War Thunder Best Nation: The Short Version

There is a short answer to what Best Nation is, and a longer one about why it matters — both are here.

War Thunder models more of the vehicle than it tells you about, and the grind punishes guessing. There is a persistent myth attached to it that has never been true in any version. It shows up in more places than its introduction suggests, once you know to look.

Whether it is worth going out of your way for

Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. Most guides mention it in passing and none of them stop to define it. It became noticeably more relevant after a change the patch notes barely mentioned. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts.

Its role has changed across updates, so older discussion describes something slightly different. Knowing this does not make you better at War Thunder, but it does make the rest of it legible. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

What it is

The wiki entry is thorough and buries the actually useful part six paragraphs down. Its practical value is narrow and real, rather than broad and theoretical. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional.

• Do not confuse it with the similarly named thing — that mix-up drives most bad advice.
• Read the in-game description once, then ignore it.
• Region and platform change more than people expect, so confirm both.
• It rewards attention rather than preparation.

Where you encounter it

It rewards understanding rather than grinding, which is unusual for War Thunder. Early impressions of it are usually wrong in the same specific way. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. The game introduces it quickly and assumes you picked it up, which is where the confusion starts.

It is the kind of thing veterans forget they ever had to learn. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. Whether it is worth going out of your way for depends entirely on how you are playing.

What it changes in practice

If you only remember one thing about it, remember where it appears. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. Two similarly named things exist, and mixing them up explains a lot of contradictory advice.

The name is descriptive if you already know what it does, and opaque if you do not. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. It appears in supplementary material in more detail than it does in the game itself.

How it connects to the rest of War Thunder

Community shorthand around it has drifted far enough from the original meaning to cause arguments. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. It is more consequential in the late game than the early one, which is why first impressions mislead.

Where people go wrong

• Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.
• Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.
• Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.

War Thunder FAQ

Can I miss it?

Where it is missable, that is noted above. Most players meet it without going looking for it.

How long does this take?

Minutes if it goes cleanly, an evening if you hit the edge case in the caveats list. Neither is unusual.

Where can I read more?

The official material covers it in more depth than the game does, and considerably more reliably than aggregated fan pages.

Does this work the same on console and PC?

The logic is identical. Menu paths and button prompts differ, and any real difference is flagged above.

Anything that shifts with the next War Thunder update will show up as a changed number, not a changed approach.