Armor-Piercing Ammo

This article is about the Power. For the Ammo Upgrade in Mass Effect, see Ammo Upgrades. For the Ammo Bonus in Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer, see Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer/Character Customization/Equipment.

Armor-Piercing Ammo is a power in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3's single-player mode.

Mass Effect 2

Increases damage to armor and health.

Power Ranks

• Rank 1 - Your ammo is shaped and hardened to pierce targets, inflicting extra damage to armor and health.
  • Recharge Time: 1.50 seconds
  • Duration: lasts until overridden by another ammo power.
  • Armor and Health Damage: +30.00% weapon damage

• Rank 2 - Your ammo is shaped and hardened to pierce targets, inflicting extra damage to armor and health.
  • Recharge Time: 1.50 seconds
  • Duration: lasts until overridden by another ammo power.
  • Armor and Health Damage: +40.00% weapon damage

• Rank 3 - Your ammo is shaped and hardened to pierce targets, inflicting extra damage to armor and health.
  • Recharge Time: 1.50 seconds
  • Duration: lasts until overridden by another ammo power.
  • Armor and Health Damage: +50.00% weapon damage

Rank 4

Evolves Armor-Piercing Ammo into one of the following options:

Tungsten Ammo

• Advanced tungsten carbide rounds in discarding sabots increase the damage done by Armor-Piercing Ammo.
  • Recharge Time: 1.50 seconds
  • Duration: lasts until overridden by another ammo power.
  • Armor and Health Damage: +70.00% weapon damage

Squad Armor Piercing Ammo

• Time spent custom gunsmithing allows the entire squad to gain the effects of Armor-Piercing Ammo.
  • Recharge Time: 1.50 seconds
  • Duration: lasts until overridden by another ammo power.
  • Armor and Health Damage: +50.00% weapon damage

Player Notes

• Armor-piercing Ammo is one of only three ammo powers available as a Bonus Power, along with Warp Ammo and Shredder Ammo. It can provide the highest raw damage bonus against enemy armor (yellow bar) of any ammo power, and the second highest possible damage bonus against health (red bar) aside from Shredder Ammo. This makes it an excellent choice for any player class that lacks Incendiary Ammo, especially if Tungsten Ammo is chosen at rank 4.
• Due to how damage is applied in Mass Effect 2, Armor-Piercing Ammo is the best ammo power to have active on weapons when going for one-shot kills against any armored foe, followed by Incendiary Ammo and Warp Ammo.

Availability

• Shepard via Advanced Training
• Garrus Vakarian (Loyalty Power)

Mass Effect 3

Power Ranks

Rank 1: Armor-Piercing Ammo

Bring down heavy-armor units. Shoot through light cover to hit enemies.

More weapon damage.
More damage to armor.

• Health Damage Bonus: +10%
• Armor Damage Bonus: +10%
• Armor Effectiveness: -50%
• Penetration: 0.50 m

Rank 2: Pierce

Increase ammo's cover penetration by 40%.

• Health Damage Bonus: +10%
• Armor Damage Bonus: +10%
• Armor Effectiveness: -50%
• Penetration: 0.70 m

Rank 3: Damage

Increase health and armor damage by 4%.

• Health Damage Bonus: +14%
• Armor Damage Bonus: +14%
• Armor Effectiveness: -50%
• Penetration: 0.70 m

Rank 4: Damage/Squad Bonus

Damage Increase health and armor damage by 6%. Health Damage Bonus: +20% Armor Damage Bonus: +20% Armor Effectiveness: -50% Penetration: 0.70 m

Squad Bonus Squadmates gain your ammo power at 50% effectiveness.

Rank 5: Ammo Capacity/Headshots

Ammo Capacity Increase ammo capacity by 30%.

Headshots Increase headshot damage by 25%.

Rank 6: Damage/Pierce

Damage Increase health and armor damage by 10%. Health Damage Bonus: +30% (Damage), +24% (Squad Bonus) Armor Damage Bonus: +30% (Damage), +24% (Squad Bonus) Armor Effectiveness: -50% Penetration: 0.70 m

Pierce Increase ammo's cover-penetration by 60%. Decrease the effectiveness of armored targets by 25%. Health Damage Bonus: +20% (Damage), +14% (Squad Bonus) Armor Damage Bonus: +20% (Damage), +14% (Squad Bonus) Armor Effectiveness: -75% Penetration: 1 m

Player Notes

Mechanics

• Armor-Piercing Ammo is an ammo power that by default can confer up to three separate benefits to friendly weapons: (1) it boosts damage against enemy health (red bar) and armor (yellow bar); (2) it enables shots to physically penetrate or pierce through objects; and (3) it weakens enemy armor, reducing its effectiveness.

(1) Damage Bonuses:

• Upgrades to power damage will increase Armor-Piercing Ammo's listed damage bonuses against health and armor.
• The Krysae Sniper Rifle, N7 Typhoon, and Collector SMG already deal 50% more damage vs. armored foes; this bonus damage can stack with the bonuses from ammo powers.

(2) Piercing Shots and Penetration of Terrain/Objects:

• This enables most weapons to fire through objects, including terrain, enemy armor plating, other enemies, or even your own squadmates (which normally obstruct your shots).
• Though not listed in the in-game description text, there is a 50% damage penalty for piercing any object. In multiplayer, Armor-Piercing Rounds and Drill Rounds do not carry this penalty.
• The following weapons have innate penetration that can be further increased by Armor-Piercing Ammo: Black Widow, Executioner Pistol, Javelin, M-98 Widow, N7 Crusader, N7 Typhoon. These weapons also have the unique trait of being totally exempt from damage penalties when penetrating objects, even when using piercing ammo augmentations or weapon mods that otherwise usually carry a penalty.
• The Particle Rifle and the Reegar Carbine will benefit from the cover penetration conferred by Armor-Piercing Ammo.
• Armor-Piercing Ammo does not confer cover penetration to weapons that are unable to pierce cover: Acolyte, Adas Anti-Synthetic Rifle, Chakram Launcher, Geth Plasma Shotgun, Graal Spike Thrower, Kishock Harpoon Gun, Krysae Sniper Rifle, M-37 Falcon, Scorpion, Striker Assault Rifle, Venom Shotgun.

(3) Armor Weakening:

• Armor-Piercing Ammo reduces the damage reduction provided by armor of targets such as Banshees or Geth Pyros by the percentage listed. This will stack with the similar effects applied by powers such as Warp and Cryo Blast, as well as certain weapon mods, though the total effectiveness of enemy armor can't be reduced by a full 100%.
• The armor-weakening effect is party-friendly; it creates a short-duration debuff (about two seconds or so) that other players or squadmates can benefit from.
• The armor-weakening effect is not party-friendly for either Armor-Piercing Rounds or Drill Rounds in multiplayer; only the user will benefit.

• Care should be used when choosing the rank 4 Squad Bonus if other squad members are using ammo powers, as then activating an ammo power with the Squad Bonus will override other squad members' ammo powers. You can usually tell which ammo power is actually active based on the icon appearing over your gun. Also note that the reduced effectiveness of the Squad Bonus version of the ammo power applies to all of its various effects, including its penetration depth and armor-weakening, not just its damage.
• The ammunition capacity boost, if chosen, only applies on the active ammo power. Switching to another ammo power will remove the extra ammunition even if both have the capacity boost.

Strategies

• Object penetration isn't a property of other armor-weakening ammunition types, such as Cryo Ammo and Warp Ammo, though it can be conferred by certain weapons and/or weapon mods. This makes Armor-Piercing Ammo uniquely useful against armor-plated opponents such as Brutes, Cannibals after they devour a corpse, or Cannibals and Husks after they are given plating by a Marauder. It also enables piercing of the handheld shields carried by Guardians and CAT6 Heavies.
• Certain enemies such as Atlases, Scions, Ravagers, and Adjutants have weak areas that can be exploited especially well by weapons that fire piercing shots; see their pages for more information.
• Armor-Piercing Ammo is excellent for NPC squadmates, as they have a tendency to try and shoot directly at enemies even when they are in cover or obscured by terrain. It is best used on the weapons that fire penetrating shots by default (see above), as these never suffer damage penalties for shooting through objects, and the piercing amounts (depth) from the two separate effects will stack.

Availability

• Single Player: Garrus Vakarian, Kasumi, Commander Shepard (Bonus Power)
• Multiplayer: N/A