WARDOGS Artillery and Mortar Guide: Range, Elevation and Firing Formula

This WARDOGS artillery guide is built for the player who has a target marked on the map and needs to answer three questions quickly: how far away is it, which direction should the gun face, and what range or elevation should be dialed before firing. This also works as a WARDOGS mortar guide for the same map-to-sight workflow. The practical method is not a single real-world ballistic equation. WARDOGS gives you map coordinates and an in-game sight, while the current community firing solutions for the L81 Mortar and SPH-2 use community-maintained range-to-MIL tables. The reliable workflow is therefore: calculate horizontal distance from the map, calculate bearing, convert distance through the correct weapon table, then verify the result with a ranging shot.

The exact numerical tables in this article are a pre-launch reference from the final Beta 2 period. The test was opened to everyone on September 5 and ended on September 6 at 08:00 UTC. BULKHEAD lists WARDOGS Early Access for September 10, 2026 on the official Steam page, so weapon behaviour can still change at launch. The formulas for map distance and bearing remain useful even if a firing table changes; the elevation numbers must be rechecked against the current build.

How WARDOGS Artillery Calculation Works

Indirect fire in WARDOGS is easiest to understand as three separate calculations rather than one complicated trajectory problem. First, the map tells you the horizontal separation between gun and target. Second, the same coordinates give you the bearing. Third, a weapon-specific firing table converts that range into the elevation used by the L81 or SPH-2 sight. Mixing those steps is the main reason a correct target marker still produces a bad first round.

BULKHEAD has publicly described WARDOGS as using real-world ballistics and flight models, but the developer has not published the muzzle velocity, drag model, gravity scale, shell coefficients, or a closed-form artillery equation for these weapons. That means a textbook projectile formula cannot be treated as a verified WARDOGS firing solution. Current community tools instead use firing tables and interpolate between known range points. If you searched for a WARDOGS artillery formula, this distinction matters: the practical manual formula solves map geometry, while weapon elevation comes from a build-specific community firing curve.

The most transparent current reference is the open-source Apollyon WARDOGS artillery calculator. Its configured Beta-era data covers the L81 Mortar from 132 to 684 m and the SPH-2 from 780 to 2,629 m. Those are supported ranges of a community firing table, not developer-published weapon limits. Other community tools report different endpoints, especially for the mortar, so use the values as a starting solution and confirm them with one shot in the current build.

Players who want to learn the spotting, communication, and correction loop with another person can use WARDOGS Coaching as one external practice option. The calculation below is still designed so a solo reader can perform the entire process without needing a separate service or calculator.

How to Calculate Distance from Map Coordinates

The distance formula is the most important part because every elevation solution depends on it. On the calibrated Bakurani community map, one full coordinate unit equals 100 m. A difference of 0.10 is 10 m, and 0.01 is 1 m. Treat the gun as point G and the target as point T, then calculate the difference on each axis before doing anything with elevation.

The simple sequence is: delta X = target X minus gun X; delta Y = target Y minus gun Y; distance in map units = square root of delta X squared plus delta Y squared; distance in meters = that result multiplied by 100. This is ordinary straight-line horizontal distance. It does not include the height difference between the gun and target.

The formulas below are the complete cheat sheet. You only need a basic phone calculator with square root and atan2 or a map calculator if you do not want to enter the math manually.

Use a deliberately simple example. Put the gun at X80.00 Y70.00 and the target at X83.00 Y74.00. Delta X is 3 and delta Y is 4. The square root of 3 squared plus 4 squared is 5, so the target is 5 coordinate units away. Multiply by 100 and the firing distance is 500 m. This 3-4-5 example is useful for learning because you can check the answer mentally before trusting a calculator.

The same method works with decimals. If the target moves by 0.25 coordinate on X, that is 25 m of east-west movement before the diagonal distance is recalculated. Do not measure only the larger axis and call it range. A target that is both north and east of the gun is farther away than either individual axis difference.

★★★★★Reviews 4.8/5Trustpilot certified

Need help with Wardogs?

Get any Wardogs service from ExpCarry: raids, dungeons, PvP, leveling, gold, farming, coaching, and custom orders.

Safe orderingFast startVerified playersCustom orders

View Wardogs services

Recommended services

Cash FarmingFrom 7.25€→Role LevelingFrom 15.50€→Vehicle UnlockFrom 12.39€→

How to Calculate Bearing and Azimuth

Once distance is known, calculate direction from the same delta X and delta Y values. The community map calibration follows standard compass bearings: north is 0 degrees, east is 90, south is 180, and west is 270. The useful formula is atan2(delta X, delta Y), not the more common mathematical atan2(delta Y, delta X), because compass zero points north instead of along the positive X axis.

In the 500 m example above, atan2(3, 4) gives about 36.9 degrees. That means the target is northeast of the gun. If you need a 6,400-mil horizontal azimuth, multiply 36.9 by 6,400 and divide by 360. The result is about 656 azimuth mil.

Do not confuse horizontal azimuth mil with vertical elevation mil. They may both be called mils, but they solve different problems. Azimuth tells the weapon where to turn left or right. Elevation tells the barrel how high to aim for the selected trajectory. A correct 656 azimuth does not tell you anything about whether the mortar needs 460, 500, or another elevation value.

The best spotting habit is to recalculate from coordinates whenever a target moves far enough to matter. Guessing a two-degree correction from the previous target can work at short range, but the horizontal error grows with distance. For SPH-2 fire beyond a kilometer, a fresh target coordinate is usually faster than trying to repair a poor bearing by repeated splash corrections.

How to Convert Distance to L81 Mortar Elevation

The L81 does not use a verified public equation of the form elevation = one constant divided by range. Its community firing table is curved, so the practical calculation is linear interpolation between the two table entries around your desired distance. Find the closest lower range D1 with elevation M1, find the closest higher range D2 with elevation M2, then use M = M1 + (D - D1) x (M2 - M1) / (D2 - D1).

For a 500 m target, the community table used here has 494 m at 470 mil and 501 m at 460 mil. Insert 500 into the interpolation formula: 470 + (500 - 494) x (460 - 470) / (501 - 494). The result is about 461 mil. That is a starting elevation from a flat-ground Beta-era table, not a guaranteed hit in every build or on sloped terrain.

One detail matters when correcting the L81: in this table, longer mortar range uses a lower elevation number. If a 500 m solution lands short and your bearing is correct, you need a longer-range solution, which normally means reducing L81 elevation mil. If it lands long, move toward a shorter-range solution, which means increasing elevation mil. Thinking in desired range first is safer than memorizing the word up or down.

The configured Apollyon L81 table treats 132 to 684 m as valid. Do not turn 684 m into a universal hard limit in your head. BULKHEAD has not published an official L81 maximum, and other community calculators disagree. If a current-build sight or tested shot reaches farther, trust the current build and update the firing table instead of forcing old Beta data onto it.

The sample values below are intentionally sparse. They show the shape of the community table used by this guide without turning the article into a wall of numbers.

The opposite direction of the SPH-2 low arc is the reason there is no universal rule such as more mil always means shorter range. Always identify the weapon and arc before making an elevation correction.

SPH-2 Low Arc and High Arc

The SPH-2 is more complicated because the community table used here can return two different elevations for the same horizontal distance. The low arc starts at about 1,181 m in the configured table and rises toward the maximum supported table range as elevation increases. The high arc covers the shorter end of the SPH-2 range and approaches the same maximum-range region as elevation decreases. Both can reach the same ground distance where their supported ranges overlap, but they use different trajectories.

At a 2,000 m flat-ground target, interpolation in the Beta-era table gives roughly 206 mil for the low arc and 1,057 mil for the high arc. The low solution travels on the flatter trajectory. The high solution launches at a much steeper angle. A high arc can be useful when terrain or structures make a flatter path unattractive, while a low arc is easier to reason about when you have a clear path over the intervening terrain. Exact flight time and clearance still depend on the current build, so do not assume the high arc automatically clears every ridge.

If the SPH-2 itself is not yet available on your account, WARDOGS Vehicle Unlock is one external progression option. For the firing calculation, the important point is to verify the current vehicle and arc before copying any table value, because Beta 2 vehicle progression and balance were subject to change for Early Access.

SPH-2 correction direction changes with the chosen arc. On the low arc, a larger elevation mil moves the solution farther until the maximum-range region. On the high arc, a larger elevation mil moves the solution shorter. If a round lands short, first decide whether you are on low or high arc; then move toward a longer range in that arc's table. Do not copy a correction direction from the mortar and apply it blindly to SPH-2 low arc.

Near maximum range, the two SPH-2 branches become close together and the table is especially sensitive to small changes. That is a poor place to learn the weapon. For training, pick a mid-range target where the low and high solutions are clearly separated, fire one round, and observe how the sight reacts before trying edge-of-range shots.

Terrain Height and Vehicle Tilt

The distance formula calculates horizontal ground range. It does not solve height difference. If the target sits above the gun, define delta Z as target elevation minus gun elevation. Positive delta Z means the target is higher. Negative delta Z means it is lower. The open-source project can display that difference. Its project documentation keeps terrain height separate from the standard firing-table MIL, while the current public web interface also exposes an optional experimental Terrain3D correction candidate on supported maps. The standard firing table remains the default or fallback when the experimental correction is unavailable or uncertain, and vehicle or chassis tilt is not corrected automatically. This guide therefore treats Terrain3D as an additional ranging aid rather than a guaranteed firing value.

This is where a clean formula stops and field correction begins. BULKHEAD's official Tactical Depth and Teamplay material establishes real-world ballistics and flight models as the design direction, but it does not publish a terrain compensation rule for the L81 or SPH-2. Community observations generally indicate that an uphill target can make a flat-table shot land short, while a downhill target can make it travel long relative to the same horizontal range. Use that only as a direction for the first correction. There is no verified WARDOGS rule such as add one mil for every five meters of elevation, and publishing one would create false precision.

SPH-2 adds another variable: the vehicle itself can be tilted. The current community documentation identifies two side markers around the vehicle silhouette in the gunner HUD as a lateral-level reference. Center those markers as closely as possible and avoid obvious nose-up, nose-down, or side-slope parking positions. A mathematically correct 2,000 m solution can still miss if the chassis changes the actual barrel attitude.

For consistent practice, build the habit of treating gun position as part of the firing solution. A flat parking area with a slightly longer map distance is often better than a closer slope that forces you to chase elevation errors after every shot. If you move the SPH-2 even a short distance, recalculate gun coordinates rather than assuming the old solution is still valid.

How to Correct the First Ranging Shot

A first-round miss is not proof that the formula failed. It tells you which part of the solution needs correction. Check the miss in a fixed order: left or right first, short or long second, then terrain or vehicle attitude. Changing bearing and elevation at the same time without knowing which error caused the miss makes the next shot harder to diagnose.

1. If the round is left or right: keep the range solution and correct bearing toward the splash-to-target line. If the target has moved, update its coordinates and recalculate instead of guessing.
2. If the round is short: you need a longer-range solution. On L81 and SPH-2 high arc, that generally means lower elevation mil. On SPH-2 low arc, it means higher elevation mil.
3. If the round is long: you need a shorter-range solution. On L81 and SPH-2 high arc, that generally means higher elevation mil. On SPH-2 low arc, it means lower elevation mil.
4. If repeated rounds shift unpredictably: check whether the SPH-2 is parked on a slope, whether the gun moved, whether the target elevation differs sharply, and whether the current build still matches the table.

When the sight lets you think in range meters, correcting the desired range is simpler than thinking directly in mils: short means increase the desired range; long means decrease it. Then let the current weapon table tell you which mil direction corresponds to that change. This avoids the most common SPH-2 low-arc mistake.

During Beta 2, players also reported using the shell-follow camera and map spotting information to zero artillery rapidly. The exact source build is important here: BULKHEAD's official Closed Beta 02 announcement described the test as a genuine scale test shortly before Early Access, so these interface observations should not be treated as permanent rules. Beta 2 was later opened to everyone before it ended on September 6. If Early Access changes the impact camera or marker information, the core spotter method still works: call the splash relative to the target, change only one variable at a time, and record the corrected solution.

Simple Fire Mission Checklist

For a normal squad, the fastest reliable method is to reduce the calculation to the same sequence every time. One player can do all of it, but a spotter and gunner are faster because the spotter can update coordinates while the gunner keeps the weapon ready.

1. Mark the gun: record the current X and Y coordinates. For SPH-2, do this after parking on level ground.
2. Mark the target: use the freshest coordinate available rather than an old ping.
3. Calculate delta X and delta Y: target coordinate minus gun coordinate on each axis.
4. Calculate horizontal distance: 100 x sqrt(delta X squared + delta Y squared) on the calibrated 100 m-per-unit map.
5. Calculate bearing: atan2(delta X, delta Y), convert to degrees, and wrap it into 0-360.
6. Select the weapon and arc: L81 single solution, SPH-2 low arc, or SPH-2 high arc.
7. Convert range to elevation: use the current firing table. If the exact distance lies between two entries, interpolate between them.
8. Check terrain and platform: note target height difference and SPH-2 chassis tilt. Do not invent a fixed terrain correction.
9. Fire one ranging round: correct bearing for left-right error and range for short-long error.
10. Record the confirmed solution: if the target remains in place, the corrected range and bearing become a much better reference than the original flat-table estimate.

If you prefer not to calculate each interpolation manually, the open community artillery calculator performs distance, azimuth, and table lookup from placed coordinates. Even when using a tool, understanding the formulas matters because it lets you detect a wrong gun marker, wrong arc, out-of-range target, or stale firing table instead of copying an incorrect number.

For coordinated practice with a dedicated spotter or second gunner, WARDOGS Hire a Pro is another external option. In ordinary play, the same result comes from clear voice calls: gun coordinates, target coordinates, bearing, range, arc, first splash, and one correction at a time.

WARDOGS Artillery FAQ

These answers cover the calculation mistakes that are most likely to waste shells when learning the L81 Mortar or SPH-2.

What is the WARDOGS artillery formula for distance?
On a map calibrated to 100 m per coordinate unit, use distance = 100 x sqrt((target X - gun X) squared + (target Y - gun Y) squared). This gives horizontal distance in meters.

Is there a WARDOGS mortar calculator formula for elevation?
There is no verified developer-published closed-form formula. Current community calculators use firing tables. Between two known points, use linear interpolation: M1 + (D - D1) x (M2 - M1) / (D2 - D1).

Why does increasing mil sometimes increase range and sometimes decrease it?
The relationship depends on the trajectory branch. In the community table used here, L81 and SPH-2 high arc get shorter as elevation mil increases, while SPH-2 low arc gets longer as elevation mil increases toward maximum range.

Can I use the same formula when the target is on a hill?
The coordinate formula still gives horizontal range, but it does not compensate for height. Use target elevation minus gun elevation as context, then verify with a ranging round. No reliable universal terrain-to-mil correction has been published.

What is the WARDOGS mortar range?
The Apollyon Beta-era firing table used in this guide supports the L81 Mortar from 132 to 684 m. That is the configured range of one community table, not an official maximum for the weapon. BULKHEAD has not published a final L81 maximum, and community tools disagree, so the current game build should determine the real usable limit.

What is the WARDOGS SPH-2 range and which arc should I use?
The community table used here supports SPH-2 solutions from 780 to 2,629 m, with the low arc beginning at about 1,181 m and the high arc covering the shorter ranges. Use an arc that has a valid solution at your distance, then consider terrain and obstacle clearance. Low arc is flatter; high arc is steeper. At distances where both exist, learn both rather than assuming one is always superior.

Conclusion

The simplest way to calculate WARDOGS mortar and artillery fire is to separate geometry from ballistics. Calculate delta X and delta Y from map coordinates, use the Pythagorean distance formula to get horizontal meters, use atan2 for bearing, and only then convert range into elevation through the current L81 or SPH-2 firing table. If the exact distance sits between two table entries, linear interpolation gives a practical starting MIL without pretending the game exposes a complete physics equation.

After the calculation, terrain and verification matter more than adding another decimal place. Level the SPH-2, note whether the target is above or below the gun, choose the correct arc, and fire one ranging round. Correct left-right error with bearing and short-long error by moving to the appropriate range solution for that weapon and arc. The map formulas are stable tools; the Beta-era firing tables are not permanent, so recheck known distances when Early Access or a later balance update changes weapon behaviour.