8-96 Score, LOLWAT Y HAPPUN?!

So after a really nice match prior to this one that was around 112-97, or something, 8-96 happened in Pashow. Nearly at the first half of the match, there was a forty point difference (I scored 3! Our score stayed at 3 for a good 30 minutes until two on our team left + our RNG -point- scored an extra 5 /joy). Ohey, look it's Tsu and I - and Cuzy but pfft. 

WINDURST             BASTOK
BST/WAR                   PUP/SAM
THF/NIN                     BLU/NIN
RDM/BLM                   RDM/BLM
RNG/SAM                    RNG/SAM 



This happened because our team was missing the very basics of teamwork. The set up wasn't one-sided either, so the biggest faults fall into the lack of teamwork and inefficient use of jobs to aid the team. Our RDM and BLU left later in the match, deeming it hopeless and boring. 

Onto the things that were wrong:

( COMMUNICATION )
What on Vana 'diel is that? Want to know about my life? Want to talk to me? GTFO? 
Communication in ballista matches are vital to the team's well-being because without communication, no one knows what the hell you're trying to do. Imagine those jerks on the road that don't signal on the road who expect you to give way BECAUSE YOU CAN READ THEIR MIND. Anyway, communication in ballista involves conveying what's important for the team, to the team: main targets, your petras/other teams petras, your TP, and whatever else you can say that will maybe help your team instead of blindly going after whoever's in sight when you see through your instinctive KILL KILL KILL goggles. 

Why shout out main targets or targets in general? Especially with a competent mage on the other team, damaging different targets is bad because you take off a chunk of HP that will just be replenished by the mage; which just means you wasted your TP and put your team at a disadvantage because you could've killed off your main target that is now ripping apart your teammate that you chose not to help. Prioritize your targets. If you have the choice to kill a DRK or a THF, figure out which would be better off to kill. The DRK can slash your HP off easily, stun, enfeeble, and rape your face. If you focus on one target as a group and plan your WS accordingly (how2do? By omg, COMMUNICATING), your target wouldn't be able to receive their cure because they're eating marshy ground.

When choosing targets, don't just select them based on how squishy you think your target is. This goes in hand with communication. If you /check and see someone else with 5 petras and gate breach, maybe tell your team and switch to that person instead of pointlessly killing someone with 0 petras and no gate breach. 

Our entire match was silent, besides the RDM and BLU announcing their leave and my spammage of "AYERRO TP PETRA GATEBREACH, {Can anyone hear me?}" 

( JOB USAGE )
RDM/BLM should have been more active in conserving his MP for enfeebs and cures. The other team's RDM was able to enfeeble our entire team before he even Silenced our RDM. Combined with the constant switching of targets, our damage output deemed worthless when their RDM healed everyone right back up. 
BLU/NIN, seeing that our entire party was constantly in the reds and yellows, should have played a more supportive role, perhaps using his almost full MP for healing, instead of physical spells that were, once again, healed by the other team's RDM. 

( STICKING TOGETHER )
I know that I smell horrid because I never take showers or wash my feet, but why would you rush straight into a hoard of locusts (understandable in real life, but Y U DO in match) that's ready to devour you, like a floating, uncontrollable autumn leaf. V taught me the term "DD Ratio," which involves how many players are on the field at once - on the field meaning, fighting with the rest of your team, not just running around the zone a million yalms away. A 6v6 seems pretty even, but it's not really a 6v6 when 2 of your teammates are being ganged on by 5-6 others. 

Today, I witnessed a cow slaughter, our team being the cows, and seemingly the cows felt an instinctual urge to get up and run back into the blades right after their death. Our map looked like a spread out, straight line towards the other team, mimicking a slaughter row. 4 vs 1. 4 vs 1. 4vs 2! 4 vs 1. Perhaps a better approach may have been not to approach the other team just yet. After dying, we could have easily regrouped before heading in as a group. Combined with the above, it may have saved us the embarrassing point gap. 

That being said, Tsu will need extra oil and hugs to be ready for the next match. {See you again!}

lolPUP - Wait... what? (PUP in ballista)

I'd like to say right off the bat that lolPUP outside of ballista, for whatever you think your reason may be, does not apply inside matches. PUP is really useful with the right attachments and understanding of the job's role in conjunction with your teammates.

A PUP general role in ballista is mitigating damage done to the team. Given PUP is already versatile with the different attachments and frames, the two most important attachments are Strobe for Provoke and Flashbulb for Flash no matter which frame you choose. 

An automaton's provoke is very accurate (go ahead and ask Cuzenu about Tsu - my auto -'s favorite person). I've only been in a few matches where my auto's provoke would miss but that happens rarely. Another plus is, autos are very consistent with their voking as long as you keep a fire maneuver up. Same goes with Flashbulb. 

                                                   ---------------------------

The set up from a recent match:

My Team:

PUP/WAR

SAM/RNG

DRK/SAM

Other Team:

DRG/SAM

COR/NIN

WAR/DNC (meant to sub SAM, but was too late to leave)

Naturally, the other team's targets were my team's DRK and SAM because they're able to dish out crippling numbers. My preference is the Sharpshot (RNG) frame, but I've seen the RDM frame used for Phalanx/Stoneskin/enfeebles and the BLM frame for drain/aspirs/low HP nukes. Anyway, DRG COR and WAR tend to hit hard, and if played well, can put your team at a huge disadvantage. PUP however, can divert damage with Strobe by letting your puppet take the damage instead of your teammate, while Flashbulb can reduce damage by, uh, blinding people. 

Tsu's Notable Attachments:

Strobe - Voke

Flashbulb - Flash

Barrage Turbine - Barrage

Replicator - Blink when HP is low enough

Disruptor - Dispel 

Auto-Repair Kit II - Regen + max HP increase

The three maneuvers I usually keep up are fire, light, and wind. 

Strobe: A very accurate provoke prevents the target from using job abilities or casting spells on others or him/herself. If a heavy DD is planning on executing a WS, I could severely delay it with Tsu's provoke, allowing the WS to be wasted/absorbed by Tsu. I don't worry too much about Tsu dying, because I can Deactivate to avoid feeding the other team quick GB. Deux Ex Automata allows me to call Tsu back within a minute, albeit the low initial HP which hasn't been a problem anyway. 

Flashlight: Just annoying. Cuts down damage by "miss" in normal and WS attacks. 

Barrage Turbine: Easy TP that makes up from not using Capacitor for a "Meditate" using Fire Maneuvers. I like having fire maneuvers up all the time. :< Does decent damage and managed to get an opposing team's PUP who tried to touch Tsu. 

Replicator: Comes in handy when auto's HP is low, especially when sending auto on any target after Deux Ex Automata. An unsuspecting Sidewinder was sent at Tsu to "finish him off," but absorbed by the shadow.

Disruptor: Since I keep fire, light, and wind maneuvers up most of the time, I rarely ever use this unless something really needs to be dispelled. 

Auto-Repair Kit II: An extra max HP boost and hefty Regen even with one light maneuver up. 

One of the best things about PUP is being able to /quarry while your auto harasses and pokes at the other team. Your auto will also stay in combat unless you try scoring at a Rook. Many times while trying to score, someone will /check me and try to chase me down and interrupt my throws. To take care of those pests, Tsu just vokes them off for me. 

My favorite targets happen to be SAM/RNG. Strobe to waste Sidewinders with oddly high auto evasion, mess up Seigan/Hasso/Third Eye/Barrage/Sharpshot, Disruptor to Dispel Seigan and mess up timing, and Flashbulb to troll some more.

I'll end this post with "PLEASE USE A STROBE AND FLASHBULB WHEN YOU'RE PLAYING ON PUP." Just those two attachments add so much to the job's potential, not equipping them already puts you at a disadvantage. 

Support Jobs & /NIN vs /SAM

It's finally come to my attention that V's clear acknowledgements, over the span of many days, have finally hit me in the big ahriman eyehat. Well, mainly because I met an enthusiastic potential player who asked about ballista and said he wanted to try out NIN/SCH. Socute!

That might not be the case with our matches, but choosing your support job is exceedingly important and can either supplement or wound your main job in a match. When choosing a support job, keep in mind that you're supposed to try to contribute to the team effort with a job that you can handle, while utilizing it so your team can benefit.

V pointed out the misuse of /NIN for jobs that would be better off, job-wise and for the team, with a different support job. 

Commonly seen in a couple of our past matches are:
MNK/NIN
DRK/NIN
WAR/NIN
SAM/NIN


First, let's compare /NIN vs /SAM and talk about which would be a better option. 

I managed to ask one of our members about why he wanted to /NIN and he said "because of shadows since WS is absorbed by Utsu." /NIN gives you the chance to cast Utsusemi: Ichi (not even Utsu: Ni until level 75) and dual wield. Dodging a weapon skill sounds nice, but you can do so more effectively with /SAM on two-handed jobs such as DRK, WAR, and SAM that are listed above. 

/SAM-ing allows you to use Meditate and accumulate free TP, Third Eye, and all without sacrificing your hard hitting two-handed weapon. Third Eye is by far much more effective in dodging attacks than /NIN's Utsu: Ichi. I'm assuming that's the main reason why /NIN is happening because shadows absorb WS. In the event you, a WAR/NIN, is up against someone who has TP and is planning on WSing you to death. Most likely, you would've casted your shadows in your down time before engaging your opponent. Your opponent though, seeing that you are /NIN, will probably swing a few hits at you to take down your three shadows before WSing you, so shadows prove useless in absorbing WS damage. After you have taken damage from the first WS, your opponent uses Meditate and plans on WSing a second time. The casting time for Utsu: Ichi is too long and will most likely be interrupted by a regular attack; if it does go through though, your opponent will probably, again, take a few swings until your shadows are down and then WS you right in the face. 

When used, Third Eye is instant and uninterrupted unlike Utsu: Ichi.  -ga spells don't get rid of Third Eye as they would, easily to Utsu: Ichi. When used properly, you can anticipate your opponent's WSs and dodge them by using Third Eye, unlike the predictable Utsu: Ichi. 

DRK & WAR would be better off /SAM if the purpose they /NIN'd is for damage mitigation. 
MNK uses hand-to-hand which doesn't count as a two-handed weapon, so MNK might be better off with /WAR, providing the extra HP boosts and Provoke to aid your team. 

SAM/NIN should never ever happen. Again, because Third Eye are more effective for dodging than shadows, and having either Hasso or Seigan up double the recast and casting times for any spells. 

Criticisms About Ballista

Although I haven't found these issues to be that big of an issue thus far, I'd rather address them now just to save my time in typing up explanations to people who might send me tells about Ballista sucking/being a waste of time. With my magical buttons, I will redirect them to this post, saving me the breath, uh finger stamina. 

<Jerkface> Only noobs and gimps play ballista because they're not good enough for end game and ballista's easy since you only kill each other and throw rocks into fat floating castles. 

<Ayerro> No Mr. Jerkface, although the majority of people enjoy the other aspects of FFXI such as endgame, Abyssea, etc., some of us also enjoy ballista. Players who participate in ballista actually vary in skill as well, just like in the other parts of the game. Very basic understanding of ballista involves very basic ideas that players simply hit each other, dig for rocks with their sad shovels, and throw them into floating castles. A skilled player will be able to adapt to their teammates and analyze the opposing team's behaviors, just like you would in a player vs. mob situation. It takes a lot of practice, due to the many different jobs and their combinations, as well as individual play-styles that well, exist. 

<TooGoodForAnyone> 60 caps are for pansies, why not play uncapped? You're too gimp to play uncapped, so you have to play 60.

<Ayerro> If you'd like to play in an uncapped match, we have people within the linkshell that would like to as well. Personally, I don't enjoy uncapped matches because I haven't gotten the time to invest in gear for my main to make it emit high levels of bad-assery. I do other things that I enjoy on FFXI, ballista included, as well as taking care of my real life obligations, so I've been neglecting the opportunities to become "better geared." Although skill is necessary in any match, I find uncapped matches too heavily gear-reliant. Generally, someone who doesn't have a lot of time to spend on FFXI and only gets average gear will have a lot more trouble versing someone who invests a lot of time in their main in an uncapped match. The good thing about 60 caps is that jobs are very versatile and you don't have to play a job that is geared perfectly. Keep in mind that not all of us want to play a job in ballista that we might've geared for other purposes - but if you really think that, you're clearly not aware of how meticulous 60 caps can be.

About the LS

In this post, you will find information about the status and purpose of our linkshell. 

BallistaSession is cozily situated in Fenrir, and our purpose is to provide Fenrir with a community of people who enjoy and take part in FFXI's PvP. We are comprised of players of different levels, from those who have never done a match prior to joining the LS, to those with shimmering Ballista Royale Stars Caps; that being said, anyone who is interested in taking part in Ballista may do so, even without prior knowledge and skill. Weekly, we have about 2-4 events, and some players even stay for all of the three official matches that take place in Jugner, Pashow, and Meriphataud. On a good day, we usually have 12 people in official matches - so far on a really good day, 18 total. 

Mainly, the matches we attend/practice in are 60 caps, but for those interested in doing uncapped, we also have many people within the linkshell that gather together to do so. 

This linkshell's secondary purpose, besides providing a community of anxious ballistars a link to get in touch with each other easily, is to promote and circulate newer players into the "sport." I have great hopes in seeing the present condition of the Ballista, because it was something I enjoyed greatly. Players may attend matches that their schedules, in game and real life, allow, and it's a casual way to enjoy yourself on FFXI if you're tired of endgame events, Abyssea worm parties, or very misformed pick-up parties when you're seal hunting.

Slowly but surely, we're incorporating techniques as a group, to improve the gameplay in matches entirely, apart from simple domination and I-see-you-I-kill-you ideas that have been attributed to the "crappy ballista matches." For those who are more ambitious and have the time to dedicate to Ballista, feel free to send me a /tell, or message, in game or on here for test server matches with BallistaRevolution. 

( PARTICIPATION )
Although anyone who is interested may join the linkshell, official Ballista matches require a Ballista License which is easily acquirable. Click here for a guide on how to obtain your license. Diorama matches held in Ru'Lude Gardens will not require a license, however, it's best to get the license as soon as possible if you plan on participating in upcoming matches.