Ammo Types

## Overview

Ammo, ammunition, and or shells are what your gun fires in battle. Ammo costs credits or gold to purchase, depending on whether or not it is premium.

Premium ammunition is sometimes referred to as 'Prammo' or 'Gold'.

There are 5 types of ammo in World of Tanks Blitz, 2 types are non-premium, while 3 types are premium rounds being purchased using gold, or credits for a high price than the normal shells.

All ammo except ATGMs have a range of 720 meters in the game files. This is more than enough to shoot from one corner of the map to the far corner, a distance of ≈707 meters.

## Armor-Piercing (AP)

**Link to a list of all variants of the shell, and the tanks they're used in.**

Armor piercing shells are the default ammunition on most guns that aren't howitzers. They do the amount of damage shown as the gun's alpha damage (unless the default ammunition of the gun isn't AP). AP rounds will sometimes ricochet off the armor of enemy tanks when they don't penetrate.

AP rounds will shoot through obstacles such as fences and cars, as it relies on pure penetration mechanics on armor. The effective thickness of the armor, when taking into consideration the angle at which shells impact the armor plate, along with the penetration of the shell, decide the chances of penetration. AP shells only do damage if they penetrate

## Armor-Piercing Composite Rigid (APCR)

**Link to a list of all variants of the shell, and the tanks they're used in.**

Armor-Piercing composite rigid shells have higher penetration values than AP rounds do, but do less damage. They are premium shells unless they are the default ammunition for the gun they are being used in.It's penetration mechanics are the same as that of AP shells. Some tanks, including the KV-2, have Premium AP shells which work the same as APCR.

## High Explosive (HE)

**Link to a list of all variants of the shell, and the tanks they're used in.**

High explosive shells do the most damage of any shell in the game, along with HESH. They have much less penetration than AP shells, but they do splash damage if they don't penetrate, making them useful if you're trying to damage the modules or crew of a tank. They usually cost less than AP to purchase (unless you're using a howitzer), and travel decently fast. High explosive shells do not need to penetrate the armor of an enemy tank to deal damage to them because they explode on impact, but do much less damage than they normally would.

Since HE rounds explode on impact, they won't shoot through obstacles such as fences and cars, unlike AP and APCR. However, their advantages over AP shells relies in the fact that they have the potential to do damage, even if they don't penetrate, as the shell explodes over the armor. This gives them more reliability than AP shells in finishing off low health targets, regardless of whether the shell penetrates or not. AP shells have a chance to ricochet if it encounters an impenetrable armor plate, but HE shells will do some damage.

The splash damage from explosive shells like HE, HEAT, and HESH do not rely on armor angles. It relies only on the thickness of the armor plate.

## High Explosive Anti Tank (HEAT)

**Link to a list of all variants of the shell, and the tanks they're used in.**

High Explosive Anti Tank shells are Premium shells that have more penetration than AP and APCR shells. It is found as a premium ammunition in many high tier tanks. ￼It has more penetration than even APCR shells, but their disadvantage lies in their inability to penetrate spaced armor, or screens such as cars, fences, etc, which APCR and AP shells go through. It's also very slow, so it's not very good for long range.

*Spaced Armor is a screen of secondary armor over the primary armor, which helps to negate the effects of explosive shells like HEAT, HE, or HESH ammunition. It includes tracks, gun mantles, and is present in the hull of specific tanks, like the sides of the IS-7 line of tanks starting from the IS-3, and the sideskirts of the E 100.*

## High Explosive Squash Head (HESH)

**Link to a list of all variants of the shell, and the tanks they're used in.**

HESH as an ammo type is found only on high tier British tanks, like the FV215b, FV4202, FV215b (183), etc. It is an explosive shell, like HE, which does high damage, but also has a good penetration value. The value of this ammunition lies in finding the sides and rears of tanks like mediums and sometimes heavies, and shooting a high damage shell, with more reliability of it's penetration than HE shells. It allows mediums like the Centurion Mk. 7/1 to dominate the medium flank of a map, unleashing high damage rolls on enemy medium tanks.

The famed FV215b (183)'s 183 mm gun fires HESH as it's premium ammo, allowing it to unleash massive 1400+ damage rolls on the backs of even heavy tanks, as it's HESH has 220 mm of penetration.

## Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM)

**Link to a list of all variants of the shell, and the tanks they're used in.**

ATGMs are special ammo type that, like its name suggests, can be controlled after they are fired. They are not an ammo type in the sense that the above are, meaning ATGMs can be any one of the above ammo types.

ATGMs are a relatively new and controversial ammo type. There are only two tanks in the game that can use ATGM shells, those being the T92E1 (IX) and the Sheridan (X). Additionally, the now removed T49 A (VII) event tank from Missile Exercise also had the ability to use ATGMs.

ATGMs are slower than usual shells, but the fact you can control them more than makes up for the lack of speed. The missiles fly where your reticle points. You can strike enemies while hiding behind cover (though not the other way around), adjust the missile to a more penetrating angle, or even hit enemies from above by taking advantage of the curved trajectory. Chances are though that you won't be able to pull off such tricks right off the bat. The ATGM requires skill and experience to use effectively, so practice makes perfect.

The ATGM has been the subject of much controversy among the player community since their debut in the Missile Exercise event. During the event, which was used as a test for in-development ATGM game mechanics, ATGMs fired by the T49 A were severely imbalanced, so much so that many players believed that it could not be balanced. Many changes were made between the event and the release of the T92E1 and Sheridan, though many players still consider the ATGM to be imbalanced. Some players have called for more ATGM-capable tanks to provide more diversity to fix the perceived balancing issues, while others have called for the complete removal of the ATGM.

There's plenty more to know about ATGMs:

* A missile has no dispersion, which means it will land exactly where the reticle is pointed.
* A missile's range and flight time are limited by its fuel capacity. When the fuel runs out, the missile will explode in the air.
* The gun starts reloading only after the missile hits the target or explodes.