War Thunder Ammo Types Compared: Picking the Right Round

The wrong round turns a lethal gun into a noisy one. Every vehicle in War Thunder offers a belt or rack of ammunition choices, and ammunition is not a ranking — it is a set of trade-offs, and the best round is the one that fits the target in front of you.

The solid penetrator family

AP (armor-piercing). The baseline: reliable at moderate range, predictable after penetration, and cheap. Most vehicles perform as advertised with AP, which makes it the default when you are unsure.

APCR (composite rigid). Higher velocity and better penetration at range, paid for with worse post-penetration damage. APCR is a long-range tool: use it when standard AP would lose too much energy, and switch back when the fight closes.

APDS (armor-piercing discarding sabot). A sub-caliber penetrator that keeps velocity well over distance and hits hard, but post-penetration performance can be inconsistent against modules and crews. Excellent against sloped armor at range; less forgiving up close.

APFSDS (armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot). The modern long-rod penetrator: extreme velocity, flat trajectory, best long-range penetration in its class, with poor performance against soft targets and a high cost per round.

The chemical and explosive family

HEAT (high-explosive anti-tank). Chemical penetration that cares less about range than solid rounds and ignores slope to a degree — but it loses badly to spaced armor, shields, and empty gaps, and its low velocity makes moving targets hard. HEAT is a slant-plate specialist.

HE (high-explosive). Minimal armor penetration, real splash damage. HE is for soft targets, open-topped vehicles, and finishing disabled machines — not for trading with tanks. Carrying a small number of HE rounds is cheap insurance against light vehicles and aircraft.

HESH and similar specialized rounds, where available, spall armor from the inside rather than penetrating it, and behave differently against composite and spaced protection.

The trade-off table

Round	Best at	Weak at	Carry it for
AP	All-around mid-range	Heavy sloped armor	Default belt filler
APCR	Long range, flat shots	Post-pen damage	Snapping distant targets
APDS	Sloped armor at range	Close-range module damage	Versatile front-line pick
APFSDS	Long-range duels	Soft targets, cost	Top-tier long guns
HEAT	Sloped plates	Spaced armor, moving targets	Specific slant problems
HE	Open tops, light vehicles	Any real armor	Insurance rounds

How to build a loadout

A practical default: fill the rack with your best all-around penetrator, add a few rounds with extra range performance for long-sightline maps, and keep some HE for soft targets. Check the ammo rack view in the garage — prices and availability change, so verify in-game.

Match the round to the target and the range, not to the biggest number on the card. Penetration mechanics explains why range and angle change the math, and weak spot identification tells you which plate to send the round through.