War Thunder: Best Anti-Air Tips and Tricks

War Thunder is not just about shooting enemies on the ground. One day, you will find yourself under the radar of those flying vehicles that you also need to take down. If you manage to grab a good anti-aircraft vehicle, then that’s a plus one for you. But how can you properly and effectively use these aircraft killing machines? In this guide, we will be giving you some tips to help you become the best aircraft shooter in War Thunder.

Tip 1: Stop Randomly Shooting Targets

This is one of the most important rules that you need to keep in mind. Randomly shooting at targets too far from your location will only give your position to the enemies. What will most likely happen is that these flying enemies will hunt you down until they destroy you.

Tip 2: Leave the Spawn Area and Lurk Around

Next, you need to leave the spawn area and start lurking around near where the action is happening. If you continue to sit in the spawn area, you will receive one of the following:

  • Too far away from where most targets are. Staying in the spawn area will also leave you with nothing to do because planes are mostly avoiding the enemy spawn.
  • You’re at a position known to all planes and enemies on the map, which will just increase your chance of getting killed.

So, we highly recommend staying near your team and hiding.

Tip 3: Don’t Shoot Too Early

Only pull the trigger if you’re quite sure you’ll score a hit. Unaware planes are the best targets, so never give away your position. Observe until you’ve got yourself a chance to take down the plane. The best scenario to take down a plane is when it flies straight over you or passes by in a straight line.

Tip 4: Learn to Lead

Shoot along a line. To maximize your chance to hit, sprain down a line of bullets. Estimate where the plane might be in a second and shoot a burst there, then continue a bit in the direction of flight to compensate for miscalculations on your side.

Tip 5: Shoot Slow Moving Targets

Once you get used to your gun, you might consider shooting down slow-moving targets even if they are a bit further away. Some players don’t change direction very often. So observe and try your luck if the angle is acceptable.

Tip 6: Tracers are Your Friends

Tracers are your targeting indicators. If a plane feels safe and starts to strafe some targets, it’s your time to shine. It needs to fly straight for a moment. So just shoot right into the line of tracers to ruin close air support.

Tip 7: Use Bait

This is basically not to ignore tip #1. Do not randomly shoot at planes you can’t reliably hit next to a person who doesn’t. If you do, you’re just giving away both of your positions to the enemy. If you have a teammate who failed to take down a plane, either leave the area or use him as bait. Keep a little bit of distance and shred planes trying to shoot your teammate. It’s a bit risky, but it pays out sometimes.

Tip 8: Stop Being Lazy and Greedy

In the event that the enemy already knows your location, start moving while firing. You’re just putting yourself and the team in a dangerous spot if you don’t move and try to fight on a head-to-head shooting against the enemy. It’s not worth it.

Tip 9: Guess Shots to Save People

If a plane is flying very slowly and your fire rate is high, then you might try to extrapolate its movement even if your sight is blocked. This works best if the enemy is chasing one of your teammates. Observe, guess its path, and shoot it down.

About the author

Earl is one of those gamers who will play almost any new games. But he more prefers playing FPS and open world games.