[Top 5] War Thunder Best Ammo for Tanks

Updated:

24 Nov 2021

War Thunder offers many possibilities when it comes to tank ammunition.

It has to be said that not all tanks have access to all types of rounds, and in many situations, a certain shell would be useless even though, usually, it would be devastating. But what are the most popular, almost always useful ammo types?

Today, we’ll look into the best 5 most powerful, versatile, and fun to use tank ammunition. We will not talk about Anti-Air ammo belts or anything else apart from the main cannon’s shells. That being said, it’s time to start with our first entry into the list.

#5 HE (Best for High Caliber Guns)

With HE Shells, the size counts.

HE (High Explosive) shells are one of the best and, in some situations, most powerful shots in the game. At this point though, we have to make a distinction between the almost useless low caliber HE shells and the devastating power of high caliber HE Shells. Remember, all chemical energy shells are able to penetrate the same amount of armor at all distances, so a long shot won’t make your shot less powerful.

If you’re using a vehicle with a huge cannon, like many Japanese self-propelled guns, you’ll have access to a fantastic HE shell that will obliterate in one shot almost every tank you come across. Watch out though, many high-tier tanks have armor plates capable of reducing chemical energy damage by a lot, so HE will be almost useless against them.

What HE Excels In:

High Caliber Guns
Shooting From a Distance
Destroying softer vehicles like Armored Cars and SPAA

#4 HEAT (Best for low-tier sniping)

Extraordinary at long, medium, and short ranges.

What’s better than High Explosive? HEAT, of course! This shell not only does not drop its penetration capabilities at longer distances but is also able to penetrate a lot of armor. Like for HE though, the bigger the caliber, the better. HEAT shells though become obsolete when HEATFS is introduced, and as this round is widely available for mid-high tier tanks, HEAT is best used in low-tier matches.

The best way you could use HEAT shells is from a distance, aiming at vital components like ammo racks, gun breeches, and the like. HEAT doesn’t have much post-penetration spalling, meaning that it won’t do as much damage to the insides of the tank. Sniper galore!

What HEAT Excels In:

Sniping
Penetrating thick armor plates
Dealing with sloped armor.

#3 APHECBC (Best for versatility)

When in doubt, pick APHECBC.

APHECBC, or Armor Piercing High Explosive Capped, Ballistic Capped, is a type of shell widely available to low and mid-tier ground vehicles. Upon hitting a target, after a certain amount of penetration, APHE explodes and produces a lot of post-penetration spalling, leading to the crew and internal parts of the tank being heavily damaged.

When looking at an APHE shell stats, it’s best to not only look at the penetration values but also check out how much explosive filler the shot in question has. The more TNT equivalent inside the shot, the more damage it will do. The best part is that this shot, British tanks excluded, is available to almost every tank in the game!

What APHE Excels In:

Versatility
Post-penetration damage
One-shotting tanks if the filler is powerful enough

#2 HEATFS (Best chemical energy damage)

It’s HEAT, but better.

One of the biggest weak points of any HEAT shell is that it loses a lot of energy just by flying to its target. This is remedied by HEATFS, which thanks to its stabilizing fins, allows for much more penetration with all the benefits that HEAT brings.

HEATFS is very useful when sniping, and you will be able to penetrate a lot of tanks thanks to its 300mm average of penetration. Watch out though, the reactive armor of many high-tier tanks will render HEATFS almost completely useless against them, so aim carefully and choose your targets well!

What HEATFS Excels In:

High penetration
High velocity
Good against sloped armor.

#1 APDSFS (Best penetration)

The best kinetic force shell, nothing more, nothing less.

APDSFS (Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot Fin Stabilized) is the best kinetic force shell out there. It is composed of an extra-hard penetrator and a discarding sabot, which functions as some sort of case, so to speak, and is discarded when the shot is flying towards its target, giving the projectile much better ballistic capabilities.

APDSFS is the shell with the highest penetration in the game, and thanks to its incredibly high speeds, it is also terribly easy to use: most of the time, you’ll just have to point at the target and click, with little trajectories to calculate. This shell, though, is only available at high tiers, so don’t expect to be playing with it immediately.can

What APDSFS Excels In: