@Aronida I may be wrong, but i think, if you are on the verge of ballista's effective range or farther, impact may be reduced. @SingLove Yeah, that's probably what is happening, although i would image it is not that easy to dodge something that fast, even if you know the trajectory, i believe enemies wouldn't be so stupid as to fire at them when they have already retreated. So i guess, troops are just lingering at the periphery of effective range, not coming any closer, but still showing them chance to land a blow,
@GrayBypasser@Aronida
Hmm....it wasn't made clear, but I think from reading they are blocking just the arrows (since at that height difference the same exact bow used would go farther) and getting out of range and dodging the ballista. If you can tell it's likely trajectory, it's not that difficult to get away from the intended area as long as you're not tripping over your fellow soldiers.
How secret are those tunnels if they all lead to old wells? For that matter, how are they going to find the well in question, and what are the chances the tunnel is still usable after centuries of neglect?
Reminds me of Mount and Blade joke.
"Hey guys, who is that strange dude under our castle walls?"
"He's besieging us".
"... can't you chase him away?"
"We tried. He killed 200 of our men."