IRON NEST Ammo and Shell Types Reference

Choose ammunition by the target and mission intent, not by the biggest effect. IRON NEST combines destructive, illumination, obscuring, chemical, and narrative uses, while current public lists mix official examples, demo-era names, internal codes, and unlockable variants.

Evidence status: AP, Smoke, and Phosgene uses have direct official examples. Several other core roles are consistent across current guides. Exact radius, requisition cost, range, and the complete number of currently usable shells remain conflicted or unverified.

A safe shell-selection workflow

1. Classify the target: hardened, surface, clustered, concealed, friendly-adjacent, or narrative.
2. Identify the mission intent: destroy, expose, cover a movement, deny an area, or make a story choice.
3. Check whether the target requires precision or area coverage.
4. Confirm the shell’s current in-game label and unlock state.
5. Confirm requisition cost and friendly-fire risk in the current build.
6. Only then select charges and calculate elevation.

Official examples say AP can penetrate a bunker, Smoke can cover a retreat, and Phosgene can poison an area. Those examples are reliable role guidance, but they do not provide a complete current stats table.

Why the public shell count is not settled

The official site advertises “30 ammo types and abilities to unlock,” and a developer reply discussed 30 unlockable ammunition types. Community resources, however, expose smaller sets of base codes, demo lists, or currently observed names. These may describe different layers: base shell families, unlockable effects, internal identifiers, or display names.

For that reason, this page does not claim “all nine shells” or “all thirty playable shells.” It also does not publish exact radii and prices where current sources disagree. For example, community reports conflict on STAR requisition cost and on the HE effect radius.

Confirmed roles versus community reports

Official examples

• AP: hardened or underground targets such as bunkers; a smaller effect can be useful when precision matters.
• SMK / Smoke: concealment and friendly withdrawal support.
• Phosgene: chemical area denial; use depends on mission and narrative consequences.

Current community-consistent roles

• HE: general surface targets and compact groups.
• HCHE: larger soft-target area coverage than standard HE.
• STAR: illumination, reconnaissance support, or exposing a target area.

Names needing direct version checks

DRIL/DRILL, APHE, Incendiary, TEAR, FUEL, PROPAGANDA, ATOMIC, and other unlocks appear in current or older community material. Their current display names, costs, radii, and unlock conditions are not asserted here.

Loading and safety notes

Shell choice and charge count are different decisions. A shell’s role does not tell you the correct elevation. Record the selected shell on the same target card as range, bearing, charges, and target type. If you load the wrong shell, do not invent an unload procedure; consult current controls and mission-safe options before acting.

Use the firing solution calculator only after selecting the intended charge count. Return to the beginner guide for the full verification chain.

Sources and data policy

• Official IRON NEST site — official AP, Smoke, and Phosgene role examples and the “30 ammo types and abilities” statement.
• Steam store — official game description and current product entity.
• Fandom ammunition page — community list with older and not-yet-introduced entries; used only as a discovery source.
• Developer ammunition discussion — pre-release developer statement about unlockable ammunition.

Reviewed August 9, 2026. Exact numerical fields remain needs in-game verification and are deliberately omitted rather than guessed.