#ballistician

Ballistician

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Dark Falcon Male

Dread Fighter Female

Dread Fighter Male

Grandmaster

Great Lord

Lodestar

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Witch

Ballistician

I’m really pleased with Ballistician!Azama so far on Birthright Lunatic – that was just a snap decision I made that turns out to really be paying off.  It gives him absurd Str growth (75) at the expense of…well honestly everything else, but it’s not like Monk is a treasure trove of great growths.  Having an early Ballistician turns Birthright 9 and 10 into easy sauce.  And he’s a good candidate because when he’s normally vying for the healer slot when you’ve already obtained two others and he’s not competitive there, the class really gives him an opportunity to shine for his merits.

Applying the same logic of otherwise untapped potential to Conquest, I’d have to go with…probably Kaze or Arthur.  Kaze just really struggles to make a name for himself in Conquest, given that Nohr is full of heavy-hitting classes and he doesn’t often pull that same degree of power.  Arthur actually has excellent growths across the board, but that guy’s bases, especially in Skl, just really throw him off and usually relegate him to pair up bot.  I think (theorycrafting here, so take it with a grain of salt) the Str/Skl growths from Ballistician, along with the ability to use Cannon as opposed to having to frontline, can probably save his earlygame, before he starts to snowball.

Because Cannon can’t kill and doesn’t provide experience, it may also set him back a bit level-wise, so Arthur will likely have to find a balance between Cannon and directly attacking in order to find his place in that class, since grinding to catch him up later is a no-go.

In my personal opinion, I don’t think that changing a second-gen into Ballistician is worth it because their stats tend to be better overall and over time the big chip damage that Ballisiticians can score early gets outclassed by the ability of other classes to ORKO a unit.  Pretty much every kid is capable of the ORKO scenario in some unit matchup.

Witch

Honestly, it’s not hard to pick a Witch.  The bulk of the strong magic users in Fates are female, and if you’re looking at those, you’re likely to turn out a winner.  The runaway hit in my book is Elise – 90 Mag growth and 75 Spd.  That’s just ridiculous.  It’s also overkill, anyone who hits 80 Mag is plenty, but personally I just find that to be solid assurance for what to expect, and Witch synergizes well with her base set.  The others are of course Felicia, Orochi, Rhajat, and Ophelia, all of whom fit the bill for a good Witch – Rhajat in particular (and she has the appropriate demeanor).

This is super vague I know, but Brady has stronger opinions on the distinctions between potential Witches and I’m sure he will elaborate on his favorite picks in the near future.

-Silas

YOU’S RIGHT

Ballistician:

I pretty much completely agree with Silas here. Though personally I don’t think Arthur is that great of a candidate. My personal tank is Izana! Weird huh? But it’s much like Silas’s Azama except Izana has much more classes built in and might actually be a little better imo. Yeah his Str growth is absolutely nothing to Azama’s massive 65%. However Izana’s Res and Def are way better and even out even as a Ballistician. Especally if you take the time to gather skills in his other classes first. He bodied a Nyx in PvP with help from his Magic Counter! But anyway It's not like you can use Izana in Revelation.

Did you know that you choose a bow before attacking while the Cannon is in use? I personally use Setsuna’s Yumi most of the time. All units hit by the attack suffer -4 Skill, Def, and Res for a turn plus the bit of damage! This is sooo perfect for weakening your enemies and then just swooping in in to demolish them. The canon actually uses the effect of any bow like the shinning bow taking the user’s Mag stat and the enemy’s Res in to the damage calculation instead of the Def. Even the hunter’s bow does bonus damages to mounted units and beasts! The only bow I’ve found that doesn’t work so far is the Violin Bow+the cannon command. I had Camilla next to him as he used the the Violin Bow+Cannon but nothing happened.

I just thought I’d tell you about some more uses I found for the Ballastician.

Best early unit for it though? I agree with Silas on Kaze. He’s easily outclassed by others and the tank might give him a second life. A ninja’s job is to chip away at enemies anyway.

Witch: I’ve talked about this too much and can’t think of anything else to add at the moment. Silas listed your best candidates though.

If I have to say more then in first gen I’m in favor of Orochi, Nyx, and even Anna if you have her. As for the 2nd gen then pretty much any magical girl. Especially Ophelia with that special tome. Oh and I’ve also found that Nina really appreciates the skills Warp and Toxic Brew! Sh’s more of a physical unit though so I don’t completely recommend keeping her a witch. Her magic is really best for healing.

If you have the season pass already sure! Get as many as you want. The map is pretty easy anyway.  If you’re buying the DLC by itself though I don’t see you getting your money’s worth.  The thing is Ballisticians are just so….complicated.Definitely one of the most difficult classes I’ve had to figure out.

Every possible candidate I’ve thought of for the class seem to be downgraded in some awful way. The class implies it wants to be a note to end on since its skills are tailor-made for the class alone! But the defenses and movement are laughable.

I guess that’s fair though since the “Cannon” ability has so much reach. So perhaps this a class made for back up and chipping away at the big guys. With the massive strength and skill that would make sense!

So my advice to you is to pick a unit without much to lose or have plenty to spare in Mag, Spd, Def, and Res.

Wanna know something freaky? The closest I’ve found to a good Ballistician is….Izana….

Later. _Mod Brady(on mobile)

If there’s one thing to be said about Ballisticians, it’s that they really aren’t meant to be up-close fighters.  The “Cannon” command is where it’s at.  This functions much like ballistae/launchers/orbs do in that it launches a projectile far ahead to inflict damage on unsuspecting enemy units.  The problem is, it can’t kill, just like ballistae, launchers, and orbs.  But hey, still have that bow effective bonus.

Ballisticians hang back, using their range over their mobility to make first strikes on key targets before other units finish them off (Revelation 25 is a good example).  They do not want to be part of the main action.  I honestly can’t think of a particularly good Ballistician off the top of my head, but it could be used to give a second life to a unit that’s falling behind.  I’ve heard Takumi, but I can’t see why I’d ever want to trade a mobile unit I can point at something and it dies immediately with Ballistician.  I bet prepromote/Corrinsexuals could find use in it.

I also saw a gimmick build on SF where a Ballistician is deployed to intentionally proc Scarlet’s personal skill and turn her into a killing machine.  So yeah, there are uses, but it depends a little on playstyle and a little on how creative you are.  Oh yeah, and watch your friendly fire.