War Thunder Ammo Loadout Selection Framework

Ammo selection looks like a small decision and quietly shapes every battle you fight. The wrong loadout means reaching for a round that cannot do the job at the moment it matters, or paying to carry shells you will never fire. The right framework is simple: one primary penetrator, a few situational rounds, and nothing else.

Step 1 — Choose your primary penetrator

Your primary round is what you will fire at tanks, which is most of what you will shoot. Match it to the targets your vehicle actually meets:

• Standard armor-piercing rounds are the default answer for most vehicles — reliable, cheap, and effective against the targets your battle rating throws at you.
• Higher-velocity or sub-caliber penetrators exist for vehicles that need extra performance against sloped or heavy armor. They usually trade something — cost, accuracy at range, or post-penetration damage.
• Chemical and specialized rounds suit specific situations and specific guns. They are situational, not a default.

What matters is knowing which round your gun is built around and making that the bulk of the loadout. The ammo types page breaks down each family and what it is for, and penetration mechanics covers what happens after the round arrives. Exact penetration figures change with updates, so learn the round’s job rather than its number: what matters is whether it defeats the plate you will actually meet at your battle rating.

Step 2 — Add a small number of situational rounds

Two categories justify a few shells:

• High-explosive rounds for soft targets: open-top vehicles, trucks, and lightly armored hulls where a penetrator over-performs and wastes its value. Carry a handful, not a rack — HE does not kill tanks and costs the same space as your main round.
• Your vehicle’s special round, if it genuinely solves a problem you meet often — a specific heavily armored opponent at your BR, for example. One or two shells is usually enough to matter.

The test for any situational round: name the target type it exists for. If you cannot, it is filler. Cut it.

Step 3 — Respect the cost of carrying shells

Every shell you carry is money you spend when the vehicle is lost. A loadout of forty penetrators when you will realistically fire fifteen is a donation to the repair bill. Right-size the loadout to how the vehicle gets used: aggressive flankers fire less than front-line anchors; ambushers fire few, high-value shots.

The framework in one table

Question	Default answer
What is the main anti-tank round?	Whatever your gun’s ballistics are built around — verify in-game
How many HE shells?	A few, for soft targets only
How many special rounds?	One or two, if they solve a recurring problem
How many total shells?	Enough for two or three engagements, not the whole battle
What do I cut first?	Any round I cannot name a use for

Ammo choices that waste your vehicle ballistics

Do not mix loadouts randomly because each round looks interesting, and do not copy a “best ammo” recommendation without checking it against your vehicle and BR — what works in one gun does not transfer to another. Your loadout should reflect your vehicle’s ballistics and the armor you actually face. Armor angles and weak spots covers how to read what you are shooting at, and the ground lineup BR spread guide explains how BR matching decides which targets your loadout must handle.