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

Short answer

Pick one line and finish it before branching. Spreading across several is the single most common way to stall.

  • Check what each unlock gates before spending on it.
  • Note whether respec exists before committing.
  • 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. Skipping the tutorial content usually costs more later than the hours it saves now. The game rarely tells you that a prerequisite exists until you are standing in front of it.

Where people stall

Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. Unlock costs rise faster than income does, so early efficiency compounds for a long time. 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.

A line finished is worth more than three lines half-done, in every game that works this way. Respec and reset options exist in some of these games and not others, and that changes how careful to be. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first.

What to unlock first

Time estimates online are written by people playing far more than you probably are. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

  • Do the repeatable early content while it is still efficient.
  • Ignore the fastest route if it skips the thing that teaches you the game.
  • Keep a save or backup from before you start — it costs nothing and occasionally saves an evening.
  • Finish one line before opening another.
  • Expect the middle to be the slow part.

The order that works

None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over.

Everything below is framed around the current state of War Thunder rather than a launch-week impression. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

What is safe to skip

Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it.

The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different.

How long it realistically takes

The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.

Where people go wrong

  • Assuming a guide from an older season still describes the current version.
  • Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.
  • Copying a setup wholesale from a streamer without understanding what each part does.

War Thunder FAQ

Why do other guides describe this differently?

Most were written for an earlier version and never revisited. Compare the steps against what your build actually shows.

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.

How long does it take?

Longer than the guides say, because guides are written by people playing far more hours than most.

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.

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