Ballista Roles and Questions

[Hanayaka]

In an attempt to find a new hobby in-game, I decided I wanted to get into ballista. I've been unable to find many resources concerning it, so I figured I'd ask here.

My questions to you guys are:

What are the main roles for each job in Ballista?
Due to penalties on gear-swaps, what type of gear is best to full-time? Or is it worth incurring a penalty?
What are some tips/tricks you would recommend to a new Ballista player?
What are some things to look out for?
What changes between capped/uncapped ballista? (eg: I've heard that NIN/RNG is very powerful in 60 cap.)

[Despain]

What job are you looking for information on? They're all played very differently.

[Enedin]

I always went rdm/blm and sleepgaed (for shadows) everything. Then silence, slow, para etc and nuke em down.

[Hanayaka]

My jobs include:
RDM
COR
SMN
Yoichi RNG
Soboro/Yoichi SAM

I'm guessing I'd be playing Soboro/Yoichi SAM if we focus on specifics. For level caps, I have almost every job at 66+.

So I guess my more specific questions are:
What is the main role of a Yoichi SAM in uncapped Ballista?
Due to penalties on gear-swaps, should I focus on Haste/STP or WS gear?
What are some tips/tricks you would recommend to a new Ballista player?
What are some things to look out for? (Bad matchups for a Yoichi SAM/WAR)
What changes between capped/uncapped ballista?

[Ikarys]

The main role is pretty much any DD in ballista is to get gate breach before your teammates are slaughtered. Kill enemy sleepers if they can't be silenced / slept themselves, and kill off / harass melee who keep going for your back line. That being said, SAM/WAR or SAM/RNG is hosed defensively; Seigan is awesome against other melees who want to swing toe-to-toe, but it gives you nothing against enfeeblers, AoE damage or getting ganged.

If you feel the need to use your relic, your main priority is to ensure you have TP, sprint in and flatten someone, and get out before you can get hit with sleep / bind / gravity. Also, you can help pick off weakened opponents; use Soboro to mill through shadows, and then weapon skill if you think you can drop them. Avoid getting in the scrum and hanging out to melee; run up, get your TP, get out, and weaponskill, repeat until everything is dead. As with any good DD in ballista, focus on a team target, but if you see someone with low HP carrying petras and trying to get away, sprint towards them and use a ranged WS to drop them. As for equipment, high defense or damage reduction gear without penalties will usually help more than gearing yourself like a melee in exp party.

[Hanayaka]

Thanks for the response Ikarys, that is exactly what I'm looking for. I will look into a damage reduction set before I head out.

In regards to teamwork, are there any standard roles a melee would take? eg: Will I be expected to stick near the mages in order to defend them, or are they expected to keep up with melees?

[Marcicus]

Where's Cream Soda when you need him >.>

I'll speak from an uncapped match point of view.

RDM: Staples in gear include Earth Staff, Cheviot Cape, and Jelly Ring. If you want to add more on, look at the Darksteel set for more PDT. BLM sub is going to be the most useful thanks to Sleepga. You'll be using your enfeebles to keep the enemy slowed down. Basically, crowd control. KEEP ICE SPIKES UP, my god I am amazed at how many mages in general who have access to this spell do not use it.

COR: Even though your rolls will not hit everyone, I recommend using Luzaf's Ring to maximize the distance on your rolls. RDM sub will be your best bet here; bring an Earth Staff and Corsair's Gun / Steel Bullets. You're going to maximize your Quick Draw damage, so bring your typical MAB gear. Leaden Salute destroys, so at least try to keep up Wizard's Roll on yourself.

SMN: I have no idea why you'd even want to come on this job but ok lol. Staples include Earth/Jelly/Cheviot/Goliard because SMN will get murdered after their Stoneskin falls. RDM sub, use Titan for its lv75 merit ability; however, I've seen some SMNs go all out to buff their Garudas up and drop Wind Blades for 800+ on unsuspecting people. If you don't like either of those look at Ifrit and its lv75 merit ability (Meteor Strike I think?)

Yoichi RNG: Snipe people from a distance and LOL hard at the poor sap who gets hit with a triple proc Barrage. RNG/SAM is the best choice here.

Soboro/Yoichi SAM: Either SAM/WAR for best Namas damage or SAM/DRG for quicker TP gain will be the way to go here. Soboro's going to be used to clear shadows and obviously gain TP faster than any other GKT. Just be careful not to run into anyone with Ice Spikes up if you're going to be using Soboro, cause that Paralyze crap will screw you over.

And DO NOT BE A FUCKING HERO, just stay with the group and you should do well.

[Hogie]

Thanks for the response Ikarys, that is exactly what I'm looking for. I will look into a damage reduction set before I head out.

In regards to teamwork, are there any standard roles a melee would take? eg: Will I be expected to stick near the mages in order to defend them, or are they expected to keep up with melees?

Im not ballista expert, but for a SAM i would think wearing Arhats +1 wouldnt be a bad thing. Avoid Jelly Ring since it will only hurt you vs a mage and not provide as much benefit vs a melee as it will harm you vs a mage. Soboro Yoich is a very deadly combo for a SAM in ballista since you can Med your TP -> Strip Shadows -> fire a weapon skill and then GTFO. Even if you dont kill someone with that combo, your going to make them hurt enough that they will want to run.

Also, make sure to cut down on ANY minus stats you can. Things like -evation become much more noticeable in ballista and the same for +evation. All the stats you normally dont think about for a exp party really play a much bigger role in Ballista.


Also, eat HP or Def food. Pescatora is awesome in Ballista but a little pricey for it.

[Damane]

What are the main roles for each job in Ballista?
main roles:
whm sch smn: healing, buffing, keeping themself secure and limited crowd control.
melees: hit in and run out, that is basicly a shit move, but ballista is played that way, 2 handers will most likely sub /sam if they have healers. Third eye is just win in ballista with seigan
blm sch rdm: crowd control
rdm pld: pissing off people by their endurance and healing people.
blu: god-mode.
pup bst smn: finishing off weak mages/melees with their pets, usually annoying mages so they cant focus on everything.

Due to penalties on gear-swaps, what type of gear is best to full-time? Or is it worth incurring a penalty?
penaltys not worth it, the gear-swap is basicly what kills alot of ballist, with gearswaps ballist could be so much more fun.

What are some tips/tricks you would recommend to a new Ballista player?
melee: hit and run
mage: hide and seek and try to survive (at least if you are not a rdm)
blu: just go in and beat the shit out of everyone.

What are some things to look out for?
silence blus: one blu can mess up your entire group if he knows what he is doing, keep them silenced, sleeped and kill them fast asap.

What changes between capped/uncapped ballista? (eg: I've heard that NIN/RNG is very powerful in 60 cap.)
at lvl 60 cap:
SAM
RNG
COR
BLU
RDM
NIN/RNG
are the most powerfull jobs in terms of survivability, crowd control and dmg dealt

at lvl 75 cap it evens out a bit and BLU becomse the new powerhorse.

[yotevol]

I've played Ballista only once, when I was a newbly WHM 5-6 years ago.
However, I have played Brenner several times.

One thing that was taught to me by a seasoned Brenner/Ballista player was the power of self buffs and debuffs.

Which is why we both play RDM/PLD.
With enough buffs and debuffs for both and the ability to have up to 7mp/tic, it's pretty nice.
I took on a MNK/WAR and a SAM/DNC and beat them both.
Also took on several other job combos, two at a time.

The only difficulties I had was when I faced a PLD/RDM and WHM/RDM.
They had enough dispels to hold me at bay, but time ran out before either of us could win.
RNGs are slightly annoying, because of the ranged attack, but Diaga followed by BIO III took them out most of the time. :D

[liggy 0]

My jobs include:
RDM
COR
SMN
Yoichi RNG
Soboro/Yoichi SAM



I'm guessing I'd be playing Soboro/Yoichi SAM if we focus on specifics. For level caps, I have almost every job at 66+.

So I guess my more specific questions are:
What is the main role of a Yoichi SAM in uncapped Ballista?
Due to penalties on gear-swaps, should I focus on Haste/STP or WS gear?
What are some tips/tricks you would recommend to a new Ballista player?
What are some things to look out for? (Bad matchups for a Yoichi SAM/WAR)
What changes between capped/uncapped ballista?

rdm - as stated above - basic dmgdown%/fastcast gear. spells to have: dispel,silence,gravity,sleep(ga),aspir, cure IV and a few tier3 nukes. any other spells is optional depending on the situation. you need to be MP efficient. going to have to be pick on who you cure and who you dont. curing a lost cause will get you killed if burn MP curing someone living on borrowed time.(depending on the situation). don't randomly nuke others, make sure you kill them or they will get away and you will be left without MP. resist builds up quick in long lived matches so keep that in mind. rdm is an intimidating job. if you cant manage the proper spells during critical situation(sleep, nuke, cure, or debuff) you'll go from an intimidating threat to a quick target to rush. shitty players = GP

cor - buffs are great. i suggest hunters roll (for yourself) + a buff roll for your pt.(situational). pick targets that the team is aiming for. dont attack someone who isnt being attack by your party. save TP for players "battered" players if someone runs chase him down double quickdraw does 280~ each. focus on kill shots and scoring. earth staff, /rdm, mab gear> racc/agi setup keep dispel n grav on hand. if your caught in a 1 on 1 grav run shoot run when hes low enough double QB n score quick.

smn - full HP gear, all the dmgdown% gear. once those criteria is met. put in all BP delay gear you can find. MVP avatar is titan, earthward your pt, Geocrush is bp of choice. /blu for cacoon, pine cone bomb, healing breeze, wild carrot are a must. Sand spin isn't potent with it's blind status. headbutt is ok if it actually interupts(good for stopping casters, runaways or you trying to run away. Don't linger or chase down anyone, even if titan is raping someone. If you stray, you die. If you are off guard, you're dead. Avatars can cover huge distances, if you want to leave em out to chase away players that is fine, but make sure to keep enough MP to BP always.

rng - don't have it, but i hate them. most annoying are those rng/sam who meditate > camo > ws> med > barrage > ws then score. Def%/Racc gear. more Racc and less def gear if you can be more sneaky about sniping players.

sam- hit and run id assume. not my field be a waste of your bow if you didnt /rng otherwise /rdm


gear swap = dead
running out alone = dead
being a pussy and running away = dead(for someone on your team lol)

[test123]

if only SE made PvP work. ppl need to stop QQing about this is a PvM game and let people interested in PvP atleast get a decent system for it.

[Villian]

BLU/SCH is pretty good. You get access to Sleep/Dispel/Drain/Aspir + other things. Light Arts + fruit = ~400hp+ recovered. The only thing that I miss out as /drk and /rdm is stoneskin and stun ; ;. Stoneskin as /rdm can work with enough +mnd, and when you have a really high mnd/int as /rdm... regurgitation does like 300-500 damage depending on buffs.

[ronin sparthos]

COR makes for an awesome harasser job as instant dmg Quick Draws kick the asses of people trying to run away after they enter a skirmish they cant win.

As usual, your rolls will prove invaluable to your allies but don't try to engage melee in one on one since you will likely be destroyed easily. Your job is primarily support (shoot from far away) and save Quick Draws for weakened prey.

And DO NOT BE A FUCKING HERO, just stay with the group and you should do well.

This. A million times, this.

PvP in XI is all about teamwork, save the one man heroics for offline games.

[DragonCloud64]

And DO NOT BE A FUCKING HERO, just stay with the group and you should do well.

Yup, most people who try this end up An Hero. It's sad to see how many good teams are ruined by one player going out and handing GB to the other team, I guess just one more reason many people don't do PvP.

[Limlight]

aye teamwork is key, any job can be taken down (even the almighty rdm) with proper coordination. You can gank them all match long. Yochi sam/anything is basically a cherrypicking machine. With a couple buddies you can take anyone down anytime, anywhere, anyplace ( duo/trio partners with stun, grav, blastbomb etc) lack of movement is the only downfall of sam (in ballista movement is almost a must) but you excel in -physical and such. So as stated no hero stuff you will go down pretty fast alone relic or not.

[grozny]

smn - Avatars can cover huge distances, if you want to leave em out to chase away players that is fine, but make sure to keep enough MP to BP always.

Careful doing this as smn or bst, or even having your wyvern out as drg. Be sure to make a dismiss macro!

Pets will give easy Gate Breach.

[frodnonnag]

Summoner's job in ballista:
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7974/bullseyes.jpg

[Yugl]

My jobs include:
RDM
COR
SMN
Yoichi RNG
Soboro/Yoichi SAM

RDM - Play it like a blood tank. DMG Reduction gear and DEF (Taco even) along with Stoneskin and Phalanx lets you take hits like nothing. If you're well coordinated with your team, you can play the decoy and have the team focus on you while the rest of your team gangs on their mages then melees. Use those enfeebles to cripple the enemy while you're at it (Diaga spam for shadows, Gravity + Silence their mages, Para melees, and other such moves).

COR - If you do decide to bring COR, buff your PT (Refresh mages since it can become very MP intensive) and attack from behind them. The great part about classes with strong ranged attacks is that if they travel in a group, the only means of getting to them is if they're suicidal and run to you.

SMN - Don't bring it.

RNG - Same as COR; stand behind the crowd and attack. Sometimes you can coordinate strikes on the other team's mages who like to run away (You + Someone else target their mage and have the other person Diaga so you can WS+Barrage).

SAM - Work as a group to pick out who you want. The best people are target are squishy mages since they cure their people and enfeeble your teammates. You can tank fairly decently while cleaning house, but you can also play it like an RNG unless the opponent is NIN and THF heavy. A DMG reduction set will help you greatly if running in though.

[Max™]

War job: Voke, voke, voke, voke, voke, WS, voke, voke, die, voke, voke, WS, voke, voke.

Then, just in case you forget, voke more.

Voke prevents JA/Spell's for a short period if it lands, and it makes you target the War.

It does not put your cursor on him though, so you need to find them and manually switch targets.

So voking + running behind someone is VERY disorienting, much like whiplash.

That + WSing whoever you just voked and running is wonderful, rock that raging rush.

Hermes' if uncapped or gtfo.