Bard could beat plenty of jobs in a true 1 v 1. Requiem > lullaby (as a stun) and Mazurka and kite that Monk around!
I enjoy Ballista, and in a lot of ways thf is weak. Our evasion seems situational in that sometimes it owns and sometimes it completely fails. I usually have the same gear set too, so I know that's not the difference. And weapon skills which seem to have lower acc vs mobs seem to have higher acc against me, not sure why =P
But for a lot of jobs there is a role you play and I really enjoy the role of Thief. I am an assassin, all the black mages hate me! =D
For Ballista, each job: (uncapped)
Bard: Your team usually keeps bards alive. Elegy, Req, lullaby** are important. Defense songs or attack songs can really alter a teams ability in Ballista.
Beastmaster: Weakest job in ballista IMO. Way too expensive too, Carrie is basically a player for the other team (can aspir/drain/gain tp/sleep easily, etc) and I've never had an issue with bst's.
Black Mage: Powerful and yet weak. If you don't blm/rdm with some JSE equipped you will die, a LOT, especially if I'm around. Can be very very powerful, though. Sleepga, -ga's, phalanx to help take some less dmg, stun, bind. It's really a good test of skills for a blm and the best blm's can really put a hurt on the other team.
Dark Knight: Not that bad for ballista. I think drk/sam is best, Guillotine hurts anyone, stand in the back, melee when it's safe, run up to mages and guillotine them and hope you don't get jumped as you run back to your team lol
Dragoon: Jumps are nice in ballista, penta hits well. You can /mage for soloability or other combinations work too. Very easy to killsteal with some jumps and be a good scorer.
Monk: Easily one of the best jobs. High hp to survive, high dmg output and a huge multi-hit ws. Multiple subjob combinations work and it's a very solid class that can survive for a long time. They can die though, just takes a lot of work and many people aren't up to it if there are easier targets around lol
Ninja: Quality again, can hide behind shadows, good DoT with katanas, Jin is fairly strong and you have Ni spells to nuke pld and thf 2 hours. Af boots to run faster is really helpful.
Paladin: Good survival here, can dish out some very good numbers (I've been hit for around 600 with vorpal many times by non-sushi pld's) and keep themselves alive. Many sub nin and do something like company/joy and dish out very nice damage. They can also sub rdm and be nearly impossible to kill. /war offers provoke, which is good.
Ranger: Keep on an earth staff to protect yourself, I don't see a lot of rangers but you can play Xbow and debuff people and bloody bolt them back, barrage can really hurt and sidewinder/slug is one of the most painful ws's and can take down even rdm's fast. They can fall fast so you need to know how/when to run though.
Red Mage: Survival kings of the game. Everyone knows the deal with them. Rdm/blm chainspell -ga can demolish an entire team if they're not that good and don't run, III nukes can kill people, martial knife/kraken and Cyclone spam (usually 300-350ish dmg to each person) is massive.
Samurai: /thf or /whm seems to be the preferred sub. Gekko is massive, good damage and silence effect, very much like drk's and guillotine. Play like a drk does, but can use ranged attack to help gain tp too. Third Eye can get rid of an entire ws if timed luckily enough.
Summoner: If you can hide away you can be strong. Diabolos cannot be slept and Nightmare can be annoying. Astral Flow is true AOE and even if no one is partied up will hit all members of the other team, Predator claws and Chaotic Strike can be very strong and kill people fast. Another job that if you know how to play can be successful.
Thief: I play assassin, I hunt mages with sleep bolts and keep them from getting at my team. Thief is very good at scoring, steal and mug can take petra from other players and thief can attack fast enough to get kills well enough. High evasion for some melee survivalbility, but mages can be brutal, which is why I hunt them =D
Warrior: Versatility plays a good role in ballista, and these are the melee kings of it. You can sub whm for diaga and healing, put on a shield like Spartan Hoplon and have phalanx, you can sub nin, can sub blm for ice spikes (top JP war = Yunito and does that occasionally lol) Provoke is a VERY powerful tool in ballista. It makes the person unable to target ANYONE but the provoker. That includes themself. A provoked rdm cannot buff or heal themself at all. A thief cannot flee when provoked. Add on to that rampage as one of the top WS's and War is a powerhouse much like monk. Less hp but more defense, quality ballista'er.
White Mage: /blm for sleepga or /rdm for phalanx. whm/rdm is harder to kill than a rdm is if they have an earth staff equipped. I do more dmg to a rdm when I melee than a whm/rdm with e.staff. A good whm will keep their teammates alive (like the suicidal melee's and blm's) and be a top scorer as they run off to the rook each time they get breach.
This was a long post, but maintenence so yeah =P
A lot of the jobs are fairly balanced, just need to come in a good match. That's the biggest problem with ballista, not enough people come at certain times. I've been in matches with a full alliance on each team, though, was sick. Each job has a role they can play and it's up to that person to find it and become the best they can be at it. I'm still not a huge ballista veteran but I've been doing it a fair bit lately and this is my take on it.
I do like the whole mini-game aspect of it, I think it's a lot more fun than just killing each other. Many times I might be frustrated that I was killed, but if I had just scored it's ok, if my team wins anyway that's ok. If it's 99-96 and I kite 3 people for the last 4min away from the rook so when they do kill me they can't score and my team wins, I'm happy, etc. It adds a new feel to PvP that isn't there for others.
However, SE did say that this is just the 'first part' of Conflict and there is obvious room for MORE than just ballista. Who knows if Aht Urgan could have some form of battle arena? Maybe conquest could be determined in some realms via PvP. There is plenty of room for something like this to be implemented, maybe it's not because not enough people ballista, or if they simply haven't done it yet. I'm working on my ballista gear and merits and such to help me with this and I try to ballista when I can. I wish the rewards were higher but I have a lot of fun sometimes.
I don't know, just what I think/see and such, I like it.
