AzimuthZero. (2026, August 18). I fixed War Thunder’s BR system [Video]. YouTube.
I recently came across AzimuthZero’s video “I fixed War Thunder’s BR system”, published on 18 August 2026. The video proposes Loadout-Adjusted Battle Ratings (LABR), where a vehicle’s effective BR changes depending on the upgrades or ordnance it has equipped.
Interestingly, this isn’t a new concept on the forum. There is already a suggestion from about a year ago proposing a similar fundamental idea:
Context on Dynamic Battle Rating based on aircraft loadouts
The original suggestion specifically aimed to address aircraft whose weapons are significantly more capable than the aircraft itself, using examples such as the A-10 and Su-25. The proposal was that aircraft equipped with their more effective air-to-air or ground-attack weapons would retain their normal BR, while removing those weapons could lower the aircraft by up to 1.0 BR. It also suggested that this could reduce the need for “filler” aircraft whose primary purpose is to separate different weapon configurations into different vehicles.
AzimuthZero’s proposal takes the same basic concept further. Rather than simply lowering the BR when powerful weapons are removed, LABR would assign individual BR values to ordnance or upgrade modules, with the highest applicable value determining the vehicle’s BR. This could potentially extend beyond aircraft to things such as tank ammunition, APS and radar upgrades.
I think this is an interesting concept that is worth discussing, although I would be somewhat cautious about how such a system could be implemented and potentially exploited. There are several questions that would need to be addressed before determining whether it would actually improve matchmaking.
For example, how should the BR value of individual weapons or upgrades be determined? Would an AIM-120 have the same modifier on every aircraft, or would its effect depend on the platform carrying it? How would combinations of weapons be handled? Could players deliberately select unusual configurations to obtain a lower BR while retaining most of the vehicle’s effectiveness? And would this create too many different configurations for matchmaking to reasonably handle?
The video also argues that LABR could help with stock grinding, since a stock vehicle could potentially remain at a lower BR until more powerful upgrades are unlocked. Whether this would actually improve the progression experience is another interesting point for discussion.
I’m personally not particularly for or against the concept at this point, but I think it is worth discussing both its potential benefits and the ways it could potentially be misused.
Feel free to discuss:
- Should War Thunder move towards loadout-dependent BRs, or would the additional complexity outweigh the benefits?
- How could such a system be implemented without creating an unmanageable number of BR combinations?
- What safeguards would be necessary to prevent players from deliberately exploiting the system?
- Would you prefer the more limited approach from the original suggestion, or AzimuthZero’s more comprehensive LABR approach?
And don’t forget to give your opinion on the original suggestion as well.
