Now, what jobs to play?
Like in FFXI, you got several choices of main jobs to play in ballista. All of them have their advantages and disadvantages. Just because your preferred job is not among the top tier doesn't mean you can't be the devastating force. What you do in a normal situation does not always apply in ballista and vice versa.
What written below is an old job guide written months ago. It is outdated due to all the recent FFXI updates. If you want to help out, please check this forum out.
Top tier jobs - these jobs when played correctly will dominate ballista. You will find these jobs at almost every ballista, because of their power.
Black Mage: You will find out real fast that black mage will dominate ballista. The black mage must have all -aga spells available to them at their level except Poisonaga. A group of black mages that stick together and cast a round of -aga on the opponent can easily wipe most of their opponents out. In 30 cap, an -aga spell will do approximately 200 damage, and as caps increase, the damage output will only go up. As long the black mage is willing to invest in evasion gear, they are devastating in lower cap, and they are still a major force as the level caps go up. Grade: A+
Monks can easily rip up any mage, and nobody can 1 v 1 a monk. Starting in 40 cap, Monk will have a lot of their haste and accuracy gear available to them, and they become the killing machines. In addition, monks have more evasion gear than most jobs, and this allows them to 1 v 1 anything. The h2h skill lets them rip up shadows. Only the Monk can effectively 1 v 1 when it comes to Ballista. At 50 cap, the Monk gains a AOE weaponskill which should be used. Grade: A
Bard's most important aspect is Horde Lullaby. Their main job in Ballista is to enfeeble. They get the nod over RDM for the top tier jobs strictly because Horde Lullaby is AOE and they have buffs that can protect black mages long enough for the black mages to wipe opponents out. A bard that can time Horde to hit right after the round of -aga will prove to be death to the opponents. The RDM lacks AOE abilities other than Diaga, which should not be used in Ballista as it cancels sleep. In addition, Horde Lullaby is available in 30 cap, while Sleepga is not. Grade: A
Summoner is a damage dealer when it comes to ballista, not a backup healer. Astral Flow is extremely powerful as it can just about wipe out opponents providing that the proper summon is used and proper gear is worn. Their pets do not give opponents gate breach status. Later, they can wipe out shadows with Slowga, and use Earthen Ward to give stoneskin effect to party members. The only drawback to a summoner is that they have to make an investment in Revitalizers, as their major source of damage is their Astral Flow bloodpact. Summoners that keep summons out will find a much lower effectiveness of Prism Powders and Tonko, as their summons will make them easy to spot. Grade: A-
Middle tier jobs - while these are good jobs to play in ballista, they have their limits. For some jobs they are very effective in lower level ballistas and ineffective at higher levels, and vice versa. Others have certain drawbacks that prevent them from being the top tier job that they could be.
Red Mage: The main reason that Red Mage is a middle tier job rather an high tier job is simply due to their lack of AOE spells. The only way they can get them is to sub Black Mage, and then they won't have the AOE to use until 40 cap. Although they have buffs that can keep then alive a long time, RDM will not be a force until Uncapped Ballista rolls around. Grade: B-
Ranger may seem to be the powerful force at first, but as higher caps come along, the true limitations of Ranger start to show. With next to no defense and the 4th fewest HP base among all jobs in the game, they are weak to AOE attacks and multi-hit weaponskills. Barrage and Eagle Eye Shot are not as reliable, either. In addition, the Ranger must use a crossbow and a combination of sleep, holy, and bloody bolts in order to be effective. Since the July 2005 FFXI update, the effect of bloody bolts in Ballista has been capped, and the Ranger is better off attacking from a distance than up close. Rangers got a very expensive job in Ballista, and as caps increase, the number of rangers will eventually decrease. Grade: B+
Thief is very good at staying alive, but they will have problem with -aga spells. Thief must keep marksmanship skill current because their only major source of damage is using a X-bow with status bolts, namely bloody bolts (which had their drain effect capped for ballista in the 7/18 update). Until 50 cap comes, the thief must stay away from hordes of opponents. At 50, the thief will have access to an AOE weaponskill called Cyclone, and the ability Hide and they will become a force to reckon with. The thief can only steal and mug petras from opponents. Perfect Dodge is valuable but it does not protect them from magic. If the thief is in trouble and doesn't have any of their abilities ready, the thief is as good as dead. When it comes to ballistas, the thief is a scoring machine, not a killing machine. The thief must make investment in Revitalizers and gear that gives ranged accuracy. Grade: B
Warrior may not seem to be the best ballista job in the game, but they can hold their own. As long Great Axe and Marksmanship skill is current, the Warrior gets multi-hit weaponskills Sturmwind and Raging Rush at their disposal. Although their ranged accuracy is not as good as Ranger or Thief, they can still use status bolts. Their obvious limitations include lack of evasion, but they can hold up lot better than Dark Knight or Ninja when it comes to taking damage. Although Warrior cannot 1 v 1 against most jobs, it often takes a gang of opponents to bring them down. If their provoke lands, it usually sends opponents running away. Grade: C+
Beastmaster can be a formidable force in Ballista, but it has its drawbacks that prevent it from being top tier as it comes to jobs. The beastmaster must invest in TigerFamiliar, as it is the only jug pet proven to have effectiveness, because of its sic move that removes shadows. The beastmaster must know that they must dismiss their pet when it is at low health or it will give other team gate breach status. The beastmaster won't have a weaponskill to reckon with until the 60 cap. Beastmaster is better off at subbing ninja for dual wield axes. Like Summoners, Beastmasters will find Prism Powders and Tonko not as effective as other jobs because their pet is always visible. Grade: C
White Mage is always useful, as they can keep themselves alive a long time or their teammates. If they keep club skill current, they will become a major force starting in uncapped where they can 1 v 1 anything except monk and thief. They do have Banishaga to get rid of shadows, but it has a long cooldown time, and the divine magic skill must be current for that spell to be effective. Their drawbacks is that they cannot afford to be enfeebled, it usually means death to them. Sometimes they cannot keep up on healing especially when the black mages do a full round of -aga on the team. Until uncapped ballista rolls around, the WHM is mostly a support/enfeebler. When uncapped comes, they can 1 v 1 almost everything that comes their way, provided they make the correct subjob choice, and the club skill is current. Grade: C
Dragoon has very good damage output. If they sub white mage, they can use an enfeeble that can generate a wyvern's ability. However, their wyverns are not as effective due to the fact they are weak to magic. Until 50 cap, Dragoons lack a multi-hit weaponskill that makes them a threat. Starting at 50, Dragoons become deadly as terms as damage dealers, and they hold up to damage much better than Dark Knight. Dragoons need to use Prism Powders when their wyverns are not out, or they will find the effectiveness of Prism Powders much lower than normal. Grade: C
Low tier jobs - while they may have use, their limitations in ballista will really show. Only people that really know their jobs will take these into ballista, and even they have dropped these jobs for others over a period of time. Most likely they're doing it because they either need buffer experience, or they can't get invites.
Dark Knight can be a decent damage dealer, but it comes at a price. Due to their lack of defense, and long cooldown timers on Stun, Drain, and Aspir, the Dark Knight is often easy prey to opponents. The Dark Knight must keep marksmanship skill current and they must spam sleep and bloody bolts in order to stay alive. At higher caps, the Dark Knight can be a force if they sub black mage for the -agas. Since scythes are too slow, they must keep axe or sword skill current and sub ninja under normal circumstances. Grade: D+
Paladin is a good member of a party looking for EXP, but when it comes to ballista, it is highly overrated. Paladins have healing and divine magic, but they lack damage output. At lower caps, they are nothing more than meat shields. In addition, an enfeebled paladin is a dead paladin. At higher caps they get better weapons to use but most of them is not available to them until uncapped. They could use a staff for Earth Crusher, but that AOE does not cancel utsusemi. Grade: D
Ninja: Like Paladin, Ninja is highly overrated. They are nothing more than another thief, except that they won't have flee until level 50, and the only marksmanship item they can use is a gun. Ninjas don't deal enough damage output until later and they must have throwing skill up to date and use throwing weapons in order to be effective. The best that ninja can do is to enfeeble and they must run away when they start taking damage, as Utsusemi has a long cooldown timer. Ninjas are likely -aga targets. They can stealth with Tonko, but Tonko is not 100% effective in sneaking past enemies. The cost of this job to take in ballista usually force people to take something else to ballista. Grade: D
Samurais really got the shaft when it came to ballista. Mediate is the best ability they got and they can self skillchain, but opponents can easily run away when it is readied and thus it is a waste of TP. Samurais do not have marksmanship skill, and sleep arrows are very expensive and not as effective as sleep bolts. Samurais simply cannot 1 v 1 at all, due to their high delay weapons. They are at their best in joining in team attacks, and by that time the opponent is trying to run away. Grade: D-