Ballista ( term ) Ballista , also known as Conflict , is a ritualized form of combat in " Final Fantasy XI " . This is the first of two ( the other being Brenner ) forms of PvP ( Player versus Player ) events in the game . Ballista occurs at regular intervals . Each time it occurs the game will pit two of the three major nations against each other , Bastok , San d ' Oria , and Windurst . Players do not necessarily have to fight for their own country , since clearly that would mean only two out of three players could participate in any particular ballista . Up to 72 players per team can play ballista at any given match . Teams must be balanced to be within one player of each other for fairness consideration . There is also a minor monetary fee players have to pay to enter . The winning team then divides the pool of money between them after the match . Participation . Not everyone can participate in ballista and it is not free . There is a fee to join any ballista game and there are prerequisites in order to do the quest to even participate . Prerequisites . You must be at least Rank 3 in your home nation to be able to participate in Ballista . After a player reaches rank 3 , he would need to speak with his nation ' s ballista director who would grant 2 letters . At that point , the player would need to travel to the other two nations to speak with their ballista director , since this is a ritualized and cordial affair . After speaking with both of the other nation ' s directors , the player would return to his home nation to speak with the nation ' s leader . Entry Fee . There are different level - caps for Ballista . The level cap determines the highest level you can be in order to participate . If you are a higher level , you will have your level temporarily lowered to that . Gear is restricted to that level as well . Rules of Ballista . Ballista can be played in two different ways . The first being one giant match that generally lasts about forty - five minutes to one hour and the second being the best of three short matches . In either case , the objective is the same . Quarry . Players from both sides must use a ballista - only command called / quarry in order to try to find Petra . These petra are what ultimately determines the winner of the game . Quarry can also be used to find temporary items . These can be familiar items like hi - potions and ether s or they can be ballista specific , like a Jar of Carnal Essence . Each petra can be used to score one point . There is no limit to the number of petra that can be held by a player at any given time , but only ten temporary items can be carried at any given time . Rooks . Objects known as rooks , which actually look similar to chess rooks , will appear out of the ground at various places during the match . The number of rooks and their distance from one another is directly effected by the number of participants in Ballista at that time . Rooks are the " goals " , if you will , through which petra can be tossed to score points . Gate Breach . As mentioned before , this is a PvP event . This means that players can kill other players . These players have to be on the opposing team , obviously . Due to the nature of the game though , it is not wise to brashly run about trying to kill your opponent . Whenever a member of the other team is KOed , the team that killed the player gets a " Gate Breach " status . This means that the door on the rook ' s front opens and petra can now be put into the rook to score points . If a player is KOed , he has a few options . He can try to wait for a raise or he can rejoin the battle . Raise takes a lot of MP and the player would remain in a weakened status for five minutes to this is not likely to happen unless the player has a particularly large cache of petra . If a player opts to join the battle rather than get a raise , he loses all of hits petra , though he will keep any temporary items he is carrying . Rewards . There are many rewards for participating in Ballista . Some are more lasting than others . Gil . The total pot from the entry fees is pooled together and distributed and then divided among the winners . Considering that there has to be close if not exactly equal combatants on both sides , this generally means you double your gil or you lose it . The amount of gil gained or lost is not considered significant by most standards . Experience Points . Experience points are awarded to all participants so long as they truly participated . They also have to stay the entire time in order to get the reward so if a player were to log out before the end , he would get nothing . Experience is awarded by the actual level of the job you bring , not the level of the ballista match , meaning that if you are a level 75 player , even in a 30 capped ballista , you will still gain the experience listed below for level 70 - 75 . Ballista Ranking . Ballista ranking is tracked over the course of the last ten ballista matches for each zone . Points are awarded to determine how well a player performed in the ballista match . These points are not added together for the ballista ranking that is tracked by each herald , only the highest in the last 10 matches is considered . Temporary Key Items . Every player in ballista is rewarded with a Ballista Instaport and a Ballista Instawarp . Instaport will take you to the same zone as the next ballista match , according to the schedule , and ballista instawarp will return the player to his home point . Players can also gain chevrons which they can keep for one week . This allows them to tout their stuff around Vana ' diel . When another player inspects the ballista member , he will notice the player ' s title . Chevrons are awarded after each match , if the player wants one , for best performance in each job and then best placement in the overall rankings for the match ( 1st , 2nd , 3rd , etc ) . See also . Poenixphiles ' Ballista Schedule - Lists current and upcoming ballista events .