War Thunder throws you into WWII-era tanks and planes within minutes, and that's the trap: the opening hours feel generous, then the grind curve steepens hard once you leave the low battle ratings. Picking the right starter nation, understanding how research points (RP) and silver lions actually work, and knowing how to not die in the first ten seconds of a match will save you dozens of frustrating hours.
Pick your starter nation based on grind, not just aesthetics
Every nation in War Thunder has its own tech tree, and some are dramatically more forgiving to grind through than others.
- USA is the safest all-rounder for a first nation. It doesn't have a glaring weakness at any tier, and its tech tree is large enough that you'll usually have a fallback vehicle if your main line hits a wall. The tradeoff is that the tree itself is long, so expect a longer overall grind to reach top tier.
- USSR gives you tanks with forgiving frontal armor built to brawl and absorb mistakes — ideal if you're still learning angling and positioning, since sloppy play gets punished less. Many longtime players describe starting with USSR as making every other nation feel harder by comparison, which tells you how forgiving it is.
- Germany has a genuinely fun and strong mid-tier lineup, with interesting vehicles that reward learning real tactics rather than just armor-checking. It's a good second nation once you understand the basics.
- Avoid Italy, France, and Japan as your very first nation. These trees are widely regarded as having a rough beginner experience — thinner vehicle pools at key tiers and less forgiving playstyles that punish mistakes new players are still making.
The most underrated piece of advice: pick the nation whose real vehicles actually interest you. War Thunder's grind is long by design, and motivation matters as much as any tier-list ranking when you're the one clicking "research" for the fiftieth time.
The best starter nation in War Thunder for most new players is the USA or USSR. USA offers the safest all-round tech tree with no glaring weakness at any tier, though its length means a longer overall grind to reach top rank. USSR gives forgiving frontal tank armor that absorbs positioning mistakes, making it a good pick for players still learning angling. Germany has a strong, enjoyable mid-tier lineup but rewards tactics more than raw armor-checking, which makes it a better second nation than a first. Italy, France, and Japan are generally considered the roughest starting trees, with thinner vehicle pools at key tiers and less forgiving playstyles that punish beginner mistakes harder than the other nations do.
The mid-tier wall is real — here's how to avoid getting stuck
The early tiers (roughly Battle Rating 1.0–3.0) are forgiving: thin armor, slow vehicles, and lots of one-shot kills that make combat feel simple. Around the middle of most tech trees, the wall shows up — better-armored vehicles, longer RP requirements per vehicle, and battle ratings where your mistakes start costing full games instead of single lives.
- Don't rush-buy every new vehicle the moment it unlocks. Play your current vehicle enough to actually learn it — its weak armor spots, its gun handling, its turret speed — before jumping to the next rank. A half-learned vehicle at a higher battle rating usually performs worse than a well-understood one a rank below.
- Use vehicle-specific and general RP wisely. Research points earned toward a specific vehicle convert faster than general RP does when spent elsewhere, so if you know your next target, keep researching modifications on the vehicle that will fund it.
- Don't skip crew skills and modifications. A stock vehicle without upgraded rounds, reload speed, or crew skills is meaningfully weaker than the same vehicle fully spaded. Jumping tiers with stock vehicles is one of the most common reasons players feel like they've hit a wall — they have, but it's a self-inflicted one.
- Lineups matter. Bring 2-3 vehicles per battle rating bracket instead of one. If your top vehicle dies early, you want a backup at a similar rating rather than being stuck spectating or bringing something wildly under-tiered.
The War Thunder mid-tier wall is the point, roughly in the middle of most nations' tech trees, where the early game's forgiving thin armor and one-shot simplicity give way to better-armored vehicles, steeper RP requirements per unlock, and battle ratings where a single mistake can cost the whole match instead of one life. Most players hit this wall for self-inflicted reasons: rushing to unlock new vehicles instead of fully learning (and fully modifying) the one they already have, spending general RP inefficiently instead of funding a known next target, and bringing only one vehicle per battle instead of a 2-3 vehicle lineup as a backup. New to competitive multiplayer generally? Our Valorant beginner's guide covers a similar first-fifty-games learning curve in a very different genre.
Survival tips for your first real battles
Your first battles will feel chaotic because you're processing map, enemy positions, and your own vehicle's handling simultaneously. A few habits fix most early deaths:
- Play for objectives and survival, not kill count. Capturing points, spotting enemies, and surviving to the end of the match nets more consistent RP and silver lions than one risky solo push for a kill. Dying early ends your ability to contribute for the rest of the match.
- Don't peek in a straight line. Angle your approach, use terrain and hull-down positions, and never sit still in an open lane — you're a stationary vehicle in a game where the first accurate shot usually wins the exchange.
- Check the minimap before every engagement. Knowing where your team is (and isn't) tells you whether a fight is one-on-one or a trap.
- In planes, altitude is life. New pilots dive in too low and too fast; keeping energy and altitude in reserve gives you options that a low, slow plane simply doesn't have.
- Repair and respawn costs matter. Don't reflexively respawn into your most expensive vehicle every death — at lower ranks, cheaper vehicles let you play more aggressively without draining your silver lions.
War Thunder rewards patience and vehicle knowledge over reflexes alone. Pick a nation you'll actually enjoy researching, resist the urge to rush every new tier, and play to survive rather than to farm kills — the RP and lions follow naturally once you stop dying in the first thirty seconds of every match.
Looking for another free game to try? Our Free-to-Play Games in 2026 guide helps you choose a genre and explains what free really costs.
