How to beat heavy armor

Why it feels unfair

It isn't in your head. With standard ammo, an M4 kills an unarmored player with 4 shots to the chest in 225 ms. Against level 4 armor and helmet it takes 10 shots and 675 ms, 3 times as long. In a straight fight where you both aim for the chest, the heavy player wins almost every time.

Level 4 armor also unlocks at Wardog level 100, so the players wearing it have usually played a lot more than you. That is a common complaint in the community: new players feel they can't compete until they grind the same gear. You don't have to. The armor only protects what it covers, and it costs its owner a lot to wear.

Where to shoot

Body armor covers the chest and stomach, and level 4 also covers the pelvis and upper arms. The legs are never covered at any level. Against a level 4 target, this is what each hit does:

Read the legs. With standard ammo, the M4 needs 7 shots to the legs and 10 to the chest. From level 3 armor and up, leg shots kill faster than chest shots, because the legs take full damage and the chest doesn't. Level 4 covers the pelvis, so aim for the thighs and knees, below the vest.

The head still takes the most damage per hit, 5 shots through a level 4 helmet, but it is the hardest thing to keep your sights on in a real fight. Take the head shot when you have it, and go low when you don't.

Bring the right ammo

Ammo matters more against heavy armor than against anyone else. There are two ways to beat level 4, and they need different ammo:

Pick by what you will see of them. If you will fight across open ground and see whole bodies, bring hollow point and aim low. If they will be behind windows, walls and ridges where only the upper body shows, bring armor piercing, because hollow point is nearly useless against a plate. Against players in light armor, standard ammo is still the best all-round load. See ammo types.

Guns that punch through

Some guns handle heavy armor far better than others. These kill a level 4 target fastest to the chest with armor piercing ammo:

The full list is on the tier list, in the TTK L4 AP column. For any gun, the shots to kill calculator shows every zone and ammo type.

Don't take the fair fight

• Make them move. At 22.5 kg in armor alone they are in the medium weight class: noticeably slower, much slower stamina regen. Don't stand and trade. Reposition, flank and make them turn to find you. See weight classes.
• Keep shooting. Armor wears down with every hit and broken armor blocks nothing. A heavy player who survived one fight is weaker in the next.
• Double up. Two players shooting the same heavy target wear through the armor twice as fast. Call it out and focus fire.

Checklist

1. 01See heavy armor? Stop aiming at the chest.
2. 02Full body visible: hollow point to the thighs and knees.
3. 03Only the upper body visible: armor piercing to the chest, or the head if you have it.
4. 04Don't trade from one spot. Move, flank and make them turn.
5. 05Keep hitting them, and get a teammate on the same target.

And when you get the kill, remember they just lost $7,000 of armor. For the full picture of what each level does, read which armor to buy.