Ballistica

For the similarly named enemy, see Ballista.

The Ballistica is a secondary weapon that acts much like the Paris, but it instead shoots four arrows in quick succession with a tap of the trigger, or a single arrow if charged.

Characteristics
This weapon deals primarily damage.

Advantages:
 * High damage - effective against Armor.
 * Charged shots give it high single-shot damage.
 * Good charge critical chance.
 * No projectile arc when firing burst or charged.
 * Charged shot can hit multiple enemies in a line.
 * Burst shot has a very fast (near-hitscan) travel time.
 * Charged attack conserves ammo.
 * Has one polarity slot.

Disadvantages:
 * Semi-auto function has low accuracy and spreads horizontally.
 * Has fairly strong horizontal recoil associated with this which players may be unaccustomed to compensating for.
 * Must be charged for higher accuracy shots, which lowers DPS.
 * Has a slightly lower than average zoom.
 * Charged attacks have slight travel time.
 * Linearly less efficient -- Sometimes a target may only die with five projectiles, which requires an entire second burst/charge to be fired.
 * Low and  damage makes it less effective against Shields and Flesh respectively.
 * Alarming (but supposed to be silent)

Comparisons:
 * Rakta, compared to the Rakta Ballistica:
 * Lower base damage on un-charged shots. (25.0 vs. 75.0)
 * Lower base damage on charge shots. (100.0 vs. 300.0)
 * Lower  damage. (80.0 vs 270.0)
 * Lower  damage. (10.0 vs 15.0)
 * Lower damage. (10.0 vs 15.0)
 * Smaller magazine. (16 vs 20)
 * Lower crit chance. (15.0% vs 20.0%)
 * Doesn't have a polarity.

Tips

 * Track your targets constantly when burst-firing, as the recoil shifts sideways when firing.
 * Crowd control with burst fire can also be generally effective, and will be benefited further when using a maxed Seeker.
 * With enough fire rate speed, its DPS is actually bigger when fired charged compared to semi-auto firing.
 * Due to significant horizontal recoil you may consider using the Steady Hands mod.
 * Unlike the other magazine based charge weapons (Lanka and Ogris), there is a period between charge shots in which, if clicked too soon after a charge shot, the Ballistica will neither charge nor fire. This lowers the actual DPS of a charge build. Roughly 0.5-0.8 seconds after firing a charge shot. Increasing the fire rate decreases this delay however.

Trivia

 * Name is likely based on the medieval siege weapon, the Ballista, due to both being related to crossbows and the similarity in the names.
 * It may also be a pun on ballistic, and as a propelled projectile the Ballistica may be considered a ballistic weapon.
 * Upon reload, the magazine will be dropped onto the ground and can be seen for a short time before disappearing.
 * This gun has a non-static model as the strings glow and the arms cock back as a shot is charged. Additionally the arms fold in when the Ballistica is holstered and open up when it is selected, with a unique sound effect.
 * The Ballistica is the first secondary to utilize a charge function, and the third to utilize burst-fire.
 * It is so far the only weapon of any class to combine both.
 * Although not entirely similar to bow weapons, due to the fact it uses pistol ammo and has a burst fire mode, it is similar to the Paris and Dread bows as they are capable of firing both charged and uncharged shots. The bows, however, are silent, whereas the Ballistica has reduced-awareness properties.

Bugs

 * In the game, it is stated that normal attacks have no critical chance, however, these stats are not correct. It has been verified through testing.
 * It would seem that the Ballistica does not retract its bows whenever its wielder performs a melee strike, as the Ballistica is forced on its holster. This is considered a bug as holstering the weapon usually retracts itself when switching.
 * The Ballistica will open and retract in a split second while selecting customization options on Warframes and weapons, such as selecting an alternate helmet.