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:
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?
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.
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!
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.
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.
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).
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.
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…
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)
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.
