In Holdfast, there are 3 main guns that you need to familiarise yourself with, these being the:

Rocket Launcher
Field Cannon
Ship Cannon

each 3 handle incredibly different and knowing how to fire them will be helpful. As a simple overview, the cannons tend to fire shots farther and are better at destroying structures, however the trade-off comes at them being harder to hit infantry with and hard to fire over structures. The rocket is somewhat inverse, the shots take a while to land, and are inaccurate, however they pack a massive punch.

FIELD CANNON AMMUNITION

Round Shot
The round shot is great for destroying structures and tightly packed formations, but is ineffective against incoming infantry and cavalry. The round travels at approximately 200 m/s, meaning it can cover 200 meters before it hits the ground (if firing level.) This ammunition is to be used for destroying structures.
Grape Shot
Grape shot is the Anti-Infantry form of ammunition. It acts similarly to a modern shotgun, but comes at the trade-off of only having an effective range of 50 meters. This can also be loaded into swivel guns, but unless you are on a ship this will not come in helpful for you. This has a wide radius and is best fired at a large group of infantry coming towards you.

NAVAL CANNON AMMUNITION
Round Shot
This works in the same way as the field round shot, the difference lying in range. the round shot for naval cannons flies at closer to 300 m/s.
Grape Shot
Works in the exact same way as field grape shot.
Chain Shot
The chain shot is a very slow ammunition type, at only 150 m/s, but comes with a massive advantage: It can destroy an enemy ship's mast. This is best used at close range as to avoid missing the shot.

ROCKET LAUNCHER AMMUNITION

SHELL ROCKET[L]
has a large explosive range, and on flat terrain a distance of 250 meters. Acts similarily to a mortar and is useful for hitting targets behind cover.
SHELL ROCKET[S]
Effective distance of 60 meters. Better for screening nearby troops, as opposed to working like a mortar shell.

Position is absolutely vital to an artillery player! So, before choosing where to fire from, think of these 3 important parts:

Am I in an elevated position?
Are my flanks secure?
Do I have a clean firing line?

If the answer to all three of these things is yes, then it is a good idea to set up there. If possible, get a sapper to build an emplacement for you. Some other helpful bits for choosing a good firing spot are:

Rocks.
If possible, get rocks to your front. It will make it impossible for Cavalry to effectively run you down, prevent infantry assaults, and provides decent cover from enemy artillery.
Reserve Positions.
Reserving is always the safer option, but it does tend to sacrifice your battlefield effectiveness. Choose when to reserve and when to advance as the situation develops.
Sapper Emplacements.
When at all possible, use emplacements built by a sapper to protect yourself. It makes you infinitely harder to hit and can help prevent an inbound assault as effectively as an elevated rocky cliff.

Congrats! You are now at the end. We have a few more things to go over, and then you should be much better at artillery.

The standard Round Shot has an effective firing range of 200 meters, this has been gone over. Beyond that, adjust every 5 degrees for 50 meters. If possible, get a spotter to help you aim with precision towards enemy targets.

The Grape Shot has an effective firing range of 50 meters. Beyond that, adjust 15 degrees every 10 meters farther out you are shooting. You will have a maximum range of 100 meters, do not attempt to fire beyond that.

With the chain shot, always aim for the top of the enemy ship mast. you'll either hit it high or it will lower to hit it anyways.


The rockets almost always require luck to accurately hit. If you wish for precision, I recommend firing at a lower angle. A spotter would also be very helpful in maintaining accuracy.

For firing on a moving target, aim about 1 meter in front of them every 100 yards. with rockets, it will be down to pure luck of firing.

Congrats! this is the end of the artillery guide. Feel free to publish a comment below if you think something should be changed.