World of Warships: Legends ship guide

Hércules

Also called: 赫丘利 Beta
Tutorial-tier shipLearn the fundamentals: movement, aim, shell travel, and reading the minimap.
Playstyle
  • Stay near your team; do not push ahead alone
  • Avoid: Sailing in a straight line
Key characteristics
11 km gun rangeStrong torpedo beltSharp rudderWide dispersion
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Community Data

Hércules Community Stats

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Playstyle

Overview

Hércules is a Tier I Pan-American cruiser - a tutorial-tier ship. The kit is for learning basic mechanics: movement, aiming, shell travel time, gun rotation, and reading the minimap. Match impact comes from making fewer mistakes than the other Tier I players, not from gear advantages. Notable: best torpedo belt percent in T1 CAs (7) and best main battery range in T1 CAs (11.1 km).

Positioning

Stay near your team; do not push ahead alone. At Tier I the goal is practicing the basics, so pick a teammate to follow and learn how to lead your shots while their ship is in your field of vision.

Potato Avoidance

Sailing in a straight line

Even Tier I players will lead a predictable target; learn to make small course changes between salvos to break enemy aim. This is the single highest-impact habit to build at this tier.

Signature Traits

ELITE TORPEDOES
  • Strong torpedo belt · 7.0%
  • Torpedo belt specialist
Long gun range

11.14 km main battery reach, best of T1 CAs.

Sharp rudder

3.0 s rudder shift, top decile of T1 CAs. Snappy weave.

Wide dispersion

91.0 m max horizontal dispersion, worst of T1 CAs. Long-range salvos are noticeably wider than peers'.

Underpowered engine

5500.0 hp engine, bottom decile of T1 CAs. Less headroom for re-accelerating from a stop and holding speed through turns.

Acquisition

How to get Hércules

Hércules is available in the Hércules branch of the Pan-America Tech Tree as an early line ship. Official source cards below may also show its temporary Early Access window before it became a normal Tech Tree unlock.

Show Pan-America tech-tree branch diagram
Pan-America Tech Tree

Hércules sits in the Hércules branch. The highlighted path shows the local branch context inside the full Pan-America tree.

Official WG availability sources
  • Pan-American Cruisers Are Coming to Early Access Early Access Start: 2026-03-27 · End: 2026-04-29 Official early-access or tech-tree-line article. Tech-tree ships are temporary crate drops during Early Access, then move to the Tech Tree.

Builds Beta

Pair with a commander whose unique skill complements her main armament; check the build tool for current recommendations.

Open in Build Tool →

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Cohort position

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Where Hércules sits among Tier I CAs (12 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.

BestRudder shift3 s (1/12) BestMain battery range11.14 km (1/12) BestDisplacement1,860 t (1/12) Top 10%Air detection4.66 km (2/12) Top 10%Main battery reload3.5 s (2/12) Top 25%Fires per minute4.11 (3/11) Top 25%Acceleration23.4 s (4/12) Top 25%AA threat89 (3/12) Bottom 25%Turn-speed retention17.2 hp/m (11/12) WorstTraverse-to-turn ratio4.28 × (12/12) WorstMain battery caliber102 mm (12/12) WorstHE shell damage800 (11/11) WorstMain dispersion91 m (12/12) WorstEngine power5,500 hp (12/12) WorstMax armor10 mm (1 of 3 tied) WorstCitadel belt10 mm (1 of 3 tied) WorstDeck armor6 mm (1 of 3 tied)
See 7 mid-pack stats

Not standouts for Hércules -- here's where she sits on every other ranked stat in the cohort.

Hit points12,600 HP(8/12) Max speed20.3 kt(8/12) Concealment8.62 km(8/12) HE fire chance6%(9/11) HE DPM54,857(9/11) HE velocity811 m/s(8/11) Power-to-weight2.96 hp/t(9/12)
Survivability
Hit Points12,600
Displacement1,860 t
Armor range6–10 mm
Plate armor thicknesses6, 10 mm
Armor material/layer entries22
Fire resistance0%
Fire duration30 s
Torp Reduction7%
Main Battery
ModuleArtillery: 102 mm/45 QF Mk.XVI
Mounts / barrels2 mounts / 4 barrels
Reload time3.5 s
Firing range (base)10.1 km
Firing range (top fire control)11.1 km
Turret traverse8 °/s
Shell Grouping (σ)2
Max Horiz Disp
ƒHorizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model: σH=(R30·idealRadiusminRadiusidealDistance+minRadius)·30 =(1013030·80.51000+0.5)·30=91m
91 m
Max Vert Disp
ƒVertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: σV=σH·radiusOnMax =91·0.6=54.6m
54.6 m
Med Horiz Disp
ƒ50%-hit horizontal radius: σH,50=σH·GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) =91·0.32(σ=2)=29.1m
29.1 m
Med Vert Disp
ƒ50%-hit vertical radius: σV,50=σV·GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) =54.6·0.319(σ=2)=17.4m
17.4 m
Turret turn time
ƒ180 degrees / 8 deg/s traverse speed = 22.5 s.
22.5 s
Base shells/min
ƒ4 broadside guns x 60 / 3.5 s base reload = 68.6.
68.6
HE shells
HE Damage800
HE Velocity811 m/s
Fire Chance6%
HE penetration
ƒ17 mm ≈ 102 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).
17 mm
HE full-salvo alpha
ƒ800 HE damage x 4 broadside guns = 3,200.
3,200
Base HE DPM
ƒ3,200 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.5 s base reload = 54,857.
54,857
Base fires/min
ƒ68.6 shells/min x 6% fire chance = 4.11.
4.11
AP shells
Min Ricochet91 deg
Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg
AP overmatch
ƒfloor(102 mm caliber / 14.3) = 7 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
7 mm
AA Defense
AA mount points4
Close-range AA DPS
ƒSum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (15×3.5×0.85) = 45. 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.
45
Maximum AA range
ƒLongest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.
2 km
20 mm Oerlikon Mk44×1 20mm
Near aura
DPS15
Range2 km
Maneuverability
Engine moduleEngine: 5,500 hp
Engine power5,500 hp
Maximum speed20.3 kt
Turning circle radius320 m
Rudder shift time3 s
Engine power-boost threshold7 kt
Engine spool-up time15.3 s
Reverse spool-up time7.7 s
Acceleration 0-90%
ƒTime to reach 90% of top speed (18.3 kt of 20.3 kt), from our in-house acceleration model.
23.4 s
Acceleration 0-99%
ƒTime to reach 99% of top speed (20.1 kt of 20.3 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.
38.5 s
Traverse-to-turn ratio
ƒHow many degrees the turret can swing for each degree the hull turns. Turn rate ωhull=180π·Vmax(m/s)Rturn=180π·20.3·0.5144320=1.87°/s, so ratio=ωturretωhull=81.87=4.3×. Below 5 the turrets drag in a turning fight; 25+ keeps up with any rudder.
4.3× drags
Concealment
Detectability by sea8.62 km
Detectability by air4.66 km
Smoke firing penalty2.89 km
Detect after firing main guns
ƒmax(base sea detectability, gun-firing bloom range). Firing never pulls your detection closer than base concealment.
8.62 km
Detect Fire Sea10.62 km
Detect Fire Air7.66 km
Guaranteed Detect2 km
Consumables
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 60 s reload · 5 s active
Module options (1)

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

Fire controlUpgrade
  • Main battery range10,130 → 11,143 m

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

Shell Grouping (σ)2
Max Horiz Disp91 m
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model: $\sigma_H = \left(\dfrac{R}{30}\cdot\dfrac{\text{idealRadius}-\text{minRadius}}{\text{idealDistance}} + \text{minRadius}\right)\cdot 30$ $= \left(\dfrac{10130}{30}\cdot\dfrac{8-0.5}{1000} + 0.5\right)\cdot 30 = 91\,\text{m}$
Shell scatter width @ 10 km90 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.
Max Vert Disp54.6 m
Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: $\sigma_V = \sigma_H \cdot \text{radiusOnMax}$ $= 91 \cdot 0.6 = 54.6\,\text{m}$
Shell scatter height @ 10 km53.8 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.
Med Horiz Disp29.1 m
50%-hit horizontal radius: $\sigma_{H,50} = \sigma_H \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 91 \cdot 0.32\;(\sigma = 2) = 29.1\,\text{m}$
Med Vert Disp17.4 m
50%-hit vertical radius: $\sigma_{V,50} = \sigma_V \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 54.6 \cdot 0.319\;(\sigma = 2) = 17.4\,\text{m}$
HE penetration17 mm
17 mm ≈ 102 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).
AP overmatch7 mm
floor(102 mm caliber / 14.3) = 7 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
Broadside guns used for alpha4
All 4 barrels bear on the broadside.
Turret turn time22.5 s
180 degrees / 8 deg/s traverse speed = 22.5 s.
HE full-salvo alpha3,200
800 HE damage x 4 broadside guns = 3,200.
Base HE DPM54,857
3,200 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.5 s base reload = 54,857.
Base shells/min68.6
4 broadside guns x 60 / 3.5 s base reload = 68.6.
Base fires/min4.11
68.6 shells/min x 6% fire chance = 4.11.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS45
Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (15×3.5×0.85) = 45. 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 range2 km
Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.
AA threat index89
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

Armor Beta

Hull HP 12,600, 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.

Bow & stern6 mm

Overmatched by 59+ guns across the bracket. Can’t reliably bow-tank; gets bow-citadelled and overpenned.

Farming6 mm

Superstructure and extremities take HE pens and AP overpens from nearly any gun: steady chip damage. Fire resistance 0%, fires burn 30s. Range-by-range in the ballistics tool →

Section Plates HP cap Threats Tactic
Bow6 mm primary (range 6–10 mm)1,000 (8% of HP)
Overmatched by 127mm+ (Farragut)6 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.
Stern6 mm primary (range 6–10 mm)600 (5% of HP)
Overmatched by 127mm+ (Farragut)6 mm: HE pens from 127mm+
Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation.
Citadel10 mm primary (range 6–10 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.
Superstructure6 mm300 (2% 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 HP3,200 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.
AA mount (20 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.
Rudder (module)separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP1,900 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.

Approximated side profile.
Open the 3D armor viewer →
3D armor viewer
Open in Charting Tool

Acceleration and Ballistics Chart

Exteriors

Skins & permanent camouflages

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

  • Hércules 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.