[Glossary](/glossary.md)/[Gunnery](/glossary/category/gunnery.md)

# High explosiveHE

A shell that explodes on contact, dealing reduced damage through armor it cannot penetrate and splashing everything nearby.

Also known as HE, he shell, he spam.

HE is the [shell](/glossary/shell.md) that always does something. If it penetrates, it deals full damage. If it does not, it still applies a reduced amount based on its blast, cut down by the [armor thickness](/glossary/armor-thickness.md) in the way, and it damages [modules](/glossary/module.md) and crew through plating it could never defeat.

That makes it the answer to unarmored targets, to resetting a [base capture](/glossary/base-capture.md), and to finishing a target with a few [hit points](/glossary/hit-points.md) left behind cover. Large-caliber low-velocity guns firing it are what players call [derp guns](/glossary/derp.md).

[Artillery](/glossary/artillery.md) fires a version of it exclusively, which is why an artillery hit hurts even when it lands beside a vehicle rather than on it.

## Related terms

[SplashThe blast area of a high explosive shell, which damages everything within it whether or not the shell penetrated.](/glossary/splash.md)[ArtilleryThe indirect fire class, firing high explosive from an overhead view at targets it cannot see directly.](/glossary/artillery.md)[HESHA high explosive variant with much higher nominal penetration, which behaves like HE when it fails to penetrate.](/glossary/hesh.md)[Module damageThe separate damage value a shell applies to modules and crew members, which is what decides whether a hit tracks, breaks or wounds.](/glossary/module-damage.md)[CaliberThe diameter of a gun's shell in millimetres, which sets what armor it can overmatch as well as roughly how hard it hits.](/glossary/caliber.md)

[Every World of Tanks term](/glossary.md)

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