Shell drop off represents a tank’s shell gradually losing velocity and slowing down (and thus losing penetrating power).
This is also commonly referred to as “penetration loss over distance” or “penetration drop off”.
How does it work?
The shells on your tank have a set percentage value of shell drop off. This percentage represents the amount of penetration that has been lost after 500m.
Shells will keep their maximum penetration up until the 100m mark. Once they pass 100m, they start to lose a flat amount of penetration until 500m. At 500m, the shell stops losing penetration, and stays at that % value of penetration loss. At 720m, the shell terminates, as 720m is the maximum firing distance for a tank in game.
For example:
The WT Ritter has 352mm of penetration on its premium APCR shells. It’s penetration drop off number is 16.19%. So:
0m – 352mm penetration
100m – 352mm penetration
200m – 337.75mm penetration
300m – 323.5mm penetration
400m – 309.25mm penetration
500m – 295mm penetration (the 57mm lost so far is 16.19% of 352mm)
720m – 295mm penetration
If you want to know how much penetration a shell loses for every 100m of distance after the first 100m, you just take the % of penetration lost and divide by 4.
(In the WT’s case its [352mm – (352 * 0.8381) / 4 = 14.25mm]
The 0.8381 is 81.83% of the total 352mm penetration, 81.83% of 352 is 295, and 352 – 295 is 57, and 57/4 is 14.25mm)
Why is this important?
Generally you don’t really notice your shell having much less penetration over distance, unless you are playing in a tank that has a long firing range (such as sniper TDs).
Of course, the best indication is the red/grey armour highlight, but knowing your shell’s drop off will definitely help you gauge your tank’s penetrating ability at distance.
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