Remove ballistas from siege

[Porthos]

Ballista is incredibly abusive shit. For example:

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1:
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2:
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3. End of the round and 28-3 K/D despite the 165 ping :
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Also this guy with epic K/D who was just standing behind the ballista most of the time (sadly I deleted all screens showing him shooting, but I remember it well):

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And ofc lucky shots like this:

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It is just very cheap and easy way to kill an enemies. As Gallonigher mentioned, it is pretty easy to defend a map by just shooting at the best player in attacking team. I did it several times with him, so I understand his anger and totally agree with him. Balancers must increase the reloading time at least. Or better remove them at all

[agweber]

I like this problem, because it can actually be fixed by editing maps to remove OP ballistas instead of waiting on a the dev crew to come back from Melee for a few days to scour through the suggestions.

I think people should list out specific map ballistas that are OP and have someone go in and remove those specific ones.

[gallonigher]

If it interferes with hero-fest 2014 then it's mainly down to awareness, also screw hero-fest.

So when a ballista targets the same person over and over again, its the targets fault for being too good and drawing attention to himself?  Can't say I agree with that. 

An awareness issue you say?  On most maps, I know full well where the ballistas are and when they're occupied but when facing a determined shooter down a narrow corridor, I can only hope to dodge a 1hk weapon that moves a lot faster than myself. 

It's apparent you've never been repeatedly targeted by a ballista crew

[pepejul]

I always target the same cunt with big plate and no shield... he pass through the door... I shoot him... he flies 5 meters away.... he comes back ... I fire again... again flies.... I can do it 5 or 6 times in same round..

So funny saying him write in chat "cunt !"

I love ballistas.....

[Moncho]

To be fair, some are ridiculous.
Eg
Citadel, the castle with the inner wall and the death corridor with a ballista at the end, that ballista is crap
The wooden outside inner stone walls keep in the middle, two pretty similar ways one on each side, 2 doors to break on each, in that one from attacker spawn, at the end of the bridge, the gates chokepoint, the ballista that aims there is also horrible.
Other than those, I cannot think of any blatantly awful ballistae with which it is too easy to hit people

[gallonigher]

Low pop chokepoint map when i'm in full plate and 0 athletics? The secret is not running in a straight line or standing still, we're back to the whole 'ranged OP cos you cant dodge it' discussion, if you're dodging after they've shot then you've waited too long. I agree that down a narrow corridor or wall then it's mainly luck to dodge or really good guessing, but the smart thing to do if you're trapped in a rare situation like that is to go a different way when you respawn. I never said it's the target's fault for being too good and drawing attention, if they were any good they wouldnt be ballista fodder would they?

Lost me here.  I have a 3.0 k/d ratio on a gen 1, I know how to play this.  There is no "secret,"  dodging an unblockable 1hk weapon is more luck than anything.  Zig zagging and doing loops while being forced to go the backdoor route all the time IS NOT a skill.   

[sir_Ady]

What about making ballistas destructible? (like doors for example)
It would keep the fun (for the first 2-3 minutes of a siege) but would not mean an annoying trouble anymore... I bet melee heroes would go and destroy them ... while defense can decide whether a ballista is important enough to defend...

[sir_Ady]

I'd like that, hopefully more people distracted from going for the flag.

But in seriousness i do like that idea, although it'd be yet another thing teammates could troll attack and largely get away with

Well, it would be a team's decision whether to go for a given ballista or not... for example the ballista shown in this thread should be destroyed as it can decimate attackers with ease as attackers don't have any alternate route... Less critically placed ballistas may attract some troll attacks, but these will end quickly as no one will defend those ballistas.. or defend but it means distracted defenders as well...

[zottlmarsch]

Ballistae are fun to shoot teammates with. Please don't remove.

Thanks

Also the plural for Ballista is Ballistae and not Ballistas, get it right you dumb pricks 

[pepejul]

the proof here :
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[Fips]

To be fair, some are ridiculous.
Eg
Citadel, the castle with the inner wall and the death corridor with a ballista at the end, that ballista is crap
The wooden outside inner stone walls keep in the middle, two pretty similar ways one on each side, 2 doors to break on each, in that one from attacker spawn, at the end of the bridge, the gates chokepoint, the ballista that aims there is also horrible.
Other than those, I cannot think of any blatantly awful ballistae with which it is too easy to hit people

The Citadel ballista is there because simply removing the door (Remember getting stuck on that door as defense trying to get to flag? Yeah, i do and it sucked big time) would have made the door way too OP for attackers, so i had to think of a highly defensible way to get rid of that door, thus the ballista-chokepoint. And it worked out just fine from what i've seen. Attack still mainly wins by going over the gate/keep.

Anyway, ballistae are here to stay.

@pepe: Make a ban request then.

[BlindGuy]

Ballistae are OP. Yes. Should they be removed? No.

Some reasoning: When I fall off a wall in siege, gravity kills me every fucking time. Gravity OP, remove please.

Also doors: they take really long to break, remove please, they are helping the defenders.


Honestly: if you are being focused by a ballista, you are predictable, slow, and therefor mentally weak. They really are not a problem. They help the defenders because, unlike real life, defenders do not have most of the actual boni that castle defenders had: Ladders do not require both hands and both feet like IRL, climbing a huge hill is not tiring like IRL, and pop is so low at the moment that without some very different spawn timer mechanics, defenders need all the boni they can get.

[pepejul]

your talking is gold for me...

Ballista haters are just cunts.... learn to run !

[wayyyyyne]

Ballistae are OP. Yes. Should they be removed? No.

Some reasoning: When I fall off a wall in siege, gravity kills me every fucking time. Gravity OP, remove please.

Also doors: they take really long to break, remove please, they are helping the defenders.


Honestly: if you are being focused by a ballista, you are predictable, slow, and therefor mentally weak. They really are not a problem. They help the defenders because, unlike real life, defenders do not have most of the actual boni that castle defenders had: Ladders do not require both hands and both feet like IRL, climbing a huge hill is not tiring like IRL, and pop is so low at the moment that without some very different spawn timer mechanics, defenders need all the boni they can get.

Well, duh, you don't respawn in real life either. Anyway, siege was fine before ballistas came along and balanced with that. I don't have the time to explain what's inherently wrong with ballistas right now but I will do so later today when I got the time for it.

[BlindGuy]

But there is NOTHING wrong with them. I die in 1 hit to Arbalests, and they get to run around, reload quicker and can hide.... How are ballistae, slowly reloading with no cover, any MORE OP than arbalests?

Also, get a shield: with 6 shield skill I have survived ballista bolts. It hurt, and the shield was just RUINED, but I got to go crush the little fucker shooting it.