Difference between revisions of "User:_Fantomex_:na/sandboxAmmo"

Revision as of 03:52, 28 November 2017

Overview

All ships in World of Warships rely on one or both of the two shell types at some point. Whether it's your main guns or secondaries, it's important to understand how the two shell types behave and when to use them to achieve optimum results in a battle.

The two forms of ammunition are High Explosive (HE) and Armor Piercing (AP), denoted by the yellow and red striped shells, respectively, at the bottom of the UI. You can switch ammo types by single clicking either "1" or "2" (by default), in which case you will load the selected shell after firing the currently loaded type, or by double-clicking the corresponding button, which will force the reload cycle with the selected type. The commander skill, Expert Loader, allow you to force reload the selected type in half the regular time, provided you are already loaded.

Simply put, AP shells do more damage, but require careful aiming to achieve penetrations, while HE shells do less damage, but in turn light fires and ignore angling.

All ships with main battery guns have the option of firing HE or AP (with the exception of tech-tree British cruisers). Secondary guns are set to fire a specific shell type and cannot be loaded with the other type. You can see what shell type they fire by hovering your mouse over the secondary gun stats in port.

When to Use AP

Armor Piercing (AP) shells do damage by penetrating the target and then detonating inside the ship. AP requires, in general, an un-angled section of armor that is thin enough to penetrate. As such, AP is effective against broadside targets and weakly armored targets.

Battleships should be firing AP at most targets, as their large caliber and high penetration allows them to usually do damage upon successful hits. Aiming for the waterline on most targets should be fine, but some heavily armored Battleships have belt armor thick enough to bounce other Battleship AP shells, so aiming above the main belt will work better.

Cruisers should fire AP when presented with an almost completely broadside target. Cruiser guns have significantly lower penetration than a Battleship guns, so more careful aiming is required to hit lightly armored sections of armor. A goo rule of thumb is to aim for the armor belt just below the deck line on most Battleships, and at the waterline for other Cruisers and Aircraft Carriers at close range.

Destroyers do not normally fire AP, but if presented with a perfect broadside at close range, regardless of the target's class, you should load AP. Even the 100 mm guns on the Akizuki are capable of landing a couple thousand damage AP salvos on a broadside Battleship. Destroyers can also use AP against other broadside Destroyers, but if you notice a lack of damage you should switch to HE.

When to Use HE

Basic Mechanics

AP

HE