Armor-piercingAP
The standard solid shell: reliable damage, moderate penetration, five degrees of normalization and a ricochet beyond 70 degrees.
Also known as AP, AP shell, standard shell.
AP is the default round on most guns and the baseline every other shell is described against. It deals the gun's full alpha on a penetration, normalizes by five degrees against sloped plates, and ricochets off anything angled more than 70 degrees unless the shell overmatches it.
It loses penetration as it flies, so a shot at 400 metres is measurably weaker than the same shot at 50. In exchange it is cheap, which is why the credit difference between AP and premium rounds is what most economy discussions are actually about.
Related terms
APCRA lighter, faster shell with higher penetration than AP, less normalization and a steeper penetration loss over distance.PenetrationHow much armor a shell can defeat, in millimetres, rolled plus or minus 25 percent on every shot and compared against the effective thickness it hits.NormalizationThe few degrees a shell turns toward the perpendicular on impact, reducing the effective armor it has to cross.RicochetA shell deflecting off a plate without any penetration check, which happens beyond 70 degrees for most shells and 85 for HEAT.Premium ammunitionThe higher-penetration round available on nearly every gun, bought with credits and named after the days when it cost gold.