The Chacal-class vessels were the first large destroyers made for the modern French Navy after the First World War. They featured a larger displacement than all of the preceding destroyers, and mounted more firepower to contend with the contemporary navies of the time. The Léopard was the third ship to be launched, out of the 6 ships that were built. She was commissioned into service on the same day as the Lynx, one of her sister ships, and participated in one of the most famous events of the war, Operation Dynamo, the Dunkirk evacuation. She is depicted in-game after she was converted into an escort destroyer, removing her forward boiler room for increased fuel stores - thus she is visually identifiable by her only having two funnels, compared to the three her sisters have.

The Léopard was introduced in Update "La Royale". Thanks to the removal of a boiler room, the greatest drawback of the Léopard is her very low top speed of 58 km/h (31.3 kn), being one of the slowest destroyers in the game. In addition, to make room for the improved AA battery, the rear 550 mm torpedo launcher had to be removed, giving her a salvo of only 3 torpedoes. The torpedoes should be saved for close range fights against more dangerous opponents, as the low number of torpedoes make them very inefficient to launch at large distances. Nevertheless, the Léopard can fulfill multiple roles, such as providing both anti-aircraft cover and heavy fire support for friendly ships. Despite her slow speed, her deadly 130 mm guns outclass many other weapons of her tier. These guns have a shorter effective range than some other guns due to their lower velocity, however, they make up for this with their powerful ammunition.