War Thunder Air Battles Guide: Energy, Aiming and Survival
Air Arcade and Realistic basics for energy, positioning, target selection, convergence and getting home alive.
Keep enough altitude and speed to choose the engagement, attack distracted or isolated targets, avoid turning every aircraft into a turn fighter and leave the fight before your energy or ammunition is gone.
Protect speed and altitude
Energy is the ability to make the next move. Altitude can become speed and speed can create separation. A low, slow aircraft near several opponents has few choices even if it turns well.
- Climb or accelerate before entering the busiest part of the fight.
- Check above and behind before committing to a target.
- Keep an exit direction that does not cross the entire enemy team.
- Do not follow one opponent to the ground unless the trade is worth losing position.
Fight with the aircraft's strengths
Turn rate, climb, acceleration, high-speed control and armament differ. Use test flight and the official vehicle reference to learn what the aircraft can sustain before copying a manoeuvre from a different airframe.
- Turn fight only when your aircraft and the situation support it.
- Use vertical or hit-and-run attacks when speed and climb are the advantage.
- Avoid repeated head-on attacks as a default plan.
- Re-test controls after flight-model or weapon patches.
Make the firing window count
Set convergence for the ranges at which you normally fire, lead smoothly and stop wasting ammunition once the angle is gone. In Realistic battles, fuel, ammunition and the route home are part of the engagement decision.
- Fire short bursts when the sight picture is stable.
- Test convergence in a controlled flight instead of changing it every match.
- Break off early enough to regain awareness.
- Land and rearm when the match state allows it.
War Thunder FAQ
Short answers to the questions covered by this guide.
Should a War Thunder beginner start with Air Arcade or Realistic?
Air Arcade is the easier control and aiming classroom. Air Realistic becomes useful when you want to learn energy, identification, limited ammunition and returning to base.
What gun convergence should I use?
Use a distance close to the range where you reliably fire, then test it before changing again. There is no single best convergence for every weapon layout and play style.
Practical advice with visible limits.
The official sources establish release status, supported modes and named systems. The recommendations organise those systems into a repeatable method; they do not invent hidden values or promise a permanent meta.