Armour, Health and Damage in PUBG Mobile: The Real Numbers

Two players shoot each other. Both land four shots. One dies. Understanding why is not a matter of reflexes or luck — it is arithmetic that happens in a fixed order, and once you know that order a lot of confusing fights stop being confusing.

The order damage is calculated in

Every bullet goes through the same three steps:

1. Base damage. A property of the weapon. An M416 round starts at 41.
2. Hit-location multiplier. Where it landed. A head shot multiplies it; a leg shot reduces it.
3. Armour reduction. If — and only if — that body part is covered by armour, a percentage comes off.

The order matters. The multiplier is applied to the base damage first, and armour then takes its percentage off the already-multiplied number. That is why a large reduction on a big number can still leave more damage than a small reduction on a small one, and it is the source of most of the counter-intuitive results below.

What armour actually protects

This is the part players most often get wrong, and it is simple: armour only protects the body part it covers.

• A helmet reduces damage to the head only.
• A vest reduces damage to the torso only.
• Arms and legs are never protected, at any armour level, by anything.

The practical consequence is one most players never draw: against a fully-kitted enemy in Level 3 armour, limb shots are proportionally better than they look. A leg shot has a lower multiplier, but it also takes zero reduction, while a torso shot loses 55%. Against a heavily armoured target the gap between the two narrows dramatically — and in a real fight, limbs are often the only thing exposed anyway.

Hit locations and multipliers

Head multipliers differ by weapon class. Marksman and sniper rifles are rewarded more for a headshot than submachine guns are, which is a deliberate balance decision — it stops a high-fire-rate SMG from being a better sniper than a sniper.

The Level 3 helmet problem

Here is the result that surprises people most. Take an M416 — 41 base damage, head multiplier 2.30.

• Head, no helmet: 41 × 2.30 = 94.3 damage
• Head, Level 3 helmet: 41 × 2.30 × 0.45 = 42.4 damage
• Torso, no vest: 41 × 1.00 = 41 damage

A headshot against a Level 3 helmet does roughly the same damage as a torso shot against an unarmoured target — the helmet has cancelled almost the entire headshot bonus. This is why late-game fights against fully-equipped squads feel so much slower than early-game fights, and why players who are used to two-tapping people in the first circle suddenly find themselves emptying a magazine in the eighth.

It also explains the AWM’s reputation. At 105 base damage with a 2.50 head multiplier, it is the only rifle in the game that still kills through a Level 3 helmet in a single shot. Every other sniper stops short.

Shots to kill, by weapon

Body shots against a full-health target, at each vest level. These assume every shot lands, which is the assumption that makes controllable weapons better than this table suggests.

Look at the M416 against the AKM. The AKM does 49 damage to the M416’s 41 — a 20% advantage per bullet. But the M416 fires faster, and once you account for that, the time-to-kill difference largely disappears. Factor in that the AKM’s recoil means fewer of its bullets land, and the “stronger” gun loses most real fights. That single comparison is why the tier list weighs controllability so heavily.

Armour durability, the hidden variable

Every table above assumes armour at full durability, and in a real fight it very often is not.

Armour absorbs damage and degrades as it does. A Level 3 vest that has already soaked two magazines is protecting far less than the 55% figure suggests, and when durability reaches zero the piece breaks and provides nothing at all. This is why the third fight of a match goes differently from the first, even against the same equipment.

Two practical implications. First, repairing or replacing armour matters — picking up a fresh Level 2 vest off a body you just downed is frequently better than keeping your battered Level 3. Second, sustained pressure works. A squad that keeps shooting at a pinned enemy is degrading their armour even when no shot is decisive, which is the actual argument for suppressing fire with an LMG.

What to do with all this

• Prioritise a vest over a helmet early. Torso is a much larger target than head, so in raw damage-avoided terms a vest does more work in a typical fight.
• Do not fixate on headshots against armoured targets. A steady torso spray beats a headshot attempt that misses. Against Level 3, it is close to equivalent even when it lands.
• Shoot what is exposed. An enemy behind a wall showing only a shoulder and an arm is an unarmoured target, and limb damage is the only damage available anyway.
• Use a survivor as information. If your clean headshot did not kill, they are in Level 3. Plan the rest of the fight accordingly.
• Swap damaged armour. Fresh Level 2 often beats broken Level 3.

To run these numbers for any weapon, hit location, armour level and health value, use the damage and time-to-kill calculator.

Questions people actually ask

Does a Level 3 helmet stop a Kar98k headshot?

Yes. A Kar98k or M24 headshot kills instantly through a Level 1 or Level 2 helmet, but a Level 3 takes 55% off the multiplied damage and the target survives. Only the AWM, at 105 base damage, still one-shots through a Level 3 helmet. The useful part: if you land a headshot and they survive, you now know they are wearing Level 3, which is worth more than the shot was — plan the rest of the fight around a torso spray rather than a second headshot attempt.

Helmet or vest — which should I pick up first?

Vest first, early on. The torso is a much larger target than the head, so in raw damage-avoided terms a vest does more work in a typical fight — most of the bullets that hit you land on the torso, and only the vest reduces those. A helmet matters most against snipers: it is the difference between a Kar98k headshot being a kill (Level 1 or 2) or a survivable hit (Level 3). Take both when you can, but if you are choosing under pressure, the vest wins.

Does armour protect your arms and legs?

No — at any armour level, by anything. A helmet reduces damage to the head only and a vest to the torso only; arms and legs take the full multiplied damage. Limb shots have a lower multiplier (×0.90 for arms, ×0.75 for legs), but against a Level 3 target they take zero reduction while a torso shot loses 55%, so the gap between them narrows sharply. An enemy behind cover showing only a shoulder is an unarmoured target — shoot what is exposed.

How many M416 shots does it take to kill someone in Level 3 armour?

Six torso shots against a Level 3 vest, against three with no vest — and that assumes every bullet lands. The full M416 row: 3 shots unarmoured, 4 against Level 1, 5 against Level 2 and 6 against Level 3, which at the M416’s fire rate is about 0.41 seconds of continuous hits. The AKM needs 5 against Level 3 but fires slower, so the time-to-kill difference is small and its recoil means fewer hits land. Run any weapon, hit zone and armour level through the time-to-kill calculator.

Why did I lose a fight when I landed more shots?

Almost always because of where the shots landed and what armour was in the way. Damage is worked out in a fixed order — base damage, then the hit-location multiplier, then the armour reduction on that body part only — so four M416 torso hits down an unarmoured or Level 1 target but leave a Level 2 or Level 3 target standing. Then add armour durability: a vest that has already soaked two magazines is protecting far less than its label says.