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War Thunder |OT| Tanks, Planes And Automobiles

So is there no way to play with an account that I already had for Gaijin Online for PS4?

Last I heard, you need a PlayStation-specific War Thunder account. At least, you couldn't use your PC War Thunder account to play on PS4. Gaijin blamed Sony, but it's not clear what the real reason is. Pretty unfortunate, though.

That said, if I remember correctly your PS4 War Thunder account would work on PC?
 
Last I heard, you need a PlayStation-specific War Thunder account. At least, you couldn't use your PC War Thunder account to play on PS4. Gaijin blamed Sony, but it's not clear what the real reason is. Pretty unfortunate, though.

That said, if I remember correctly your PS4 War Thunder account would work on PC?
I dunno, guess I need to sign up with a separate email address though.
 
I'm trying so hard to like this game but it makes me so frustrated. I still feel like I'm doing something completely wrong. I'm using a fully modified F2A-3 and these guys are able to get behind me, turn on a dime and stay there. I just dont get it, I can never turn tight enough. Then when it comes to shooting I miss most of the time and cant keep aim steady at all.

Any help?
 

androvsky

Member
I'm trying so hard to like this game but it makes me so frustrated. I still feel like I'm doing something completely wrong. I'm using a fully modified F2A-3 and these guys are able to get behind me, turn on a dime and stay there. I just dont get it, I can never turn tight enough. Then when it comes to shooting I miss most of the time and cant keep aim steady at all.

Any help?
That plane was pretty sad in real life, but in the level one arenas it's more of a boom and zoom plane. You're up against a bunch of slow but maneuverable biplanes and fixed gear planes.

Granted I'm sucking pretty hard in those same arenas, so I might not be the best one to answer. ;) I'm having a hard time with the controls too but I'm getting used to them slowly.
 

HariKari

Member
I'm trying so hard to like this game but it makes me so frustrated. I still feel like I'm doing something completely wrong. I'm using a fully modified F2A-3 and these guys are able to get behind me, turn on a dime and stay there. I just dont get it, I can never turn tight enough. Then when it comes to shooting I miss most of the time and cant keep aim steady at all.

Any help?

Buffalo is the fastest early-ish plane, so play it accordingly. It's not a turning brawler, and if you are facing biplanes then you're going to lose every time.

Build altitude, pick your chosen target, dive, fire, pull up and out while using emergency power to get back to altitude.

Rinse, repeat.

Really any plane can do this "boom and zoom" but some are a lot better than others at it. The two Wildcats after it in the tree are more of the same so get acquainted with the tactic.
 
Thanks guys, is there path that has good dogfighting planes? I tried going through the P26 and then got the P36 but I have a hard time controlling that one. I also noticed the elevators stop working if you're going too fast.
 
Thanks guys, is there path that has good dogfighting planes? I tried going through the P26 and then got the P36 but I have a hard time controlling that one. I also noticed the elevators stop working if you're going too fast.

Spitfires have good guns and turn very well. The Japanese Zeroes are good too, but much more fragile.

I recommend the British - Hurricanes / Spitfires. I don't fly the Spits myself, but I avoid turning battles with them.
 

HariKari

Member
Thanks guys, is there path that has good dogfighting planes? I tried going through the P26 and then got the P36 but I have a hard time controlling that one. I also noticed the elevators stop working if you're going too fast.

In order of pure dog-fighting:
1. Japan
.
2. Brits
.
3. Russia/America
.
.
4. Germany

Japan is only for the patient, though. The Brits are much more forgiving, especially early on. Russia is just the king of everything.
 

demolitio

Member
In order of pure dog-fighting:
1. Japan
.
2. Brits
.
3. Russia/America
.
.
4. Germany

Japan is only for the patient, though. The Brits are much more forgiving, especially early on. Russia is just the king of everything.

Russia is the king only in Arcade. In the other modes, their performance declines quite a bit with the real FM's and DM's.

Russia early on is amazing regardless of mode though. They make a problematic plane like the LaGG-3 fly pretty well.

Basically, you just have to BnZ the Russians to defeat them though. Honestly, I find the Brits to be the most well-rounded since the Spitfires climb incredibly well since they're interceptors yet turn exceptionally well. The Mk.V is the only weak-spot in the Spitfire lineup and the later Spits are my favorite planes ingame and in real life. The Typhoon and Tempest series are really great as well and can outrun most planes at low altitude and can BnZ quite well.
 
The Typhoon and Tempest series are really great as well and can outrun most planes at low altitude and can BnZ quite well.

Agree - though I can't speak to the Tempest too much. The first Typhoon is a bit of a buzzkill because it has the same armament as the best Hurricane (all rifle caliber mgs), but I do like it :) They are very quick.

The one plane I've fallen in love with lately is the German Henschel HS 129 B-2 with the 30mm gun pod. I dunno, everyone seems to underestimate it and it does not receive pilot knockouts very frequently (in my experience). It's a monster in a head-on vs. fighters if people are foolish and its 2x 20mm + 1x 30mm guns are savage at killing nearly everything. Of course, I avoid straight up dogfighting, but it makes quick work of everything I've faced not named B17 :) I did make a B17 look stupid tonight, though. I got super close and lucky, strafing nearly all four engines in a single pass.

I mean, I know the FW190s and other planes get, more or less, the same gun setup or better, but I just like that weird plane, haha. It also climbs like shit and if someone breathes too hard on your engines, you're fucked...
 
Thanks for the tips guys. Maybe I need to switch countries (really wanted to continue with the F planes since my dad worked for Grumman for many years) but I'm guessing those are better for strafing ground and ship targets?

Also, what is good crew stats to put points into for fighters? I've been mostly putting points in g tolerance, vitality, and the weapons reararm stats.
 

elty

Member
An asshole (from my team) ram into my bomber's tail on purpose so I crashed and he can get all the bombing points. wtf was that.

On another note, the He111 is a really OP bomber at era 1 with 2000 KG bomb load - compared to the pathetic 1000 lbs British one.
 

HariKari

Member
Thanks for the tips guys. Maybe I need to switch countries (really wanted to continue with the F planes since my dad worked for Grumman for many years) but I'm guessing those are better for strafing ground and ship targets?

The entire F line is good at killing stuff. Not sure where you get the impression they're only for killing ground targets. All of them are nicely 'tiered' (Battle rating) so you're getting your ratings worth when you fly one.

I personally play my Americans with three corsairs, two thunderbolts, and the hellcat. Just for fun. Because that lineup is murderous at 3.0 BR and the P47s + F6F double as light bombers. I have all the mustangs, b17s, and bearcats, but I enjoy that lineup the most.

Also, what is good crew stats to put points into for fighters? I've been mostly putting points in g tolerance, vitality, and the weapons reararm stats.

In order:
G Tolerance
Vitality
Reload (Weapon Maint.)
Stamina
Vision

Gunnery does nothing unless you have AI controlled turrets on your plane. Once your crew reaches a certain level you can buy a certification for silver that gives you +30 to the vision stats, reload, repair, and gunnery.
 

GodofWine

Member
im enjoying the heck out this game...

question...when i finally get my crew up to level 100, and can put them on a new plane, can I put themback onto the previous plane if I so desire? Like if my BR outpaces a friends, can i switch back to the reserve planes so we can play against level 1 competiton, and i dont drag them into tougher matches?
 

HariKari

Member
im enjoying the heck out this game...

question...when i finally get my crew up to level 100, and can put them on a new plane, can I put themback onto the previous plane if I so desire? Like if my BR outpaces a friends, can i switch back to the reserve planes so we can play against level 1 competiton, and i dont drag them into tougher matches?

Absolutely. A single crew can also have as many certifications as you want. You simply pay to train them on basic upkeep for that plane in that slot ("crew train cost" on the stat card), then pay more (if you want) for a certification for that plane. Costs scale upwards the higher you go in BR/Tier.

Some countries are more certification dependent than others. Americans can get away with skipping it due to the fast reload time of 50 caliber guns. If you have cannons or low ammo reserves, like the Russians or Germans, you're going to want to pickup those certifications.

Another effective way to level up a crew fast is to buy a premium plane, which usually has double the award and research points. You can rapidly level up one crew with this plane, then swap it over to another slot to level up that crew. A 2x daily win with a lot of work in a premium plane while having a premium account will rocket you through the tree and make fat stacks of money. Take time to learn the basics and flesh out your crew at the lower tiers, however. There are a lot of terrible players flying good high BR planes because they didn't spend enough time learning the basics.
 

demolitio

Member
Thanks for the tips guys. Maybe I need to switch countries (really wanted to continue with the F planes since my dad worked for Grumman for many years) but I'm guessing those are better for strafing ground and ship targets?

Also, what is good crew stats to put points into for fighters? I've been mostly putting points in g tolerance, vitality, and the weapons reararm stats.

Don't give up on the Americans yet. The F6F is one of my favorite planes in the game and a great BnZ aircraft. You just have to fly it like a BnZ aircraft and use your speed to get away which is why that plane had such an incredible record in real life.

They're not best for ships and ground targets, but they do handle them pretty well too. They're FIGHTERS first and foremost, just not turn fighters since that's not the area of focus.
 
Ugh I still fucking suck so much ass at this. Is anybody here on the PS4 version has any tips on trying to aim? I feel like as soon as I get guys in my cross hairs I cant hold it steady at all and I usually get one or two hits and never finish the job. I've been progressively lowering the sensitivity but I dont think its doing much. I'm using simplified controls btw.

Edit: I think I misunderstood the BnZ concept. I think what I was doing was getting high altitude, heading down towards, attacking and then following/dogfighting instead of running and gaining altitude again
 

GodofWine

Member
Ugh I still fucking suck so much ass at this. Is anybody here on the PS4 version has any tips on trying to aim? I feel like as soon as I get guys in my cross hairs I cant hold it steady at all and I usually get one or two hits and never finish the job. I've been progressively lowering the sensitivity but I dont think its doing much. I'm using simplified controls btw.

Edit: I think I misunderstood the BnZ concept. I think what I was doing was getting high altitude, heading down towards, attacking and then following/dogfighting instead of running and gaining altitude again

I haven't done it but i think you can increase the dead zone one the controller in the game, which will smooth you out a little.
 

demolitio

Member
Ugh I still fucking suck so much ass at this. Is anybody here on the PS4 version has any tips on trying to aim? I feel like as soon as I get guys in my cross hairs I cant hold it steady at all and I usually get one or two hits and never finish the job. I've been progressively lowering the sensitivity but I dont think its doing much. I'm using simplified controls btw.

Edit: I think I misunderstood the BnZ concept. I think what I was doing was getting high altitude, heading down towards, attacking and then following/dogfighting instead of running and gaining altitude again

Yea, you completely missed the "Zoom" part...lol

American planes are exceptional BnZ planes that can usually withstand higher speeds in a dive than the majority of the planes ingame meaning you can also use it to escape. The German fighters are also excellent BnZ planes (although their controls lock up at high speed dives more than the Americans) so as long as you play your plane right, you can do really well.

The F6F is actually one of the better planes at its tier if flown correctly. You can out-run most planes, sustain steep dives, and your .50's can shred through planes through various techniques depending on what you set your gun convergence to meaning.

BnZ is a necessity in Realistic Battles where the FM's and DM's are more accurate and less forgiving meaning you don't even really need to crit a plane to make it go down sometimes with those .50's. What you want to do is climb away from the battle in the beginning since American planes aren't designed as interceptors like a lot of the German and British planes meaning they can outclimb you with ease and will have higher altitude if they so desire so you should climb away from the action until you're at a high altitude and then BnZ people down below. American planes also perform better at higher altitudes which is another reason why the game puts them at a disadvantage since they make high-altitude escort fighters take off a few miles away from enemy interceptors meaning you rarely ever get to perform at your best altitudes.

BnZ is basically a safe playstyle in the fact that you dive on someone and take your shots but IMMEDIATELY climb back up afterwards putting you out of range of any retaliation of the enemy plane. You're basically using the energy to your advantage and keep diving on them until they finally die. It's all about maintaining your energy and making sure the enemy never gets to use its advantages against. If your plane gets out-turned by the enemy, then don't turn-fight.

The F6F you'll love but even the Wildcat can be effective. The Hellcat is on another level though. The P-47 is still also one of my favorite planes in the game due to it being one of the fastest diving planes in the war due to its weight but it can also take a beating while dishing it out with its 8 .50 cals with a shitload of ammo as well. It's a dream plane for BnZ fans.

Also, check out the events if you want a more sensible scenario where the proper advantages are actually in place. Some will allow American escort fighters to start out at 20,000 ft. where they outperform the enemy, others will give the Germans their technological superiority but less players on their side making it an asymmetrical battle that could go either way. Unfortunately, there's a lot of players on any side in this game that can ruin a match for you if they decide to mow the lawn instead of using their proper advantages.

I believe this weekend's events will be focusing on The Pacific Theater with Wake Island going on right now and Saipan going live tomorrow which are both quite fun to play. If you're on the Japanese side, you turn-fight, if you're on the American side, use your plane's BnZ capabilities to eliminate their ability to turn-fight against you. When I'm on the Japanese side, I basically try to bait American pilots into staying down low instead of zooming back up knowing that I can just turn circles around them. When I play my American planes, I climb away from the battle, turn back in and then go to town with BnZ with incendiary tracer rounds loaded since a lot of Japanese planes catch fire so damn easy.

Also, there's a Float planes event where it's all about planes that can "sail" across the water which is just pure entertainment. Unfortunately, events still aren't very popular in matchmaking for some reason when it's the most fun you can get in this game and also the most balanced. The Saipan event will be giving you 20% extra rewards I believe so hopefully that entices people to try it.

Sorry for the long post, but if anyone has any other questions about ANY nation, I play them all to at least tier IV (not a huge fan of jets right now due to the idiotic decision to add the CL-13). I don't play Arcade and some planes that suck in RB are amazing in Arcade, so I can only speak about the real plane itself and its tactics, but RB's and Sims have so much more to them (RB's are the way to go for people that want real flight combat but not a simulator with forced cockpit view) where the planes actually come to life and a good pilot will win over a pilot in the better plane.

If you really want more dogfighting, I suggest Britain or Japan, but mostly Britain due to Japan lacking a lot of variety and have some crazy battle-ratings at the moment. In the end, it's fun to go down all the trees and see how different each nation is, but Britain I think has it all covered and some of the best all-around planes.

Fuck. I love all the nations. I have a problem...
 
Ugh I still fucking suck so much ass at this. Is anybody here on the PS4 version has any tips on trying to aim? I feel like as soon as I get guys in my cross hairs I cant hold it steady at all and I usually get one or two hits and never finish the job. I've been progressively lowering the sensitivity but I dont think its doing much. I'm using simplified controls btw.

Edit: I think I misunderstood the BnZ concept. I think what I was doing was getting high altitude, heading down towards, attacking and then following/dogfighting instead of running and gaining altitude again

I have been playing WWII Combat Flight Sims since Jane's WWII Fighters on the PC back in 1998, so I won't give you all my tricks lol :p

The most important thing that I can't stress enough is don't oversteer. Be soft, gentle with the stick and relax. If you are calm, most people will fly right into your crosshairs.
 
Thanks for the tips guys! Though I still kind of suck ass, I'm getting a better hang of this boom n zoom thing.

BTW, is it just me or does the P36 suck? I'm probably flying it way too fast but it seems whenever I'm going a little too fast the elevators lock up. Are the variants any better at this? Dont want to waste time researching them if they end up being pretty crappy.
 

demolitio

Member
Thanks for the tips guys! Though I still kind of suck ass, I'm getting a better hang of this boom n zoom thing.

BTW, is it just me or does the P36 suck? I'm probably flying it way too fast but it seems whenever I'm going a little too fast the elevators lock up. Are the variants any better at this? Dont want to waste time researching them if they end up being pretty crappy.

Just buy the least amount of P-36's you need and move on. Once you get to the P-40, that tree becomes worthwhile. Hell, they had to change battle rating on the P-40 like 10 times due to it performing so well and they've yet to add some of the really popular ones.

The P-36 was basically our monoplane before the war and in the very early days of the war (Pearl Harbor and such) so don't expect much out of it. It's not much of a BnZ fighter like most American planes basically but the tree opens up after the 36. The P-40 is an all-around good fighter. The rest of the planes in that tree are finally good now since they got around to fixing their flight models after a year of disappointment and they still haven't added some of the most iconic variants of the U.S. fighters in that tree so it will only get better in the future.
 

elty

Member
Just wondering what is the difference among the fighter lines in the same country:

USA: P-XX = Army, FXX = Navy?
Japan: Ki-XX = Army, AXMY = Navy?
Germany: bf109 vs fw190
Britain: Spitfire vs Hurricane
Russia: Yak vs MiG vs La
 

demolitio

Member
Just wondering what is the difference among the fighter lines in the same country:

USA: P-XX = Army, FXX = Navy?
Japan: Ki-XX = Army, AXMY = Navy?
Germany: bf109 vs fw190
Britain: Spitfire vs Hurricane
Russia: Yak vs MiG vs La

1. Yes.
2. Yes
3. Both fighters with the 190 starting off able to do more ground attack but then ending as a high-altitude fighter to attack Allied bombers and escorts. The 190 is more of a straight BnZ and speed plane than the 109 which is mostly BnZ but still can dogfight certain planes.
4. Hurricane was the early British fighter by Hawker which was succeeded by the Spitfire basically so the all the fighters/attackers by Hawker are in that line. Note: Both the Spits and Typhoons are worth it since they're different playstyles.
5. Just the different manufacturers that once again have their specialties really so that depends on your playstyle. The Yaks are pretty damn good at mid-to-low altitude fighting and the Yak-9T is one of the most used planes in the game since it's got a "derp-cannon" that fires extremely fast and can one-shot planes 90% of the time and can even kill tanks. The La series are great at climbing and dogfighting as well. The MiG line is where the best jets are of course.

I answered this while climbing in a match ironically enough, so excuse any mistakes or let me know if I need to clarify something. All lines have their pros and cons really.
 

HariKari

Member
Just wondering what is the difference among the fighter lines in the same country:

USA: P-XX = Army, FXX = Navy?
Japan: Ki-XX = Army, AXMY = Navy?
Germany: bf109 vs fw190
Britain: Spitfire vs Hurricane
Russia: Yak vs MiG vs La

The US names planes after the branch that uses them followed by a model number. The company that produced/designed them isn't taken into account. Lockheed designed the P-38, while Curtis designed the P-40, as an example. This is why the attack version of the B-25 is called the PBJ, because it's modeled as the Navalized (modified for use around sea water) variant in the game that the Navy used.

The other countries mostly name their planes after the company that produced them. Kawasaki, Mitsubishi, Yakolev, Mikoyan-Gurevich, Lavochkin, Illyushin, Focke-Wulf, Henschel, Junkers etc...

The Brits mostly just have a name for the model followed by the variant (Mk 22, for example). The Japanese often shared models between the Navy and Army so unless it's specifically designated for one, it was probably used by both.

For the most part, fighters have their own trees based on who built them or their designation. Attackers and bombers generally don't have enough 'evolution' to dedicate an entire line to them so who built them is tossed aside in the name of having a tree that gets progressively better as you move up it.

edit: if you were looking for gameplay answers regarding arcade gameplay

BF 109s are light and can climb well, but they are somewhat fragile. FW 190s are generally more heavily armed and armored. They're both generally Boom and Zoom type fighters.

Yaks tend to be cheaply built but the 9T and 9K have 37mm and 45mm derp guns respectively, making them monsters in arcade. The MiG line gets good once you hit the prototype 185s, which are considered by many to be some of the most OP planes in the game. The La series are solid interceptor types that generally climb well. They tend to have 2 or 3 20mm cannons which are powerful but require more discipline to use than the Yaks.
 

androvsky

Member
Can I use my USB Flightstick (which works on PS3/PC) on PS4?

Probably (almost certainly?). I plugged in my old Logitech 3D Pro and it worked great, aside from the fact that it badly needed calibration (which might be impossible on the PS4 in War Thunder) and I had issues getting the throttle axis reversed.

I then finally discovered after a year or so of owning it and not using it much, I don't actually like it. Twists way too easy, I think I really need rudders on a separate input. Now I'm back to the DS4 which I just can't get used to. :(
 

HariKari

Member
What's so OP about the I-185? Seems to be on par with the rest of Russian era 1 fighters.

I'm referring to this one

Funny that they'll put a prototype with four built into the game but won't give the Germans something like the Heinkel 177 bomber, which had 1,000+ built. No Russian bias there at all...
 

Wace

Member
I'm referring to this one

Funny that they'll put a prototype with four built into the game but won't give the Germans something like the Heinkel 177 bomber, which had 1,000+ built. No Russian bias there at all...

As I've said before: Russian forums are filled with despise towards "western" bias. Poor Gaijin, serves many pleases none.

As for I-185: for me first and foremost it fills Polikarpov-Mikoyan branch with much needed IV-tier plane, because otherwise it was pretty empty, with one plane on tier III and zero at IV, jumping straight to MiG-9.

BTW, is it me or does it seems to everyone that 1.41 made gunner bots worth their pay once again?
 

elty

Member
I'm referring to this one

Funny that they'll put a prototype with four built into the game but won't give the Germans something like the Heinkel 177 bomber, which had 1,000+ built. No Russian bias there at all...

Oh, I was thinking about the I-135.. stupid me.

Wait, the He 177 with 1000 built is not included, but Yer 2 with 300 built has 4 variants? lol
 
Having an absolute blast with this game

PS4' s best free to play title by a long shot so far.

Had some epic dogfights! So refreshed since I haven't played a game quite like this in a long time.

PS4 controls are fantastic
 

elty

Member
For some reason I have a hard time bombing pillbox. Sometimes I get the voice over "direct hit" but I am not awarded with anything.
 

Flunkie

Banned
Which tank controls are best? Like the tank combat a lot, having more fun with it than planes. What's the ETA for concurrent battles/naval stuff?
 

Blanquito

Member
I feel like a fool now (did I miss this in the tutorial or was it not there?) but once I figured out you could lock onto a target with X and then use L2 to have your plane automatically follow the target, I started actually shooting planes down.

Hopefully someone else sees this and benefits from it.
 

Wace

Member
What's the ETA for concurrent battles/naval stuff?

You can battle together already in realistic/sim combat. Arcade mode for tanks & planes is live on dev server, as far as I know, so should appear with next big patch.

As for ships, they are not anywhere near yet. It took them 6 months to bring tanks from closed beta testing to the public, so I think we can safely assume that ships will be here no earlier than 2015, most probably second half of it.
 
You can battle together already in realistic/sim combat. Arcade mode for tanks & planes is live on dev server, as far as I know, so should appear with next big patch.

As for ships, they are not anywhere near yet. It took them 6 months to bring tanks from closed beta testing to the public, so I think we can safely assume that ships will be here no earlier than 2015, most probably second half of it.

This sounds so exciting!

They plan on adding naval as well?

Guess I am keeping this game installed forever
 

Wace

Member
anyone know what the 5GB patch today (maybe yesterday?) was??

it was almost as large as the game.

Gaijin said:
  • Network connection has been optimized (traffic reduced).
  • Added crew on open vehicle.
  • New ground vehicle location “Carpathian mountains”
  • Arcade battles 1.1x1.1km
  • RB and SB 2x2km
  • New missions: [Domination] Berlin; [Domination] Britain; [Domination] Korsun;
  • Premium Reserve tank Pz.Kpfw II ausf C with african unit paint scheme (+decal);
  • Premium Reserve tank T-26 with winter camo of 1st Guard tank brigade (+decal)
  • KV-1E
  • T-34 of 1941 year with cast turret and “ambush’ winter camo of 1st guard tank brigade;
  • PzIV/70 (A);
  • KV-1B in Finnish army colours (Special Limited Edition)
  • IL-2M in “Avenger” paint scheme;
  • LaGG-3 34 series;
  • Hs-129 B-2 in Romanian air force paint scheme;
  • ...(and lots of other things)...

http://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/152769-update-190614-1412712/
 

HariKari

Member
Yeah, Russia totally needed two more premium planes, with one having a 37mm at a relatively low BR.

In other news, I bought the Dora pack on Steam as it's the only pack I don't own. It was advertised as coming with 2,000 Eagles but they only gave me 1,000, like on the Gaijin store. Checked the Steam listing today and it's magically changed.

Waiting to see if they honor the original package.

Edit: they honored it after I opened a support ticket.
 
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