Splash mechanics will include three components:

Shrapnel from the shell explosion;

Spalls on the outer surface of the armor;

Splash radius.

Read on to find out more about each of them!

Shrapnel from the Shell Explosion

Shrapnel is formed by the metal jacket of the shell, when the explosion breaks it into separate pieces. They scatter around in a sphere and get stuck in obstacles. After rebalancing, fragments will scatter only to the first obstacle in their way — this is the key difference compared to the shrapnel acting according to the laws of the current mechanics.

As a result, shrapnel cannot damage internal modules, except for vehicles with open cabins. Armor damage from this mechanic is absorbed linearly — the thicker the armor, the greater the absorption. For the player, this change means the exclusion of illogical cases of causing damage when, for example, an engine inside the hull catches fire after getting hit in the commander’s hatch.

Spalls on the Outer Surface of the Armor

Armor spalls are formed on the outer surface of the armor during the explosion of a High-Explosive shell. They are scattered on a conditional “cone” perpendicular to the armor. It doesn't matter at what angle the shell hits the armor. Spalls damage the armor and can damage the internal modules and crew members. Like shrapnel, spalls cannot penetrate obstacles. The damage from this mechanic is also absorbed linearly — the thicker the vehicle’s armor, the higher the absorption of spalls.

For most HE shells, all three mechanics work simultaneously, but can be configured differently. For each armor group, each module, and each crew member, damage is calculated for each mechanic (if the mechanics, in principle, can cause damage to a specific object).

Splash Radius

Unlike shrapnel and armor spalls, the splash radius is not shielded by obstacles. In this case, the damage is only reduced. Also, the splash radius doesn’t cause damage to crew members, and the armor absorbs it non-linearly (the thicker the armor, the greater the absorption, but the armor cannot completely absorb the damage from the splash). This is why HE shells will inflict at least minor damage on almost any armor.