Ball link pliers are highly recommended for non-micro helicopters because ball links are very difficult to remove properly without ball link pliers. You do not need a ball link plier for micro helicopters.

Both JR and Century make nice ball link pliers.

Be very careful when removing ball links on plastic balls (such as the ECO 8/16 stock swashplate) with ball link pliers. You can scratch deep grooves in the plastic balls if you fail to center the ball in the jaws before squeezing.