Ballista sentry summons

The Ballista Rod, Cane, and Staff are special sentry summon weapons. Each Ballista sentry is a large automated crossbow device on the ground that fires piercing spears at approaching enemies. The Rod is sold by the Tavernkeep for, the Cane for , and Staff for.

The Rod is always available. The Cane becomes available after defeating one Mechanical Boss, and the Staff becomes available after defeating Golem. The three different versions cause an identical effect, but with varying statistics, with the Staff being the most expensive and the most powerful.

These weapons can only be used outside of the Old One's Army event after the event has been successfully completed. Completing the event on any difficulty allows Rods, Canes, and Staves alike to be used outside of the event.

During the Old One's Army event, Etherian Mana can be collected, which allows the placement of multiple Ballistas that remain permanently until the event is over. Etherian Mana cannot be used outside the event.

Ballista sentries are boosted by the Squire armor and Valhalla Knight armor set bonuses, which increase the velocity of the ballista projectiles, increase penetration from 4 to 7, and grant Ballista Panic! when the player takes damage. Ballista Panic! doubles the fire rate of Ballista sentries for 5 seconds after taking damage. Additionally, the Valhalla Knight armor increases the firing rate from every 3 seconds to every 1.66 seconds.

Its best modifier is Ruthless. The Mythical modifier presents a wider array of stat bonuses, but most of these apply to the initial summoning, and not to the resulting Ballista. Additionally, minions cannot deal critical hits. The only significant advantage the Mythical modifier has over Ruthless is in knockback.

Tips

 * Despite piercing it does not add invincibility frames.
 * Re-summoning the Ballista will reset its firing cooldown, allowing for rapid fire shots as long as the player has enough mana.
 * The Ballista is slower than the other towers, but its strength, range, and piercing capability make it one of the best sentries in the game, especially at higher levels. When combined with the boosts and healing power of the Valhalla Knight armor and an arena with good positioning, they can tear through bosses even up to the Moon Lord.
 * An effective strategy against the Old One's Army is to set up Lightning Aura sentry summons near the portals and Ballistas closer to the center.
 * Ballistas are often inaccurate against fast-moving targets. If you're having trouble hitting quick enemies, the Flameburst sentry summons may be more effective.
 * In addition, flying enemies during Old One's Army may cause the placed summon to aim up to attack them, usually missing due to travel time and wasting shots that could be used on incoming enemies. To counter this, place a few turrets behind the Mysterious Portal so ballista shots land within the path of incoming enemies.
 * If you buy the Ballista Rod and sell it back to the Tavernkeep without leaving the conversation, he will buy it back for around 5 Gold (depending on happiness, the less happy the better!), making this a good way to turn defender medals into cash in Pre-Hardmode. This actually works for most of his wares.
 * For Pre-Hardmode summoners trying to fight the wall of flesh; An effective strategy is to stay away from the boss during the early stages and spam summon the Ballista near one of its eyes or mouth. By summoning the Ballista repeatedly it fires at an effective rate and will function more like a magic weapon, thus for this purpose the Mythical modifier will out preform the Ruthless modifier as the decreased mana consumption, higher knock back, and faster use speed now becomes relevant.