The game presents this as a menu of choices and quietly makes some of them far better than others.

Short answer

Follow the route below in order — each step unlocks something the next one assumes you have.

  • Note whether respec exists before committing.
  • Check what each unlock gates before spending on it.
  • Give a method one honest attempt before deciding it does not work.

War Thunder models more of the vehicle than it tells you about, and the grind punishes guessing. Respec and reset options exist in some of these games and not others, and that changes how careful to be. A line finished is worth more than three lines half-done, in every game that works this way.

How long it realistically takes

It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. The game rarely tells you that a prerequisite exists until you are standing in front of it. Unlock costs rise faster than income does, so early efficiency compounds for a long time. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts.

Time estimates online are written by people playing far more than you probably are. Skipping the tutorial content usually costs more later than the hours it saves now. War Thunder is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look.

The order that works

The mid-section is where progression slows sharply, and knowing that in advance helps. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

  • Finish one line before opening another.
  • Expect the middle to be the slow part.
  • Expect one number in every guide to be out of date; the method is what matters.
  • Ignore the fastest route if it skips the thing that teaches you the game.
  • Do the repeatable early content while it is still efficient.

What to unlock first

Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

Everything below is framed around the current state of War Thunder rather than a launch-week impression. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice.

What is safe to skip

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.

Where people stall

What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

Where people go wrong

  • Assuming a guide from an older season still describes the current version.
  • 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

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.

Do I need any mods or third-party tools for this?

No. Everything described here works with the base game on any supported platform.

Can I change my mind later?

Sometimes, at a cost. Whether a reset exists is the first thing to check before committing.

Is there a way to skip the grind?

Only partly, and usually by paying. The route above is the efficient version of doing it properly.

Work through it in the order above and german tech tree stops being a question you have to look up again.