Scavland Ammo Types and Armor Penetration Guide (Update 0.8.0)

How does armor penetration work now?

Update 0.8.0, released on October 17, 2026, reworked armor and ammunition so that the round in your magazine matters as much as the gun. The key change is simple: armor penetration now subtracts from armor instead of scaling it. NoShadow’s patch notes describe three practical rules:

• AP (armor-piercing) rounds have 50% penetration and cut through up to 50% armor. According to the notes, that covers every human enemy currently in the game.

• HP (hollow point) rounds work the other way. They add 25% (pistol) or 50% (rifle, shotgun and high caliber) to the armor of anything that already has some, so they belong on unarmored targets and mutants.

• Armor is capped at 80%, although HP rounds can push the effective value above that cap.

FMJ remains the everyday round most enemies use. A hit on armor you fail to fully penetrate still deals damage, and the game shows sparks: the more armor the round failed to get through, the more sparks you see. That visual cue is the fastest way to tell, in a fight, that you have the wrong ammo loaded.

How much armor do human enemies have?

Before 0.8.0, human enemies had no armor values worth planning around. The update gave each faction ballistic and slash armor. The table below lists the values from the official notes.

Enemy group	Ballistic armor	Slash armor	Notes
Gunners	45%	40%	Health lowered from 70 to 50; load about 50% AP themselves
Mechanists and Palatines	20%	20%
Vultures	15%	15%
Bandits	10%	10%
Rada	10%	20%
Acolytes	0%	10%	Health raised from 40 to 50

Ballistic armor applies to bullets and slash armor to cutting attacks. Acolytes are the only human group in the list with no ballistic armor at all.

Which ammo should you load?

The following recommendations are our reading of the rules above, not official advice, and they may change with future balance patches:

• Gunner territory: AP. At 45% ballistic armor, Gunners are the clearest case where AP’s 50% penetration pays off, and HP actively makes them tougher.

• Mutant hunts: HP, as long as the target has no armor. This is the use case NoShadow names directly.

• Bandits, Vultures and Rada: their armor is low (10–15% ballistic), so FMJ is a reasonable default and AP is a luxury rather than a requirement.

• Mixed patrols: keep different ammo in different guns. Hotfix 0.8.8 (October 19, 2026) made each magazine remember its ammo type, so a sidearm can stay on AP while the main gun uses FMJ, and reloading an empty magazine refills the same type.

The ammo HUD now shows the firing mode and loaded type (for example SEMI · FMJ). On PC, holding Y opens the ammo menu, while tapping Y inspects the weapon to check ammo.

What changed for shotgun ammo and bleeding?

Update 0.8.0 added three shotgun loads and gave every round its own accuracy, bleed chance and bleed amount:

• Buckshot has less armor penetration than before and bleeds for 10 per pellet.

• Hollow Point Slugs replace the old shotgun HP: a single slug dealing 42 damage (previously 6 per pellet).

• Sabot Hard-Cast is now the shotgun AP option: a single slug dealing 30 damage (previously 4 per pellet).

Slugs are more accurate than Buckshot and bleed for 20 per hit. Bullets bleed for 15 and Special FMJ for 25. Enemy shotguns also spread wider, which makes them less dangerous at range.

AP damage was raised across calibers: pistol 8 → 10, rifle 14 → 17 and high caliber rifle 26 → 30. High caliber HP damage moved from 46 to 45.

How much does ammo cost now?

Ammo prices went up in 0.8.0. These are the base prices listed in the patch notes; what a trader actually charges can still vary by trader and rank.

Ammo	Before 0.8.0	After 0.8.0
Pistol FMJ	30	50
Pistol HP	60	100
Pistol AP	100	120
Shotgun Buckshot	60	80
Shotgun HP	180	240
High Caliber Rifle FMJ	150	180
High Caliber Rifle HP	220	280
High Caliber Rifle AP	300	500

Trader stock also changed. Volodymyr sells Special FMJ Ammo (40 rounds) at his highest rank but stocks less High Caliber Rifle AP and FMJ ammo, and Snezhana now sells Pistol, Rifle, High Caliber Rifle and Shotgun Buckshot FMJ. See the trading guide for how traders fit into progression.

How does armor wear work?

Heavier rounds wear armor down faster. Each hit counts as 2 to 25 hits against the piece it strikes, depending on the round: Buckshot counts as 2 per pellet and Special FMJ as 25. Creature attacks, melee, anomalies and explosions count as 2 to 10. Clothing also loses durability after fewer hits than before.

Keep this in mind before fighting Gunners: they carry around 50% AP, so your armor will be both penetrated and worn quickly. Repair items are covered in the weapon upgrades and modification guide, and the full list of balance changes is in our Early Access update history.

Sources: NoShadow’s official Update 0.8.0 (October 17, 2026) and Hotfix 0.8.8 (October 19, 2026) patch notes on the Scavland Steam news page. Values can change in later patches.

Related: weapon customization, parts, and attachments and Hotfix 0.8.8 ammo memory.