Wisconsin Build & Guide | WoWs Legends

Playstyle

Overview

Wisconsin is a Tier VIII American fast battleship at 32.5 kn. Mobility lets her rotate flanks battleship-fast and pick fights where her guns get the first salvo. AA (750 AA DPS at 5 km, +100% Defensive AA flak burst) is heavy enough to make her the team's air-defense anchor on top of the lead role; CV strikes route around her, not through. Standout traits: best turret traverse rate in T8 BBs (12).

Positioning

Anchor a flank at 14-17 km with bow toward the closest threat, then use the speed advantage at 32.5 kn to rotate to the cap that needs a second battleship rather than the one your team already has. Mobility means you can pick which fight you are in; do not waste it by holding center the whole match.

Potato Avoidance

Using the 32.5-kn speed to push rather than to rotate

The mobility advantage is about picking which cap fight you arrive at, not about leading the brawl line; a fast BB that overextends loses HP that the kit cannot trade back.

Signature Traits

Long DCP window

20.0 s Damage Control duration, best of T8 BBs. Stays fire / flood immune longer per activation.

Long spotter loiter

40.0 s Observation Seaplane duration, best of T8 BBs. Spotting + main-battery range bonus stays up longer.

Heavy armor

439.0 mm max plate, top decile of T8 BBs.

Top-tier AA

750.0 AA DPS, top decile of T8 BBs (median 533.0).

Slow reload

32.4 s reload, bottom decile of T8 BBs. Salvos punish more, but cycle is slower than peers.

Low fire chance secondaries

5.0% best HE fire chance per secondary shell, bottom quartile of T8 BBs. Lights fewer fires in a brawl than peers.

Acquisition

How to get Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition paths: Containers and Campaign. Container chances are shown as the listed odds of receiving this exact ship, dividing grouped ship-pool odds across the resolved ships and including nested container paths when a crate can drop another crate.

ContainersAppears in official container odds below; availability depends on the container being sold or awarded.
CampaignEarnable in the Forward for Freedom campaign; campaign ships can later return through other limited methods.

Best listed chance for this ship

Mystic Lantern 0.02% Superprize: Premium Ship Event containers · Mystic Lantern · 1 of 25 ships

Official WG availability sources

Forward for Freedom Campaign Breakdown Campaign Start: 2025-06-30 · End: 2025-08-03 Official campaign breakdown naming this ship as a campaign/reward-context ship; explicit source windows are used when present, otherwise the end date is inferred from the next indexed campaign breakdown when available.
Official WoWS Legends container odds Containers Official container drop rows linked below include direct and nested effective ship odds.
Through the Spy Glass: Wisconsin Ship feature / release Start: 2025-07-01 · End: open/unknown end Official Through the Spy Glass feature for this ship; useful as a release/availability source, but not a guaranteed current-store listing.

Show direct source rows

Mystic Lantern 0.02% · Superprize: Premium Ship

Builds Beta

Use the official-style build: Main Battery Mod. 2, Propulsion Mod. 2, Concealment System Mod. 1, and Main Battery Mod. 3. William Sims-style survivability fits the role.

Open in Build Tool →

Commanders frequently paired with this ship William Sims

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Cohort position

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Where Wisconsin sits among Tier VIII BBs (25 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.

BestAcceleration7.5 s (1 of 2 tied) Top 10%Max speed32.5 kt (3/25) Top 10%Turn-speed retention230.4 hp/m (3/25) Top 10%AA DPS750 (2/25) Top 10%Max armor439 mm (3/25) Top 25%Main battery range17.38 km (7/25) Top 25%Sigma2 (5/25) Top 25%Main dispersion194 m (4/25) Top 25%Engine power212,000 hp (5/25) Top 25%Power-to-weight3.57 hp/t (5/25) Top 25%AA threat2,460 (4/25) Top 25%Repair heal rate0.66 %/s (7/25) Bottom 25%Traverse-to-turn ratio3.84 × (22/25) Bottom 25%Fires per minute6 (21/25) Bottom 25%HE DPM95,000 (23/25) Bottom 25%AP DPM216,667 (22/25) Bottom 25%Secondary DPM (per side)180,000 (20/25) Bottom 25%HE alpha1,800 (19/23) Bottom 25%Secondary HE pen21 mm (21/23) Bottom 25%AP velocity762 m/s (21/25) Bottom 25%Displacement59,331 t (20/25) Bottom 25%Citadel belt297 mm (21/25) Bottom 10%Main battery reload32.4 s (24/25) WorstSecondary fire chance5% (1 of 3 tied) WorstSecondary range5 km (1 of 12 tied) WorstNo torpedoes (18 of 25 in cohort)

See 19 mid-pack stats

Not standouts for Wisconsin -- 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 points75,500 HP(12/25) Concealment15.84 km(19/25) Air detection12.67 km(17/25) Rudder shift22.4 s(19/25) Main battery caliber406 mm(14/25) HE shell damage5,700(15/25) HE fire chance36%(11/25) AP shell damage13,000(9/25) HE velocity820 m/s(15/25) AP arming threshold68 mm(15/25) AA range5 km(13/25) Repair charges3(11/25) Bow armor32 mm(13/25) Deck armor127 mm(15/25) NormSecondary dispersion bracket57(21 of 25 tied at this value) NormAP fuse timer0.03 s(22 of 25 tied at this value) NormAP ricochet start45°(23 of 25 tied at this value) NormAP auto-bounce angle60°(23 of 25 tied at this value) NormStern armor32 mm(23 of 25 tied at this value)

Peers in this cohort

Show all 24 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 3MBRBDef-AAFighter

Survivability

Hit Points75,500

Displacement59,331 t

Armor range6–439 mm

Plate armor thicknesses6, 16, 19, 25, 32, 38, 50, 51, 58, 76, 127, 142, 152, 157, 163, 179, 181, 184, 287, 297, 307, 343, 368, 439 mm

Armor material/layer entries61

Fire resistance40%

Fire duration60 s

Torp Reduction40%

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.

40,600

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.

22,700

Main Battery

ModuleArtillery: 406 mm Mk7

Mounts / barrels3 mounts / 9 barrels

Reload time36 s

Firing range17.4 km

Turret traverse4 °/s

Shell Grouping (σ)

ƒ

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

2

Max Horiz Disp

ƒ

Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (17380/30·(10−1.6)/1000 + 1.6)·30 = 194 m

194 m

Max Vert Disp

ƒ

Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 194 × 0.6 = 116.4 m

116.4 m

Med Horiz Disp

ƒ

50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 194 × 0.32 (σ=2) = 62 m

62 m

Med Vert Disp

ƒ

50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 116.4 × 0.32 (σ=2) = 37.2 m

37.2 m

Turret turn time

ƒ

180 degrees / 4 deg/s traverse speed = 45 s.

45 s

Base shells/min

ƒ

9 broadside guns x 60 / 36 s base reload = 15.

15

HE shells

HE Damage5,700

HE Velocity820 m/s

Fire Chance36%

HE penetration

ƒ

68 mm ≈ 406 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).

68 mm

HE full-salvo alpha

ƒ

5,700 HE damage x 9 broadside guns = 51,300.

51,300

Base HE DPM

ƒ

51,300 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 36 s base reload = 85,500.

85,500

Installed HE DPM

ƒ

51,300 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 32.4 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 95,000.

95,000

Base fires/min

ƒ

9 HE shells x 60 / 36 s reload x 36% fire chance = 5.4.

5.4

AP shells

AP Damage13,000

AP Velocity762 m/s

Min Ricochet45 deg

Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg

Fuse Timer0.033 s

Fuse Threshold68 mm

AP overmatch

ƒ

floor(406 mm caliber / 14.3) = 28 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).

28 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 × 2380 × 1225^0.69 × 0.406^-1.07 × 762^1.38 = 800.5 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.

800.5 mm

AP Pen Far

ƒ

Same formula at the ship's max firing range (21.7 km), where the shell has slowed to 534 m/s: 1e-7 × 2380 × 1225^0.69 × 0.406^-1.07 × 534^1.38 = 490.1 mm.

490.1 mm

AP full-salvo alpha

ƒ

13,000 AP damage x 9 broadside guns = 117,000.

117,000

Base AP DPM

ƒ

117,000 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 36 s base reload = 195,000.

195,000

Installed AP DPM

ƒ

117,000 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 32.4 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 216,667.

216,667

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.

400

AA Defense

AA mount points69

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: (146×3.5×0.75) + (97×3.5×0.7) + (49×3.5×0.75) = 750. 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.

750

Maximum AA range

ƒ

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

5 km

40 mm Bofors Mk220×4 40mm

20 mm Oerlikon Mk.449×1 20mm

127 mm Mk32 (DP)10×2 127mm

DPS

ƒ

Includes 49 continuous AA damage from dual-purpose secondaries firing as AA in this range band.

49

Range5 km

DPS146

Range3.5 km

Total DPS in Aura

ƒ

Far 49 + Medium 146 = 195

195

DPS97

Range2 km

Total DPS in Aura

ƒ

Far 49 + Medium 146 + Near 97 = 292

292

S

Secondary Battery

Mounts10

Firing range5.0 km

Shell Grouping (σ)1

Caliber127 mm

Reload time6 s

HE Damage1,800

Muzzle Velocity792 m/s

Fire Chance5%

Armor Pen21 mm

Min Ricochet91°

Max Ricochet60°

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 @ 5 km

ƒ

5 km × 57 + 30 = 315 m.

315 m

Maneuverability

Engine moduleEngine: 212,000 hp

Engine power212,000 hp

Maximum speed32.5 kt

Turning circle radius920 m

Engine power multiplier speed threshold7 kt

Traverse-to-turn ratio3.8× drags

Concealment

Detectability by sea15.84 km

Detectability by air12.67 km

Smoke firing penalty15.28 km

Detect after firing main guns15.84 km

Detect Fire Sea17.84 km

Detect Fire Air15.67 km

Guaranteed Detect2 km

✦

Consumables

Damage Control Party∞ charges · 80 s reload · 20 s active

Repair Party3 charges · 80 s reload · 28 s active · 0.66% heal per second · 18.5% of max HP total heal

Choose one

Catapult Fighter4 charges · 60 s reload · 55 s active · 5.56 km patrol radius · 1 squadron size

Observation Seaplane4 charges · 200 s reload · 40 s active · 1 squadron size · +10% main-battery range bonus

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

Choose one

Main Battery Reload Booster∞ charges · 180 s reload · 20 s active · +65% reload boost

Defensive AA Fire4 charges · 120 s reload · 25 s active · +100% flak burst boost

Module options (1)

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

HullUpgrade

Turret traverse4 → 12 °/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)2

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

Max Horiz Disp194 m

Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (17380/30·(10−1.6)/1000 + 1.6)·30 = 194 m

Max Vert Disp116.4 m

Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 194 × 0.6 = 116.4 m

Med Horiz Disp62 m

50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 194 × 0.32 (σ=2) = 62 m

Med Vert Disp37.2 m

50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 116.4 × 0.32 (σ=2) = 37.2 m

AP Pen Close800.5 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 × 2380 × 1225^0.69 × 0.406^-1.07 × 762^1.38 = 800.5 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.

AP Pen Far490.1 mm

Same formula at the ship's max firing range (21.7 km), where the shell has slowed to 534 m/s: 1e-7 × 2380 × 1225^0.69 × 0.406^-1.07 × 534^1.38 = 490.1 mm.

HE penetration68 mm

68 mm ≈ 406 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).

AP overmatch28 mm

floor(406 mm caliber / 14.3) = 28 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).

AP AOE Radius400

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 alpha9

All 9 barrels bear on the broadside.

Turret turn time45 s

180 degrees / 4 deg/s traverse speed = 45 s.

HE full-salvo alpha51,300

5,700 HE damage x 9 broadside guns = 51,300.

AP full-salvo alpha117,000

13,000 AP damage x 9 broadside guns = 117,000.

Base HE DPM85,500

51,300 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 36 s base reload = 85,500.

Base AP DPM195,000

117,000 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 36 s base reload = 195,000.

Installed HE DPM95,000

51,300 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 32.4 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 95,000.

Installed AP DPM216,667

117,000 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 32.4 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 216,667.

Base shells/min15

9 broadside guns x 60 / 36 s base reload = 15.

Installed shells/min16.7

9 broadside guns x 60 / 32.4 s installed Artillery reload = 16.7.

Base fires/min5.4

9 HE shells x 60 / 36 s reload x 36% fire chance = 5.4.

Installed fires/min6

9 HE shells x 60 / 32.4 s installed reload x 36% fire chance = 6.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS750

Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (146×3.5×0.75) + (97×3.5×0.7) + (49×3.5×0.75) = 750. 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 range5 km

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

AA threat index2460

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 @ 5 km315 m

5 km × 57 + 30 = 315 m.

Secondary battery firepower

Secondary DPM (per side)180,000

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: 10×2 127 mm (10/side) × 60/6 × 1800 = 180,000. 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 127 mm family.

Max HE fire chance5%

Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 5% from the 127 mm family.

Max HE pen21 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: 21 mm from the 127 mm family.

Armor

Hull HP 75,500, 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	32 mm primary (range 32–50 mm)	3,300 (4% of HP)	Overmatched by 460mm+ (Aki, Musashi)Angle bounces 410mm32 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)	19 mm primary (range 16–439 mm)	56,600 (75% of HP)	Overmatched by 283mm+ (Scharnhorst '43, Schill)Angle bounces 203mm19 mm: HE pens from 127mm+	Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest.
Stern	32 mm primary (range 6–343 mm)	4,500 (6% of HP)	Overmatched by 460mm+ (Aki, Musashi)Angle bounces 410mm32 mm: HE pens from 203mm+	Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation.
Citadel	297 mm primary (range 38–297 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	127 mm primary (range 127–439 mm)	5,100 (7% 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	40,600 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 (127 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 (40 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	22,700 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 Wisconsin can equip, from in-game data.

DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior
Wisconsin IndependenceDecorative

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Community Stats