The material around War Thunder has grown large enough that knowing what exists is half the question.

Short answer

It exists, it is official, and it is not required to understand the game — but it does fill in the parts the game only gestures at.

  • Credit fan artists if you reuse their work.
  • Look for an official assets page before downloading anything.
  • Read the whole sequence once before doing the first step.

War Thunder models more of the vehicle than it tells you about, and the grind punishes guessing. Fan work is frequently better than official work and is not the same thing. Assets circulated online are often ripped rather than released, which affects what you can legally do with them.

What exists officially

It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. Official art books contain material that never appears in the game itself. Licensed soundtracks are the most likely part to be missing from a re-release. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice.

Adaptations take liberties, and the interesting ones take them deliberately. Canon status is decided by the developers rather than by the adaptation's writers. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration.

Where it fits with the game

Release order and chronological order are different, and both have their advocates. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on.

  • Expect licensed music to be missing from re-releases.
  • Play first if you mind spoilers — adaptations rarely respect them.
  • Stop and reassess after two failed attempts rather than repeating the third.
  • Check whether something is official before treating it as canon.

Whether it is worth your time

Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. 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. Everything below is framed around the current state of War Thunder rather than a launch-week impression. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters.

Where to find it legitimately

Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. War Thunder is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look.

What is fan-made

Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time.

Where people go wrong

  • Copying a setup wholesale from a streamer without understanding what each part does.
  • 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.
  • Skipping the prerequisite because it looked optional in someone else's summary.

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.

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.

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.

Is it any good?

The reception is mixed and depends heavily on what you wanted from it. The section above sets that expectation honestly.

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