I dont know how many hours exactly, but I started playing in 2017 around New E.R.A. update, and I played mostly germany. I got to top tier around the New Power update in 2020 (I know this because I had to do some lineup rearangements due to release of 2A6).
But I wasnt actively playing, more like month of intensive playing then two months of downtime.
I also got locked out of progresssing to rank VI for a while due to rearrangements of the german TT at the time.
So, educated guess, actual year worth of playtime, i guess?
How much years did it take you
If I begin to start a grind, I’m not sure to be alive to see the end of it
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I reached Germany top tier ground in less than a year. It is possible. Though i somewhat cheated
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I would say i am bad-average and it took me about 450-500 hours for ground+heli usa (expect the mh60, still grinding it)
Yes.
About 190 hours free to play, 96 hours with premium account, and ~55 hours with premium vehicle and premium account at my old skill level.
So probably 12% less than that with current skill.
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You might want to consider, like with many things in life, it’s the journey, not the destination.
We all end up in the same place, it’s how we get there that matters.
Getting to and playing top tier is not the object of the game, rather, having fun and
entertaining yourself sounds like a better goal to shoot for. YOU decide what it is.
Playing one nation, one or two vehicle types, skipping as much as you can along the way
just to get to top tier means you would be literally missing 85% - 90% of the game(if not more)
If playing top tier modern vehicles is the only thing you think is fun, then go for that.
But I would advise to try as much of the game as you can, find what you enjoy the most
along the way and do that.
Setting unrealistic goals and having unrealistic expectations can lead to a good deal of frustration.
The game can be frustrating enough all by itself . . . you don’t need to help it . … lol.
Focusing solely on “grinding” can turn the game into work, and that can be a good way to
wear the “shiny” off of you favorite toy. Grind some sure, but also fine some stuff you just
like to do here as well. . . . . “Balance”. Try not to get too caught up in the FOMO/HYPE world.
Please, don’t be this guy . . . lol
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So much THIS.
I sometimes think about starting a new account so that I can enjoy the trip again, taking a different route perhaps.
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Only able with cool vehicle in low-mid tier… but Italy low-mid tier bro 💀
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Italy ground is rather cool in arcade. Not much fun in realistic.
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You’re a better man than me Charlie Brown . . . lol
This is the reason it takes me 1.5 months to do 96 hours of grinding on my fastest attempt.
I much prefer just playing the game, and grinding is a bonus.
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to put it lightly, its a torture simulator.
even with premium, grind times are pretty unbearable and they only get worse as you go higher.
without premium, probably just forget about top tier unless you want war thunder to be your real life 9 to 5 job.
its hard to estimate how many hours it would take to reach 12.7 without premium, but without any experience it would easily be many hundreds, somewhere around 1000 probably.
but that doesnt account for planes or helicopters, you can add a few thousand more hours if you want those without paying
edit: as LeChance said, its about the journey. if you only play to grind without enjoying all the tiers you will go through, its impossible to reach a high tier without paying for premium and premium tanks
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Thats why I still only have one tree completed and over 3000hrs in game. I have done the journey and know what I like. I rarely change what I play and when I do I come back quickly because I just have more fun that way.
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Without a premium account or a premium tank, I achieved ground top tier in the UK, Germany, and the USSR. I achieved ground BR in the US up to 7.7, but then I bought a premium account and did the other nations with a premium account and sometimes premium tanks. The Chinese tree is the only tree I’ve done with a high-tier premium tank - ZTZ96(P). I bought many premiums like the Somua SM, TURM III, Tiger II Sla.16, and T29 after I had grinded top tier in those nations. Oh, and I also grinded US aviation with the AV-8A. I achieved US helicopters with a premium account and the T29, but ZSRR helicopters I grinded with only premium account. Unfortunately, I can’t say how long it took me to get from zero to top tier in example UK. I know for sure that it took me five years to get to top tier in every ground nation. The last nation I got top tier was Italy.