L2Aim: The definitive guide to artillery in CoH2

Please let me know if something is still unclear!

The red area is definitely orange..

Thanks for the l2Aim guide, def good information!

What about heavy arty? They seem to overshoot a lot a well.

It depends on the unit. I have updated my guide with a list of units that do overshoot.

Priests and Sextons overshoot ENORMOUSLY (65% of the time - same as ISG/Pak howie).
Stationary artillery have even spread (i.e., the chance to overshoot is 50%)

good post

Wow, great post, cant believe some of this stuff (reduced accuracy because firing into FoW?? counter intuitive much??).

Biased scatter?? Why the hell is that hidden behind a perfectly symmetrical firing reticule!?

Now that its typed out though i think it lines up with what ive experienced in game.

Gr8 post tho.

The FoW stuff was the same in CoH1. That is to say those who knew it, used it. I only discovered the exact nature of the penalty recently.

I have NO idea why biased scatter had to be brought in. Weapons with biased scatter get a MASSIVE edge over even-scatter weapons (if you know how to use them though).

Now you do. So, please spread the word to everyone you know, so that over-performing artillery is finally rebalanced!

6 amazing Secrets to control artillery in CoH2! Blobbers hate him!


You should remark that certain units benefit of barraging at longer ranges. Katyusha is a good example, as it relies more on saturation an area, than alpha strike. CalliOP can work as both, depending on the need as it fires the same amount of rockets on the first barrage as the PW.

Great guide, talk to the staff they would probably put it up in the official guide section.

Mortars have 50% chance of overshoot

Units that do NOT overshoot
- All mortars

What is wrong with mortar overshoot?

What is wrong with mortar overshoot?

You were right. What I meant by "do NOT overshoot" was units that have no bias. Thus, they have a 50% chance to overshoot or a 50% chance to undershoot. I fixed that error.

Very good guide bravo

can you also add the kv2 in that list? i have an hard time hitting things with it. sometimes it completely overshoots, sometimes it completely undershoots so where should i aim when using attack ground over or under the target?

really useful and nice guide

can you also add the kv2 in that list? i have an hard time hitting things with it. sometimes it completely overshoots, sometimes it completely undershoots so where should i aim when using attack ground over or under the target?

really useful and nice guide

Some time ago, someone did a test for KV2 in siege mode.

When your KV's barrel is facing sky, it will overshoot often.
But when it's facing ground, it won't.

Or opposite


(Yep, when front if the tank is higher than back, which means barrel faces ground, it's more accurate)

can you also add the kv2 in that list? i have an hard time hitting things with it. sometimes it completely overshoots, sometimes it completely undershoots so where should i aim when using attack ground over or under the target?

really useful and nice guide

Updated the guide with KV2, Zis3, SU76 & ISU

With respect to KV-2. I have seen a direct fire and an indirect fire mode.
- Both have a 62.5% chance to overshoot (thus, ALWAYS under-aim with the KV2)
- The scatter for both is confined to a 7.5 degree angle (between ML-20 and the PIAT)

Some time ago, someone did a test for KV2 in siege mode.

When your KV's barrel is facing sky, it will overshoot often.
But when it's facing ground, it won't.


(Yep, when front if the tank is higher than back, which means barrel faces ground, it's more accurate)

^ What he said, basically.

From the stats I have seen:
- Direct fire has actually bearable scatter
- Indirect fire has MASSIVE scatter (unless you move within 8 units of the enemy, you will be using max scatter)

With respect to damage:
- Direct fire deals damage more consistently on the entire radius
- Indirect fire is more concentrated (can oneshot infantry on a wider radius)

Of course, the problem is that it will be difficult to hit stuff with indirect fire mode (the guide will be useful though!).

Btw, there seems to be an issue with using attack ground and elevation. With PIATs, for instance, firing on a higher elevation makes them WAAYYYY overshoot.

Very well done!

Great guide, talk to the staff they would probably put it up in the official guide section.

That could be a good idea. However, let's wait for another week first, so that the guide feels more complete. For that, I will need a little bit of help from everyone.

1. How do I locate information about targeting recticles in the game files?

I know that they are not accurate (scatter area is a rainbow, not a circle). However, the visual representation might give some clues that could help aiming. For instance, if they represent vertical scatter accurately enough, that is already something.

2. Could somebody provide a howto section about the Walking Stuka barrages?

For instance, if you could provide a screenshot of the targeting recticle vs the actual barrage pattern, that would be ace!

3. I also have some questions of my own about some rarely-used abilities:
- How does B-4 direct fire work?
- What is the effect of Counterbarrage on OSTheer units; is there any difference between mortars/panzerwerfers? Any cooldown?
- How does the OST Artillery officer victor target barrage work?

Even if you think those abilities are useless/rarely used, it would be nice to include them in the guide.

3. I also have some questions of my own about some rarely-used abilities:
- How does B-4 direct fire work?
- What is the effect of Counterbarrage on OSTheer units; is there any difference between mortars/panzerwerfers? Any cooldown?
- How does the OST Artillery officer victor target barrage work?

Even if you think those abilities are useless/rarely used, it would be nice to include them in the guide.

As far as I know units firing with Ost Artillery officer will move in range and fire using the "victor" weapon profile...(there is one for most explosives weapons)

Ost unit the use counter barrage will fire if in range using the "counter barrage" profile (for instance wefer get a range increase if I remember correctly...)

Direct fire is aim shot similar to twp using the "b4_203_direct_fire.xml" 600 penetration 5 scatter angle, 10 AOE, 7.5 5. 2.5 mid/near/ far AOE

Nice one! Thank you

Just a heads up, everyone.

Cruzz recently discovered that the effect of the distance offset on scatter was completely different from what everybody believed so far.

This affects commandments #4 & #5 and the overshooting section of this guide.

I have already updated the guide with the optimal aiming strategy (yes, you should still under-aim, but for different reasons).

Nice post, thanks for work.

Have a questin waht this mean #The 6 TL;DR Commandments of Rocket Artillery ?

+1, superb post Mr.Smith