First post on the War Thunder forum so sorry if wrong category or something. Been playing war thunder for over a year and a half and mostly play ground (air is difficult to play on trackpad so only got to 4.0). I originally thought that after a while I would learn and get better, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. After hundreds of hours of playing I still can’t play realistic because of how bad I am. I personally want to play realistic so that I can grind faster and actually use stealthy light tanks unlike in arcade. Not to mention that arcade is kinda goofy sometimes. I usually play germany 7.3 (german main), USA 6.7 (just got there) or France 5.3. Whenever I play arcade I usually do ok, but don’t earn much rp (500-1000 per match). The moment I go to realistic I usually get around 4 deaths and maybe 1 kill. That gives me usually 100 - 700 rp depending on if we win or not. My k/d ratio is absolute dogwater. I’ve been trying to get better by watching youtube tutorials, reading the wiki to find enemy weakspots and stuff like that but nothing seems to be working. I just don’t understand what I could be doing wrong unless I’m just naturally bad at War Thunder, or just plain stupid. Could someone help me please? The game is becoming less and less fun because the higher br I get, the worse I seem to play. Not to mention that 1.5 years to get to 7.3 is hella long and painful. Thanks
first of all you need a mouse, even a cheap mouse will work better than a trackpad, if you can you should also get headphones to help hear enemy engine noises better. if you have played arcade only then I recommend returning to reserve realistic so you can increase you skill in a easy setting. if you are having trouble with grinding you could buy a mid tier premium when they go on sale this Christmas. in any case the goal of the game is to have fun, not reach top tier, if you have more fun in arcade then stick with it, find a fun lineup and play relaxed.
First of all, i’d say to start playing realistic at ~3.0, because there are mostly new realistic players and little lvl 100 players. slowly work up the tiers, and if you get into your tigers, A N G L E.
~30 degrees is fine (im not so sure, i main anerica)
Also, learn the weakness of enemies. An m18 can be penned anywhere, but a tigris is only pennable at the side, front plate, or over track if angled.
I’d also say to find flanks and predict enemies. in sversk 13, people go to c point, so you can go to the edge of the map and flank them in a fast car, but there can be some enemies.
It’s fine, I won’t tell your family
Thank you for the response, I’ll consider getting a mouse and headphones but won’t get a premium. I’ll never sell my soul to the snail. I am trying low tier realistic which is a little easier but still not great. My personal goal is to reach top tier but I do understand what you mean by have fun. Thanks again.
I’m now trying low tier realistic and it’s a little better but I honestly still get detroyed by like level 5 players. For tigers I always angle. My arcade k/d in the tiger is around 1 or so which is very good for me. For weaknesses I always use the armor penetration thing in the hanger to know where to shoot. Flanking never works because there’s always some other guy there waiting for me or I just get sniped the moment I pop my head out. Thanks though.
Clearly you need to buy a 70$ top tier premium so I can get some free kills in my Leclerc /s
Get a mouse and headphones, I play on console so a mouse was never an issue for me, but my headset is literally 5 years old, the mic doesn’t work, and the head band is broken in the middle (held together by duct tape), I got it for free from my Dad who works in IT.
Learn situational awareness, learn vehicles and engine noises. Trust me, knowing where an enemy is without being able to see them is a huge advantage.
Learn maps and the most commonly used routes. Go around those routes and flank. Keep in mind that moving makes noise, so try to move unnecessarily as little as possible when trying to be stealthy.
Learn angling, and side scraping. Don’t be ashamed to shoot peoples barrels and tracks when in CQC. Use your crew skill to its fullest extent (Weapon reloading is the most important crew skill)
The more time you play, the better you’ll get as long as you follow these tips.
Thanks for the tips. I already follow all those tips except for the one about listening to other engines (I literally have other engines volume set to 100 and mine to 50 but still can’t here anything). Whenever flanking I always die to the enemy flankers. My main issue is that others always see me before I see them. Literally 75% of my deaths are from an enemy I never even saw.
First of all never feel bad for feeling like you arent a good player, its just a video game we play to have fun and you will always still be of value to a team (unless you are a one-death leaver or premium pack noob)
you NEED a mouse for this game. trackpads are the worst option, I also strongly recommend headphones just for spacial awareness, 80% of my combat is sound-reliant as I’m colourblind so spotting tanks is not easy so trust me its clutch.
Never care for your stats, its bad for your mental well-being to put so much importance on meaningless
numbers over actual gameplay satisfaction. Id say I’m an above average player in overall performance but my K/D is barely over 1 on most tanks as they struggle until they are spaded, and even then I mostly play at 7.7 which has a lot of BR compression so K/D is never going to be good just because of the state the game is in, I still play as I like the tanks in that BR and enjoy the game with friends.
Youtuber opinions are complete trash. I cant emphasise enough how valueless the opinions of channels like Spookston or TEC or even Defyn are for the average player, they have more hours than 95% of the playerbase and are therefore uncomparable in skill and what to expect, there’s bias against vehicles because of nations with a few channels as well so never take their word as accurate or fair.
Only guides on how a mechanic works are worth looking at so you understand them more, this will be very useful for if you want to try top-tier air (don’t its a lobotomy)
The best way I can describe Ground Arcade is as a worse WoT and Realistic is quite literally a whole different video game, physics, BR and projectile trajectories are different and you don’t get many assists either, it took me a few months to fully move over to realistic from arcade, I played WoT for a long time so I had a lot of bad habits to break out of, how long it takes will always vary from person to person so don’t feel bad about taking a while to figure it all out.
Germany below 8.0 (other than 3.3-3.7 as the pz4 long gun is cracked) is a waste of time if you care about doing well as new players are attracted to the “WunderWaffe” and then proceed to be hammered but players like me who vibe at 6.7 in a centurion mk2 with a mk24 spitfire in my back pocket.
America is pretty trash around mid tier until top tier but the average abrams player is worse than the stereotypical germany main so you will have a poor winrate there too.
France has one of the strongest 7.7 lineups in the game, the AMX 50 family is incredible and punch real hard.
If you decide to play Realistic, don’t jump back and forth as you need to just concentrate on training your eyes and brain to notice movement or spot enemy before they spot you. It does take time.
Enter the Test Drive and check your graphic settings. See if in third person can you see vehicles that are far away. If not tinker with your settings. You want clear, crisp images.
The SPAA that drives back and forth to right of the spawn, can you see it out of your peripheral vision. That means if you’re not looking directly at that location, but its on the edge of your view do you notice it moving? It’s an easy way to train yourself to notice movement.
If you’re having problem with your sounds, drive in Test Drive towards where the SPAA is driving. Park near it, you should hear it, and if your sound settings are correct you should be able to close your eyes and track it as moves across your path. Same goes for aircraft that fly over or past. If not check your sound settings.
I have headphones but I have a 7.1 system, so I can visualize where vehicle/aircraft/helos are most times when they get into range. I also have Speed of Sound turned off, as it’s just buggy for me.
Also machine guns, don’t be the person who feels the need to fire them at all times. I use mine only when required. Nothing better when you see an enemy firing machine guns at trees, balloons, or into the sky, telling you exactly where they are (visually and by sound). That goes for ZSU 57-2 users who feel it necessary to fire their guns backwards out of the spawn. Makes it easy to determine how many and where they are)>
Watch the battlefield feed to note whos destroying who with what, and note where your friendlies are. Monitor the map and you’ll be able to determine where the enemy is. Note your teammates name so that if you see “TEAMMATE NAME” destroyed and they were nearby, you know there is possibly enemy nearby.
Thanks for the advice!
I will try that. Usually I play realistic for a few days or a week and then get completly depressed so I go back to arcade. I’ll try to force myself to play realistic even though I usually get around 300 rp per match (silver lions are never an issue for me but rp is very tough to earn even with the 30% next vehicle research booster thing) and die 4 times per 1 kill. Guess I just have to stick with it. Thanks.
Nice! also remember that some vehicles, such as the m4a3 with a 76 howitzer arent the best to angle with, due to their thin armour.
Also do not get discouraged and feed the snail! i struggled for a bit but now I’m still standing, better than i ever did…
When I first started playing realistic I had a hard time spotting tanks, and even then sometimes I still miss a guy right in front of me; because of how well they blend in. With time, it becomes second nature and you will become better at spotting.
A few big tips I can provide are to use your binoculars and become fluent with them. You can spot enemies hiding behind hills and other cover, while staying behind cover yourself. The binoculars vision is at a higher elevation than your tank sight. You can also point your turret at a enemy you can’t aim in tank sight and get a shot over a hill or hidden behind trees for example.
Another tip is to use your free look to peek behind corners without turning your turret. If you use your turret to peek you could be at a disadvantage if somebody pokes around a corner and your gun is turned the other way…if that makes sense.
Thanks for the tips. I already use binoculars often and do the corner peak thing. I do agree that I need more experience for it to become second nature but I’m honestly giving up and going back to arcade. Realistic is honestly hopeless for me. Nothing seems to work and I’m tired of struggling to get just 500 rp per match.
NEVER give up. there’s no point. when i first tried it at 3.7, i was struggling, it was so nee to me. Pater i got used to it and then i got the m18, so i thought i needed to play arcade for a while as it’s 5.3 there…
Point is; i always struggled when i played a bit of arcade and then rb (most recent example is when i got the special order to get… 35… assists…. in ab…. 😭)
Infact, tell me your user, and if we can together, i might teach you a bit.
Get your 6.0 Usa tanks and lets spread freeeeedoooom!!
@Crusader48 Look up my dreadful stats, I play on Xbox but you can search for my War Thunder profile (under “Muscle Chad”) I have 27,000 spawns but only 17,000 kills. I played a lot of low tier france and italy, often rushing at enemies or flanking and getting cornered. Sometimes I get 1st place but other times I end up at the bottom of the score board. The game isn’t fair, it’s just a bunch of random people shooting at each other, with no plan or strategy.
I reached level 100 this year or last, and I’ve been playing almost daily since mid 2021.
I play France quite a lot and that tech tree is really fun, but too predictable at BR 5.3. It’s more fun at BR 6.0 when you get the ELC Bis and CA Lorraine, beyond that, you get AMX light tank at BR 6.7 and many of these vehicles are great to use. I had premium a long time ago, but everything I do now is stock grind, even at Rank V. It’s a game of random luck sometimes. I have many bad matches, but it’s fun to drive tanks in ground realistic battles!
My Xbox Series S is under-performing garbage, and my headphones are held together with sticky box tape.
My username is Crusader48. Would definetly like to play together and learn a few things. Thanks.
The french tanks seem to have good guns but literally no armor which I find very annoying. l do enjoy playing France though because it’s different from the other nations. l try to have fun but difficult sometimes. l just got the Marder A1 for germany and after like 10 deaths l have no kills lol. The gun is useless expect against planes and the missiles can’t 1 shot anything.
I’m in New Zealand so it’s probably a bad idea, I only play on SA (South Asia) with 160 ping, on the US server I get 240 ping and it’s difficult to shoot planes when I’m using spaa (also with tanks, the enemy always shoots me before I can shoot). I don’t like playing outside of SA. I’m always happy to write on the forums though.
With the ELC Bis I have killed jagdtigers because they cannot turn quickly enough to face me, the ELC also has quick reverse speed, so it’s possible to shoot an enemy, then quickly reverse behind a hill. Then I take a new position and repeat. ELC Bis and CA Lorraine are very strong against German’s Tiger E. At BR 6.0 you will sometimes get entire enemy teams of Tiger E, and if you can ambush them with ELC Bis, you can often do serious damage.
The other option is the CA Lorraine, which, with upgrades, can reach 60 k/ph (or 37 m/ph) and its gun is deadly. I found that it suits my aggressive play style very well, and I routinely use CA Lorraine to charge at the enemy’s flank and shoot them from close range.
The other good thing about France is the SPAA. You have two pea shooters and one with a bigger shell around Rank III and Rank IV. The pea shooter ones are good against the m18, which is sometimes quite common. SPAA is the best way to protect your team from enemy scouts.
At lower ranks, the EBR is a vehicle with lots of potential. I relied on it for a very long time, along with the AMX 13 FL11. Sure France has more powerful guns, but I prefer speed because it allows me to react to changes on the battlefield. In a medium or heavy tank, there is no choice but to commit to a particular area, I cannot escape down a road at high speed and drive across the map in 30 seconds.