World of Warships: Legends ship guide

König

Beta
Long-range battleshipMax-range AP sniper: trade from open water and bow-tank between salvos.
Playstyle
  • Push to within secondary range (~4.5 km) so the auto-fire battery starts contributing
  • Avoid: Sniping from the back line
Key characteristics
1.8 sigma accuracy15 km gun rangeImproved HE penSluggish rudder
Community Data

König Community Stats

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Playstyle

Overview

König is a Tier IV German turtleback battleship: her sloped internal armor bounces plunging shells at close range, so the citadel is safer inside secondary range than at long-line trades. The kit is brawl-positive with secondaries out to 4.5 km that punish anyone who closes. HE pen sits at the 1/4 caliber ratio instead of the standard 1/6, so HE spam is a real damage option here - pens roughly 1.5x more armor than a same-caliber peer's HE round. Standout traits: best AP shell velocity in T4 BBs (855).

Positioning

Push to within secondary range (~4.5 km) so the auto-fire battery starts contributing. The turtleback bounces plunging shells, so close range protects the citadel better than long-line trades do; let peers think you are overextending while the kit's brawl angle eats their AP. Bow on between salvos still matters; the bow plate handles overmatch where the turtleback handles plunge.

Potato Avoidance

Sniping from the back line

The turtleback advantage exists only at close range; sitting 17 km out means the kit's defining trait is doing nothing for you, and peer BBs that should be losing the trade are not. If the team will not support the push, pick the cap that does.

Signature Traits

Turtleback armor

Sloped internal armor between the lower belt and the citadel deck. Bounces AP shells that penetrate the upper belt, so close-range broadside trades are survivable against same-tier guns.

Improved HE penetration

HE pen at the 1/4 caliber ratio instead of the standard 1/6. HE-spam is a real damage option here, not just a fire-starter; pens roughly 1.5x more armor than a same-caliber peer's HE, shared by 6/24 T4 BBs.

Flat AP shells

855.0 m/s AP muzzle velocity, best of T4 BBs. Flatter trajectory, less lead, harder to dodge.

Punch-through secondaries

38.0 mm best HE pen across secondary families, best of T4 BBs. Pens hull plates peers' secondaries shatter on.

Long gun range

15.33 km main battery reach, top decile of T4 BBs.

Sluggish rudder

20.3 s rudder shift, worst of T4 BBs. Hard to dodge incoming AP; lean on island cover.

Acquisition

How to get König

König is available in the Brawler Battleships branch of the Germany Tech Tree for 500,000 credits after researching it in the branch. Known module upgrades cost up to 125,000 credits.

Show Germany tech-tree branch diagram
Germany Tech Tree

König sits in the Brawler Battleships branch. The highlighted path shows the local branch context inside the full Germany tree.

Builds Beta

AL Bismarck, AL Prinz Heinrich, and AL Scharnhorst are useful German battleship commander directions. Inspirations usually favor accuracy, reload, AP performance, HP, survivability, or secondary/brawling bonuses depending on how aggressively you want to play.

Open in Build Tool →

Commanders frequently paired with this ship AL BismarckAL Prinz HeinrichAL Scharnhorst

Have a build you swear by? Open it in the Build Tool and hit Save build to share it here.

Cohort position

Hide

Where König sits among Tier IV BBs (24 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.

BestSecondary HE pen38 mm (1 of 4 tied) BestAP velocity855 m/s (1 of 3 tied) Top 10%Main battery range15.33 km (3/24) Top 25%Main battery reload23.4 s (4/24) Top 25%HE velocity850 m/s (5/24) Top 25%AP arming threshold51 mm (6/24) Top 25%Secondary range4.5 km (7/24) Top 25%Max armor356 mm (4/24) Top 25%Citadel belt270 mm (6/23) Bottom 25%Traverse-to-turn ratio2.63 × (22/24) Bottom 25%Main battery caliber305 mm (19/24) Bottom 25%HE DPM87,179 (20/24) Bottom 25%AP shell damage8,000 (21/24) Bottom 25%AA DPS90 (20/24) WorstRudder shift20.3 s (24/24) WorstHE fire chance22% (1 of 2 tied) WorstAP fuse timer0.01 s (1 of 6 tied) WorstNo torpedoes (21 of 24 in cohort)
See 24 mid-pack stats

Not standouts for König -- 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.

Hit points47,100 HP(15/24) Max speed24 kt(13/24) Concealment13.38 km(15/24) Air detection10.7 km(15/24) Sigma1.8(11/24) Fires per minute5.64(16/24) AP DPM205,128(9/24) Main dispersion202.6 m(17/24) Secondary DPM (per side)133,215(15/24) HE alpha1,800(15/23) Secondary fire chance10%(7/23) Acceleration7.7 s(12/24) Engine power63,000 hp(11/24) Turn-speed retention101.6 hp/m(10/24) Displacement30,872 t(10/24) Power-to-weight2.04 hp/t(12/24) AA range3.5 km(12/24) AA threat228(18/23) Repair charges3(11/24) Bow armor30 mm(12/23) Stern armor30 mm(13/23) Deck armor80 mm(15/23) NormSecondary dispersion bracket57(20 of 24 tied at this value) NormRepair heal rate0.5 %/s(20 of 24 tied at this value)

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

Repair 3
Survivability
Hit PointsInitial: 40,700 → 47,100
Displacement30,872 t
Armor range13–356 mm
Plate armor thicknesses13, 19, 20, 25, 30, 50, 60, 80, 100, 120, 135, 140, 150, 170, 175, 180, 200, 265, 270, 350, 356 mm
Armor material/layer entries77
Fire resistanceInitial: 13.3% → 16.6%
Fire duration60 s
Torp Reduction22%
Magazine HP
ƒThe 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.
23,600
Steering gear HP
ƒDurability 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.
14,100
Main Battery
ModuleArtillery: 305 mm L/50 Drh LC/1911
Mounts / barrels5 mounts / 10 barrels
Reload time26 s
Firing range (base)13.9 km
Firing range (top fire control)15.3 km
Turret traverse3 °/s
Shell Grouping (σ)
ƒShell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.
1.8
Max Horiz Disp
ƒHorizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (13936/30·(12−2.2)/1000 + 2.2)·30 = 202.6 m
202.6 m
Max Vert Disp
ƒVertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 202.6 × 0.6 = 121.5 m
121.5 m
Med Horiz Disp
ƒ50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 202.6 × 0.344 (σ=1.8) = 69.7 m
69.7 m
Med Vert Disp
ƒ50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 121.5 × 0.344 (σ=1.8) = 41.8 m
41.8 m
Turret turn time
ƒ180 degrees / 3 deg/s traverse speed = 60 s.
60 s
Base shells/min
ƒ10 broadside guns x 60 / 26 s base reload = 23.1.
23.1
HE shells
HE Damage3,400 → 3,500
HE Velocity850 m/s
Fire Chance22% → 23%
HE penetration
ƒ76 mm ≈ 305 mm caliber / 4 (improved HE penetration: German BBs, Yamato-class, and a handful of others).
76 mm
HE full-salvo alpha
ƒ3,500 HE damage x 10 broadside guns = 35,000.
35,000
Base HE DPM
ƒ35,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 26 s base reload = 80,769.
80,769
Base fires/min
ƒ10 HE shells x 60 / 26 s reload x 23% fire chance = 5.31.
5.31
AP shells
AP Damage8,000 → 8,100
AP Velocity855 m/s → 850 m/s
Min Ricochet45 deg
Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg
Fuse Timer0.01 s
Fuse Threshold51 mm
AP overmatch
ƒfloor(305 mm caliber / 14.3) = 21 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
21 mm
AP Pen Close
ƒCanonical 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 × 2289 × 415^0.69 × 0.305^-1.07 × 850^1.38 = 576.1 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.
576.1 mm
AP Pen Far
ƒSame formula at the ship's max firing range (19.2 km), where the shell has slowed to 398 m/s: 1e-7 × 2289 × 415^0.69 × 0.305^-1.07 × 398^1.38 = 202.2 mm.
202.2 mm
AP full-salvo alpha
ƒ8,100 AP damage x 10 broadside guns = 81,000.
81,000
Base AP DPM
ƒ81,000 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 26 s base reload = 186,923.
186,923
AP AOE Radius
ƒAP 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.
50
AA Defense
AA mount pointsInitial: 0 → 16
Close-range AA DPS
ƒSum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (10×3.5×0.75) + (23×3.5×0.7) + (3×3.5×0.75) = 90. 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.
90
Maximum AA range
ƒLongest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.
3.5 km
37 mm Flakzwilling 308×2 37mm
20 mm Flak 386×1 20mm
20 mm Flakvierling 382×4 20mm
88 mm L/45 MPL C/13 (DP)6×1 88mm
Medium aura
DPS10
Range3.5 km
Far aura
DPS
ƒIncludes 3 continuous AA damage from dual-purpose secondaries firing as AA in this range band.
3
Range3 km
Total DPS in Aura
ƒMedium 10 + Far 3 = 13
13
Near aura
DPS23
Range2 km
Total DPS in Aura
ƒMedium 10 + Far 3 + Near 23 = 36
36
S
Secondary Battery
Mounts20 → 18
Firing range4.5 km
Shell Grouping (σ)1
Secondary dispersion type
ƒMax 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 @ 4.5 km
ƒ4.5 km × 57 + 30 = 286.5 m.
286.5 m
150 mm L/45 MPL C/06 (×14)
Caliber150 mm
Reload time8.57 s
HE Damage1,800
Muzzle Velocity835 m/s
Fire Chance10%
Armor Pen38 mm
Min Ricochet91°
Max Ricochet60°
Show 1 more gun family
88 mm L/45 MPL C/13 (×6)
Caliber88 mm
Reload time4 s
HE Damage1,000
Muzzle Velocity890 m/s
Fire Chance4%
Armor Pen15 mm
Min Ricochet91°
Max Ricochet60°
Maneuverability
Engine moduleEngine: 63,000 hp
Engine power63,000 hp
Maximum speed24 kt
Turning circle radius620 m
Engine power multiplier speed threshold7 kt
Traverse-to-turn ratio2.6× drags
Concealment
Detectability by sea13.38 km
Detectability by air10.7 km
Smoke firing penalty10.22 km
Detect after firing main guns13.38 km
Detect Fire Sea15.38 km
Detect Fire Air13.7 km
Guaranteed Detect2 km
Consumables
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 80 s reload · 15 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 (2)

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

HullUpgrade
  • Hit points40,700 → 47,100
  • Rudder shift27.2 → 20.3 s
  • AA mounts0 → 16
  • Close-range AA DPS0 → 33
  • Maximum AA range0 → 3.5 km
  • Turret traverse3 → 4 °/s
Fire controlUpgrade
  • Main battery range13,936 → 15329.6 m

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 Disp202.6 m
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (13936/30·(12−2.2)/1000 + 2.2)·30 = 202.6 m
Max Vert Disp121.5 m
Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 202.6 × 0.6 = 121.5 m
Med Horiz Disp69.7 m
50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 202.6 × 0.344 (σ=1.8) = 69.7 m
Med Vert Disp41.8 m
50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 121.5 × 0.344 (σ=1.8) = 41.8 m
AP Pen Close576.1 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 × 2289 × 415^0.69 × 0.305^-1.07 × 850^1.38 = 576.1 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.
AP Pen Far202.2 mm
Same formula at the ship's max firing range (19.2 km), where the shell has slowed to 398 m/s: 1e-7 × 2289 × 415^0.69 × 0.305^-1.07 × 398^1.38 = 202.2 mm.
HE penetration76 mm
76 mm ≈ 305 mm caliber / 4 (improved HE penetration: German BBs, Yamato-class, and a handful of others).
Improved HE PenYes
This ship's HE shells use a 1/4 (~0.25) caliber-to-pen ratio instead of the standard 1/6 (~0.167) - 0.249 in this case. Lets HE pen ~76mm armor instead of ~50mm. Hits every German cruiser (150mm CL, 203mm CA) and BB (350mm+), British heavy cruisers / Lion / Nelson, a handful of other premiums.
AP overmatch21 mm
floor(305 mm caliber / 14.3) = 21 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
AP AOE Radius50
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 alpha10
All 10 barrels bear on the broadside.
Turret turn time60 s
180 degrees / 3 deg/s traverse speed = 60 s.
HE full-salvo alpha35,000
3,500 HE damage x 10 broadside guns = 35,000.
AP full-salvo alpha81,000
8,100 AP damage x 10 broadside guns = 81,000.
Base HE DPM80,769
35,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 26 s base reload = 80,769.
Base AP DPM186,923
81,000 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 26 s base reload = 186,923.
Base shells/min23.1
10 broadside guns x 60 / 26 s base reload = 23.1.
Base fires/min5.31
10 HE shells x 60 / 26 s reload x 23% fire chance = 5.31.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS90
Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (10×3.5×0.75) + (23×3.5×0.7) + (3×3.5×0.75) = 90. 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 range3.5 km
Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.
AA threat index228
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.
Near aura range2 km

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 @ 4.5 km286.5 m
4.5 km × 57 + 30 = 286.5 m.

Secondary battery firepower

Secondary DPM (per side)133,215
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: 14×1 150 mm (7/side) × 60/8.57 × 1800 = 88,215 + 6×1 88 mm (3/side) × 60/4 × 1000 = 45,000. Assumes every shell hits (real hit rate is lower; the Brawl matchup tool on the Compare page folds in dispersion + target armor).
Max HE alpha1800
Maximum HE damage per shell across secondary HE families. Best on this ship: 1800 from the 150 mm family.
Max HE fire chance10%
Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 10% from the 150 mm family.
Max HE pen38 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: 38 mm from the 150 mm family.

Armor

Hull HP 40,70047,100 with hull upgrade, 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
Bow30 mm primary (range 19–200 mm)3,000 (6% of HP)
Overmatch not possible at T VAngle bounces 410mm30 mm: HE pens from 203mm+
Bow-tank fits behind this exterior plate. Saturation is FAST here; the cap is often only a few thousand HP.
Hull (midship)170 mm primary (range 30–356 mm)35,300 (75% of HP)
No common caliber overmatches170 mm: no common HE pens
Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest.
Stern30 mm primary (range 19–200 mm)≈ 2,355 (~5% of HP)
Overmatch not possible at T VAngle bounces 410mm30 mm: HE pens from 203mm+
Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation.
Citadel270 mm primary (range 25–270 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).
Superstructure13 mm primary (range 13–350 mm)1,500 (3% 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 HP23,600 magazine HPMagazine detonation1–30% chance · below ~75% HPPer-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 (150 mm mount)separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP800 per-mount HPDestroyed at 0 HPPer-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 (37 mm mount)separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP200 per-mount HPDestroyed at 0 HPPer-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.
Engine (module, research)engine coefficient (unconfirmed)-0.100 research estimateLargest on BB/BC; zero on destroyersEngine durability isn't a per-ship HP field in the binary. This small negative coefficient is non-zero only on battleships, battlecruisers, and the heaviest cruisers, and is exactly zero on every destroyer, so it scales with hull displacement rather than any commander skill. Most likely an engine drag or power term in the same family as the decoded deceleration fields; exact meaning unconfirmed in the current decoder.
Rudder (module)separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP14,100 module HPIncapacitated at 0 HPWhen 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.

Balance History

Balance updates affecting König. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.

Nerf ×1
2025-05-15

Ministry of Balance: New Horizons, Greater Heights

  • Removed small gaps between main guns and their barbettes. This doesn't affect the ship's performance.
Read the full official post
Exteriors

Skins & permanent camouflages

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

  • König default exterior
    DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior

Primary official WG sources

Filtered to official World of Warships: Legends pages where this ship is a focus, reward, line member, or high-context variant mention.