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The Ballista is a siege engine that fires Hammerhead Bolts, Incendiary Bolts, Piercer Bolts and Pitchfork Bolts, with 250 health once built.
What one batch takes.
Metal Fragments
Gears
Sheet Metal
The same recipe expanded until every line is something you gather, smelt or loot.
Metal Fragments
Scrap
Sheet Metal
Metal Fragments
Gears
Sheet Metal
Copy it, then hold Shift and click Paste (JSON) in the conveyor, in game.
[
{
"TargetCategory": null,
"MaxAmountInOutput": 250,
"BufferAmount": 0,
"MinAmountInInput": 0,
"IsBlueprint": false,
"TargetItemName": "metal.fragments"
},
{
"TargetCategory": null,
"MaxAmountInOutput": 1,
"BufferAmount": 0,
"MinAmountInInput": 0,
"IsBlueprint": false,
"TargetItemName": "gears"
},
{
"TargetCategory": null,
"MaxAmountInOutput": 2,
"BufferAmount": 0,
"MinAmountInInput": 0,
"IsBlueprint": false,
"TargetItemName": "sheetmetal"
}
]
Workbench Level 2, 25s, yields 1
Faster at a higher workbench: 12.5s at Workbench Level 3.
Researching the blueprint costs 30 scrap at a Research Table.
Crates, barrels and NPCs that drop the Ballista, most likely first
| From | Chance | Amount |
|---|---|---|
 Locked Crate | 1.3% | 1 to 2 |
 Elite Crate | 0.78% | 1 to 3 |
| Scientist PT Boat Dry Box | 0.73% | 1 to 3 |
 Military Crate | 0.42% | 1 |
 Underwater Lab Military Crate | 0.42% | 1 |
 Wagon Military Crate | 0.42% | 1 |
Missile Silo Scientist (underground) | 0.3% | 1 |
Scientist | 0.074% | 1 |
Heavy Scientist | 0.061% | 1 |
 Treasure Box, mission reward | 1.6% | 1 to 2 |
 Gingerbread Mine Present, Christmas event only | 0.42% | 1 |
Chance is for one container opened or one NPC killed. Amount is how many it holds when it holds any.
Metal Fragments
Metal FragmentsA repair bench charges 20% of the recipe to fix a broken item, less when it is only worn. A component in the recipe is charged as the first ingredient of its own recipe instead, or not at all when it has no recipe.
Each swing charges the share of the cost for 50 health, rounded up to whole resources, and restores as much health as it paid for, which can be more than 50. Nothing can be repaired for 30 seconds after it takes damage.
What the Ballista gives back in each recycler
| Recycler | Efficiency | You get |
|---|---|---|
| Red recycler | 75% | 75% Gears, 187 + 50% Metal Fragments, 1 + 50% Sheet Metal |
| Green recycler (powered) | 60% | 60% Gears, 150 Metal Fragments, 1 + 20% Sheet Metal |
| Green recycler | 50% | 50% Gears, 125 Metal Fragments, 1 Sheet Metal |
| Yellow recycler | 40% | 40% Gears, 100 Metal Fragments, 80% Sheet Metal |
The Ballista breaks down into Gears, Metal Fragments and Sheet Metal.
A recycler takes one at a time.
Figures are for one item in perfect condition. Each recycler’s name opens its full table at this item. “187 + 50%” means 187 every time and a 50% chance of one more, and a percentage alone is the chance of getting one.
In Rust, Ballista is a siege engine in the Weapons category (item ID #1714509152, console shortname ballista.static). In active play, it follows standard server rules for siege engine gear across procedural maps. Inventory storage holds a single unit per slot, and uncollected ground drops despawn after 40 minutes.
A stationary ballista, perfect for defence. Can fire deadly bolts at distant targets.
Crafting Ballista in Rust takes 25 seconds at a Workbench Level 2 once the 30 scrap blueprint node is unlocked, with all ballistics, crafting, and durability values read from the Rust game files. Shredding a spare copy at a green recycler recovers base materials at fifty percent yield (vs forty percent at safe-zone yellow units). Damaged copies repair at a Repair Bench for a fraction of recipe cost.
The Ballista is one of the 6 siege engines; Rust classifies it under the Weapons inventory category.
When choosing between Ballista and related weapons in Rust, prioritize researching a looted or traded copy at a Research Table (30 scrap) whenever you want to skip the 570-scrap tech tree path and save 540 scrap, or unlock the tech tree branch when your group also needs the prerequisite blueprints.
| Item | Category | Stack Limit | Craft / Source | Tech Tree / Research | Green Recycler Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballista | Weapons | 1 per slot | Workbench Level 2 | 30 node / 570 path | Not recyclable |
| Mounted Ballista | Weapons | 1 per slot | Workbench Level 2 | 30 node / 600 path | Not recyclable |
| Battering Ram | Weapons | 1 per slot | Workbench Level 2 | 30 node / 540 path | Not recyclable |
| Mortar | Construction | 1 per slot | Workbench Level 2 | 60 node / 930 path | Not recyclable |
Compare Ballista with closely related siege engine sheets in the Rust item catalog:
To compare Ballista against every item in its inventory category, browse All 85 items in Weapons, or plan prerequisite scrap paths on the The Workbench Level 2 tech tree, tile by tile.
The Ballista is crafted at a Workbench Level 2 from 250 Metal Fragments, 1 Gears and 2 Sheet Metal, once the blueprint is learned in Rust. Non-craftable components like Sheet Metal must be looted from monument crates or recycled gear before queuing the craft at your bench.
The Ballista has 250 health once placed in Rust. It sits in the Weapons catalog with item ID 1714509152 alongside 84 related weapons, while F1 console command inventory.giveid 1714509152 1 spawns 1 unit for testing across 85 published Weapons entries (65 with crafting blueprints).
The Ballista drops from 9 container and NPC loot tables in Rust, led by Locked Crate (1.3% chance), Elite Crate (0.78% chance), and Scientist PT Boat Dry Box (0.73% chance). Each listed probability reflects a single container opened or NPC killed, and found copies can be repaired or researched at base.
The Ballista recycles in Rust at an unpowered green recycler into a 50% chance of Gears, 125 Metal Fragments and 1 Sheet Metal. Full recycler yields apply to an undamaged copy, while partially worn gear returns proportionally fewer materials based on its remaining durability bar.
The Ballista takes 25 seconds to craft, down to 12.5 seconds at Workbench Level 3 in Rust. It sits in the Weapons catalog with item ID 1714509152 alongside 84 related weapons, stacking to 1 unit per slot, with F1 console command inventory.giveid 1714509152 1.
A repair bench fixes the Ballista from broken for 135 Metal Fragments, and a hammer takes it from broken to full in five swings for 238 Metal Fragments in Rust. Bench repairs require no blueprint and reduce maximum condition by 20% across a full durability bar.
Blueprint progression for Ballista at Workbench Level 2 in Rust charges 30 scrap on the target node and 570 cumulative scrap along the prerequisite branch, while direct blueprint study at a Research Table charges 30 scrap. It belongs to the Weapons category under numeric ID 1714509152 across 85 weapons.
Dropped on the ground in Rust, the Ballista despawns after 40 minutes by default. Moving it into a storage box, locker, or player inventory immediately cancels the ground despawn countdown, which the server assigns by item rarity tier to prevent dropped loot from lagging active worlds.
The Ballista has 32-bit signed item ID 1714509152 and shortname ballista.static in Rust. Server plugins, custom loot tables, Vending Machine listings, and automated Industrial Conveyor filter strings reference these two identifiers under the Weapons category (stack limit 1 unit per slot).
Server administrators in Rust spawn the Ballista in the F1 developer console by typing inventory.give ballista.static 1 or inventory.giveid 1714509152 1 for a single unit. Both console spawn commands require administrator or moderator privileges on the server, while regular players can bind a quick-craft shortcut key instead.
Hammerhead Bolt
Incendiary Bolt
Piercer Bolt
Pitchfork Bolt