This time it landed on Artillery Ballista. I'd never played it before, but having experience with ballista builds like Explosive Arrow Totems gave me a starting point. This run would be fresh SSF, straight from a migrated private league, and POE currency: experiment, adapt, and see how far this idea could go.

First Impressions & Skill Setup

Artillery Ballista fires six arrows in a line, with 65% added damage effectiveness per totem-meaning damage scales with each totem placed. Two transfigured versions caught my eye:

 Cross Strafe-Two lines instead of one.

 Focus Fire-Locks onto specific enemies with better effectiveness.

The gem's level 22 breakpoint adds an extra totem, so hitting that level would be a longterm goal. Beyond that, I planned to learn the skill's quirks organically during the campaign.

Act 1-Early Leveling & First Totems

Since ballistas are bow skills, Ranger was the obvious choice. I slapped Burning Arrow into a bow and set off toward the bottomright totem clusters on the passive tree. There's no totem at level 1, so I opened with Galvanic Arrow-essentially a lightning shotgun.

First totem was Shrapnel Ballista, which I linked to Pierce. Even this early, three shotgun totems plus Mirage Archer felt decent. Early SSF luck blessed me with a rare threelink helmet, a large mana flask, and a bow with flat lightning from a mercenary.

Against Brutus, three totems, Mirage Archer, and some manual shots made for a comfortable, safe fight. The first big passive investment went into the totem cluster for +1 totem, bringing me to four total. Already, the damage uptime felt fantastic.

Act 2-Building Momentum

Life nodes and a path toward Precise Technique (+40% more damage if accuracy > life) were next. I reached this keystone before Oak, ensuring my accuracy was just barely higher than my life.

Loot highlights:

 A flat damage quiver from a mercenary.

 Blacksmith's Whetstones for weapon quality.

 Elemental Damage with Attacks as a quest reward.

 Against the Vaal Oversoul, the strategy was unchanged: deploy totems, keep moving, let uptime do the work. Smooth and safe.

Act 3-Siege Experiment & First Ally

Here I accidentally realized I'd skipped some Act 1 rewards-picking up Siege Ballista far later than intended. Its long windup time didn't suit my tempo, so I quickly returned to Shrapnel.

I hired my first NPC ally ("homie"), a bow user whose damage meaningfully added to boss fights. Together, we downed Piety with ease, and I finally acquired Artillery Ballista.

Initial setup:

 Artillery Ballista → Added Cold → Elemental Damage with Attacks.

 Still running Galvanic Arrow with Mirage Archer + Pierce for extra clearing.

 By Dominus, I'd upgraded to a fourlink:

Artillery Ballista → Faster Attacks → Elemental Damage with Attacks → Added Cold Damage.

The consistency was notable-no massive bursts, but sustained, reliable DPS.

Act 4-New Bow & First Ascendancy

A strong bow drop midlab gave the build its first big damage spike. I went Deadeye, grabbing Tailwind for speed. Quality was added to the main gem, and the "zoo" feeling began-totems, ally, and occasional manual shots creating layered pressure.

Selfcasting Frenzy between totem placements felt clunky, so I experimented with Manaforged Arrows Support, automating Frenzy based on mana spent. This change was a step toward my goal: turning the build into a onebutton mapper.

By Kaom and Daresso, five totems were online thanks to the second totem cluster. Malachai's fight mirrored Dominus-consistent, controlled, safe.

Act 5 & 6-Resistance Fixing and Automation

PostKitava resistances were patched with crafts on rings and quiver. I added Mark on Hit linked to Sniper's Mark for passive debuff application. The upgraded homie shredded packs, while I dressed them in my handmedown gear.

Campaign progress stayed smooth, and the build's identity solidified: steady damage, minimal button presses, high mobility.

Act 7 to 10-Streamlining the Playstyle

By now, the onebutton philosophy was clear:

 Main Skill: Artillery Ballista + Faster Attacks + Elemental Damage with Attacks + Added Cold Damage.

 Manaforged Trigger: Ensnaring Arrow + Greater Multiple Projectiles + Mirage Archer (and later Culling Strike).

 Mark Application: Manaforged Ensnaring Arrow → Sniper's Mark.

 Defenses: Steelskin (Automated via Cast When Damage Taken), Grace, and Evasion stacking.

 Auras: Grace, Clarity (level 5), Anger. Precision provided by ally.

 This setup allowed me to clear maps by spamming one key-everything else was automated or passive.Passive Tree & Scaling Choices

The damage scaling plan was multifaceted:

 Flat Elemental Damage (cold, fire, lightning).

 Flat Physical → Fire Conversion via Artillery Ballista.

 Increased/More Damage from totem clusters, frenzy charges, and elemental nodes.

 Debuffs: Sniper's Mark for increased damage taken, Ensnaring Arrow for 15% increased bow damage taken.

 Attack Speed stacking.

What I wasn't scaling:

 Crit chance/multi (staying pure hit damage).

 Extra projectiles (inefficient on single targets).

 AoE (limited scaling options).

Defensively:

 Pure evasion with a plan to cap Spell Suppression.

 Potential Wind Dancer for hit mitigation.

 Seeking blind sources for extra avoidance.

 Decent life pool for SSF.

Lab Progression

Second Lab brought Endless Munitions for +1 projectile and area-though I debated this, since projectiles weren't a focus. Third Lab gave Focal Point for stronger marks. Final Lab was planned for Far Shot to synergize with ranged play, but early impressions showed the build excelled even without it.

Early Mapping

With the campaign finished, Atlas passives leaned toward Frenzy charge generation and basic map sustain. Gear upgrades included:

 Flat lightning damage on amulet and quiver.

 Life crafts on rings and helmet.

 Chaos resistance belt.

 Boots with decent move speed.

SSF drop RNG was kind: multiple strong bows, including one "insane" roll with crafted flat cold. Allies received handmedowns to stay relevant in fights.

The first maps felt great. Expedition content fell quickly to totem bombardment, and mobility kept me out of harm's way.

Weaknesses:

 Mediocre Single Target without investment into Frenzy charges or debuffs.

 Evasion RNG: Occasional big hits can slip through.

 Not a Burst Build: Relies on consistent chip damage.

The OneButton Concept in Detail

The final Act 10 version:

1.Press Main Skill: Artillery Ballista (4link).

2.Mana Spent Triggers: Ensnaring Arrow + GMP + Mirage Archer + Culling Strike.

3.Ensnaring Arrow Automatically Applies: Sniper's Mark (via Mark on Hit).

4.Defenses: Steelskin via CWDT, Arcane Surge for mana regen, automated Flame Dash with Life Tap for mobility without mana cost.

5.The result? Place totems → everything else happens automatically → move to next pack.

Plans & Next Steps

Looking ahead, I saw potential improvements:

 Cap Spell Suppression.

 Add blind sources.

 Replace ally with a more durable or higherDPS variant.

 Experiment with exposure or penetration for bosses.

 Transition to a highlink Artillery Ballista setup with a crafted bow.

The build's role in my roster felt clear-it was shaping into a dedicated mapper rather than an endgame bosser. Still, SSF is about adaptation, and if bow or quiver upgrades dropped, bossing could improve significantly.

Final Thoughts

Artillery Ballista in SSF exceeded my expectations. It might not be flashy burst DPS, but it's reliable, safe, and-most importantly-fun. The automated debuffs and onebutton playstyle make mapping almost meditative. For players who enjoy setting up their damage and focusing on movement and cheap POE currency, this is a solid league starter or side project.