War Thunder - F2P Combat Flight MMO

[Ruptga]

In the interest of keeping this thread clean and useful, a PSA:

Everyone, please, do not feed the troll.

Reporting is fine though.

 

[busydude]

I just started playing this game and am at level 3. I love the mouse based controls and the arcade mode is extremely easy to get into.

I've heard that after level 5 or so we kinda hit a wall and have to grind a lot... but so far I like this game.

 

[Ruptga]

I just started playing this game and am at level 3. I love the mouse based controls and the arcade mode is extremely easy to get into.

I've heard that after level 5 or so we kinda hit a wall and have to grind a lot... but so far I like this game.

That is definitely the impression I get from all the threads I've read. I am really liking the low tiers, though choice of nation does make a huge difference. The Russians are great, and the Brits are also a good choice though I am just at t2 with them. But the Germans... not so much. I hear they suck until about t6, I don't know, I am at t4 with them. The HE 112 is really disappointing though. It has two cannons but it seriously lacks punch, and only carries 120 rounds. But, I just got the bf 110 and it shows potential...

 

[CrackRabbit]

That is definitely the impression I get from all the threads I've read. I am really liking the low tiers, though choice of nation does make a huge difference. The Russians are great, and the Brits are also a good choice though I am just at t2 with them. But the Germans... not so much. I hear they suck until about t6, I don't know, I am at t4 with them. The HE 112 is really disappointing though. It has two cannons but it seriously lacks punch, and only carries 120 rounds. But, I just got the bf 110 and it shows potential...

Stukas are fun, especially the T2 one that has the siren. But they are oh so fragile.
A couple of hits from a cannon is all it takes to knock a wing off. :|

Hurricanes are great fighters for their tier and the bombers are quite decent as well. It's amazing how much abuse they can take before going down. The other day I was flying around with one engine out, no tail control and big holes in both wings.

 

[Ruptga]

Stukas start at t3, and I really wanted to like them but I just can't. They are incredibly slow, very fragile, and their gun armament is crap. They can carry a 1 ton bomb at t3, and their bomb reload starts at one minute, but the amount of targets they can kill over five minutes is absolutely dwarfed by every other bomber because they can only hold one bomb at a time. All they are really good for is killing single valuable targets, like cruisers, but their fragility and speed get in the way of that too. All that said, I bet they are a nightmare on FRB naval maps. They are very accurate and I wouldn't be surprised if a 1-ton bomb to a carrier's bridge could sink it.

Oooh, I was just looking through the tech tree and noticed the t5 stukas have access to MUCH better bomb loads, two guns in the turret, and one of them has cannons instead of 7mm guns. That is interesting.

 

[TallBill]

Stukas are fun, especially the T2 one that has the siren. But they are oh so fragile.
A couple of hits from a cannon is all it takes to knock a wing off. :|

Hurricanes are great fighters for their tier and the bombers are quite decent as well. It's amazing how much abuse they can take before going down. The other day I was flying around with one engine out, no tail control and big holes in both wings.

The blenheim is tank. The wellington can be shot down by a sneeze.

 

[Genx87]

The Stuka with the 37mm can be fun to troll people with head on. Or if you play it right hunt bombers.

 

[Ruptga]

The ju87d-5, at tier 5, is so much better than the t3 version. Even stock, its cannons are brilliant and it is a much quicker plane. I look forward to what it will be like when upgraded.

I'm not feeling the same way about the s.79 though. It is pretty underwhelming at this point. It is very fragile (for a bomber), slow, and its stock armament is weak. Theoretically 12x50kg could get 12 tank kills, but I know I'm not that accurate. It should be a lot better with 5x250kg, but still I was not expecting this to be such a slug. Its bonus percentage is still nice, though.

 

[Ruptga]

Version 1.35 is out, and is about 2GB

There are a few new planes and some fixes, but the biggest thing is custom battles. You can set up an arcade battle without respawns, a historical battle on an arcade map, etc.

 

[KMFJD]

Anyone know if the PS4 version will be able to play vs PC gamers?

 

[Genx87]

afaik yes, they will co-mingle.

 

[gorobei]

is it better to level up in only 1 nation's tech tree/planes or are there more optimal paths?

i've been grinding at the tier 1 battles just trying to get a feel for the different armies planes. but all the high score players seem to be rocking fully customized planes at least a level or 2 above the default biplanes ive been using. the russian planes always seem to unload a hailstorm of white tracers.

is there a summary of each tree's objectives that you should be working towards?

 

[Ruptga]

is it better to level up in only 1 nation's tech tree/planes or are there more optimal paths?

i've been grinding at the tier 1 battles just trying to get a feel for the different armies planes. but all the high score players seem to be rocking fully customized planes at least a level or 2 above the default biplanes ive been using. the russian planes always seem to unload a hailstorm of white tracers.

is there a summary of each tree's objectives that you should be working towards?

Because of the small player base, you will almost always face enemies one tier group above you. That is a real problrm with the performance gap between tiers 0-1 and 2-3. The gap between tiers 2-3 and 4-5 doeant feel as large to me, so I mostly play tiers 2-3.

At those tiers, the russians have great ground attack planes like the bb-1, and pe3e. They also have very competent bombers in the sb2m planes, and the i16 is a good dogfighter while the lagg series is good for booming and zooming. You can't really go wrong with them, especially since both fighters can carry rockets.

Brits get two hurricanes, which are brilliant fighters, and they get two decent bombers as well. Their lineup isn't as flexible as the russians, but the hurricanes are a lot of fun and their t3 bomber can carry a torpedo or bombs and its defensive armament is pretty good. The hurricane 2 may be disappointing at first with its poor stock climb rate, but it quickly upgrades up to the level of the hurricane 1 and it also can carry rockets that will oneshot a pby.

I just started the americans, so I don't really know. They seem to handle like busses, but are punchy. I am especially interested in the f2a3 with its 4 12mm guns. The pby5 planes are popular for their large and varied bomb and torpedo loads, but they will take some getting used to for me since they handle like the flying boats that they are.

Stay away from the low tier germans, they are just frustratingly mediocre, if not outright bad.

I haven't tried the Japanese yet, but I hear they are quick if fragile and lacking punch.

There isn't really any reason to not play more than one nation at a time. In fact you can save on repairs by playing another nation while your first nations planes are repaired for free over time. At tier 3 a full repair is shorter than the time of a match, so there isn't much of a down side.

 

[gorobei]

whats the difference in the default bullets and the general purpose? i get that incendiary are for fighter vs fighter, and that cannons are for bombers and maybe ground vehicles.

 

[Ruptga]

whats the difference in the default bullets and the general purpose? i get that incendiary are for fighter vs fighter, and that cannons are for bombers and maybe ground vehicles.

If hover the mouse over each ammo type it will tell you exactly what is in each belt, and what the proportions are. A lot of the ammo stuff is just personal preference, so you should try different types to see what works. But generally, incendiary stuff is for fighters, armor piercing makes attacking armored cars, bombers, and heavy fighters easier. Stealth loadouts are great for booming and zooming, because your target can't tell where your shots are coming from until it is too late.

Machine guns are generally for shredding lightly armored stuff like wings and control surfaces. Cannons pierce armor extremely well and are effective against engines and pilots, and of course armored cars. But more than that, cannons are all about alpha damage, they hit like a hammer. Their reload starts at 40 seconds though, MGs start at 20.

 

[gorobei]

cool thx ADDAvenger.

 

[Genx87]

The progression in the planes is kind of steep in the early levels due to going from bi-planes to early to mid 1930s designs to WWII designs. My opinion is it starts to lvl off around lvl 8. There are planes capable of holding their own against most tiers above them provided it isnt a jet at this lvl. I routinely fly the P47D against planes like the P51, BF109 K4, F8F Bearcats in my games. Provided I dont do anything stupid. I can do ok in them. It isnt a total beat down like one would expect against planes 6-8 tiers higher. The BF109F4 does fine up to Jets imo. That is a T8 German plane.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

whats the difference in the default bullets and the general purpose? i get that incendiary are for fighter vs fighter, and that cannons are for bombers and maybe ground vehicles.

I like to use stealth load. Tracers don't do any damage AFAIK. I'd rather have more AP per load out.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

is there a summary of each tree's objectives that you should be working towards?

Might be on the WT forum. I've been working on upgrading planes and sticking to 4-5 and below. I don't go up a level until I have a couple maxxed out lower level planes to mix into my flight rotation.

I started out in the american tree and tried to get the highest level planes as quickly as possible. That strategy sucked for me. Bunch of shiny new planes with no mods yet getting repeatedly shot down. I was heading back to the hangar before the end of campaigns alot.

 

[Blitzvogel]

I'm really starting to hate this new update. Seems like cannon shots are insta kill on me and as usual, mouse users have it too easy. Oh and Russian fighters are OP like they always are........

Hate to whine, but it's a persistent problem.

 

[Ruptga]

I'm really starting to hate this new update. Seems like cannon shots are insta kill on me and as usual, mouse users have it too easy. Oh and Russian fighters are OP like they always are........

Hate to whine, but it's a persistent problem.

I have to agree about the cannons, it is just ridiculous. I don't quite buy the Russian bias stuff though, mostly because of Britain. The other nations are often lacking in certain areas, but compare a hurricane with an i16, or a beaufighter with a pe3. The other nations' rosters could definitely do with some fleshing out, though. The Russians and Germans have a ton of choices, the rest not so much.

And if mouse users have it too easy I'd say they need to polish their joystick controls, not arbitrarily handicap the mouse users.

 

[Ruptga]

So far the only thing about WT that truly pisses me off is seeing this for five minutes at a time.

And I wish I were exaggerating. Sometimes changes are applied instantly, and sometimes it takes two minutes, but there have been times where I've installed my new guns or whatever, gone to get a snack, taken a leak, got comfortable in my chair again, and the fucking thing still isn't done processing the operation. What excuse could they possibly have for this? I don't have connection problems in game, aside from the usual spotty hit detection.

 

[KMFJD]

I'm really starting to hate this new update. Seems like cannon shots are insta kill on me and as usual, mouse users have it too easy. Oh and Russian fighters are OP like they always are........

Hate to whine, but it's a persistent problem.

don't like mouse users then don't play arcade, problem solved

 

[Genx87]

Russian fighters come off as OP in arcade. But that is because of the boosted flight models. In historical battles they arent exactly terrifying. I often fair well against them in my A6M3 or BF109E3. The E3 often times goes up against Yak9Ts, LA5FNs, and an occasional LA7. Provided you dodge their initial head on, the Russian planes flight charateristics unless flown by a competent pilot will get the plane killed. An E3 can outturn, out roll, and energy fight better than most Russian planes in that tier range.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Russian fighters come off as OP in arcade. But that is because of the boosted flight models. In historical battles they arent exactly terrifying. I often fair well against them in my A6M3 or BF109E3. The E3 often times goes up against Yak9Ts, LA5FNs, and an occasional LA7. Provided you dodge their initial head on, the Russian planes flight charateristics unless flown by a competent pilot will get the plane killed. An E3 can outturn, out roll, and energy fight better than most Russian planes in that tier range.

I wish the wait time for historic battles were shorter. I am not that great of a pilot and end up getting shot down most of the time and then have to wait another 5-10 minutes before I can play again.

The scenarios are interesting though, being in a small group of Hurricanes and Spitfires vs a bomber group of JU-88s with a few 109s as escorts is fun. Even managed to limp my wounded Hurricane back to the airfield after having my engine shot out in one game, sadly I couldn't get repaired and back into the fight before it was over.