Siege Ballista

what is SB's role and place supposed to be in relation to Blink and mirror arrow?
particularly with MA+trap+multitrap? considering traps ARE supported in the dex side of the circle. +skill duration is also much more manageable.

Really disappointed with this ability, hope it's buffed and fixed by the time Ascendancy comes around since the Siege Ballista unique bow will be released then.

Ok so I'm a lvl 87 ranger in softcore who used to be double ranged attack totem (RAT). In pvp I definitely felt very very underwhelming because in comparison to flame totem builds, not only do the RAT get targetted/die immediately because quality adds placement speed instead of %hp like in flame totem, but the fact that you have to spend two gems just to set up your skill, leaving only 4 supports, meant that the dps wasn't that great either, and was getting way outclassed by flame totem builds and also normal bow builds.

So siege ballista is an awesome alternative to RAT since it frees up one gem slot and has the pierce mechanic built in.

But I'm still having the issue where in pvp the ballistas die too quick on top of people being able to kite them. I was actually hoping that quality would add hp to it, just like flame totem, but was disappointed when I found it it's just placement speed. So I think the quality should give you something else: increased hp% for dedicated primary ballista users, or maybe increased attack speed since that would help not only help dedicated BS users, but also casual/leveling users who have the issue with the targeting mechanic.

Definitely think it would be way too slow for pvp. Not sure of any way to fix that. Pve it works because targets are largely stationary, especially if you use a meat shield.


Held off for a while, to get more experience with it.

its very slow going at first. I was relying on other skills for a very long time. Recently, started leaning on SB more, as I can't really manage totems, minions, and traps all at the same time. both actively, and with passives in the tree.

Summons in general have problems with Vorici, and a few other immune mods.
Use frenzy to direct targeting, and build frenzy charges. PcoC.

Heralds work partially. which is a bit hard to notice. They get the direct damage buffs, but wont proc on kills.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Rain_of_Splinters Almost seems like a must. 30-50% reduced damage, instead of 20% LESS from lmp.

Elemental builds seem the easiest. Wrath/anger. dual/curse. elemweakness and proj weakness.
Since you are deep in templar for AB, and right next to WoD for totem as well. Dex is a problem.
SB+Weapon elem+slow proj+faster proj+lmp/gmp (if you dont have rain of splinters)
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwAAA5YGoA0fDjwQzBRxFm8XLxhqGJEZiho4Go8dFB2qIq8ksCcvKhMspzJ-Mok4UzpSOtg7KDwoPC1Bh0ZxRtdKxErIVdZXKVfiWAdY5VnzWitaUl5dX7BgQ2SEZOdmnmh0bj1uqm-ecYVyD3Kpdud35XgveyB8g3zZfOV99YCkgpuDCYPMhmCPRpBVlKCXBptdm6GbtZy-o_KnCKeUqJqsqrFCtz68n8M6xKLE9sauykrR_dhN2L3aYtq52t3hiONq6hjr7u0g8pf2rvba9zL4k_jr-b356PrS-wn-Cv6H
Grab jewel and hp nodes as desired.

The slow hit, and high damage, may make a burning build a good option too.


Phys/chaos Poison puncture?
Maybe drop the bleed part, and just focus on poison. haste instead of anger. phys proj support instead of weapon elem. vul
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwIAAO4B0QPuBOQGoA48EMwVIBZvGYoaVRzcHRQdviLqJT8o-ioTKk0spyzpMgkyfjOHNZI26DpSPC0_J0GHRalJE0rESshLClKvWK9Y5VltWitan15dX5hhBmSEZp5mtmf8bEZuqnGhcmx10HgNeyB8g311gseDzIZgieCPRo9Pkx-XBpuhoSKiQKPypwinlKfUqTSpbqvSrUqv67EwtQi18rc-t9m4k7tNu-PAGsM6xKLGrs8y0f3Tfti92mTajd1f42rmWOvu73r0-Paj9q731_iT-b356PrS_gr-h_66_sj_sA==
Too spread out really. stat heavy. no room for more life/gems atm.


A crit build might be possible, but again so spread out, not likely, even with those totem crit nodes.
fire golem then is likely best, though not sure if ice's acc bonus makes up for it.

Siege ballista feel mush better from far then close range. Projectiles aoe need to be static with extra projectiles. So many projectiles wasted when the totem attack a close target.
My character name is Hody_SB for build. Was using belly of the beast, facebreaker, drillneck and 260 Pdps 8.3% crit bow.

was running shamans domain for a bit. all around decided not remotely worth it. it and other crit is too expensive passive wise, and not enough return. Resolute technique is far more worthwhile.
doing deep to get AB costs you dex, you'll need to be grabbing dex everywhere you can just to wield bows, but overall deficient, leaving your ACC low.

I think phys/poison is still likely a viable build. Poison should work well with its huge range. But, would still say go RT, and ignore crit, and accuracy.

I found a Soul Mantle and am having great fun running siege ballista with lesser multiple projectiles. Two ballistas and It just wipes out packs and I can kite bosses.

I've got an ele siege ballista build at 66 now, with GMP it's got 6000 window DPS with triple aura. But I have no defense, everything is in offense. I had a shockwave Witch that was pulling 12k DPS with far more defensive investment.

I have to ask, why bother using this when both flame and shockwave totem exist? Both are FAR superior if you want to play a totem character.

It needs built in chain or GMP or something, it's not even a functional skill without LMP or GMP.

Make attack speed affect it's turning speed maybe? Change the less to reduced attack speed as well and it MIGHT be useful. Or maybe just remove it's charging up animation. I have 100% aspd with gems/passives and it still feels ultra sluggish.

tbc

An interesting skill for sure; I'm using it as primary skill in a cruit dual totem physical/chaos damage setup (tree so far) with a Lioneye's Fall in the western jewel slot and a Rain of Splinters to give it multiple shots.

Links are Siege Ballista - Faster Attacks - Slow Projectiles - Poison - Added Chaos Damage.

Observations so far:

1) It is a fun skill.

2) It synergizes extremely well with Chin Sol and Point Blank for non-crit builds, and also works decently in crit builds with a good crit bow, providing decent damage and knockbacks from crits. It also works well with Drillneck for a free 100% projectile damage from piercing.

3) High attack speed is everything if you want the ballistas to reliably track incoming enemies. With that awful 50% LESS attack speed and the ballista having to track, an extreme focus on attack speed is strongly advised.

4) Slower Projectiles does not seem to shorten the range of the ballistas, so this is pretty much an obligatory link. On the other hand, PPAD, while normally very useful in physical bow builds, is a poor choice due to the 10% LESS attack speed.

4) To take advantage of killing blows (in a dual totem setup with Ancestral Bond) for the purpose of curses, heralds, etc. it is necessary to link the Siege Ballista to poison and wear the Southbound gloves; They prevent the ballistas shots from killing the enemies, which means they are killed by the poison applied by the shots, and the poison kills count as your kills, not the ballistas.

5) It feels... lacklustre. It is hard to pin down exactly why. It has a fun mechanic, and while its damage is nothing impressive, it is certainly good enough to get things done. It shares the many benefits and drawbacks of other totem builds. There's one thing that can be really aggravating, though - when it occasionally decides to shoot a wall rather than track something it will actually hit.

6) It is very hard to shake the feeling that it is decidedly inferior to Flame Totem and Shockwave Totem; Flimsy, slow, unimpressive damage - to achieve decent damage I have to either forego most defenses or use extremely expensive gear. Then again, perhaps it is just my build that is inefficient, or that I haven't been able to invest enough in it.

--- In conclusion, a fun skill, and one I'm not certain needs to be changed, but it just feels underwhelming.