Ballista Tower (Age of Empires)

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

Ballista Tower
Building information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Tower
Civilization	See table
Age	Iron Age
Population	4 (Hittites and allies only)
Use	Attacks enemies in range
Special ability	Can track moving targets
Construction
Requires	Ballistics
Stone	150
Build time	65 seconds
Statistics
Size	2×2 tiles
Hit points	240
Garrison	5 (only Villagers)
Pierce attack	18
Reload time	3.1
Range	8
Projectile speed	4.9
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	5
Armor classes	Buildings and Fire Galley (+90) Defensive structures Towers
Line of Sight	10
Building evolution
Upgrades from	Guard Tower

“	The ultimate tower. Upgrade of the Guard Tower. The Ballista Tower has more attack strength than the Guard Tower.	”
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

The Ballista Tower is the upgrade of Guard Tower, that is researched from the Granary once Ballistics is researched.

The infobox uses "O" as the shorthand of "original" for the original icon. Moreover it uses the following shorthands for different architecture sets:

• G - Greek
• A - East Asian
• E - Egyptian
• M - Mesopotamian
• R - Roman

Since Return of Rome, like all towers, Ballista Towers can also be used to shelter up to five Villagers when the base is under attack. These garrisoned Villagers do not increase its combat power. No other unit can be garrisoned in towers.

Civilizations

Available	Unavailable
Assyrians Babyloniansx+ Carthaginians Choson+ Egyptiansx Greeksx Hittitesx Macedonians+ Palmyrans Phoenicians Sumerians	Lac Viet Minoans Persians Romans Shang Yamato

^x indicates that the civilization can fully upgrade their Ballista Towers, i.e. gets Architecture, Alchemy, and Craftsmanship.

⁺ indicates that the civilization has at least one civilization bonus that benefits the combat strength of their Ballista Towers.

Tactics

Unlike its preceding towers, the Ballista Tower fires missiles similar to that of the Ballista, Helepolis, and Trireme and has a considerably lower Rate of Fire. However, it has a much higher attack and deals more damage per minute. The upgrade also allows the tower to deal +2 damage to enemy buildings compared to the Guard Tower. Like all towers, Ballista Towers are more resistant against stone throwing siege weapons unlike other buildings, having 18 additional armor against them (meaning they will do 10 bonus damage instead of 28).

The Ballista Tower upgrade is very expensive and takes a while to research, but pays off as it increases the DPS of all the player's towers substantially. However, the tower can still be easily destroyed by siege weapons such as the Catapult or the Helepolis which out-range it and can attack it without retaliation.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Infantry, archers, ships
Weak vs.	Siege units
Upgrades
Construction time	Architecture (-33%)
Hit points	Architecture (+20%)
Attack	Alchemy (+1)
Range	Woodworking (+1) Artisanship (+1) Craftsmanship (+1)
Line of Sight	City Watch (+3)

Civilization bonuses

• Babylonians: Ballista Towers have +60% hit points.
• Choson: Ballista Towers have +2 range.
• Macedonians: Ballista Towers are four times more resistant to conversion.

Team bonuses

• Babylonians: Ballista Towers are built 10% faster.
• Choson: Ballista Towers have +2 Line of Sight.
• Hittites: Ballista Towers provide +4 population room.
• Palmyrans: Technologies which benefit Ballista Towers are researched 30% faster.

Changelog

Age of Empires

• Ballista Towers have 20 attack, 7 range.
• Ballista Towers have construction time 80 seconds, 200 hit points, 4 pierce armor, 3.0 Rate of Fire, and 4.5 projectile speed.

Definitive Edition

• Ballista Towers have construction time 72 seconds, 5 pierce armor, 3.1 Rate of Fire, and 4.9 projectile speed.
• With update 38862, Ballista Towers have 240 hit points.

Return of Rome

• Ballista Towers have 18 attack, 8 range, and can garrison up to five Villagers.
• Team bonuses added:
  • Babylonians: Ballista Towers are built 10% faster.
  • Choson: With update 93001, Ballista Towers have +2 Line of Sight.
  • Hittites: Ballista Towers provide +4 population room.
  • Palmyrans: Technologies which benefit Ballista Towers are researched 30% faster.
• With update 99311, Ballista Tower build time decreased from 72 seconds to 65 seconds.

History

“	The tower discovered on the wall at the ancient site of Jericho served several purposes. It extended the visual range of lookouts that would be watching for the approach of raiders and other visitors. An early warning might have been the difference between a successful defense and the fall of the town. The tower was a superior firing position for archery. Bowmen shooting down had an advantage in range and penetration power of arrows versus enemies shooting up. Enemies hiding at the bottom of the wall may have remained visible to archers in the tower. The tower itself was an independent bastion that could serve as a defensive position of last resort if the wall was carried. The Ballista Tower was the ultimate defensive fortification of the ancient era. It could withstand a major attack and was equipped and designed to take a heavy toll on attackers.	”
—Age of Empires manual

Gallery

All Ballista Towers in the original game. Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, East Asian.

Guard Tower (left) and Ballista Tower (right) firing at a target.

Roman Ballista Tower in the original game up close

All Ballista Towers in the Definitive Edition.

An Egyptian Ballista Tower in the original game

BALLISTA TOWER vs EVERY UNIT - Age of Empires- Definitive Edition

Buildings in Age of Empires
Stone Age Starting Tool Age Bronze Age Additional Iron Age