War Thunder Doesn’t Need More Vehicles — It Needs Better Game Modes

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War Thunder Doesn’t Need More Vehicles — It Needs Better Game Modes

For years now, every major War Thunder update has added dozens of new vehicles — new jets, tanks, and helicopters — but almost no meaningful changes to the way we actually play the game. The core modes like Air RB and Ground RB have barely evolved in a decade.

The Game Mode Problem

Ground RB lets you spawn tanks, planes, and helicopters, but it’s a forced system — you have to play tanks first to earn spawn points before you can use aircraft. If you’re not a tank player like myself, it’s frustrating or nearly impossible to enjoy CAS.
Meanwhile, Air RB limits you to fighting other aircraft. CAS there is meaningless since the only ground targets are AI. In short: if you want to play CAS seriously, you’re locked into a mode you might hate.

Helicopters Are Practically Useless

At higher tiers, helicopters have become almost unplayable. Radar-guided SPAA can detect and destroy them instantly, often from spawn, with little effort. Helicopter pilots have to stay low, hidden, and manually guide their missiles the entire way — only to get wiped out by a single radar ping or a passing jet.
SPAA players, on the other hand, spawn safely, let radar do the spotting, and fire missiles that handle everything automatically. The skill and risk gap between helis and SPAA is absurdly lopsided.

Combined Arms Should Be the Future

War Thunder desperately needs a real combined-arms mode — one where air, ground, and heli players can fight together on the same battlefield without being forced into roles they don’t want. Let pilots join as pilots, tankers as tankers, and helicopter players as helicopter players. Everyone contributes to one multi-dimensional battle.
The technology already exists — it just needs to be expanded into a permanent, balanced mode similar to World War Mode but available at all times.

Priorities Need to Shift

We don’t need another 40 vehicles next update. We need something new to do with them. Gaijin has shown countless times through holiday events and April Fools modes that they’re capable of building fresh, creative gameplay. So why not channel that same creativity into improving the game’s long-term modes instead of making temporary gimmicks?

Closing Thoughts

War Thunders been a good game — but it’s stuck in a loop of what i fell is quantity over quality. Give players new ways to play, not just new things to grind. We want the gameplay to evolve, not just the vehicle list.

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And you think it would be fair somehow to be able to spawn CAS without that???

If you’re not a plane playsr you cannot enjoy ground without constantly getting bombed the second someone caps a point.

Inbefore RunaDacino comes in. Have you tried playing simulator? CAS there is way more involved than in RB.

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Sim allows you to spawn airplanes from the get go.

Besides, the issue you’re describing can be solved much more easily by you slightly changing your playstyle than it can by revolutionising the whole game. Literally spawn an M2A4 or a BT-5, get an assist or a cap, J out, and fly. Done.

It’s not the best way to play for your team, but it enables you to do what you say you want to do.

Top tier does have helicopters with fire and forget missiles.

Why does it desperately need it? GRB is the most played mode in the game. It sounds more like you want it, which is fair but quite different from a general “game need”, let alone a desperate one.

Lol.

Balanced

Similar to World War

There’s a reason why that mode is so sporadic, it’s had crippling issues in every iteration. It’s not what you’re describing either because, at least so far, it’s placed a lot of emphasis on the pseudo RTS element at the squadron level.

You’re not asking for a new game mode, you’re asking for helicopters to go down in BR and for CAS to cost less SP so it can be used right away. That’s hardly a game mode…

So you say, and yet the most common type of internet interaction you see from WT players is “when is Gaijin going to add X?”. WT has been around for a long time, and been very successful, by following the model of constant expansion. Are you really so sure that you know better?

But you’re proposing nothing of the sort. You’re asking for CAS to spawn from the beginning instead of two minutes into a match, because you dislike playing tanks…

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How quickly the mask comes of eh…

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Not like GRB is basically a tank oriented game mode.

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Tbh, it’s not a mask, it’s literally what OP said.

I think they’re doing the classic thing where you mistake your niche preference for something that the whole playerbase would enjoy.

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Yeah but the mask is off in the sense that the post says we need new gamemodes but the post actually just wants it to be easier to spawn planes.

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i think simply stating, making a new game mode, solves these issues. Gaijin has created such a rift in the fan base. Ground players hate air players and air players hate ground players. I think at this point, the way WT is set up, no matter what they do in the Deathmatch style game mode, nothing would be fair regardless of what they did. That’s why a new game mode is very much needed. I have tried sim. i play it here and there. Usually in VR. I want PVP CAS. I’m over dropping bombs on AI and static targets.

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  1. Are you referring to Ground SIM? Never played but when looked in to it I’ve never seen a top tier ground sim match and that’s the BR’s i tend to fly at. AS for Air SIM yes, i play but am tired of killing AI targets. i want PvP CAS interations.

2.True to limited regards. German Tiger and an Israeli Heli have fire and forget missiles. I think we can agree that 2/50 plus helicopters is pretty limited.

3.What’s the direction if not? I’m not asking it be forced on you. Give us options. We have all these weapon systems spanning from WW1 to near modern days. Why not see them work together and pitted against on another with some real time objectives to complete.

  1. I use this example lightly. i know it had issues. Think more a concept than World War being the backbone.

  2. In a way, sure, i am asking for CAS to be more accessible. I think its so hard for yall to imagine because of how the game is currently set up. Again, if you give us objectives and things to do, suddenly just dropping bombs on tanks isn’t the only thing to do. then you could have counter CAS players. i would do that in a heartbeat. combine that with SPAA and boom you’ve got something. stop thinking in terms of how the games set up now. that’s the exact thing i want to see changed.

  3. I don’t argue that. Adding vehicles has made them money. A lot. That doesn’t equal the best game possible for its player base. At some point the vehicles run out. Then what?

  4. i am proposing something of the sort. New game modes where CAS is more readily available. As mentioned in 5. its hard to imagine because you picture it in the current game environment where its Deathmatch. I’ve also not shied away from being very open on my dislike for tanks. That being said I’m not asking WT to strip your tank mode away. I’m asking for a new mode anyone can voluntarily play that’s separate.

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What mask do you speak of? There is no mask. i hide nothing. I’m a ARB player through and through and i play GRB for CAS solely because Gaijin has forced it. This player base has become so divided. Its just ground players vs air players now. I don’t want them to change the current GRB mode. I want a new game mode entirely.

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how much clearer can i be? You acknowledged my statement for a new game mode then immediately dismiss it? id like a new game mode Where CAS is available. whys that so hard to wrap our minds around. We haven’t gotten a true new game mode in how long? Serious question. Since when? While they’re at it, give ground a new game mode. Id support that 30000000%

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Different dev teams for one.
War Thunder already has all PVP game modes.
Helicopters are actually more useful at top BR than planes. The ability to hover in areas that SPAA can’t see you is a powerful tool, while fixed winged CAS costs more and can’t hide as easily.

Gaijin already wants an all-out-war mode, but that takes time to develop. We’re talking multiple years, and needs an AI overhaul.

I support more PVE and PVPVE modes, and those require a new AI that’s easy to put into matches and function far better within the limits of their vehicles.

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Sorry, I’m not sure if i understand what your stating. I assume youre being sarcastic. I understand GRB is mainly for ground vehicles. My complaint is…as a ARB player, if i want to play CAS, I’m forced in to GRB. Since i don’t play GRB I’m admittedly pretty terrible as i don’t really understand the tactics GRB players use to be successful. If i get 2 kills I’m over the moon. This creates a problem i never asked for nor wanted and is why i have a ground army of people in here who hate my guts for fly a plane in a video game.

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That’s because there is a rotation of rooms. There are always two rooms per day - one WW2, one postwar, cycling through various presets.

Ground RB is already a successful combined arms mode. I say “successful” because again, it is the most played game mode. Always happy to see new additions to it if they improve it, but what you’re asking for is not actually having more combined arms, it’s having an SP reduction for planes.

This already happens in GRB.

CAS is already incredibly accessible. Especially if you cap and fly.

So if I understand you correctly, you’re talking about introducing PVE elements to Ground RB, a bit like there are in ARB. Bunkers, convoys, etc.

This is not a new idea: a long time ago GRB included AI tanks too for example, and World War also has that format.

But you cannot control player behaviour. In a competitive mode, players like going after other players. Just look at what’s happened in ARB over the years with fighters being so prevalent etc. And in ground it would be the same, since no matter the format, destroying human-operated enemy vehicles would still be the best way to ensure a win.

The game is set up like this because it works and it’s popular. It’s not a failure of the imagination.

You literally did though.

Player retention is priority #1 for MMOs.

WT’s playerbase has shown, over and over, that they place a high value on new vehicles being added all the time. It has also shown that it hates variety and complains every time there’s some deviation from “the norm” (for every forum user asking for a PVPVE game mode there are ten GRB players who leave immediately if they see they got Battle instead of Domination).

So your perception of what’s best for the playerbase may be coloured by your own preferences.

In the long term, we’re all dead.

They have literal years and years of addition left. Then there’s years more of unfinished and what if vehicles that don’t pass the current standards but could eventually be included anyway. And it’s possible they have a pivot planned after that, but you also have to realise this is year 13 of this MMO. They’re set up to easily go on another ten. Thinking about what comes after that is basically impossible for me.

Also, with the coming additions of submarines and infantry, the well continues to run…

I disagree.

Your literal premise was that you dislike bombing static and AI targets. In such a game mode you would instantly go for the players. You are assuming that other CAS players would not think the same, but that’s an unfounded assumption.

The SP of CAS is a reflection of its effectiveness. If you want CAS to be less effective, giving it more ways to influence rhe battle will not work, since players would still default to the killer instinct most of the times. Instead, you would need to give CAS more limitations. Good luck with that one.

That’s really irrelevant to the discussion. This is a PVP game. You cannot play it without other people. Their enjoyment is your enjoyment, and vice versa.

You need to spend 2 minutes in a tank to get into CAS. If you’re unwilling to do that, and just want to get into the air immediately so you can bomb the poor suckers in tanks, that’s a you problem, not a game mode problem. I repeat, the SP of CAS is a function of its effectiveness.

WT already has a very high number of game modes, several of which are not in healthy places in terms of player count - it’s a well known MMO phenomenon that players tend to crowd into a handful of more popular game modes rather than distribute evenly.

They will not add new game modes unless they are absolutely sure it will bring them more players. This is why there will not be a tank only mode, it’s why there will not be an insta CAS mode, while infantry is apparently getting its own mode.

The best thing they could do to the World War concept is to copy what they’re doing with the nexus (or whatever it’s called) in Active Matter.

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So, I’ve got a decent amount of experience with Heli’s as of late. Because i find CAS planes to be nearly impossible to acquire, I’ve found Heli’s are more attainable. i can get one kill and load into my CAS Heli. What you mention is true. In good faith i don’t think you can deny the usefulness of pop up tactics. How ever, i think there is an undeniable discrepancy in the skill required to use Heli’s effectively and SPAA’s effectively.

Fly as low as you want SPAA radar will spot you no matter where you weasel your way to. as a Heli pilot you have to take off, fly tree top to your shooting location, avoid radar, avoid AAA, and avoid planes. Then you have to hover, find a target, acquire, lock and launch a munition. Now hold that lock until it hits. (2/50 something Heli’s do have fire and forget). i don’t think you could argue SPAA’s have it “harder”.

I feel we are past the “it takes time”. This is my frustration speaking but its been what, 12 years? idk, id just like to see this be a bigger deal for them.

i support new game modes of any type but as an ARB player I’m here to advocate for what i like of course. i want this game to be successful and stick around for some time to come. i just think at some point it needs something more. Thanks for your thoughts Alvis

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I will genuinely look into Ground Sim. When i have ive never seen a lobby above like 6 so i stopped.

i don’t think i can be more clear. Leave GRB. Make a new Game mode where CAS is available from the jump. The success of GRB doesn’t speak much to me. We effectively have 4 game modes. ARB GRB and both SIMs. Ships are filled with bots and Heli PVE is a joke, i think we can all agree on that.

Combined arms does happen in GRB. But people are kicking and screaming about it on both sides of the isle. I don’t think that means there shouldn’t be another game mode with objectives to complete and things to do.

In my experience its not accessible. Capping has never given me the SP needed to fly a CAS loaded plane.

You don’t understand me. Id prefer more PVP interactions and not more PVE. I hate CAS in ARB due to it being PVE AI targets. That said i acknowledge it would have to be a combination of PVE and PVP likely. also i don’t want anything to be introduced into GRB. Leave GRB alone. Make an entirely new mode. So yes there would be pvp interaction as there should be. give both side the tools to fight each other combined with some sort of objective to work towards.

If war thunders plan is to keep everything the same but only add new vehicles then I’m out. i know that means nothing to you. my preference.

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Yes, which is a problem Gaijin made by pushing ARB to be pretty much a fighters only game mode.

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I think it is I who should be clearer. I will try again.

The success of GRB is important to your argument because:

  • if you only want insta CAS, you are asking for a duplicate of GRB with a minimal change that makes CAS even more effective than it already is. This is a non starter, because you are asking for a slightly worse clone of GRB. It is not in the developers’ interest to dilute the GRB playerbase into two modes. Nor the players’ interest, really.

  • if you ask for insta CAS as part of a wider PVPVE set up, you are asking for something that was trialled in GRB and elsewhere and was removed for a reason - people prefer killing players. You included.

GRB is the elephant in the room. If you want a combined arms game mode other than GRB, you inevitably need to deal with the lessons learned from GRB as well as the fact that for the mode to be sustainable it would need to get players somewhere, and if it’s at the expense of GRB, you’re asking Gaijin to deprioritise their most played game mode.

No, arcade modes have a decent playerbase. Larger than the sim modes, in fact.

Then we have the minnows - the two naval modes plus naval EC, Heli PVE, air assault, ground assault.

This is not by accident. It is completely normal. Players do not spontaneously distribute evenly across game modes. This is one of the reasons why your proposed game mode faces a massive uphill climb just like tank only mode.

That’s the nature of PVP.

Besides, there’s the usual phenomenon where people who are unhappy complain out loud, while people who are having a positive experience say nothing about it - they just play the game and log off.

Literally the other day @ULQ_LOVER posted evidence of this. One hit on a Sturer Emil with an M2A4 and one assist was sufficient.

You are back to the “lessons learned from GRB” problem. The SP cost of planes is a function of their effectiveness. For planes to have a lower SP cost in another game mode, they would need to be less lethal and/or easier to kill, which would not be an enjoyable experience for a pilot, I suspect.

Whatever floats your boat. I don’t know what they’re planning, but I think your perception of them is incorrect. Lots of things have been trialled over the years. Even WWM is getting another go soon, after multiple failures. The problem is not their unwillingness to try. The problem is that people claim they want something, but when it comes to voting with their feet, they mostly default to deathmatch mentality all over again.

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Why not scrap every single independent game mode and shove everyone into one Full Combined Arms sort of game mode instead? Then merely split it by difficulty rating (AB/RB/SB).

I have long thought that CAS as it is currently set up is fundamentally unbalanceable. It is a killstreak powerup whose primary counter is also a killstreak powerup until you reach the highest tiers of the game. CAS is totally lacking nearly all of its real objectives - no bunkers, no snuffing out enemy team arty support, no strafing runways, no severing supply lines, nothing.

I actually agree with Mr. Jinkins on this one - we should use Sim’s SP system and forced runway spawns for all aircraft. This makes CAS a risky and highly expensive first spawn option, but also makes the fighters expected to counter it first-spawn options, too.

The artillery support tanks currently can call on should call on groups of AI-controlled Artillery Pieces using player tank assets. Killing them would bleed tickets.

Caps should be surrounded by AI-controlled bunkers with working guns that scale with BR. Killing them should bleed tickets. Existing spawns should also turn into cap zones with identical defensive fortifications worth tickets. Much like Naval EC, killing those units is essential to decap a zone, and they respawn once the zone flips.

I don’t mind killing AI targets - every AI target is one less potential whiner on the forums crying to nerf CAS.

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For heli, I’m pretty sad that the pvp mode have been deleted without trying to do a matchmaking system. When the pvp mode was out I enjoyed it a lot until I start facing ka50 with AA missile. And why can’t I use my helicopter in air sim?

Same for WW mode. My friends and I where disapointed when it was first release not because of the gamemode itself but because of the weird mixe of arcade and realistic mode. By the way a lot of my friend would like to play again in ww mode but why don’t we have this gamemode anymore? Plus even if we speak of the actual GRB gamemode I think GRB needs a little bit of rework. Especially for the new sam system as I found the actual map too tiny for them.

For ground sim battle I personnaly prefered when it was a 1 spawn gamemode. More stress to not be killed (even if it has it flaws) and same for when we where able to chose what tank we where able to play without the rotation system (I’m trying to play my SAMP/T in sim and fun fact with my actual job I was able to play it only once because of this system).

So yes a lot of my point can be wipe out with “it’s your preferences” but I think it needs at least a little bit of rework because the game as change a lot especially in top tier.
My bad btw for my poor english i’m not used to speak it!