Difference between revisions of "Ammo"

Revision as of 18:29, 4 April 2015

Though guns have a number of characteristics unique to themselves, equally important to their performance is the type of ammunition the player choose to fire. Different ammunition types have different strengths and weaknesses, and knowing when to use each kind will help a player get the most out of their gun.

Shells come in two purchasable forms - standard and premium. Standard ammo is always bought with credits. Premium ammo can be bought either with gold or for a large quantity of credits. Premium ammunition usually boasts enhanced capabilities verses the standard ammo available for the same gun. Premium rounds should be used sparingly though, as their great expense makes indiscriminately firing off premium rounds an expensive endeavor.

Relevant Terms

See also: Glossary

Shells have a number of terms which describe different shell characteristics. These terms are important to know when analyzing ammunition types.

• Penetration - How much armor a shell can penetrate. Penetration values given in the game are the shell's ability to penetrate armor at 100 meters away. This penetration can change at shorter or longer ranges when firing certain types of ammunition. Average penetration is also subject to a random +/- 25% modifier. With most ammunition types, if the shell's penetration value is lower than the effective armor of the target it hits, the shell will fail to penetrate and do no damage. High explosive shells have a chance to penetrate and do reduced damage to targets it cannot penetrate.
• Damage - The damage the shell does upon a penetrating hit. The damage value given in game is an average value, which is subject to a random +/- 25% modifier. Shells will not always do the same damage every time they penetrate, but will always do within 25% of the average damage value. The only exception to this is high explosive rounds, which can sacrifice some of the damage they do for additional penetration (see High-Explosive section).
• Ricochet - When a shell hits an armor plate that is greater than a certain angle, the shell will bounce off of the plate and continue traveling. Ricocheted shells can still impact and damage tanks after bouncing, and can damage the target they originally bounce off if they impact a weak surface after bouncing (this is sometimes known as a "shot trap" effect). Certain shell types have mechanics that decrease the chances of ricocheting off of thin armor, and different shell types have different minimum angles at which they ricochet.
• Caliber - The diameter of the shell in centimeters, as dictated by the size of the gun's caliber. This value determines very little aside from overmatching, a mechanic by which AP and APCR shells can penetrate well angled, thin armor.
• Normalization - An effect that causes AP and APCR shells angle verses a plate of armor to decrease upon impact. This gives these shells a greater chance to penetrate armor which is well angled.
• Muzzle Velocity - The measure of the speed a shell travels right as it leaves the barrel of the gun. Muzzle velocity determines how much lead must be given to hit a moving target, as slower moving shells will need a greater amount of lead to hit their intended target. Different shell types fired from the same gun can also have different muzzle velocities.

Shell Types

Armor Piercing (AP)

Armor piercing shells are shells which use kinetic energy to punch a hole in armor and do damage to the crew and internal workings of a vehicle. The penetration ability of an AP shell is heavily dependent on how much energy it carries, so a high velocity, large caliber shell tends to penetrate armor better than a small caliber, low velocity one.

AP is the standard shell for most direct-fire tanks in the game. AP is sometimes premium ammunition on some artillery. AP with enhanced penetration or damage is also sometimes premium ammunition on some direct-fire tanks (this is common in Japanese pre-Cold War designs).

Characteristics

AP shells penetrate armor better when moving faster, which means they lose penetration ability over distance as they slow down. An AP shell that can penetrate armor easily at 100 meters may not be able to penetrate the same kind of armor as reliably 300 meters away. AP shells are subject to normalization, which decreases the angle of a shell by about five degrees upon hitting an angled surface. This decreases the effectiveness of the angle of the armor, thereby decreasing its effective thickness. AP shells can also overmatch armor, which allows large caliber shells to penetrate even well angled but thin armor. AP shells whose caliber are twice the thickness of the armor they hit gain increased normalization, and shells whose caliber are three times the thickness of the armor they hit are guaranteed to penetrate said armor at any angle. This can be used to exploit thin armor plates (often thin roof plates on other tanks) that is at an angle that would otherwise make them difficult to penetrate.

When to Use

Compared to the other types of ammunition, AP shells don't have many inherent disadvantages. Because of this, AP is the shell of choice on most anti-tank guns in most situations. Low velocity howitzers and indirect-fire artillery are usually best when firing HE, as will be detailed in its respective section.

Armor Piercing, Composite, Rigid (APCR)

Armor piercing, composite, rigid shells are shells made of a dense, sub-caliber core surrounded by lightweight, full-bore outer casing. APCR shells are designed to do the same thing as AP shells - penetrate armor using kinetic energy. APCR shells have the advantage of being lighter than AP shells while still having dense penetrating cores.

APCR is the premium ammunition for most direct-fire tanks. On some high tier tanks (usually high tier medium tanks), APCR is the standard ammunition rather than AP.

Characteristics

APCR shells have faster muzzle velocities than corresponding AP shells due to their decreased weight. This means that they can penetrate armor more effectively than AP shells. The increased muzzle velocity also means that APCR shells move faster though the air and less lead needs to be given to hit moving targets. APCR shells lose speed (and as a result, penetration) faster over distance than AP shells. They also have decreased normalization ability, with only two degrees of normalization as opposed to AP's five. APCR shells can also overmatch thin armor similarly to AP shells, however their double-overmatching bonus is less noticeable due to their lower base normalization.

When to Use

APCR are usually very expensive, especially when they are considered premium ammo (as they are on most tanks). As a result, APCR is best used only when needed. APCR is usually best used when AP shells are not enough to reliably penetrate an enemy tank, since they usually have much more pentration. APCR shells do have some disadvantageous characteristics compared to AP which may reduce their penetration, however these are usually not enough to completely negate the penetration advantage they have verses AP rounds.

High Explosive (HE)

High explosive shells are shells filled with explosives that detonate on impact. HE shells are not designed for anti-armor applications, however HE shells with enough explosives can still penetrating armor by burning through it with sheer explosive power.

HE is standard standard ammo for most direct-fire tanks in the game. It is often packaged alongside AP as standard ammo on many tank guns and is even cheaper than the AP ammo, although on most guns its is advisable to only keep a small stock of HE shells (see When to Use). HE is the sole standard ammo on some direct-fire howitzers and is the sole standard ammo for almost all artillery.

Characteristics

HE shells are unique among ammo types, and have the most complicated penetration and damage mechanics. HE shells usually have more average damage than AP, APCR, or HEAT shells. If an HE shell penetrates, it explodes and does damage to any internal module within a conical range of where it penetrated. HE shells tend to have very low base penetration values, but can still do damage even if they do not penetrate. If an HE shell hits armor with effective thickness greater than its penetration value, the shell can use its explosive strength to "burn" through the armor and penetrate. This allows the shell to still do damage when it hits, although less than if it did penetrate. HE shells which need to burn through large amounts of armor can end up doing very meager amounts of damage, and shells which aren't powerful enough to make burn through the remaining armor will do none whatsoever.

As stated before, HE shells explode on impact. This means they have a splash radius, or an area around the impact point of an HE shell where the shell's explosion does damage to targets. This can be large or small depending on the model and size of the shell. Since HE explodes on impact, it can pre-detonate when hitting spaced armor or external modules. In this case, the only damage it will do to the vehicle it impacts is splash damage. HE shells also tend to have lower muzzle velocities than AP and APCR shells, so they require more lead when being aimed at moving targets. Despite this, HE's penetration is not affected by its speed (and therefore, distance) since it penetrates by nature of explosive force.

When to Use

HE shells have very complicated and difficult to understand characteristics, and thus always knowing when to use them on most guns mostly boils down to experience. Still, there some cases where HE is an obvious choice. Low-velocity howitzers with AP available rarely have good penetration with this type of ammo. The large HE shells fired by these guns are powerful enough to burn through even thick armor, and such shells are more suited for the inaccurate, low-velocity nature of howitzers.

Most guns in the game are designed for armor penetrating ability, and are best used with AP or APCR most of the time. There are a few specific situations where using HE on such guns is advisable. Because HE can do small amounts of damage even to things it doesn't penetrate, large enough HE is reasonably good for damaging enemy tanks on the cap point in order to reset the cap timer. Also, HE shells' higher damage can be used to do more damage to very poorly armored targets (such as artillery) than AP or APCR would.

Premium High Explosive (HE)

Premium high explosive ammo is a specially designated form of HE. Mechanically, premium HE is the same as regular HE, but usually has some sort of enhanced capability such as a larger splash radius.

Premium HE is premium ammo on some artillery and on a few direct-fire howitzers.

High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT)

High explosive anti-tank shells use a shaped explosive charge to sear through armor. HEAT ammunition explodes on impact to create a concentrated stream of molten metal which burns through a vehicle's armor.

HEAT is premium ammo on some direct-fire tanks. Since HEAT shells' penetration ability are dictated by the amount of explosives they carry (rather than muzzle velocity), it is the ammo of choice for penetrating armor with large caliber, low velocity guns such as howitzers. HEAT is premium ammo for most artillery in the game because of this, and is also premium ammo on some high tier, high caliber guns.

Characteristics

HEAT ammunition can be though of as a specialized, armor-piercing version of HE. HEAT ammunition gets some of the highest average penetration values in the game, outperforming even APCR in many situations. This comes at a cost, as HEAT has a number of odd characteristics which can greatly decrease its effectiveness in some situations. HEAT reacts adversely to angled armor, as it is not subject to normalization like AP and APCR and cannot overmatch thin armor. HEAT shells, like HE shells, can also pre-detonate on spaced armor or external modules. Unlike HE however, HEAT has no splash damage, and will not damage targets it pre-detonates on or explodes near. HEAT generally has a slower muzzle velocity than AP or APCR, but does not lose penetration over distance.

When to Use

Since HEAT takes the place of APCR on many vehicles as premium ammo, it is used in similar situations for the same reasons. Special consideration must be taken for its mechanics though. HEAT should never be fired at tracks, gun mantlets, or other pieces of thick spaced armor, as it will like pre-detonate and do no damage. It is also a poor choice for shooting thin, well angled roofs or sides of tanks that would normally be overmatched by AP or APCR, as it will likely ricochet and do no damage.

HEAT is also optional on many artillery, but using it in most situations is a risky endeavor. Because of their inherent inaccuracy, artillery are very dependent upon the forgiving nature of HE shells (specifically, their splash damage and ability to "burn" penetrate thick armor) to do damage reliably. HEAT can be used to deal more to targets that a given SPG can't likely penetrate with HE, but due to the temperamental nature of HEAT said SPG runs the risk of doing no damage in a situation where HE may have done some.

High Explosive Squash Head (HESH)

High explosive squash head shells are shells which spread a "paste" of explosives on the surface they impact, which detonates shortly after. This concentrated blast causes spalling inside of the structure it explodes on, killing the crew inside or damaging its internal parts without actually penetrating it.

HESH is premium ammo on some top tier vehicles, and is most common in top tier British vehicles.

Characteristics

HESH's realistic properties are not simulated in the game. Instead, HESH shells in World of Tanks are simply HE shells with inflated penetration values. Otherwise, they behave exactly the same and are even labeled as HE, and should be used similarly.

Characteristics at a Glance

This table can be used as a quick reference for comparing some of the important characteristics behind different ammunition types.