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.

  • Ignore the fastest route if it skips the thing that teaches you the game.
  • Check what each unlock gates before spending on it.
  • Check the version you are actually running before assuming anything is broken.

War Thunder models more of the vehicle than it tells you about, and the grind punishes guessing. The mid-section is where progression slows sharply, and knowing that in advance helps. Time estimates online are written by people playing far more than you probably are.

What to unlock first

None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. A line finished is worth more than three lines half-done, in every game that works this way. Skipping the tutorial content usually costs more later than the hours it saves now. 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. 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.

How long it realistically takes

Unlock costs rise faster than income does, so early efficiency compounds for a long time. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.

  • Expect the middle to be the slow part.
  • Do the repeatable early content while it is still efficient.
  • Read the whole sequence once before doing the first step.
  • Finish one line before opening another.

Where people stall

If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. 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.

There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

What is safe to skip

Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. 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.

A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

The order that works

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

Where people go wrong

  • Changing five things at once and then not knowing which one helped.
  • Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.
  • Copying a setup wholesale from a streamer without understanding what each part does.
  • Rushing the last step, which is usually the one with the actual requirement in it.

War Thunder FAQ

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.

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

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

What should I go for first?

The line described above. It unlocks the widest set of options and stays useful after you move on.

Bookmark it if you like, but honestly, once you have done it once you will not need to come back.