Ballast is a way of introducing dynamic difficulty in Competitions: harder for players in the top-30, and easier for those outside the top.
It is applied from one Edition to the next, so it’s not permanent.
- If you don’y want to play with ballast, you can simply skip one Edition and start next one with no ballast.
- if you want to play and win every Edition, you must be careful not to blow your competitors out of the water, so you have a smaller ballast.
If you finish in the top-30, you will start the next Competition with a “ballast” (term used in balooning to control altitude), or handicap (term used in golf). That is the number shown when you hover over the baloon with a bag icon.
If you are a top player, it will be harder to win the next Edition of Competitions — but certainly not impossible! For all other players, the chances of winning next edition will be improved.
My score is not updating in Competitions / is still 0!
You must first clear your Ballast (if you have one), then your score will start updating. You will also get a bonus from the sand sack and the cloud when clearing it.
To see your Ballast, simply hover over the balloon bottom right corner of your Competitions window — whether you have one for XP, Coins, or Orders.
How is Ballast calculated?
Ballast is calculated like this: it’s 70% of the difference between your place (if you’re in the top-30, and the last place (30). Here’s a chart that better illustrates this:
If you move up one or more level brackets during the 2 week pause between Competitions, you will still have the Ballast you ended the Competitions with.