Ammo

World of Warships ammo comes in two types - Armour Piercing (AP) and High Explosive (HE).

Generally AP has higher potential damage per shell if it penetrates the target's armour and especially if it penetrates the enemy ships citadel but can richochet if it hits at an extreme angle or simply bounce off heavily armoured ships or do minimal "spalling" damage. It's also possible to overpenetrate very lightly armoured ships such as destroyers doing minimal damage as the shell punches clean through the ship and out the other side.

HE does less potential damage than AP but is more consistent and has a better chance of knocking out modules and setting the enemy ship on fire for damage over time effects.

New players should stick to HE if they are not sure what ammo is appropriate as it's always at least somewhat effective but AP is more siituational. More experienced players can consider the following information.

The general rule is load HE whenever you are not sure what ships you are going to encounter. Thereafter you should consider the following rules of thumb.

• ALL ships should use HE against aircraft carriers if they get into firing range - AP is likely to overpenetrate most carriers and HE can set the flight deck on fire - while burning Carriers cannot launch or recover aircraft.

• Destroyers should normally consider their guns as secondary weapons anyway and concentrate on torpedo strikes. If you do fire your guns, use HE. Your AP shells are unlikely to do much to enemy cruisers, much less battleships and if you're firing at enemy destroyers your priority is going to be knocking out their turrets and torpedo launchers so they can't fire back.

• Cruisers should fire HE at enemy destroyers - AP is likely to overpenetrate. At enemy battleships you should use HE and try and set them on fire but at long ranges you can try and take advantage of the "plunging fire" mechanic with AP shells hitting the deck armour at steep angles - at medium to close range stick to HE. Against enemy cruisers it depends on their relative armour and your gunnery skills - stick to HE if you're not sure if you can get through their armour or hit their citadel.

• Battleships should use HE on destroyers and light cruisers and AP on heavy cruisers and battleships.

Note: Usually around Tiers 4 and 5 is when ships start getting better "Stats" Thus it is usually when you start to see Heavy cruisers and more heavily armored battleships. Past Tier 5 is when more players use AP more often due to the game being more challenging and ships having better overall stats and upgrades.