Would someone please define overpenetration for me?

[jztemple]

I ask because I tend to see a lot of these overpenetrations being recorded and I'm a bit confused since I'm thinking that it means the shell when through the armor and then out the other side without exploding, but sometimes they seem to cause a lot of damage. Any help would be appreciated.

 

By the way, I also asked this question over on the Steam forum but I don't know which place is the preferred location to go to for questions like this.

[Zombie1914]

You got that right.

Pen and ammo type (detonation delay) define where the main damage (shell detonation) and secondary damage (penetration) happens.

Sometimes you get lucky and while your shell is over-penetrating and exploding outside the target you were still able to hit a vulnerable part of the target (Bridge, Boilers/Engines, below waterline) for the extra damage.

 

If you see a lot of over-pens you might want to rethink your shell types or switch AP for HE.

Lets say you have a 16" gun with default high pen but your targets are lightly armored cruisers it would be better to go with a shell type with less pen so you do not get the over-pen effect.

That being said i personally prefer my load-out to have a bit of pen on HE (nose or base fuse) and max pen on AP with increased HE for the main guns to balance effectiveness vs different targets.

 

[Lakel]

Small add-on to Zombie1914's info, it also accounts for how many compartments are hit by an over penetrating shell, say it only goes in and out through the bow, practically    nothing, slap some flex-seal on and keep going.

Now in the case of the high velocity/super heavy AP shell plowing through a DD from bow to stern and still manage to over penetrate, it will royally wreck things.

Taken from the 1.06 notes:"Moreover, overpenetration damage will be dependent greatly from the angle of the ship, significantly damaging the hull if a shell passes through the bow and along the length of the ship."

If you play any WOWS, this is like the case of a cruiser that tries to angle, and eats a citadel, when they could have gone full broadside and you just overpen. Which in this game would hurt either way, but a lot less.