Realistic mode is more suitable for more experienced players, but still has some simplifications over Simulator mode.
Air Battles
Realistic mode is designed for more experienced players. More realistic damage models, flight models, and physics makes gameplay less forgiving, and aircraft fly much more similarly to their historical counterparts, with their strengths and weaknesses more apparent than in Arcade mode.
Once all ammunition and ordnance are expended, players will have to return to their airfield to reload, and there is no 'leading marker' to assist with aiming.
In this mode, unlike Arcade, teams often feature aircraft from specific nations, making gameplay more accurately reflect historical encounters such as the Battle of Stalingrad, fought between the USSR and Germany, or the Battle of Midway, fought between the Japanese Empire and the US. These historical scenarios will all have different objectives similar to the battles they represent, such as destroying a German tank advance at Kursk or repelling a Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor.
Unlike Air Arcade Battles, the vehicle chosen before starting the game will be the only one to appear, without any respawn.
Ground Battles
In Ground Realistic battles, characteristics of the Realistic mode are similar to that of the Aviation Realistic mode - Tank behaviour is more realistic. Tanks feel overall much more "heavy" - they accelerate slower, lose much more speed in turns, do not slide so much, and handle much more "jerky" as real tanks do. Traversing the turret and aiming the gun at the target also takes much more time, some crew skills become very obvious (an inexperienced gunner first rotates the turret horizontally, and only then slowly adjusts the gun elevation, while an experienced gunner can do both tasks at the same time). Then, when your tank is hit, and needs a field repair, doing it takes much longer than it does in Arcade battles (often up to 2 minutes).
Unlike its Arcade counterpart, Ground Realistic battles use a "spawn points" mechanic. Players are given a starting amount of spawn points to spawn their first ground vehicles. They can collect spawn points via various actions within the battle to respawn when they are knocked out. Different types of vehicles have different spawn costs (i.e. light tanks usually have lower spawn cost than heavy tanks), and the battle rating of the vehicle relative to the maximum battle rating of the battle will also affect the cost. You can respawn as long as you have enough spawn points and vehicles that are still allowed to spawn (i.e. a non-reserve vehicle can be respawned one more time provided that you have a backup).
During the battle, you are also able to choose an aircraft/helicopter from your own preselected line-up to spawn. Unlike ground Arcade battles, aircraft/helicopters spawned in ground Realistic battles can be controlled indefinitely, and various properties from air Realistic battles (i.e. limited fuel and ammunition) are also applied.
In a battle of BR 6.7 or higher, you can spawn as a nuclear bomb-equipped bomber for 2,500 spawn points, a team that is able to drop the nuclear bomb will instantly win the round. Dropping the nuclear bomb also rewards the player with "Doomsday" award.
Last important differences are visual - there is no coloured crosshair to tell you where your shot will go after being fired, or whether it can penetrate your target. Enemy vehicles are also not displayed on the minimap, and have no name tags on them - instead, only a red coloured icon is briefly displayed on the minimap when nearby allies scout or hit a vehicle, approximately showing you the position of an enemy.
Naval Battles
In Naval Realistic battles, all naval vessels behave more realistically, being noticeably slower to accelerate and traverse around. The ship's damage model is also slightly less forgiving, with some modules, such as ammunition elevators, being more prone to damage and negatively affecting the ship. Secondary weapons are also more limited, having a slightly longer delay to deploy the weapon and, once empty, can only be refilled in captured points (similar to Ground Realistic battles). Hit enemy vehicles are displayed on the minimap, and name tags about the model of the vehicle and the player's name is not shown, like in Ground Realistic battles.
The aiming mechanics are also more limited. A simple horizontal-only lead marker (shaped like a small "V") is displayed, which takes time to calculate and update. The measured range to the enemy will only be updated periodically with a noticeable margin of error. While it is possible to adjust range by moving the mouse like in Naval Arcade battles, precise aiming requires the use of the "distance correction" controls to adjust the range of the guns independently of mouse movement.
Naval Realistic battles have the same spawn mechanics as Naval Arcade battles.
In addition, aircraft also behave the same as in Air Realistic, with mid-air reload being unavailable. As such, if the player has expended their payload, they must land on an airfield or an aircraft carrier to reload. In some maps where only aircraft carriers are present, some larger planes will have great difficulty in landing.