Ballista (Age of Empires)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires. For the unit in Age of Mythology, see Ballista (Age of Mythology).

Ballista
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Siege unit
Age	Iron Age
Training
Trained at	Siege Workshop
Wood	100
Gold	80
Training time	40 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	55
Attack	40
Attack bonuses	+5 vs Fire Galley
Rate of Fire	3.0
Minimum range	2
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Speed	Slow
Ranged attack
Range	9
Unit evolution
Upgrades to	Helepolis
Upgrade cost	1500 food, 1000 wood
Upgrade time	150 seconds
Required research	Craftsmanship

The Ballista (plural 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.

The Ballista, like other siege weapons, is built at the Siege Workshop. This ranged weapon can be upgraded into the Helepolis during the Iron Age once 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 make them a good counter to infantry and Priests.

Upgrades

Iron Age

•  Alchemy increases attack by one point (changed to +2 in The Rise of Rome)
•  Ballistics increases accuracy.
•  Engineering increases range by 2 points.

Siege Workshop Tree
Bronze Age Siege Workshop Stone Thrower Iron Age Catapult Ballista Heavy Catapult Helepolis

Civilizations

The Ballista is an uncommon unit, and it is only available to some civilizations:

Unit availability

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

Civilization bonuses

• Macedonians: Ballistae cost 25% less and they are four times harder to convert.

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.

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

Gallery

A group of Ballistae

A 3D model of a Ballista

A Ballista in the Definitive Edition

Add a photo to this gallery