Elden Ring - Ballistas

Ballistas carry no scaling yet land the hardest single hit in the game, with a fully upgraded Jar Cannon dealing 672 physical plus a 160-damage bolt on a Strength requirement that two-handing drops to 23.

Combat

Pros

• Attack per shot is the highest in the game, with the Jar Cannon at 672 physical and the Hand Ballista at 600 at maximum, against 318 for the best greatbow and 308 for the best crossbow.
• Stamina damage is the highest of any ranged weapon, 180 on the Jar Cannon and 150 on the Hand Ballista, so ballistas stagger and stance-break targets that nothing else at range can.
• Ballistas have no stat scaling, only requirements, so a caster, a Faith build or a bleed build all fire an identical Jar Cannon.
• Requirements are much softer than they read. Ballistas are two-hand only, so the printed Strength counts at two-thirds, making the Jar Cannon's 34 an effective 23 and the Hand Ballista's 30 an effective 20.

Cons

• Only 20 great bolts can be held, and at 300 runes for a Ballista Bolt and 800 for an Explosive Greatbolt, this is the most expensive ammunition in the game to sustain.
• The reload is slow and the post-firing animation long, so each opening allows one shot, and a miss wastes it.
• These are the heaviest ranged weapons in the game, with the Hand Ballista at 10.0 and the Jar Cannon and Rabbath's Cannon at 15.0 each.
• Ballistas take no Ashes of War, greases, spell buffs or affinities, and every one carries the Kick skill.

Builds

There is no ballista build, only a ballista requirement.

• Rabbath's Cannon needs 28 Strength and 16 Dexterity, the Hand Ballista 30 and 14 and the Jar Cannon 34 and 12, and two-handing cuts the Strength to an effective 19, 20 and 23.
• Past that, levels do nothing for it.
• All damage growth comes from upgrade level, the great bolt loaded and stacked buffs, which multiply unless stated otherwise: Arrow's Sting Talisman 10%, Ritual Sword Talisman 10% at full health, Flame, Grant Me Strength 20%, Rallying Standard 20%, Lord of Blood's Exultation 20%, White Mask 10% and Blue Dancer Charm up to 11% at minimum equip load.

Best Weapons

Weapon	Image	Attack	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc
Jar Cannon		192	15	34	12	-	-	-
Hand Ballista		135	10	30	14	-	-	-
Rabbath's Cannon		135 + 135 magic	15	28	16	-	-	-

Notes

• Great bolts use the two lower ammunition slots, capped at 20 held and 600 stored.
• The great bolt is roughly a quarter of the total shot, with the Ballista Bolt at 160 physical (300 runes), the Bone Ballista Bolt at 150 and craftable from one Hefty Beast Bone, the Explosive Greatbolt at 50 plus 150 fire (800 runes), the Lightning Greatbolt at 50 plus 150 lightning (500 runes) and Rabbath's Greatbolt at 50 plus 150 magic.
• Flame, Grant Me Strength boosts Explosive Greatbolts more than other bolts because they carry fire damage.
• The Arrow's Reach Talisman makes great bolts fly straighter for longer, improving both range and aim.
• The post-firing animation can be canceled by using the recoil to fall off a waist-high or taller ledge, roughly doubling the fire rate.

All Ballistas

The table below lists all Ballistas in Elden Ring.

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Range	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Hand Ballista		135 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	100 -	50	10	-30	-14	0	0	0	200	Kick
Jar Cannon		192 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	100 -	50	15	-34	-12	0	0	0	500	Kick