World of Warships: Legends ship guide

Hill

Beta
U.S.A. · Tier IV · Destroyer · Premium
Gunboat destroyerWins cap trades with gun output; the torpedoes are a bonus, not the core threat.
Playstyle
  • 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
Key characteristics
High HE DPMHigh AP DPMSmokeEngine BoostFast turret traverseWide dispersion
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Community Data

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Playstyle

Overview

Hill is a Tier IV American 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 turret traverse rate in T4 DDs (15) and best AA reach in T4 DDs (5 km).

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

Engine Boost

+8% speed, 120 s duration. Engine Boost consumable temporarily raises top speed. Mobility on demand to reposition, chase a kill, or break contact.

ELITE SMOKE
  • Long smoke deployment · 25.0 s
  • Lingering · 115.0 s
ELITE MAIN BATTERY
  • Fast turret traverse · 15.0°
  • Close-range AP brick · 174.4 mm
  • HE DPM machine · 112500 HE
Long-reach AA

5.0 km AA reach, best of T4 DDs.

Wide dispersion

90.8 m max horizontal dispersion, bottom decile of T4 DDs. Long-range salvos are noticeably wider than peers'.

Acquisition

How to get Hill

Hill is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition path: Containers. 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.

Best listed chance for this ship

  • Spectral Vault 2.0 0.178571% Tier IV Premium ship Event containers · Spectral Vault 2.0 · 1 of 14 ships
  • Santa Level 2 0.166667% Tier IV Premium ship Event containers · Santa Level 2 · 1 of 15 ships
  • Santa Level 1 0.078333% Tier IV Premium ship Event containers · Santa Level 1 · 2 paths combined · 1 of 15 ships
    Show 2 paths
    • Santa Level 10.053333%
    • Santa Level 1 → Santa Level 20.025%
Show all 6 containers (3 more)
  • Spectral Vault 1.0 0.073214% Tier IV Premium ship Event containers · Spectral Vault 1.0 · 2 paths combined · 1 of 14 ships
    Show 2 paths
    • Spectral Vault 1.00.057143%
    • Spectral Vault 1.0 → Spectral Vault 2.00.016071%
  • Secret Santa '23 0.053333% Tier IV Premium ship Event containers · Secret Santa '23 · 1 of 15 ships
  • Mystic Box 0.05% Tier IV Premium ship Event containers · Mystic Box · 1 of 16 ships
Official WG availability sources
  • Official WoWS Legends container odds Containers Official container drop rows linked below include direct and nested effective ship odds.
  • Through the spy glass: USS Hill Ship feature / release Start: 2022-03-23 · 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

Builds Beta

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Cohort position

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Where Hill 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.

BestAA range5 km (1 of 3 tied) Top 10%Traverse-to-turn ratio7.6 × (3/21) Top 10%HE DPM112,500 (2/21) Top 25%Main battery range10.1 km (5/21) Top 25%Main battery reload4.8 s (4/21) Top 25%AP DPM131,250 (3/19) Top 25%Turn-speed retention76.4 hp/m (5/21) Top 25%AA threat400 (4/21) Bottom 25%Main dispersion90.8 m (19/21) Bottom 25%Torpedo range5.49 km (18/21) Bottom 25%Torpedo speed56 kt (18/21) WorstHE fire chance5% (1 of 4 tied) WorstMax armor10 mm (1 of 10 tied) WorstCitadel belt10 mm (1 of 10 tied) WorstDeck armor10 mm (1 of 10 tied)
See 21 mid-pack stats

Not standouts for Hill -- 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 points12,100 HP(10/21) Max speed37.5 kt(7/21) Concealment6.17 km(15/21) Air detection3.09 km(15/21) Rudder shift3.1 s(15/21) Main battery caliber127 mm(10/21) HE shell damage1,800(13/21) Fires per minute3.12(9/21) AP shell damage2,100(13/19) AP velocity792 m/s(13/19) HE velocity792 m/s(15/21) Acceleration17.2 s(11/21) AP arming threshold21 mm(10/19) Engine power42,800 hp(7/21) Displacement1,955 t(12/21) Power-to-weight21.89 hp/t(7/21) AA DPS109(8/21) Torpedo damage≈10,833(16/21) Torpedo reload66 s(7/21) NormSigma2(20 of 21 tied at this value) NormAP fuse timer0.01 s(15 of 19 tied at this value)
Survivability
Hit Points12,100
Displacement1,955 t
Armor range10–10 mm
Plate armor thicknesses10 mm
Armor material/layer entries21
Fire resistance16.6%
Fire duration30 s
Torp Reduction0%
Main Battery
ModuleArtillery: 5×127 mm
Mounts / barrels5 mounts / 5 barrels
Reload time4.8 s
Firing range10.1 km
Turret traverse15 °/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 =(1010130·80.51000+0.5)·30=90.8m
90.8 m
Max Vert Disp
ƒVertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: σV=σH·radiusOnMax =90.8·0.6=54.5m
54.5 m
Med Horiz Disp
ƒ50%-hit horizontal radius: σH,50=σH·GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) =90.8·0.319(σ=2)=29m
29 m
Med Vert Disp
ƒ50%-hit vertical radius: σV,50=σV·GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) =54.5·0.319(σ=2)=17.4m
17.4 m
Turret turn time
ƒ180 degrees / 15 deg/s traverse speed = 12 s.
12 s
Base shells/min
ƒ5 broadside guns x 60 / 4.8 s base reload = 62.5.
62.5
HE shells
HE Damage1,800
HE Velocity792 m/s
Fire Chance5%
HE penetration
ƒ21 mm ≈ 127 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).
21 mm
HE full-salvo alpha
ƒ1,800 HE damage x 5 broadside guns = 9,000.
9,000
Base HE DPM
ƒ9,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.8 s base reload = 112,500.
112,500
Base fires/min
ƒ62.5 shells/min x 5% fire chance = 3.12.
3.12
AP shells
AP Damage2,100
AP Velocity792 m/s
Min Ricochet45 deg
Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg
Fuse Timer0.01 s
Fuse Threshold21 mm
AP overmatch
ƒfloor(127 mm caliber / 14.3) = 8 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
8 mm
AP Pen Close
ƒCanonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: P=107·K·m0.69·d1.07·v01.38 =107·2598·250.69·0.1271.07·7921.38=218mm. Matches the in-game spec card.
218 mm
AP Pen Far
ƒSame formula at the ship's max firing range (12.6 km), where the shell has slowed to 253.3 m/s: P=107·2598·250.69·0.1271.07·253.31.38=45.2mm.
45.2 mm
AP full-salvo alpha
ƒ2,100 AP damage x 5 broadside guns = 10,500.
10,500
Base AP DPM
ƒ10,500 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.8 s base reload = 131,250.
131,250
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.
8
Torpedoes
ModuleTorpedoes: 533 mm triple
Launchers / tubes3 launchers × 3 tubes = 9 tubes
Reload time66 s
Projectile speed56 kt
Range5.49 km
Maximum simulated damage
ƒEstimate 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: Dsim=α·c=32,500·0.333=10,833.
≈ 10,833
Torpedo detectability1.1 km
Flooding chance192%
Torpedo launcher traverse25 °/s
Torp Turn
ƒTime to rotate the launchers 180 deg: tturn=180°25°/s=7.2s.
7.2 s
Torp Arming173 m
Per-side salvo damage
ƒOne side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 9 x 10,833 = 97,497.
97,497
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: (6×3.5×0.95) + (11×3.5×0.95) + (15×3.5×1) = 109. 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.
109
Maximum AA range
ƒLongest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.
5 km
28 mm Mk2 mod. 22×4 28mm
12.7 mm Browning M2 mod. 22×1 13mm
Far aura
DPS
ƒIncludes 15 continuous AA damage from dual-purpose main battery firing as AA in this range band.
15
Range5 km
Outer Near aura
DPS11
Range3.1 km
Total DPS in Aura
ƒFar 15 + Outer Near 11 = 26
26
Inner Near aura
DPS6
Range1.2 km
Total DPS in Aura
ƒFar 15 + Outer Near 11 + Inner Near 6 = 32
32
Maneuverability
Engine moduleEngine: 42,800 hp
Engine power42,800 hp
Maximum speed37.5 kt
Turning circle radius560 m
Rudder shift time3.1 s
Engine power-boost threshold7 kt
Engine spool-up time7.7 s
Reverse spool-up time3.8 s
Acceleration 0-90%
ƒTime to reach 90% of top speed (33.8 kt of 37.5 kt), from our in-house acceleration model.
17.2 s
Acceleration 0-99%
ƒTime to reach 99% of top speed (37.1 kt of 37.5 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.
29.3 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·37.5·0.5144560=1.97°/s, so ratio=ωturretωhull=151.97=7.6×. Below 5 the turrets drag in a turning fight; 25+ keeps up with any rudder.
7.6× ok
Concealment
Detectability by sea6.17 km
Detectability by air3.09 km
Smoke firing penalty2.32 km
Detect after firing main guns
ƒmax(base sea detectability, gun-firing bloom range). Firing never pulls your detection closer than base concealment.
6.17 km
Detect Fire Sea8.17 km
Detect Fire Air6.09 km
Guaranteed Detect2 km
Consumables
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 40 s reload · 5 s active
Smoke Generator2 charges · 240 s reload · 25 s emit / 115 s cloud active
Engine Boost2 charges · 180 s reload · 120 s active · +8% speed bonus

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 Disp90.8 m
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model: $\sigma_H = \left(\dfrac{R}{30}\cdot\dfrac{\text{idealRadius}-\text{minRadius}}{\text{idealDistance}} + \text{minRadius}\right)\cdot 30$ $= \left(\dfrac{10101}{30}\cdot\dfrac{8-0.5}{1000} + 0.5\right)\cdot 30 = 90.8\,\text{m}$
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 Disp54.5 m
Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: $\sigma_V = \sigma_H \cdot \text{radiusOnMax}$ $= 90.8 \cdot 0.6 = 54.5\,\text{m}$
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 m
50%-hit horizontal radius: $\sigma_{H,50} = \sigma_H \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 90.8 \cdot 0.319\;(\sigma = 2) = 29\,\text{m}$
Med Vert Disp17.4 m
50%-hit vertical radius: $\sigma_{V,50} = \sigma_V \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 54.5 \cdot 0.319\;(\sigma = 2) = 17.4\,\text{m}$
AP Pen Close218 mm
Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot K \cdot m^{0.69} \cdot d^{-1.07} \cdot v_0^{1.38}$ $= 10^{-7}\cdot 2598 \cdot 25^{0.69} \cdot 0.127^{-1.07} \cdot 792^{1.38} = 218\,\text{mm}$. Matches the in-game spec card.
AP Pen Far45.2 mm
Same formula at the ship's max firing range (12.6 km), where the shell has slowed to 253.3 m/s: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot 2598 \cdot 25^{0.69} \cdot 0.127^{-1.07} \cdot 253.3^{1.38} = 45.2\,\text{mm}$.
HE penetration21 mm
21 mm ≈ 127 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).
AP overmatch8 mm
floor(127 mm caliber / 14.3) = 8 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
AP AOE Radius8
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 alpha5
All 5 barrels bear on the broadside.
Turret turn time12 s
180 degrees / 15 deg/s traverse speed = 12 s.
HE full-salvo alpha9,000
1,800 HE damage x 5 broadside guns = 9,000.
AP full-salvo alpha10,500
2,100 AP damage x 5 broadside guns = 10,500.
Base HE DPM112,500
9,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.8 s base reload = 112,500.
Base AP DPM131,250
10,500 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.8 s base reload = 131,250.
Base shells/min62.5
5 broadside guns x 60 / 4.8 s base reload = 62.5.
Base fires/min3.12
62.5 shells/min x 5% fire chance = 3.12.

Torpedoes

Torpedo detectability1.1 km
Estimated torpedo reaction time7.6 s
detectability / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).
Torpedo speed56 kt
Travel time to max range37.7 s
range / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).
Tube count9
3 launchers x 3 tubes.
Per-side salvo9 torpedoes
9 (centerline launchers train across - full salvo to either side).
Full-salvo damage97,497
All tubes hitting one target: tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 9 x 10,833 = 97,497.
Per-side salvo damage97,497
One side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 9 x 10,833 = 97,497.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS109
Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (6×3.5×0.95) + (11×3.5×0.95) + (15×3.5×1) = 109. 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 index400
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 range3.1 km

Armor Beta

Hull HP 12,100, 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 & stern10 mm

Overmatched by 134+ guns across the bracket. Can’t reliably bow-tank; gets bow-citadelled and overpenned.

Farming10 mm

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
Bow10 mm1,400 (12% 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.
Stern10 mm1,500 (12% of HP)
Overmatched by 150mm+ (De Ruyter, Karlsruhe)Angle bounces 127mm10 mm: HE pens from 127mm+
Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation.
Citadel10 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.
Superstructure10 mm800 (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 HP6,100 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 (28 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 HP3,600 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
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Acceleration and Ballistics Chart

Exteriors

Skins & permanent camouflages

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

  • Hill 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.