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.

  • Do the repeatable early content while it is still efficient.
  • Expect the middle to be the slow part.
  • Region and platform change more than people expect, so confirm both.

War Thunder models more of the vehicle than it tells you about, and the grind punishes guessing. Respec and reset options exist in some of these games and not others, and that changes how careful to be. Unlock costs rise faster than income does, so early efficiency compounds for a long time.

The order that works

Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. Time estimates online are written by people playing far more than you probably are. The mid-section is where progression slows sharply, and knowing that in advance helps. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

The game rarely tells you that a prerequisite exists until you are standing in front of it. A line finished is worth more than three lines half-done, in every game that works this way. Everything below is framed around the current state of War Thunder rather than a launch-week impression.

Where people stall

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 developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice.

  • Finish one line before opening another.
  • Note whether respec exists before committing.
  • Prefer the in-game option over an external tool when both exist.
  • Ignore the fastest route if it skips the thing that teaches you the game.
  • Check what each unlock gates before spending on it.

What to unlock first

A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. 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

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. 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. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over.

How long it realistically takes

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first.

Where people go wrong

  • Assuming a guide from an older season still describes the current version.
  • Treating a rare edge case as the normal behaviour and planning around it.
  • Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.

War Thunder FAQ

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.

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 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.

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.

If you only take one thing from this: the answer near the top is the part that matters, the rest is context.