The Ballista is a very short side-quest included in Witcher 2 Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition.
It becomes active when you play the Indecent Proposal main-quest, and should be completed immediately.
When you enter Loredos mansion, in the first act of the game, Roche will accompany you. He will spot a ballista inside the mansions courtyard, and he will ask you to sabotage it, since it aims the harbor.
Quest Description
“While visiting the commandant, Geralt had a chance to admire Loredos newest acquisition. It was neither a swift steed nor a new piece for the local rulers art collection.
It was a brand new ballista, aimed straight at the harbor. As you can see, midlife crisis can assume many different forms.”
When to start
While playing Indecent Proposal
Walkthrough
To complete this quest, look around in the courtyard, and you should see a prostitute near a wall. Her name is Margarita and she wears a red bonnet.
Your goal is to use Margarita and distract the guard protecting the ballista.
When you talk to her, you should tell that you want to surprise a friend of yours. Make sure you ask Margarita for her specialty, and then you must make a choice.
You can pay her (assuming that you have enough Orens in your pockets), or you can do a favor for her and save the money.
If you go with the second option, you must beat two soldiers in arm wrestling matches: Myron and Alphonse. Both of them can be found in the courtyard, usually by the wall, since they had too much beer.
If you reached this point in the game, you probably know how arm wrestling works, especially if you completed the side-quest called Bring It On: Flotsam.
After you beat Myron and Alphonse, talk to Margarita again and ask her to return the favor. Wait until she distracts the guard, then approach the ballista and sabotage it by pressing A.
The Ballista side-quest ends and you can continue Indecent Proposal.
