Kawachi Build & Guide | WoWs Legends

Playstyle

Overview

Kawachi is a Tier III Japanese battleship built around the super-heal: her Repair Party returns more HP per charge than any peer in the cohort, so her sustain is what lets her hold trades that other battleships would have to disengage from. Standout traits: top-decile sharp rudder in T3 BBs (12.5 s) and top-decile surface detection in T3 BBs (11.9 km).

Positioning

Anchor a flank at 10-13 km where the team can rotate behind you and where island cover is within one heal cycle. The super-heal lets you hold mid-range trades that a standard BB would lose, but only if you finish each trade before the next focus volley arrives; open-water trades faster than the heal cycles still drain HP net-negative.

Potato Avoidance

Treating the super-heal as a license to push

The Repair Party out-cycles what a standard BB can recover, but it does not out-cycle two flanks of focus fire at once. Spend the heal on absorbed damage from a trade you won, not on damage you took because you led the push alone.

Signature Traits

Fast turret traverse

4.5°/s turret traverse, best of T3 BBs. Tracks fast-rotating targets peers can't keep up with.

Burny secondaries

12.0% best HE fire chance per secondary shell (before target resistance), best of T3 BBs. Stacks fires faster than peers in a brawl.

Sharp rudder

12.5 s rudder shift, top decile of T3 BBs. Snappy weave.

Best-in-class stealth

11.86 km surface detect, top decile of T3 BBs. Stays dark longer.

Short gun range

13.15 km main battery reach, bottom decile of T3 BBs. Outranged by peers; close distance or lean on terrain.

Low AP DPM

144000 AP DPM, bottom quartile of T3 BBs. Citadel windows matter more than spam.

Acquisition

How to get Kawachi

Kawachi is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition path: Premium/Event.

Premium/EventAvailability usually depends on store rotations, event reruns, collaborations, coupons, or special offers.

Builds Beta

AL Fusou, Arpeggio Haruna, and Arpeggio Kirishima are useful Japanese battleship commander directions. Inspirations usually favor accuracy, reload, AP performance, HP, survivability, or secondary/brawling bonuses depending on how aggressively you want to play.

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Commanders frequently paired with this ship AL Fusou Arpeggio Haruna Arpeggio Kirishima

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Cohort position

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Where Kawachi sits among Tier III BBs (17 ships). Notable standouts are shown first; the rest of the cohort-ranked stats are in the expand below. Acquisition variants (Black Friday, Founders Edition) are counted once with their base ship, not as separate peers.

BestStealth profile11.86 km / 9.49 km (1/17 / 1/17) BestRudder shift12.5 s (1/17) BestSecondary fire chance12% (1 of 2 tied) Top 10%Traverse-to-turn ratio4.28 × (2/17) Top 10%Acceleration6 s (2/17) Top 25%Hit points43,700 HP (5/17) Top 25%Sigma1.8 (5/17) Top 25%HE shell damage5,100 (3/17) Top 25%Main dispersion178.7 m (4/17) Top 25%Secondary DPM (per side)166,800 (5/17) Top 25%HE alpha2,200 (3/16) Top 25%AP velocity869 m/s (3/17) Top 25%Max armor305 mm (5/17) Top 25%Citadel belt305 mm (3/17) Bottom 25%Max speed20 kt (16/17) Bottom 25%AA threat24 (12/14) WorstMain battery range13.15 km (17/17) WorstAP DPM144,000 (1 of 2 tied) WorstEnd plates25 mm (1 of 5 tied / 1 of 5 tied)

See 20 mid-pack stats

Not standouts for Kawachi -- here's where she sits on every other ranked stat in the cohort. Stats tagged NORM are tied across more than half the cohort, so the value is the cohort default rather than a standout.

Main battery caliber305 mm(9/17) Main battery reload27 s(11/17) HE fire chance29%(7/17) Fires per minute5.16(13/17) HE DPM90,667(11/17) AP shell damage8,100(11/17) Secondary HE pen25 mm(6/16) HE velocity869 m/s(6/17) AP arming threshold51 mm(9/17) Engine power27,300 hp(12/16) Turn-speed retention48.8 hp/m(10/16) Displacement22,900 t(8/17) Power-to-weight1.19 hp/t(11/16) Secondary range4 km(11/17) AA DPS8(13/17) AA range3 km(9/17) Repair charges3(9/17) Deck armor102 mm(7/17) NormSecondary dispersion bracket57(14 of 17 tied at this value) NormAP fuse timer0.01 s(13 of 17 tied at this value)

Peers in this cohort

Show all 16 peers

Stats & specs

Customize in the Build Tool →Shell ballistics chart More tools in the WoWS Legends Data Lab

All values are ship base stats with modifications and upgrade changes denoted inline.

Repair 3

Survivability

Hit Points43,700

Displacement22,900 t

Armor range10–305 mm

Plate armor thicknesses10, 16, 19, 25, 31, 50, 76, 102, 152, 178, 203, 254, 305 mm

Armor material/layer entries42

Fire resistance10%

Fire duration60 s

Torp Reduction9%

Magazine HP

ƒ

The magazine is the module a detonation comes from. Penetrating hits to it raise the detonation chance from 1% toward 30% as its HP is worn down, so a larger magazine pool rides out citadel hits longer before a detonation becomes likely.

21,900

Steering gear HP

ƒ

Durability of the steering gears. As this pool drops, hits are likelier to jam the rudder; unlike most modules the steering can be knocked out and repaired but is never permanently destroyed.

13,100

Main Battery

ModuleArtillery: 305 mm 41st Year Type

Mounts / barrels6 mounts / 12 barrels

Reload time30 s

Firing range13.2 km

Turret traverse4.5 °/s

Shell Grouping (σ)

ƒ

Shell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.

1.8

Max Horiz Disp

ƒ

Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (13150/30·(10−2.8)/1000 + 2.8)·30 = 178.7 m

178.7 m

Max Vert Disp

ƒ

Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 178.7 × 0.8 = 142.9 m

142.9 m

Med Horiz Disp

ƒ

50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 178.7 × 0.344 (σ=1.8) = 61.4 m

61.4 m

Med Vert Disp

ƒ

50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 142.9 × 0.344 (σ=1.8) = 49.2 m

49.2 m

Turret turn time

ƒ

180 degrees / 4.5 deg/s traverse speed = 40 s.

40 s

Base shells/min

ƒ

8 broadside guns x 60 / 30 s base reload = 16.

16

HE shells

HE Damage5,100

HE Velocity869 m/s

Fire Chance29%

HE penetration

ƒ

51 mm ≈ 305 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).

51 mm

HE full-salvo alpha

ƒ

5,100 HE damage x 8 broadside guns = 40,800.

40,800

Base HE DPM

ƒ

40,800 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 30 s base reload = 81,600.

81,600

Base fires/min

ƒ

8 HE shells x 60 / 30 s reload x 29% fire chance = 4.64.

4.64

AP shells

AP Damage8,100

AP Velocity869 m/s

Min Ricochet45 deg

Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg

Fuse Timer0.01 s

Fuse Threshold51 mm

AP overmatch

ƒ

floor(305 mm caliber / 14.3) = 21 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).

21 mm

AP Pen Close

ƒ

Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: 1e-7 × Krupp × mass^0.69 × caliber_m^-1.07 × v0^1.38 = 1e-7 × 2028 × 386^0.69 × 0.305^-1.07 × 869^1.38 = 500.6 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.

500.6 mm

AP Pen Far

ƒ

Same formula at the ship's max firing range (16.4 km), where the shell has slowed to 408.8 m/s: 1e-7 × 2028 × 386^0.69 × 0.305^-1.07 × 408.8^1.38 = 176.8 mm.

176.8 mm

AP full-salvo alpha

ƒ

8,100 AP damage x 8 broadside guns = 64,800.

64,800

Base AP DPM

ƒ

64,800 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 30 s base reload = 129,600.

129,600

AP AOE Radius

ƒ

AP shell over-penetration splash radius; scales with shell mass. Wickes 102mm = 3, standard 152mm CL ~ 20, Iowa 406mm ~ 270, Yamato 460mm = 400, Incomparable 650mm = 550 (max). Larger value = bigger splash damage area when AP over-pens.

40

AA Defense

AA mount points4

Close-range AA DPS

ƒ

Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (3×3.5×0.75) = 8. Covers AA-only mounts plus dual-purpose secondaries (Bismarck 105mm, USN 5"/38 cruiser secondaries) and dual-purpose main batteries (Sumner-class 5"/38, Akizuki-line 100mm). Formula validated against in-game captures on California, Sumner, Manfred von Richthofen, Dante Alighieri (exact) and within +/-17% on the remaining verified ships.

8

Maximum AA range

ƒ

Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.

3 km

76.2 mm 3rd Year Type4×1 76mm

DPS3

Range3 km

S

Secondary Battery

Mounts18

Firing range4.0 km

Shell Grouping (σ)1

Secondary dispersion type

ƒ

Max dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.

Standard

Max secondary dispersion @ 4 km

ƒ

4 km × 57 + 30 = 258 m.

258 m

Caliber120 mm

Reload time5 s

HE Damage2,100

Muzzle Velocity660 m/s

Fire Chance10%

Armor Pen20 mm

Min Ricochet91°

Max Ricochet60°

Show 2 more gun families

Caliber120 mm

Reload time5 s

HE Damage2,100

Muzzle Velocity660 m/s

Fire Chance10%

Armor Pen20 mm

Min Ricochet91°

Max Ricochet60°

Caliber152 mm

Reload time10 s

HE Damage2,200

Muzzle Velocity825 m/s

Fire Chance12%

Armor Pen25 mm

Min Ricochet91°

Max Ricochet60°

Maneuverability

Engine moduleEngine: 27,300 hp

Engine power27,300 hp

Maximum speed20 kt

Turning circle radius560 m

Engine power multiplier speed threshold7 kt

Traverse-to-turn ratio4.3× drags

Concealment

Detectability by sea11.86 km

Detectability by air9.49 km

Smoke firing penalty9.08 km

Detect after firing main guns11.86 km

Detect Fire Sea13.86 km

Detect Fire Air12.49 km

Guaranteed Detect2 km

✦

Consumables

Damage Control Party∞ charges · 80 s reload · 10 s active

Repair Party3 charges · 80 s reload · 28 s active · 0.5% heal per second · 14% of max HP total heal

Secondary Battery Booster3 charges · 160 s reload · 30 s active · +100% damage boost · +50% reload boost

Module options (1)

Stats above use the fully-upgraded modules. These are the research-tree alternatives; trade-offs are flagged.

HullUpgrade

Turret traverse4.5 → 5 °/s

See all derived stats

Show ▾

Numbers the spec table cannot show directly: alpha-strike math, DPM, dispersion, AP penetration. Click the formula chip on any row to reveal how it is calculated.

Main battery formulas

Shell Grouping (σ)1.8

Shell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.

Max Horiz Disp178.7 m

Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (13150/30·(10−2.8)/1000 + 2.8)·30 = 178.7 m

Max Vert Disp142.9 m

Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 178.7 × 0.8 = 142.9 m

Med Horiz Disp61.4 m

50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 178.7 × 0.344 (σ=1.8) = 61.4 m

Med Vert Disp49.2 m

50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 142.9 × 0.344 (σ=1.8) = 49.2 m

AP Pen Close500.6 mm

Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: 1e-7 × Krupp × mass^0.69 × caliber_m^-1.07 × v0^1.38 = 1e-7 × 2028 × 386^0.69 × 0.305^-1.07 × 869^1.38 = 500.6 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.

AP Pen Far176.8 mm

Same formula at the ship's max firing range (16.4 km), where the shell has slowed to 408.8 m/s: 1e-7 × 2028 × 386^0.69 × 0.305^-1.07 × 408.8^1.38 = 176.8 mm.

HE penetration51 mm

51 mm ≈ 305 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).

AP overmatch21 mm

floor(305 mm caliber / 14.3) = 21 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).

AP AOE Radius40

AP shell over-penetration splash radius; scales with shell mass. Wickes 102mm = 3, standard 152mm CL ~ 20, Iowa 406mm ~ 270, Yamato 460mm = 400, Incomparable 650mm = 550 (max). Larger value = bigger splash damage area when AP over-pens.

Broadside guns used for alpha8

Barrels that can bear on one beam (8 of 12); casemate/wing mounts only fire one side.

Turret turn time40 s

180 degrees / 4.5 deg/s traverse speed = 40 s.

HE full-salvo alpha40,800

5,100 HE damage x 8 broadside guns = 40,800.

AP full-salvo alpha64,800

8,100 AP damage x 8 broadside guns = 64,800.

Base HE DPM81,600

40,800 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 30 s base reload = 81,600.

Base AP DPM129,600

64,800 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 30 s base reload = 129,600.

Base shells/min16

8 broadside guns x 60 / 30 s base reload = 16.

Base fires/min4.64

8 HE shells x 60 / 30 s reload x 29% fire chance = 4.64.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS8

Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (3×3.5×0.75) = 8. Covers AA-only mounts plus dual-purpose secondaries (Bismarck 105mm, USN 5"/38 cruiser secondaries) and dual-purpose main batteries (Sumner-class 5"/38, Akizuki-line 100mm). Formula validated against in-game captures on California, Sumner, Manfred von Richthofen, Dante Alighieri (exact) and within +/-17% on the remaining verified ships.

Maximum AA range3 km

Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.

AA threat index24

SUM over AA auras of (aura DPS x aura range km). A plane crossing the AA bubble is exposed to each aura for a time proportional to that aura's range, so long-reach DPS is worth more than the same DPS in a short bubble. Units: DPS*km; used to rank overall AA threat across the cohort.

Secondary battery dispersion

Secondary dispersion typeStandard

Max dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.

Max secondary dispersion @ 4 km258 m

4 km × 57 + 30 = 258 m.

Secondary battery firepower

Secondary DPM (per side)166,800

Sum across all secondary families of (per-side barrels × 60 / reload_s × alpha), where per-side barrels = mounts × barrels-per-mount / 2 (the guns that bear on one broadside target). Per-family: 4×1 120 mm (2/side) × 60/5 × 2100 = 50,400 + 4×1 120 mm (2/side) × 60/5 × 2100 = 50,400 + 10×1 152 mm (5/side) × 60/10 × 2200 = 66,000. Assumes every shell hits (real hit rate is lower; the Brawl matchup tool on the Compare page folds in dispersion + target armor).

Max HE alpha2200

Maximum HE damage per shell across secondary HE families. Best on this ship: 2200 from the 152 mm family.

Max HE fire chance12%

Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 12% from the 152 mm family.

Max HE pen25 mm

Maximum HE armor penetration across secondary HE families (caliber × 1/6 for most nations; 1/4 for German/UK BBs). Shells whose pen falls under a plate's armor thickness shatter for 0 hull damage though fire chance still applies. Best on this ship: 25 mm from the 152 mm family.

Armor

Hull HP 43,700, distributed across 5 hull zones, each with its own plate thicknesses, saturation cap, and pen thresholds. HP caps are the exact in-game values, not estimated.

Section	Plates	HP cap	Threats	Tactic
Bow	25 mm primary (range 16–102 mm)	2,700 (6% of HP)	Overmatch not possible at T IVAngle bounces 356mm25 mm: HE pens from 150mm+	Bow-tank fits behind this exterior plate. Saturation is FAST here; the cap is often only a few thousand HP.
Hull (midship)	152 mm primary (range 25–152 mm)	32,800 (75% of HP)	No common caliber overmatches152 mm: no common HE pens	Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest.
Stern	25 mm primary (range 16–102 mm)	3,000 (7% of HP)	Overmatch not possible at T IVAngle bounces 356mm25 mm: HE pens from 150mm+	Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation.
Citadel	305 mm primary (range 16–305 mm)	≈ 165,500 (effectively no cap)	Citadel pen ×0.10 damageOver-pen: ×0.10 damage	Effectively no cap; citadel pool sits at ~165k HP on every ship. Damage is gated by pen/over-pen multipliers instead (×0.10 direct pen, ×0.10 over-pen).
Superstructure	10 mm primary (range 10–254 mm)	2,000 (5% of HP)	Any HE ≥16 mm pens at full damage	Any HE ≥16 mm pens at full damage. HE-spam target, and the section saturates fast (often only a few thousand HP).
Turret (module, per magazine)	separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP	21,900 magazine HP	Magazine detonation1–30% chance · below ~75% HP	Per-turret powder-magazine HP. Detonation chance scales from 1% (no mag damage) to 30% (full mag damage); this range is the in-game value. Detonation can't roll while the ship is above ~75% HP (the standard detonation-protection threshold, not a per-ship stat). Smaller magazines saturate to the 30% ceiling faster.
Secondary mount (152 mm mount)	separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP	800 per-mount HP	Destroyed at 0 HP	Per-mount HP for the heaviest secondary on this ship. A mount destroyed at 0 HP is out for the rest of the battle; DCP does not repair destroyed mounts. Smaller (lighter-caliber) secondaries typically share the same HP value.
AA mount (76 mm mount)	separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP	200 per-mount HP	Destroyed at 0 HP	Per-mount HP for the heaviest AA on this ship. An AA mount destroyed at 0 HP stops shooting down planes for the rest of the battle; DCP does not repair destroyed mounts. HE shells specifically target AA mounts since the small-caliber HP pool falls fast.
Rudder (module)	separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP	13,100 module HP	Incapacitated at 0 HP	When module HP reaches 0 the rudder locks at its current angle until DCP repairs it. Repair via Damage Control Party.

Saturation cap = HP a section can absorb before further damage to it is reduced (the "bow-tank" effect). Citadel pool is ~165k on every ship (effectively no cap); damage is gated by pen/over-pen multipliers instead. Superstructure saturates fast but HE always pens regardless of the plate thickness. Rudder (and other module HPs) are a separate pool from ship HP: damaging a module doesn't drain ship HP. Incapacitated modules like the rudder and engine are restored by DCP, but secondary and AA mounts destroyed at 0 HP stay out for the rest of the battle.

Shell ballistics chart

AP penetration, impact velocity, flight time and impact angle vs range. Click to load the interactive chart.

Exteriors

Skins & permanent camouflages

Every custom exterior Kawachi can equip, from in-game data.

DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior

Kawachi

Kawachi Community Stats

Kawachi Community Stats

Playstyle

Overview

Positioning

Potato Avoidance

Signature Traits

How to get Kawachi

Builds Beta

Cohort position

Peers in this cohort

Stats & specs

See all derived stats

Main battery formulas

AA defense

Secondary battery dispersion

Secondary battery firepower

Armor

Shell ballistics chart

Skins & permanent camouflages

Primary official WG sources