Damage Mitigation • Plate Durability & Penetration Dynamics

Armor Mechanics & Plate Durability

Armor absorption in Wardogs is a dynamic physical process. Plates do not provide permanent invulnerability; they possess finite durability pools that degrade on every impact, eventually shattering to expose unarmored tissue to lethal kinetic damage.

1. Standardized Armor Mitigation Tiers

Armor reduction in Wardogs is strictly organized into five standard tiers (Tier 0 through Tier 4):

Armor Tier	Damage Mitigation (R)	Protected Hitbox Zones	Durability (Vest / Helmet)
Tier 0	0% (Unarmored)	None	0 HP
Tier 1	30% Reduction	Head (Helmet) / Upper & Lower Chest, Stomach (Vest)	540 HP / 240 HP
Tier 2	40% Reduction	Head (Helmet) / Upper & Lower Chest, Stomach (Vest)	600 HP / 300 HP
Tier 3	50% Reduction	Head, Neck (Helmet) / Upper & Lower Chest, Stomach (Vest)	660 HP / 480 HP
Tier 4	60% Reduction	Head, Neck (Helmet) / Upper & Lower Chest, Stomach, Pelvis, Upper Arms (Vest)	780 HP / 540 HP

2. Technical Verification of Tier 4 Helmets

Empirical Verification: 60% Mitigation & 540 HP Pool

In the active game engine and empirical data assets, Tier 4 helmets provide exactly 60% damage reduction, matching the mitigation of Tier 4 body armor. The key advantage of Tier 4 helmets lies in their expanded coverage of both the Head and Neck, backed by an independent durability pool of 540 HP (compared to 240 HP for Tier 1).

Empirical Damage Matrix Headshot Verification:

FAL (.308 Win FMJ): Unarmored Head = 116.35 DMG → Tier 4 Head = 46.54 DMG ( $1 - 46.54 / 116.35 = 60.00\%$ )
M4 (5.56x45mm FMJ): Unarmored Head = 72.43 DMG → Tier 4 Head = 28.97 DMG ( $1 - 28.97 / 72.43 = 60.00\%$ )
AK-74M (5.45x39mm FMJ): Unarmored Head = 67.26 DMG → Tier 4 Head = 26.90 DMG ( $1 - 26.90 / 67.26 = 60.00\%$ )

3. Ammunition Behavior: FMJ, AP, and HP

Ammunition types dramatically alter how projectiles interact with armor:

Standard (FMJ)

Baseline ammunition.

100% flesh damage ( $M_{\text{flesh}} = 1.0$ ).

Standard armor mitigation ( $R_{\text{effective}} = R_{\text{tier}}$ ).

1.00x durability wear rate.

Armor Piercing (AP)

Bypasses armor percentage:

Full-power rifle (.308, 7.62x54R): 50% bypass

Intermediate (5.56, 5.45): 40% bypass

Pistol / SMG (9mm, .45): 30% bypass

-20% unarmored flesh penalty ( $M_{\text{flesh}} = 0.80$ ).

Hollow Point (HP)

+100% unarmored flesh damage ( $M_{\text{flesh}} = 2.0$ ).

Bonus is nullified by armor plates.

Suffers cubic mitigation penalty:

R_{\text{pen, HP}} = (1.0 - R_{\text{tier}})^3

4. Dynamic Armor Durability & Plate Shattering

A naive formula ( $\lceil 100 / \text{Damage} \rceil$ ) would predict over 110+ shots to kill for Hollow Point against Tier 4 armor. In reality, armor plates possess finite durability pools and shatter under sustained fire:

Armor Tier	Vest Durability	5.56mm FMJ Vest Break	Helmet Durability	5.56mm FMJ Helmet Break
Tier 1	540 HP	9 shots	240 HP	4 shots
Tier 2	600 HP	10 shots	300 HP	5 shots
Tier 3	660 HP	11 shots	480 HP	8 shots
Tier 4	780 HP	13 shots	540 HP	9 shots

Armor-piercing rounds inflict +30% armor durability wear ( $M_{\text{durability}} = 1.30\times$ ), whereas Hollow Point inflicts 0.722x wear. When plate durability reaches 0 HP, subsequent shots strike bare flesh for 100% unarmored damage.

5. Penetration Kills vs. Plate-Shatter Kills

Combat engagements resolve in one of two distinct ways:

1. Penetration Kill (AP / Heavy FMJ)

Target HP reaches 0 while armor durability remains intact.

FAL (.308 AP) vs Tier 4 Chest:

Shot 1: 35.65 DMG (Armor: 689 HP)

Shot 2: 35.65 DMG (Armor: 598 HP)

Shot 3: 35.65 DMG → Fatal Kill (STK = 3)

Target died with 507 HP armor remaining.

2. Plate-Shatter Kill (Hollow Point)

Armor durability is depleted to 0 HP, followed by fatal unarmored damage.

FAL (.308 HP) vs Tier 4 Chest:

Shots 1-18: 0.90 DMG/shot (16.20 total HP dealt)

Shot 18: Vest durability reaches 0 HP

Shot 19: Impacts bare flesh for 132.02 DMG → Fatal Kill (STK = 19)

6. Time to Kill (TTK) Equation

Time to Kill represents the elapsed duration from the moment the trigger is pulled to target neutralization:

\mathbf{\text{TTK}_{\text{ms}} = (\text{STK} - 1) \times \left(\frac{60}{\text{RPM}}\right) \times 1000\text{ ms}}

Because the initial projectile leaves the muzzle at $t = 0\text{ ms}$ , $(\text{STK} - 1)$ cycles of the weapon action are evaluated. For single-shot kills ( $\text{STK} = 1$ ), $\text{TTK} = 0\text{ ms}$ .

Simulate Armor Penetration

Inspect dynamic STK and TTK across all armor tiers for every weapon

The Weapons Catalog dynamically recalculates plate durability and penetration across all 5 armor tiers.

Launch Armor Simulator