WARDOGS Mortar Guide: Range, Aiming & Ammo
A WARDOGS mortar is the L81, a FOB build that needs the large hammer and, since Season 2, 600 build supplies (it was 150). It reaches about 700 m on flat ground and holds 3 shells per load. You aim by distance, not sight: count map squares (about 100 m each when zoomed in) or use a Range Finder, fire one ranging shot, adjust, then fire for effect. Ammo is $600 for 10 rounds and comes out of your FOB's storage, and each restock now takes 150 ammo supplies instead of 75. No one has measured how many mortars it takes to destroy a FOB; the box itself falls to 1 IED or about 5 C4.
Mortars are indirect fire: the shell arcs over walls, so a team behind Hesco can still be hit. That makes the mortar the main tool for cracking a dug-in FOB, and the reason defenders build shelters against it.
How to build a mortar
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| Tool | Large hammer (Support level 14) |
| Supplies | 600 build supplies (was 150) |
| Health | 3,000 |
| Footprint | 4.5 x 4.5 m |
| Ammo | 81 mm, $600 per 10, drawn from FOB storage; 150 ammo supplies per restock (was 75) |
Place it inside the FOB, not up on a high outer wall, because the wall can block the shell's arc. Keep it apart from your drills and anti-air so one enemy strike cannot hit all of them. The FOB layout guide shows where it fits.
How to aim a mortar
- Get the distance. Ping the target and count map squares. Zoomed in, a square is about 100 m; zoomed out, about 1 km; the smallest squares are about 10 m. For an exact figure, a Range Finder ($1,450 in Season 2, Recon level 8) reads it straight off, or a Recon teammate can call it.
- Fire one ranging shot. Watch where it lands against the target.
- Adjust and fire for effect. Correct closer or further, then send the rest of the load.
- Keep the tube busy. Press C to skip the shell camera and R to reload while the last shell is still in the air. The rhythm is fire, C, fire, C, fire.
Coordinates work too: right-click your position and the target on the map, read the X and Y of each, and the straight-line distance between them is your range.
Can a mortar destroy a FOB?
It can wreck what is built around a FOB, but no one has published a tested shell count for the FOB box itself, so treat any number you see as a guess. The patch retuned structure durability without listing new figures, so these are the last recorded health values:
| Build | Health |
|---|---|
| L81 Mortar | 3,000 |
| Talon 9K-SAM | 3,000 |
| Vanguard CIWS | 5,000 |
Drills tucked inside an Indirect Fire Shelter take no splash at all. Unfinished builds have far less health than finished ones, so shell a base while it is still going up. To actually end a FOB, attackers finish it on foot with 1 IED or about 5 C4, covered on the attack a base page. To stop a mortar on the other side, send a squad to find the tube: it has to sit within about 700 m of its target.
Season 2 mortar changes
Season 2 made the mortar slower to build and dearer to keep firing, without removing it. The cost to place went from 150 to 600 build supplies, a restock went from 75 to 150 ammo supplies, and a new animation has the gunner drop each shell into the tube, which lowers the fire rate. A supply pallet therefore buys half as many shells as before.
| Item | Season 1 | Season 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Place the mortar | 150 | 600 |
| One 3-shell load | 225 (3 x 75) | 450 (3 x 150) |
| Placed and fired once | 375 | 1,050 |
| Reward for destroying one | $300 | $650 ($1,300 in Season 3) |
Build one mortar per FOB, keep a supply runner on it, and fire at targets that matter, such as anti-air, drills and the spawn vehicle, instead of shelling empty ground.
What to shell first
Hit what hurts your team most. Anti-air and the CIWS go first so your helicopters can fly. Then the drill, which steals the Hot Zone fight, and the spawn vehicle, which pays well to destroy. If the enemy builds its own mortar, that jumps to the top: a mortar duel goes to whoever silences the other first.
Mortar vs the SPH-2 artillery tank
| Stat | L81 Mortar | SPH-2 artillery |
|---|---|---|
| Range | ~700 m | ~2.7 km |
| Shell | 81 mm, $600 per 10 | 155 mm HE, $120 per 2 |
| Cost | 600 FOB build supplies | $8,000 per deploy |
| Unlock | Large hammer, Support 14 | Driver level 31, $350,000 |
| Where it fires from | Inside your FOB | Anywhere you can park, ideally 1.6 to 2 km back |
The SPH-2 moved into the Driver track at level 31 (it was WARDOG level 90) and now earns Driver XP, not Support XP. Park it, stop the engine and stabilise the turret from the radial menu so the crosshair holds after each shot. Reloading is a quick W, A, S, D key sequence after you press R, and starting it right after firing speeds up the next shot. Ask for 155 mm shells at resupply, not tank shells.
Frequently asked questions
How do you use a mortar in WARDOGS?
Build an L81 Mortar (600 build supplies in Season 2) inside your FOB with the large hammer, load up to 3 shells with R, then aim by distance off the map grid, where each zoomed-in square is about 100 m. Fire one ranging shot, adjust, then fire for effect. Press C to leave the shell camera and reload while the last shell is still in the air.
What is the mortar range in WARDOGS?
The L81 mortar reaches roughly 600 to 700 m, with about 700 m on flat ground. For anything further, the SPH-2 artillery tank fires 155 mm shells out to about 2.7 km.
Can a mortar destroy a FOB in WARDOGS?
Mortars damage the buildings around a FOB, but no one has published a tested shell count to destroy one. The mortar and the Talon SAM have 3,000 health and the Vanguard CIWS 5,000, and drills inside an Indirect Fire Shelter are safe from splash. Each shell also costs 150 ammo supplies in Season 2, so a 3-shell volley is 450. To end the FOB itself, attackers use 1 IED or about 5 C4.
How much does a mortar cost in WARDOGS Season 2?
The L81 Mortar costs 600 build supplies to place, up from 150. Each restock takes 150 ammo supplies instead of 75, so placing it and firing one 3-shell load costs 600 + 450 = 1,050 supplies, against 150 + 225 = 375 in Season 1. Destroying an enemy mortar pays $650.
How much does mortar ammo cost in WARDOGS?
81 mm mortar rounds cost $600 for a stack of 10 at the ammo vendor. The mortar draws its shells from your FOB's storage, so stock the FOB before a fight.
Written by Kaze, who plays WARDOGS and checks the numbers in game before they go on the page. Facts change with each patch. This page was last updated 14 Nov 2026 (Early Access).