Cyclone
Beta- Hold mid-cap distance and lean into gunboat trades from cover where the peer destroyer cannot match you…
- Avoid: Trading guns in open water against peer DDs
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Cyclone Community Stats
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Cyclone Community Stats
Record History
Playstyle
Overview
Cyclone is a Tier IV French gunboat destroyer: her damage comes from sustained main battery pressure on caps and open-water trades. Torpedoes are a secondary threat for closing lanes, not her main damage. Standout traits: best HE alpha in T4 DDs (2,050) and best HE fire chance in T4 DDs (9).
Positioning
Hold mid-cap distance and lean into gunboat trades from cover where the peer destroyer cannot match your fires-per-minute. Avoid open-water duels with ships running smoke or radar; your damage is mostly gunfire, and gunfire from cover wins more than from blue water. Your guns lose penetration at range, so aim AP at broadsides you can still citadel and put HE into superstructures and upper-hull sections, rather than the bow-in or belt armor your shells bounce and shatter on.
Potato Avoidance
Trading guns in open water against peer DDs
Your damage is sustained main-battery pressure from cover (the torpedoes are a secondary threat), so open-water duels just stack incoming HE on you while you fire back.
Signature Traits
+20% speed, 120 s duration. Engine Boost consumable temporarily raises top speed. Mobility on demand to reposition, chase a kill, or break contact.
- Heavy HE shells · 2050.0 damage
- High fire chance · 9.0%
- Deep-fuse AP · 0.03 s
- Big-caliber overmatch · 9.0 mm
- Overmatch specialist
22.0 mm AP arming threshold, worst of T4 DDs. Over-pens thin plates; the trade-off pays off when most targets are battleship belt armor.
~17.9 s to 90% of top speed, bottom decile of T4 DDs. Sluggish rebuild after a turn or stop; the engine power-boost fades early, so the mid-range crawls.
How to get Cyclone
Cyclone is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition path: Premium/Event.
Official WG availability sources
- Loyalty Reward 2023 Event/store source Start: 2023-04-10 · End: open/unknown end Official ship/event post that can indicate store, collaboration, event, return, or limited availability.
- 5 Years Strong: Loyalty Reward for All Captains! Event/store source Start: 2024-03-25 · End: open/unknown end Official ship/event post that can indicate store, collaboration, event, return, or limited availability.
- 7 Years Strong: New Golden Anchor Event & Loyalty Rewards Event/store source Start: 2026-03-30 · End: open/unknown end Official ship/event post that can indicate store, collaboration, event, return, or limited availability.
Builds Beta
Pair with a commander whose unique skill complements her main armament; check the build tool for current recommendations.
Have a build you swear by? Open it in the Build Tool and hit Save build to share it here.
Cohort position
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Where Cyclone sits among Tier IV DDs (21 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.
See 17 mid-pack stats
Not standouts for Cyclone -- 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.
Peers in this cohort
Stats & specs
Customize in the Build Tool →Shell ballistics chartpatched
- baseline6In-game data
- 2024-03-216.5Ministry of Balance: Spring Changes Main Battery Reload Time decreased from 10 to 6.5 seconds.
- 2025-04-036April Update: The Bonds of Loyalty Main battery reload time reduced from 6.5 to 6.0 s.
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Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model:ƒ
Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range:ƒ
50%-hit horizontal radius:ƒ
50%-hit vertical radius:ƒ
180 degrees / 10 deg/s traverse speed = 18 s.ƒ
4 broadside guns x 60 / 6 s base reload = 40.HE shells
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22 mm ≈ 130 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).ƒ
2,050 HE damage x 4 broadside guns = 8,200.ƒ
8,200 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 6 s base reload = 82,000.ƒ
40 shells/min x 9% fire chance = 3.6.AP shells
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floor(130 mm caliber / 14.3) = 9 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).ƒ
Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: . Matches the in-game spec card.ƒ
Same formula at the ship's max firing range (12.5 km), where the shell has slowed to 295.1 m/s: .ƒ
2,450 AP damage x 4 broadside guns = 9,800.ƒ
9,800 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 6 s base reload = 98,000.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.ƒ
Estimate of WG's in-game value; matches the in-game port screen within ±5%. Saturation: most targets only intersect one hull section, so the sim transfers ~1/3 of the warhead alpha (2/3 when the warhead blast >= 5000 and the burst reaches a second section). For this ship: .ƒ
Time to rotate the launchers 180 deg: .ƒ
One side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 6 x 11,233 = 67,398.ƒ
Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (1×3.5×1) + (4×3.5×0.95) = 17. 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.ƒ
Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.ƒ
Medium 1 + Near 4 = 5ƒ
Time to reach 90% of top speed (32.4 kt of 36 kt), from our in-house acceleration model.ƒ
Time to reach 99% of top speed (35.6 kt of 36 kt). 99% rather than 100% because true top speed is asymptotic (thrust meets drag), so the last fraction of a knot is never quite gained.ƒ
How many degrees the turret can swing for each degree the hull turns. Turn rate , so . Below 5 the turrets drag in a turning fight; 25+ keeps up with any rudder.ƒ
max(base sea detectability, gun-firing bloom range). Firing never pulls your detection closer than base concealment.
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 40 s reload · 5 s active
Smoke Generator2 charges · 240 s reload · 20 s emit / 73 s cloud active
Engine Boost2 charges · 180 s reload · 120 s active · +20% speed bonus
Repair Party2 charges · 80 s reload · 28 s active · 1,638 HP (14% of max HP) total heal (per charge) ƒ
Heal per second (0.5%) x effective active time (28 s) = up to 14% of max HP restored per charge.ƒ
14% per charge x 2 charges = up to 28% of max HP if the whole Repair Party loadout is used.ƒ
0.5% of max HP (11,700 HP) per second = 58 HP/s. WoWS heals a flat percent of MAX HP each second, so this rate holds at any health level.
See all derived stats
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All values are ship base stats with modifications and upgrade changes denoted inline.
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
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model: $\sigma_H = \left(\dfrac{R}{30}\cdot\dfrac{\text{idealRadius}-\text{minRadius}}{\text{idealDistance}} + \text{minRadius}\right)\cdot 30$ $= \left(\dfrac{10020}{30}\cdot\dfrac{8-0.5}{1000} + 0.5\right)\cdot 30 = 90.1\,\text{m}$How wide your shells scatter at 10 km, from the same dispersion model as the max-range figure above. Picking a fixed range makes this number directly comparable from ship to ship: max-range dispersion makes a longer-range gun look worse even when it's tighter at any common range. The interactive Dispersion tab on the Charts card plots the full curve from 0 to max range.Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: $\sigma_V = \sigma_H \cdot \text{radiusOnMax}$ $= 90.1 \cdot 0.6 = 54.1\,\text{m}$How tall the same scatter ellipse is at 10 km. Comparable from ship to ship for the same reason as the width value above.50%-hit horizontal radius: $\sigma_{H,50} = \sigma_H \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 90.1 \cdot 0.32\;(\sigma = 2) = 28.8\,\text{m}$50%-hit vertical radius: $\sigma_{V,50} = \sigma_V \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 54.1 \cdot 0.32\;(\sigma = 2) = 17.3\,\text{m}$Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot K \cdot m^{0.69} \cdot d^{-1.07} \cdot v_0^{1.38}$ $= 10^{-7}\cdot 1803 \cdot 32.05^{0.69} \cdot 0.13^{-1.07} \cdot 725^{1.38} = 155\,\text{mm}$. Matches the in-game spec card.Same formula at the ship's max firing range (12.5 km), where the shell has slowed to 295.1 m/s: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot 1803 \cdot 32.05^{0.69} \cdot 0.13^{-1.07} \cdot 295.1^{1.38} = 44.8\,\text{mm}$.22 mm ≈ 130 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).floor(130 mm caliber / 14.3) = 9 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).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.All 4 barrels bear on the broadside.180 degrees / 10 deg/s traverse speed = 18 s.2,050 HE damage x 4 broadside guns = 8,200.2,450 AP damage x 4 broadside guns = 9,800.8,200 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 6 s base reload = 82,000.9,800 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 6 s base reload = 98,000.4 broadside guns x 60 / 6 s base reload = 40.40 shells/min x 9% fire chance = 3.6.Torpedoes
detectability / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).range / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).2 launchers x 3 tubes.6 (centerline launchers train across - full salvo to either side).All tubes hitting one target: tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 6 x 11,233 = 67,398.One side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 6 x 11,233 = 67,398.AA defense
Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (1×3.5×1) + (4×3.5×0.95) = 17. 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.Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.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.Armor Beta
Hull HP 11,700, 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.
Overmatched by 134+ guns across the bracket. Can’t reliably bow-tank; gets bow-citadelled and overpenned.
Superstructure and extremities take HE pens and AP overpens from nearly any gun: steady chip damage. Fire resistance 17%, fires burn 30s. Range-by-range in the ballistics tool →
| Section | Plates | HP cap | Threats | Tactic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | 10 mm | 1,800 (15% of HP) | Overmatched by 150mm+ (De Ruyter, Karlsruhe)Angle bounces 127mm10 mm: HE pens from 127mm+ | Bow-tank fits behind this exterior plate. Saturation is FAST here; the cap is often only a few thousand HP. |
| Stern | 10 mm | 1,100 (9% of HP) | Overmatched by 150mm+ (De Ruyter, Karlsruhe)Angle bounces 127mm10 mm: HE pens from 127mm+ | Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation. |
| Citadel | 10 mm | ≈ 165,500 (effectively no cap) | Citadel pen: full damageOver-pen: ×0.10 damage | Effectively no cap; citadel pool sits at ~165k HP on every ship. An AP citadel penetration deals the shell's full damage, the biggest single hit available; only over-penetrations are damped, to ×0.10. |
| Superstructure | 10 mm | 600 (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 | 5,900 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. |
| AA mount (37 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 | 3,500 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.
3D armor viewer
Acceleration and Ballistics Chart
Balance History
Balance updates affecting Cyclone. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.
April Update: The Bonds of Loyalty
- Maximum speed increased from 30 to 36 kts.
- Main battery reload time reduced from 6.5 to 6.0 s.
Ministry of Balance: Spring Changes
- Main Battery Reload Time decreased from 10 to 6.5 seconds.
- Torpedo speed increased from 57 to 65 knots.
- Repair Party moved from slot 2 to slot 4, making this an additional consumable for the ship.
- Overview traits changed: Added Slow trait. Agile trait was changed to Heal Consumable.
- Italian destroyers from Tier VI and up quickly lose the ability to stand in gun duels and aren't designed for torpedo warfare. We're improving the reload on these SAP gunboats to bridge the gap:
Skins & permanent camouflages
Every custom exterior Cyclone can equip, from in-game data.
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.
