Ballista (Age of Empires)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires. For other uses, see Ballista.

Ballista
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Siege weapon
Civilization	See table
Age	Iron Age
Training
Trained at	Siege Workshop
Wood	100
Gold	80
Training time	50 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	55
Pierce attack	40
Attack bonus	+5 vs Fire Galley
Reload time	2.7
Range	9
Minimum range	3
Projectile speed	4.067
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Speed	0.66
Line of Sight	11
Unit evolution
Upgrades to	Helepolis
Upgrade cost	1,200 food, 1,000 wood
Upgrade time	150 seconds
Upgrade requires	N/A

“	Used to attack military units, buildings, and walls.	”
—Age of Empires description

The Ballista (plural Ballistas or Ballistae) is a siege unit in Age of Empires. It has a strong attack and fires twice as fast as the Stone Thrower and its upgrades, but is very fragile and should be supplemented with non-siege weapons when sent into battle. Despite being a siege unit, the Ballista does not deal bonus damage against buildings. This unit is the predecessor of the Scorpion of Age of Empires II and the Springald of Age of Empires IV.

Civilizations

Available	Unavailable
Assyrians Carthaginians Choson Greeks Lac Viet Macedonians Minoans Palmyrans Romans Shang	Babylonians Egyptians Hittites Persians Phoenicians Sumerians Yamato

Gameplay

The Ballista, like other siege weapons, is built at the Siege Workshop. This ranged weapon can be upgraded into the Helepolis (before Return of Rome, only when Craftsmanship is researched).

While less powerful than the Stone Thrower, it is more effective against units, having a faster projectile and a faster firing rate as well, which makes it a good counter to infantry and Priests.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Infantry, ships
Weak vs.	Catapults
Upgrades
Attack	Alchemy (+1)
Range	Engineering (+2)
Accuracy	Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Creation speed	Conscription (+25%)
Upgrades	Helepolis

Civilization bonuses

• Assyrians: Upgrading Ballistae to Helipolises is 50% cheaper.*
• Lac Viet: Ballistae are trained 25% faster and have +2 melee armor.
• Macedonians: Ballistae are 25% cheaper and four times resistant to conversion.
• Romans: Ballistae have +1 range.*

Team bonuses

• Assyrians: Ballistae are trained and upgraded to Helepolises 20% faster.
• Palmyrans: Upgrading Ballistae to Helepolises and researching technologies that benefit Ballistae is 30% faster.

Changelog

Age of Empires

• Ballistae have 3.0 reload time and 4.5 projectile speed.
• Upgrading Ballistae to Helepolises costs 1,500 food, 1,000 wood.
• Ballistae can be upgraded to Helepolises only if Craftsmanship is researched.

Definitive Edition

• Ballistae have 4.9 projectile speed.
• With update 46777, Ballistae have 2.7 reload time and upgrading Ballistae to Helepolises costs 1,200 food, 1,000 wood.

Return of Rome

• Ballistae have 3.1 reload time, 7.2 projectile speed, and upgrading Ballistae to Helepolises costs 1,500 food, 1,000 wood. With hotfix 85208, Ballistae have 2.7 reload time, 4.067 projectile speed, and upgrading Ballistae to Helepolises costs 1,200 food, 1,000 wood.
• Researching Craftsmanship is no longer required to upgrade Ballistae to Helepolises.
• Assyrians: Upgrading Ballistae to Helepolises is 50% cheaper.
• Romans: Ballistae have +1 range.
• Team bonuses added:
  • Assyrians: Ballistae are trained and upgraded 20% faster.
  • Palmyrans: Technologies benefiting Ballistae are researched 30% faster.
• With update 87863, Lac Viet Ballistae have +2 melee armor.

History

“	The ballista was an early artillery weapon that fired missiles, primarily large bolts or spears. It was used in attacks on cities or fortified positions because it could cause structural damage and casualties from a great distance. When it could be deployed on a battlefield, it was especially useful against dense formations of troops. In this situation, one shot could cause multiple casualties. The ballista was invented in the second half of the first millennium B.C., probably by Greek engineers. It functioned like a large crossbow. Tension was built up in the engine by twisting leather, and then released, propelling the missile down a guided trough and into flight.	”
—Age of Empires manual

While the manual history section describes the energy source to be the tension in the twisted leather cords (referring to torsion engines), the in-game Ballista has no such cordage, and instead works on the same principle of a handheld bow, which is tension from the bending of its recurved bow limbs. Real-life ballistae came in various forms, from the one shown in game to massive ones using cordage under tension shooting rock projectiles, utilized by the Romans.

Trivia

• Due to the fast fire rate at a long range, the unit may still fire a bolt or two within a fraction of a second even after the enemy unit is eliminated.
• Typing ICBM allows the player to upgrade the Ballista's range by 90 points, bumping the total up to 100 range points.
  • Although the firing range will be improved, the line of sight still remains the same. As such, it cannot attack enemy units unless the area is explored. Even if the area is fully explored, the Ballista cannot attack moving targets unless the line of sight between itself and the target is revealed. However, it may attack already discovered enemy buildings through the fog of war without the need of additional line of sight.
  • Typing this code before finishing researching Engineering will grant the player an additional 2 range points. This will affect both the firing range and the line of sight.

Gallery

The Ballista unit line in Return of Rome, with the Ballista on the left

A Ballista in the Definitive Edition

A group of Ballistae in the original game

A 3D model of a Ballista, with the in-game mechanism of tension from bending of recurved bow limbs

A half-talent Roman Ballista shooting rocks propelled by cordage under tension

Tech tree

				Requires Archery Range
	➞		➞		➞
					➞		➞
							➞