How does an average player perform on Top Tier 14.7? (Official Stats vs. Community Norms)

Game Discussion Realistic Battle
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Hi everyone,

I’ve been grinding the US and USSR air trees since 2024 (started from Rank 5, mostly F2P but had a Premium Account occasionally) and reached Top Tier (14.7). I mainly fly the Su-30SM2 and sometimes the F-15E.

While analyzing my own performance (after being pointed out by another player that my stats might be unusual), I realized my numbers could be a significant outlier. I’m curious to see how they compare to the average experienced player at this BR.

My Context:

  • Total Playtime: ~338 hours over the last 2 years (played intermittently with gaps, but with intense focus sometimes).
  • Progression: Grinded from Rank 5 to 14.7 without buying direct access to top tier USSR (Had prem account for some time), and US from scratch for a week or so to F-15E (it was top tier then, i think I also had prem account). But no prem vechicles at all.

My Recent Stats (Last 30 Days, Official WT Profile):

  • Kills per Battle (Air RB): ~2.98
  • KD Ratio: ~6.0
  • Win Rate: ~70–80%
  • Global Leaderboard Rank: Top 100 (approx. #81 in Kills/Battle, #144 in Average Relative Position).

I’ve attached screenshots of my official War Thunder profile service record and recent battle scoreboards as proof.

My questions for the community:

  1. What is the realistic average K/B for a skilled player on 14.7? Is 1.0–1.5 considered “good,” or is the current meta so punishing that even veterans struggle to keep it above 1.0 consistently?
  2. Is a KD of 6.0 sustainable at Top Tier for anyone other than professionals? To me, this feels somewhat normal; I’m not tryharding nor trying to maximize stats. In reality, I play sometimes aggressively and take risks, basically just having fun. I mainly played on F-15E when I had less skill, and I rarely play it nowadays, so it’s stuck at 3.0 (I’m sure I can get it to ±4.5), but I don’t like being uptiered.
  3. Does the “pay-to-skip” mechanic (buying RP/GE, prems to jump to 14.7 without grinding) significantly lower the average skill level in lobbies? I often feel like I’m playing against beginners who just unlocked the tier, despite the high BR.

I’m trying to understand if my experience is unique or if I’m just missing something about the general player base. Would love to see some honest stats from other 14.7 mains based on their official profiles!

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Some decent battles recently:

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Anything above 1.5 can be considered good IMO, as that is above the Rafales 1.22 K/S, which is the highest according to statshark.

I don’t think it’s sustainable for anyone that plays solo.

Undeniably true. I’d even go further and say that there are very few BRs where skill is actually present to begin with.

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  1. The majority/average player at top tier barely hits 1 K/D and gets <1 KPB. Higher than 2 KPB is achievable for good players with the very top end capable of reaching 3 KPB or higher.

  2. I have personally encountered some players with ~8-10 K/D at top tier air but they are rare enough to be counted on one hand. I’d say to maintain 6 K/D would require playing more seriously (but not to the extent of “pros”) and using the more meta planes.

  3. It’s true that top tier air is filled with players that premium skipped + base bombed up the tech trees but the true degenerate garbage gameplay are the brackets below it. Starting from 12.0 to around 13.7 the lobbies are packed full of people who just swiped their credit card for premiums or to buy a squadron vehicle, load them full of bombs, and then multipath straight to bases. You can imagine what that does to top tier lobbies once these people mashed their faces into bases enough times to unlock their shiny plane. If you have the opportunity to play 13.7 it’s been a free for all buffet with the recent sales making it even worse (or better if you are farming them).

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Stats never show:

  • squad playing (even if it would show, you can easily get into the same battle by pressing to battle! simultaneously)
  • Battles skipped (to get more downtiers), especially players who plays GRB (multi spawn). ARB only players you can see it in statistics. Every skipped battle is a finished mission, but no respawn.
  • Ratio player/AI kills for a specific vehicle (only overall in leaderboard)

With the new mechanic to get manouver kills, it will become even more biased. If you know where AI planes will crash, you can get 6 kills without any effort.

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1: I see. I usually just looked at K/D ratios without thinking much, but today I encountered a player who explained the context to me
2: I’m currently getting around 6.0 KD quite relaxedly while doing ‘random things’ (I mainly play solo ). This makes me wonder: is the Su-30SM2 just objectively too strong right now? I assume it’s mainly due to the AESA and the situational awareness that you get.
3: I see, thanks…

Thanks for the response.

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The AESA itself isnt necessarily the issue (though whether it should even have the IBRIS is another matter altogether), though it is the strongest radar at top tier.

The issue is that it carries 12x R-77-1s which are very potent Fox-3 missiles at the moment which can be fired in HOBS using said AESA radar with great effect, or be used to intercept incomig missiles. (Then it gets 2x R-73s ontop of that)

As an overall platform it is also quite decent.

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Top tier K/D (Specifically top tier only) Id say 1.5-2.0 K/D is quite good, with 2.0+ being very good. But the average is probably more like 1.0

Below top tier. The biggest factor imo is not something you can actually control, which is uptiers. For example. Ive been enjoying hte Jaguar GR1 quite a bit recently, and in a downtier or minor uptier, I can do quite well. averaging around 2-3 kills per match, and usually surviving. In an uptier though. Im hardpressed just to survive, let alone get any kills.

So there is an inherrent amount of RnG that has quite an impact on how well a vehicle will perform.

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Trying to actually play for fun at top tier is like rolling over a cactus. You HAVE to play the best aircraft or your KD plummets through the floor. Sitting in the notch with EF2000 AESA or spamraam with F/A-18F is the only time I am able to get more than a single kill reliably.

MCM is a scourge on this game that needs to be eradicated, else the game will always just be a matter of who has the most missiles on their jets… Just wait until stealth aircraft with 4 missiles show up…

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Your performance in the Su-30SM2 given your playtime is really great.
Statshark has a lot of statistics on kill/game and kills/death of toptier vehicles check that out.

I think you should definitely play more toptier vehicles since the sm2 is just a statfarmer at this point, the vehicle with the highest ceiling in the plane and getting 6.0 kd in that, while impressive, isnt that hard really and can be easily maintained while not really trying or paying attention

I personally have a kd of 7.5 in rank 9 but i dont think that is really relevant since that can be easily boosted, kills per match offer a slightly better representation of ones skill but there isnt one stat that can definitely define a player’s skill.

And people who play “professionally” in esports often dont have the best kd and kpr etc, not the exact same skillset

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Thanks. I’ve played quite a bit on top tier on F-15E, also a bit on friend accounts on typhoon, grippen. I find su30sm2 to be weaker than typhoon or rafale AESA. They have much higher energy retention and speed in general. I can’t imagine how to win one realistically in the Air RB, given they play similarly to me.

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I’m sure some people don’t find top tier fun, but that’s honestly how I’ve played ever since I unlocked it. Fighting modern jets is what I wanted to do since 2017. I stopped around early Rank V back then, came back about two years ago, and since then top tier has been my favorite part of the game (~200 hours playtime just top tier jets from 340hours in total).

I enjoy flying pretty much any aircraft that isn’t constantly getting uptiered. My favorites are the AESA-equipped jets because the situational awareness they provide is incredible, and I find myself getting caught in bad positions much less often.

I can reliably average around two kills per battle on most top-tier aircraft I’ve played. The only exception is the F/A-18 - I just can’t… It’s worse than a brick to me.

I also don’t think missile count matters as much as you’re suggesting. It’s definitely an advantage, especially in Air RB where you’re fighting 16 enemies instead of a few coordinated opponents. More missiles let you stay in the fight longer and play more aggressively because you can afford to take more shots.

But that’s not the same as saying “the jet with the most missiles wins.” Every aircraft has trade-offs. The Gripen only carries four active radar missiles, yet it’s still a very capable aircraft because of its flight performance and survivability. On the other hand, the F/A-18 can carry ten missiles, but I personally perform worse in it because I dislike how it flies.

The Eurofighter is another good example. It carries fewer missiles than a fully loaded Hornet, but its radar, acceleration, climb, energy retention, and overall ability to put itself in advantageous positions give it a much higher probability of actually converting those missiles into kills. I’d much rather have six missiles that I can employ effectively than ten launched from a worse position.

So I agree that missile count is an advantage, but I don’t think it’s the defining factor. Sensors, flight performance, positioning, and how well a jet can create firing opportunities are at least as important.

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Well how are you performing in those compared to the sm2. Personally i do think that the typhoon and rafale are good for ARB but SM2 has the highest ceiling, the higher maximum kill potential. And yes it is less survivable

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On typhoon ± the same, but a bit worse. I’ve not played much on it. But on other jets in general - ~30% worse (feels so)? Mainly due to limited radar.

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wdym limited radar, the wide gimble on the sm2 helps but its not holding u back from better performance

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I’ve flown both AESA radars (on the Typhoon) and the Su-30SM2, and the difference is huge.

With AESA, I almost always detect enemies, whereas with older mechanical radars, I often literally don’t see players even when they are directly in front of me.

On AESA, I can spot most of the enemy team, which allows me to plan my flight path and positioning effectively. With a mechanical radar, I lack this situational awareness, which negatively impacts my performance. This also significantly increases my missile hit probability, as the radar maintains a much more stable soft lock and guidance channel.

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In air having 1 K/D already makes you better than 85% of playerbase according to statshark. In GRB 1.13 makes you 93.7%,so you are better than nearly 94% people. TLDR Anyone with K/D above 1 in WT is good player and above average.

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SM2 gets AESA radar? And for planes without it, yeah thats the point. Aesa radars ruin the fun, playing well without them in lower br is a different skill set

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I’m talking solely about people who play The Meta™ of MCM.

If you come across an Su-30 player who is deciding to be a dirtbag and playing MCM, either you have to sit back and spend the entire game killing them from the notch, or you lose, simple as.

If (hopefully when) MCM is no longer possible, it will level out the playing field a hell of a lot more. I personally find top tier far more enjoyable than lower tiers, but if I am not playing to win (and just playing for enjoyment) there is simply no fun to be had. I don’t want to be forced to use the EF2K/F18 every game just so I don’t get kerb stomped.

Don’t get me wrong, when I use the EF2K or F18 I do good. I have far more fun with A120Ds at intermediate altitudes than literally anything else in the game shy of strike on sim/nuclear escalation. But playing for fun rather than meta chasing is undeniably impossible, especially when you encounter MCM players.