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Ballista (weapon)

From Fire Emblem Wiki, your source on Fire Emblem information. By fans, for fans.
Long Arch redirects here. For the combat art of the same Japanese name from Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, see Longearche.

Ballista

FESK Ballista.png
Artwork of a Ballista from the Fire Emblem Trading Card Game.


A long-range weapon for use by archery units. It is very effective against flying enemies.

Type

Bow (Ballista)

First game

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

The Ballista (Japanese: ロングアーチ Long Arch) is the basic model of ballista which was introduced in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War and is present in eight games in the Fire Emblem series. True to being a basic mode, Ballistae tend to have the lowest power of the weapon type and tend to have no special effects beyond being effective against flying units.

In Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776, Ballistae are - like all ballista variants - enemy-only and are used by units of a class specific to the weapon; in the latter, they cannot be stolen owing to their immense weight. Enemies wielding ballistae have no movement and are effectively fixed in place.

Outside of the Jugdral duology, Ballistae are found stationed as objects on certain maps throughout the games, and in maps where they are found can be ridden and used by any Archer and Sniper belonging to either army. In The Binding Blade, Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn Ballistae are fixed to a specific tile and cannot be moved, while The Blazing Blade and The Sacred Stones instead allow them to be piloted around the map by their rider, albeit limited by being unable to traverse anything other than a normal floor or plain. Once the Ballista's durability reaches 0, the map object does not disappear and can still be ridden, but is unable to attack owing to its lack of ammunition.

In Fates, Ballistae again appear as map objects which can be used by any unit capable of using bows or yumi. Like the game's other two turret types, the Fire Orb and Launcher, Ballistae inflict damage across multiple tiles in a plus-shaped formation, hitting a maximum of five units at once, and affect both allies and enemies of the turret's user. Different maps tend to have different stats from each other. Ballista objects can be constructed in the player's My Castle for use in castle battles, and the Ballistician class also has its own in-built Ballista which it can access on command.

Stats

Game Icon Level Might Weight Hit Crit Range Uses Worth WEXP Other effects and notes
Genealogy of the Holy War Is snes02 ballista.png Bows C 15 30 60 0 3-10 255 65,535 -- Target cannot counter-attack. Deals bonus damage to flying units.
Thracia 776 Is snes03 ballista.png Bows Prf* 15 20 75 0 3-10 10 2,200 1 Target cannot counter-attack. Deals bonus damage to flying units.
The Binding Blade Is gba ballista.png Bows E 8 20 70 0 3-10 5 Cannot be sold 1 Accessible only as an object on certain maps. Target cannot counter-attack. Deals bonus damage to Is gba pegasus.png flying units.
The Blazing Blade Is gba ballista.png Bows E 8 20 70 0 3-10 5 Cannot be sold 4 Accessible only as an object on certain maps. Target cannot counter-attack. Deals bonus damage to Is gba pegasus.png flying units.
The Sacred Stones Is gba ballista.png Bows E 8 20 60 0 3-10 5 Cannot be sold 4 Accessible only as an object on certain maps, except for enemy Fleets in Chapter 10B. Target cannot counter-attack. Deals bonus damage to Is gba pegasus.png flying units.
Path of Radiance Is gcn ballista.png Bows E 18 20 100 0 3-10 5 Cannot be sold 4 Accessible only as a rideable object on certain maps. Ignores the user's strength. Target cannot counter-attack. Deals bonus damage to Is gcn pegasus.png flying units.
Radiant Dawn Is wii ballista.png Bows E 18 20 100 0 3-10 5 0 0 Accessible only as a rideable object on certain maps. Ignores the user's strength. Target cannot counter-attack. Deals bonus damage to Is wii flying.png flying units.
Fates
(map object)
-- Bows/Yumi E Varies -- Varies ?? Varies Infinite -- -- Inflicts spread damage to units of any affiliation in a 3x3 + shaped radius. Ignores the user's strength. Targets cannot counter-attack. Leaves the targets with 1 HP if the attack would kill them. Deals bonus damage to Is 3ds02 pegasus.png flying units. Accessible only as a rideable object on certain maps.

Individual Fates statistics

style="Template:Roundtl; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | Map Range Might style="Template:Roundtr; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | Hit rate
My Castle level 1 3-7 20 85
My Castle level 2 3-7 30 95
My Castle level 3 3-7 40 105
Birthright chapter 22
(Both)
3-8 20 120
Conquest chapter 10
(Both)
3-8 18 95
Conquest chapter 23
(Southern and eastern)
3-8 28 120
Conquest chapter 23
(Western)
3-8 30 125
Revelation chapter 14
(Both)
3-8 20 95
Revelation chapter 17
(Both)
3-7 25 110
Beach Brawl/Royal Royale 3-8 25 110
IV: Light's Sacrifice
(Southern and eastern)
3-7 18 90
style="Template:Roundbl; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | IV: Light's Sacrifice
(Western)
2-6 20 style="Template:Roundbr; border:none; background-color:#222222;" | 95

Locations

Genealogy of the Holy War

Unavailable Exclusively wielded by enemy Ballistae.

Thracia 776

Unavailable Exclusively wielded by enemy Ballistae.

The Binding Blade

Map object Chapters 10A1317A23Trial Map 3

The Blazing Blade

Map object Lyn's Tale: Chapter 8
Eliwood's Tale: Chapters 2021 • 23 (both versions)2730
Hector's Tale: Chapters 1619x part 22122 • 24 (both versions)252932

The Sacred Stones


This section has been marked as a stub. Please help improve the page by adding information.


Map object Chapters 710A10B13A

Path of Radiance

Map object Chapters 19 (×3) • 23 (×1)

Radiant Dawn

Map object Part 1: Chapter 6-2 (×2)

Fates

Map object Birthright: Chapter 22 (×2)
Conquest: Chapters 10 (×2) • 23 (×3)
Revelation: Chapters 14 (×2) • 17 (×2)
Downloadable content: Royal Royale (×1) • Beach Brawl (×1) • IV: Light's Sacrifice (×3)
Classes Ballistician (via Cannon command)

Trivia

Etymology and other languages

Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language Name Definition, etymology, and notes
English

Ballista

--

Spanish

Ballesta

Ballista

French

Baliste

Ballista

German

Ballista

Ballista

Italian

Balista

Ballista

Gallery

References

Ballistae
Basic ballistae BallistaGreat BallistaHoistflammeIron BallistaKiller BallistaLauncherOnagerPachydermStonehoist
Ballistae with secondary effects ArrowspatePoison Ballista
Magic-based ballistae Fire OrbThunderboltViskam