single match?

4. That's all fine and dandy until there's more than one Rook, then good luck splitting your team to guard both when the opposing team can just steam roll your split forces and let all their leeches score. Not that hard.

[Cream Soda]

2. I find Mages ridiculously easy to kill as long as you diaga them, dispel, then kick their face in. The exception is RDMs which most people don't bother trying to kill unless they have a Lethe +1.

3. Poison pots are great for waking you up from sleep, but you don't always have one and half the time the Cathlicon that just saved your ass just made you vulnerable to sleep again. My point is, if sleep resistance is there, and it doesn't dissapear as you die, and its "fine" as it is, then where the hell was it after getting slept 20-25 times in a single match?

4. That's all fine and dandy until there's more than one Rook, then good luck splitting your team to guard both when the opposing team can just steam roll your split forces and let all their leeches score. Not that hard.

2. Not all that easy to take down a blm/rdm that knows wtf they're doing. As a matter of fact, I fear them more than rdms because a rdm will generally bind you, toss on a couple enfeebles then just go back to what he was doing and with a blm they'll bind/grav, and proceed to nuke the fuck out of you.

3. poison pots are too ridiculously common in quarry to be getting slept 25 times a match. Don't even try to dispute that. Then on top of that you have your pld/rdm bio II whores, your anti shadows diaga whores, ect.

4. If you want to get technical about it, you could rig it yourself to where there is never more than one rook.

[SilverBreeze]

*facepalm*

I didn't say those 25 times were full duration sleeps, even if you have poison on you're still slept for a split second waiting for the tick, shouldn't that count for being slept? So if you're in your average ballista match where Diaga and Sleepga are flying everywhere, I don't find it a bad guess to say you could get slept 20-25 times in a match, even if you are immediately woken up. So if you really do build resistance to sleep, after all those times you get slept, the one time you get caught without poison, dont you think it would not last long at all, if you've built up "resistance" to it? :3

[Cream Soda]

*facepalm*

I didn't say those 25 times were full duration sleeps, even if you have poison on you're still slept for a split second waiting for the tick, shouldn't that count for being slept? So if you're in your average ballista match where Diaga and Sleepga are flying everywhere, I don't find it a bad guess to say you could get slept 20-25 times in a match, even if you are immediately woken up. So if you really do build resistance to sleep, after all those times you get slept, the one time you get caught without poison, dont you think it would not last long at all, if you've built up "resistance" to it? :3

I really wasn't talking about sleep when it comes t resists anyway because you have so many ways around it (poison pots ect). And I've had several occasions with 1 trait of resist sleep and being slept a handful of times to where every time I would get slept afterwards, it would wear off before the message of me being slept even hit my chat log. I more or less speaking of the bind and gravities. Especially with bind, the resistance rate does show quite well.

[SilverBreeze]

Okay now that that's done, lets go have hot make up sex.

[Cream Soda]

Are you, or do you closely resemble either of those in your avatar? LETS GET IT ON

[Darcatvar]

1. Remove Pankration
2. Use the Pankration death cages for one on one players fights or player vs NPC fights.
3. Place yours bets with LS mates on who will win match.
4. Rub your gil winnings in their faces.
5. Earn points for ZNMs in a far funny manner.

[Kael]

Add a good refresh and regen effect while participating in Ballista.

[Vail]

another ballista Championship!!! Siren only tho k

yeah cause Priceless needs another opportunity to stomp everyone.. again..?

Add a good refresh and regen effect while participating in Ballista.

this would help make ballista less curing dependant and help mages with lasting power, overall this would make ballista better imho

2. There's only so much defense you can stack, especially for mages unless you're full timing Earth Staff, Darksteel/Carapace, etc. Also, not everyone has 1700 hp?

Unlike most people, I actually believe that damage should be reduced significantly in Ballista.

this is a big thing honestly, with all the continuely powering up of melees being one shotted (or in generall lossing well over 50% of your HP in a moments notice) takes away alot of fun in ballista.

I'm a rdm often in ballista so that threat of death almost never applies to me like it does other jobs, but it's alot of why other jobs don't go: on siren it's mostly rdms plds mnks drks sams and wars it seems these days (and the occasional thf) there is alot of jobs that can't wear heavier armor and often have alot less HP then these jobs (this isn't even counting race, tarus are by far the least common race I see in ballista. when you only have 1100hp and are expecting to take 800-900 damage from a WS, it's not very fun. I know that yes you can equip yourself to have good defense. But this isn't equal between jobs: heavier melees have gear that often has some defensive and some offensive stats, while lighter melees are almost always one or the other.

keep in mind, everyone in ballista isn't a hardcore skilled player. It's the same as like counter strike the newbies always complain about getting hit in the leg for 108 damage from an AWP. They complain cause it's not fun being killed so easily and that's in a game where everyone knows you all die easily. But in ffxi about half the jobs are easy to kill targets some are medium and namely the PLD RDM MNK are hard to kill. I don't mean everyone should have the same life-spam same damage kinda "crap" balance, but considering a properly geared pld and mnk are not only hard to kill but fair or extremely dead themselves, while many other jobs can't even approach that status in even one of the defense or offensive categories.

[Leeto]

in order to fix ballista, heck pvp in general, you have to completely revamp FFXI's battle system. it's far too slow paced to make ballista an important part of the game.