WARDOGS Actual
● Field tutorialAll tutorials6 min · Combat

Ammo and armor in five stepsLoad the right round · Shoot the right place

Which round to load, what each plate stops, why legs are the answer to heavy armor, and the ten-minute range test that settles it for your own gun.

  1. 01

    Load FMJ and leave it there

    FMJ is the right round for almost every fight you will have this season. HP only wins against flesh: a target wearing nothing, or the legs, which no armor covers. AP does less damage than FMJ until the target wears Medium plate. Try it:

    Ammo
    Target
    21damage per chest hit [BETA]

    FMJ is the best of the three against light (l1).

    Source: The three ammo types and the measured damage table. One rifle calibre, one test, a pre-launch build. A balance patch can move every number here.

    The vendor's Loose Ammo tab with Standard (FMJ) selected, showing ammunition boxes by calibre with their prices, and tabs for Flesh Damage (HP) and Armor Piercing (AP).
    Loose Ammo at the vendor. The three round types are separate tabs: Standard (FMJ), Flesh Damage (HP) and Armor Piercing (AP). A box of standard 5.56x45mm costs $15 [S1].In-game screenshot, Season 1 client, 15 Sep 2026
  2. 02

    Buy Light plate and a helmet every life

    A $400 [S1] Light plate takes 30% off every torso hit, and it is what turns HP into a 9 damage round. A $200 [S1] Light helmet stops you being one-tapped by almost anything. Buy both before every life, from your first match.

    PlateCuts damage byPriceUnlock
    Light (L1)30%$400 [S1]None
    Medium (L2)40%$1,000 [S1]Wardog 30
    Heavy (L3)55%$2,000 [S1]Wardog 60
    Super Heavy (L4)65%$4,000 [S1]Above Wardog 60
    The vendor's Gear tab with Armor selected: four armor tiles, the first with a price, the second with an unlock price and two locked behind Wardog levels.
    Gear, then Armor, at the vendor. The first plate costs $400 [S1]; the next needs a $50,000 [S1] unlock, and the last two stay locked until Wardog level 60 [S1] and Wardog level 100 [S1].In-game screenshot, Season 1 client, 15 Sep 2026
  3. 03

    Against heavy plate, shoot the legs

    No armor in the game covers the legs. A 65% Super Heavy plate does nothing for the thighs, so the most expensive player in the lobby takes full FMJ damage there. When a visibly plated enemy is in the open and your gun holds FMJ or HP, drop your aim to the thighs and hold it.

    It stops working behind cover: sandbags and windows show you head and shoulders, which is where the armor is. Evidence: Legs are unarmored at every tier and The leg meta.

  4. 04

    Do not trust a helmet against snipers

  5. 05

    Settle it for your own gun in ten minutes

    The firing range uses live ballistics and has armored dummies. This is the whole test:

    1. From the main menu, enter the firing range.
    2. Pull the lever beside a dummy to give it the armor tier you want to test.
    3. Fire single shots at the chest with each ammo type you own. Note the damage number on screen.
    4. Repeat at the head and at a leg. Write down every reading: one per round type, per body part.
    Firing range damage readout: FMJ against an unarmored dummy, cropped to the number.

    If your numbers differ from the table in step 1, trust yours and tell us. Evidence: Test it yourself in ten minutes.

The evidence behind this tutorial

Checked against Season 1 on 2026-09-13

Ammo and armor in five steps | WARDOGS tutorials