Rabbath’s Cannon vs. Jar Cannon vs. Hand Ballista: Which Is Best in Elden Ring

The long-range Ballista weapons are probably the most ridiculous and fun weapons in Elden Ring, and with Shadow of the Erdtree, FromSoftware added a third, called Rabbath’s Cannon, to shake things up even further. With three ballista bolt-firing weapons in the game, the question now becomes, which is the best: Rabbath’s Cannon, the Jar Cannon, or Hand Ballista?

Which Is Better, Rabbath’s Cannon, the Jar Cannon, or the Hand Ballista

Answering which of Elden Ring‘s three Ballista-type weapons is tough, because they all serve a different purpose. On the face of it, Rabbath’s seems like the obvious answer. The bolts it fires have some absurd tracking after you lock onto a target. Homing missiles are better than those that don’t home, right? The answer is obviously yes, but there is a catch. Let’s get into it.

Why You Should Use Rabbath’s Cannon in Elden Ring

As mentioned, Rabbath’s Cannon adds insane tracking to any bolt fired out of it, provided you’ve locked onto your target beforehand. It goes around corners, moves in multiple directions, and is surprisingly hard to fool. It will, of course, be blocked by big structures like buildings, trees, and large boulders, but the homing bolts do a good job of dealing with smaller cover.

Rabbath’s Cannon’s damage is comparable to the Jar Cannon’s as well, though the damage is split between Physical and Magic. It’s accurate out to medium range, even without the tracking, and can use any of the three Greatbolt types available. It also has the lowest stat requirement of all the cannons, requiring only 28 Strength to wield, and it weighs as much as the Jar Cannon, 15 units, meaning you can invest some of the points you would need in Strength into Endurance of the equip load.

So, what reason is there to use anything else? There’s one, and it’s big. Rabbath’s Cannon’s major weakness is its range. Of all the Ballista-type weapons, the greatbolts fired out of Rabbath’s Cannon start to drop the earliest. In other words, if you’re fighting enemies at anything beyond medium range, your projectiles will fall out of the sky long before they reach your target.

Why You Should Use the Jar Cannon in Elden Ring

The original Elden Ring silly weapon (it is, after all, a jar that shoots missiles), the Jar Cannon has no real weaknesses. It has the best range of all the Ballista-type weapons, can fire any of the greatbolts on offer, and because it doesn’t deal split damage, it can sometimes deal more damage than Rabbath’s in the same situations. The one disadvantage it has is the lack of tracking on its projectiles, but those are more a luxury than a necessity.

I also find the Jar Cannon the more consistent of the two cannon Ballistas because of its massive range advantage. As hilarious as the homing missiles are with Rabbath’s, not needing to worry about distance nearly as much is a massive plus. And because of the longer range, it’s easier to aim your shots at where your enemy will be before they get there rather than relying on the game to do it for you.

So, what reason is there to use anything else? Well, there are two of them. First, the Jar Cannon takes the highest stat investment of all the Ballistas to use. Its 15-unit weight and 34 Strength requirement ensure you need both Strength and Endurance points to use it properly, and unless you want to go to a very high level, that investment is liable to limit your armor choices if you want to stay on mid-roll.

Why You Should Use the Hand Ballista in Elden Ring

The Hand Ballista is something of a dark horse in its family. Its damage isn’t quite as high as Rabbath’s or the Jar Cannon’s; it doesn’t have the Jar Cannon’s range, nor Rabbath’s tracking. What it has instead is a massive stat investment bonus. Clocking in at only 10 units of weight and requiring a relatively modest 30 Strength to use, the Hand Ballista opens up many more opportunities for build crafting thanks to the points you don’t need to spend to use it.

What’s even better is, while you do lose out on some damage and range, you can put the points you would have spent otherwise into a casting stat for a spell like Golden Vow or whatever else you decide. You aren’t even missing enough damage for it to matter much, and because you (probably) can’t kill everything with it, sacrificing the additional stats just for a modest increase in damage and range really isn’t worth it in every situation. At low levels, especially.

So, what reason is there to use anything else? Well, in the Hand Ballista’s case, it’s all situational. For builds below level 90-100, I think the stats you save with the Hand Ballista are absolutely essential to optimizing your setup. Before level 125, you can be starving for points to put into even the requirements for equipping your weapon, making the Hand Ballista’s low weight and relatively low investment a godsend. Past 125, you’ll have an easier time allocating your points not only for the Jar or Rabbath’s Cannon but will also reach a point where the damage difference can make or break an encounter.

Ultimately, then, the answer to which is best between Rabbath’s Cannon, the Jar Cannon, and the Hand Ballista is entirely up to the situation and your setup. Personally, Rabbath’s is useful in most situations, as the utility it offers at close and medium range without a cost to damage is too good to pass up. I’m more used to the Jar Cannon’s trajectory, but it’s not a hard switch to make. I rarely use the Hand Ballista because I don’t care for playing at low levels without a full set of tools, but your preference will, of course, differ.

For more on Elden Ring and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, check out our guides hub.