War Thunder has one of the deepest vehicle rosters of any live-service game on PC, covering ground forces, aviation, and naval combat across dozens of nations. That depth is also its biggest onboarding problem: new players routinely spread their research and Silver Lions across three trees at once and end up under-progressed everywhere. Here's how to avoid that trap.
Battle Rating decides your entire match, not just your vehicle
Battle Rating, or BR, is the number that determines who you're matched against — and it's not calculated per-vehicle in your lineup, it's set by your highest-BR vehicle. Matchmaking pulls in a spread of roughly ±1.0 around that number, meaning your whole lineup gets dragged into that bracket regardless of what else you bring.
This is why bringing one high-BR "flagship" vehicle alongside a pile of low-tier backups is a losing strategy: you'll get pulled into matches where your backups are simply outclassed and can't contribute. The fix is to keep your lineup's BR tight — every vehicle in your line should be close enough in rating that none of them are dead weight in the match your top vehicle creates.
Practical takeaway: before queuing up, glance at your lineup and ask whether your lowest-BR vehicle can actually function in a match built around your highest-BR one. If not, swap it out.
Pick one nation and one vehicle type first
The research tree is enormous, and it's tempting to unlock a bit of everything — a German tank line, a Soviet fighter line, maybe some American naval vessels — all at once. Don't. Splitting research points across three nations and three vehicle types simultaneously is the single fastest way to stall your progression, because Research Points earned in one match only apply meaningfully to whatever tree you're actively focusing.
Instead:
- Pick one nation that matches the playstyle you're drawn to.
- Focus on ground vehicles first — tanks tend to be more forgiving for new players to learn core mechanics like positioning, armor angling, and BR spread than aircraft.
- Add a second vehicle type (aircraft or naval) only once you're comfortable with how battle rating and matchmaking behave in the type you started with.
This isn't about permanently locking yourself into one nation forever — it's about not diluting your early research so much that nothing progresses.
Crew skills are quietly one of the most important systems in the game
Crew skills are consistently one of the most underexplained systems for new players, and skipping them is a common reason vehicles feel weaker than their stats suggest. Every vehicle slot has its own crew, with skill points spread across categories like Driving, Gunnery, Vitality, and Repair.
What makes this tricky is that priorities aren't universal — they're vehicle-type specific. A tank crew benefits most from skills tied to reload speed, repair time, and driving; an aircraft crew leans harder into G-tolerance and stamina, since those directly affect how long a pilot can perform high-stress maneuvers before blacking out. Treating every crew the same way, regardless of vehicle type, wastes skill points on categories that barely matter for that vehicle.
When you unlock a new crew slot, take a moment to check which vehicle type it's assigned to before spending points, rather than distributing them evenly out of habit.
Understanding the economy: Silver Lions and Research Points
Progress in War Thunder runs on two currencies with very different jobs. Silver Lions (SL) are your wallet — they pay for repairs after a match, module upgrades, crew training, and new vehicle purchases. Research Points (RP) are what actually unlock the next vehicle in your tree; SL alone won't get you there.
The two aren't earned identically, and how you play affects both. Smart lineup building — staying active in a match, using vehicles suited to the battle rating you're queued into, and completing in-match objectives rather than just racking up kills — generates more of both currencies and meaningfully cuts down the grind.
A few economy habits worth building early:
- Don't leave premium or event vehicles unused — many offer better SL returns per match, which takes pressure off your economy while you research.
- Repair costs scale with vehicle tier and how badly you're damaged, so reckless, all-out aggression in an expensive vehicle can quietly erode your SL income even in a winning match.
- Research boosters and vehicle-specific RP bonuses are worth saving for the vehicle you're actually grinding toward, not spending piecemeal.
Final tip
War Thunder rewards patience and focus far more than it rewards breadth. Keep your lineup's BR tight, commit to one nation and vehicle type until you're comfortable, actually spend time on crew skills instead of ignoring them, and let your Silver Lions and Research Points build up around a single research line instead of three half-finished ones. That's the difference between a smooth first fifty hours and a frustrating one.
