Most people ask this after committing to one line and realising the next one starts from scratch.

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.
  • Expect the middle to be the slow part.
  • Prefer the in-game option over an external tool when both exist.

War Thunder models more of the vehicle than it tells you about, and the grind punishes guessing. A line finished is worth more than three lines half-done, in every game that works this way. Unlock costs rise faster than income does, so early efficiency compounds for a long time.

What to unlock first

If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. 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. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why.

The game rarely tells you that a prerequisite exists until you are standing in front of it. Respec and reset options exist in some of these games and not others, and that changes how careful to be. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

Where people stall

The mid-section is where progression slows sharply, and knowing that in advance helps. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. Everything below is framed around the current state of War Thunder rather than a launch-week impression.

  • Finish one line before opening another.
  • Note whether respec exists before committing.
  • Expect one number in every guide to be out of date; the method is what matters.
  • Do the repeatable early content while it is still efficient.
  • Ignore the fastest route if it skips the thing that teaches you the game.
  • Read the whole sequence once before doing the first step.

How long it realistically takes

If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

The order that works

A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about.

Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

What is safe to skip

Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.

Where people go wrong

  • Changing five things at once and then not knowing which one helped.
  • Rushing the last step, which is usually the one with the actual requirement in it.
  • Treating a rare edge case as the normal behaviour and planning around it.

War Thunder FAQ

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.

What if none of this works for me?

Then something in your setup differs from the assumption — version, region or platform. Check those three before anything else.

How long does it take?

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

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.

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