Ballista: Base Defence, Bolts & Placement

Overview

In-game description

A stationary ballista, perfect for defence. Can fire deadly bolts at distant targets.

Put it where attackers have to come from. A fixed ballista is for a base that expects visitors: it sits on your side of the wall, reaches people while they are still setting up, and makes a slow siege approach a lot more painful. Once placed, it stays put. If you want a ballista that travels with your raid, the mounted ballista costs exactly the same and comes on wheels.

Picture the evening a neighbouring group pushes a ram toward your wall with three people walking beside it. You load pitchfork bolts, which spread their hit over a wide area, and the crew either scatters or stands in it. Incendiary bolts catch fire on impact and punish the same huddle.

Tip

The crew below can see exactly where your bolts come from. Reload behind a wall, and do not stay at the ballista any longer than the shot needs.

It asks for a Level 2 workbench, and neither the ballista nor its bolts need sulfur: frags, gears and sheet metal build it, frags with wood, cloth or high quality metal build the ammo. So your defence costs no gunpowder, and every bit of it stays for your own raids.

Raid cost

Explosive	Quantity	Sulfur
High Velocity Rocket cheapest	1	200
Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo	46–50	1,150–1,250
Satchel Charge	4	1,920
Timed Explosive Charge	1	2,200
Beancan Grenade	19	2,280
Rocket	2	2,800
Other ways: siege weapons, vehicles and loot
Torpedo	2	60
Homing Missile	1	200
Mortar Shell	3	1,200
Propane Explosive Bomb	2	1,800
Survey Charge	47	2,820
MLRS Rocket	1	—
Hammerhead Bolt	9–10	—
40mm HE Grenade	11	—

Explosive

Quantity

Sulfur

High Velocity Rocket

200

Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo

46–50

1,150–1,250

Satchel Charge

1,920

Timed Explosive Charge

2,200

Beancan Grenade

2,280

Rocket

2,800

Other ways: siege weapons, vehicles and loot

Torpedo

Homing Missile

200

Mortar Shell

1,200

Propane Explosive Bomb

1,800

Survey Charge

2,820

MLRS Rocket

—

Hammerhead Bolt

9–10

—

40mm HE Grenade

—

Direct hit, hard side, no duds. Satchel Charge is a dud 20% of the time. Beancan Grenade is a dud 15% of the time. A range runs from point blank to the far end of the bullet's falloff, fired from an Assault Rifle.

Crafting