Progression here is long enough that a wrong turn costs real time, which is why the order matters more than the picks.

Short answer

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

  • Note whether respec exists before committing.
  • Ignore the fastest route if it skips the thing that teaches you the game.
  • If a menu path does not exist for you, your build is older or newer than the one described.

War Thunder models more of the vehicle than it tells you about, and the grind punishes guessing. Time estimates online are written by people playing far more than you probably are. Respec and reset options exist in some of these games and not others, and that changes how careful to be.

What is safe to skip

It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. Skipping the tutorial content usually costs more later than the hours it saves now. Unlock costs rise faster than income does, so early efficiency compounds for a long time. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see.

The mid-section is where progression slows sharply, and knowing that in advance helps. A line finished is worth more than three lines half-done, in every game that works this way. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

What to unlock first

The game rarely tells you that a prerequisite exists until you are standing in front of it. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional.

  • Expect the middle to be the slow part.
  • Check what each unlock gates before spending on it.
  • Read the whole sequence once before doing the first step.
  • Do the repeatable early content while it is still efficient.
  • Finish one line before opening another.
  • Stop and reassess after two failed attempts rather than repeating the third.

How long it realistically takes

The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. War Thunder is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters.

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. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

Where people stall

If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it.

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. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.

The order that works

Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why.

Where people go wrong

  • Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.
  • Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.
  • Treating a rare edge case as the normal behaviour and planning around it.

War Thunder FAQ

Is this still accurate after the latest War Thunder update?

The method is; individual numbers may not be. If a value on your screen differs, trust the screen and keep the sequence.

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.

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.

Can I change my mind later?

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

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