^^ seconded.
Its a freakin *siege* weapon. if u cant hit a tower/ram/etc with a ballista 5/5 you are doing it wrong. even if ur target is almost on the other side of the map.
just need to increase reload time.
I think it was introduced as an intentional resource saving measure. Think about full server fights when people are dropping like flies on the battlefield. without some kind of cleanup the field would be cluttered with stuff 10+ layers deep (would be a nightmare to select the stuff you want to actually pick up if it has 1-2 layers above it. think about 6-7+ )