Crew skills

Crew Skills are the added attributes to the crew performance and effectiveness, being for the pilots, gunners of single (and multi) crew aircraft, tanks, ships, and airfield/hangar/harbor mechanics.

Basics

Crew skills are War Thunder's way of simulating the experience and skill gained by air, ground, and naval crews through combat missions, allowing them to perform/endure tasks more efficiently and effectively as they increase in skill over time, such as how quickly aircraft are repaired by ground crew, how fast can the tank's loader fit shells into the gun breech, how accurate bombers' gunners' fire is, or the amount of g-force that can be sustained before a pilot begins blacking out.

The crew experience are gained in the forms of "Crew XP Points," earned by participating in battles. The number of points accrued for a flight crew experience depends on the research points obtained in a battle, which varies depending on the game mode the battle is in. In Realistic and Simulator battles, for every 100 the player will receive 1 crew XP point which would be distributed to the crew of the vehicle used. In Arcade battles, every 100 will grant the player 3 crew XP points, but this higher rate also has the crew experience spread out among multiple crews. Another way to obtain crew XP point is by purchasing them with Golden Eagles via the "Accelerated Training" tab on the top right corner of the Crew Training window.

During lulls in between matches in the hangar, pay attention to the crew slots bottom left corner, which would have a numerical value representing the crew level. The color of this text can indicate crew XP point accumulation: a regular silver font showing regular crew XP point amount, and a glowing gold font showing a large amount of unused crew XP points.

These Crew XP Points would be used to upgrade a crew's skill level via the "Crew Training" tab in the hangar left side. The more points invested, the more skilled the crew is, and the more points will be needed to upgrade to the next level.

Air vehicles crew skills

General

• G-Tolerance - Influences the tolerance of the pilot to acceleration in maneuvers (g-forces), increasing the critical amount of "G's" that the pilot can sustain without the player's vision field being darkened/reddened and the player losing control of the plane after a certain period of time, representing the pilot's loss of consciousness (also known as G-LOC).
• Stamina - influences the time period during which the pilot still has control over the aircraft when the maximum G is exceeded. Also affects how quick he can regain consciousness. In addition, it has an effect on the accuracy of mouse aiming mode.
• Vitality - Reduces the likelihood of the pilot receiving a mortal wound. For the novice pilot the second .303 bullet hit or comparable shrapnel impact is usually fatal; while a pilot with their Vitality maxed out can, with a measure of luck, survive one hit from a .50 (12.7mm) M2 Browning machine gun.

Pilot

• Keen Vision - Enhances the detection range when spotting enemies, i.e. the maximum distance at which the target indicator may appear. This ranges between 4km (untrained) to 8km (maxed). Detection is only made within a cone in the direction of view of the player. Maximum detection distance is also dependent on the size of the target, lighting conditions and other factors.
• Awareness - Enhances the detection range of enemy targets between 150m(untrained) to 300m(maxed). Detection is carried out in all directions around the aircraft, regardless of the direction that the player is observing.

Defensive armament

• Number of Experienced Gunners - All skills with gunners are reduced proportionally to the difference between the amount of gunners on the selected aircraft and the number of experienced gunners in the crew. For example, an He.111H-6 bomber has 5 gunners positions. If there is a crew of only two experienced gunners all their skills will be reduced by 60%, with four - 20%, with all five positions filled, their skills will be fully effective.
• Fire Accuracy - This skill only applies when the gunner is controlled by AI. Increases the traverse speed of a turret, increases the maximum burst length by up to 3 times, increases the distance at which gunners can start firing at a target by up to 275% (55% in RB/SB), increases the distance at which the targets direction can be anticipated, increases the chance of simultaneous fire and “leading” the target, removes miscalculation in “leading” the target (decreased by 7 times for RB / SB when researched completely) .
• Fire Precision - This skill only applies when the gunner is controlled by AI. Reduces scatter of the gun by 2.5 times (2 times in RB/SB), increases the burst length by up to a third when fully researched, increases the distance that gunners open fire in arcade battles by a marginal amount (up to 8%), increases the chance of simultaneous fire and “leading” the target just like fire accuracy.

Logistical services

• Repair Speed - Reduces repair time both at the airfield in the game and in the hangar by up to 3 times when fully researched. For example, the base repair time of the Bf 109 F-4/trop in AB is 7 hours 50 minutes, while with repair speed it is reduced to 2 hours 36 minutes.
• Repair Rank - Determines the maximum aircraft Rank to which the repair skill is applied. Has a total of five stages according to the number of vehicle ranks in the game. For instance, the Bf 109 F-4/trop requires repair rank 3. If the repair rank is lower, the repair time will remain at 7 hours 50 minutes no matter how high the repair speed skill is.
• Reload Speed - Reduces the rearming time in the air three times for cannons & machine guns, two times for bombs, rockets and torpedoes and four times for turrets. Fully leveling La-5FN crew’s reloading skill will cause the rearmament time of cannons to go down from 40 seconds to 13.3; bombs will be reloaded in 20 seconds instead of 40.
• Weapon Maintenance - Reduces the chance of weapons jamming due to overheating by up to 3 times, reduces the angular velocity of bombs, rockets and torpedoes by up to 3 times, thereby significantly improving their accuracy.

Ground vehicles crew skills

General

• Keen Vision - determines at what distance the player can see an enemy ground vehicle that's under cover. The game server only sends information of a vehicle that's concealed to the client when the player is at a minimal distance from the enemy. This distance is around 500-700m with crew that's not leveled up and up to three times as much with the crew fully leveled up.
• Field repair - Increases the basic rate at which damaged parts are repaired (by up to 50%).
• Agility - determines the speed with which a crew member can replace another fallen one. The average value of agility in the crew is what counts - spending all of the points on one disposable crew member won't benefit the player any more than distributing the points would.
• Vitality - reduces the likelihood of receiving a mortal wound.

Driver

• Tank Driving - affects the rate at which the driver automatically switches gears and applies the brake, thus improving the acceleration and responsiveness when turning. Default gear switching time of driver is 1 second, skill itself can reduce pause by 0.36 sec, and together with other factors it can be reduced to 0.1 sec. Braking time reaction is 0.14, reduced by skill by 0.03, and together with other factors it can go down to 0.07 sec.

Gunner

• Targeting - influences the speed and precision of the gun's traverse and elevation. An experienced gunner aims horizontally and vertically at the same time. An inexperienced gunner does this one at a time. An experienced gunner can also improve turret traverse speed. In the case of ATGM carriers may affect responsiveness of missiles.
• Rangefinding - affects how precise the gunner's estimate of distance is upon using clicking the key assigned to "Rangefinder"

Tank Commander

• Leadership - Improves all crew members skills by up to 10%. Isn't affected by "expertise" level of crew with the vehicle in question, but is the most expensive to train.

Loader

• Weapon Reloading - Decrease the time required for loading the weapon by up to 23%. Full skill level shortens reloading time by roughly 11% on it's own.

Demonstrating the way the "reloading" skill affects the selected crew - with skill level 0

Demonstrating the way the "reloading" skill affects the selected crew - with upgraded skill

Radio Operator Gunner

• Artillery Strike Calling Time - decreases the time between calling the strike and the shells being fired (from a base level of 13 seconds to a minimum of 10 seconds).
• Artillery Targeting Accuracy - increases the targeting accuracy of artillery by reducing the shells' scattering (from a base level of 57 m to a minimum of 45 m
• Radio Communication - In arcade mode, highlights all enemies around player on minimap, if any allied vehicle sees them (including aircrafts), with default range of 250m, which is very helpful during and against flank attacks. In Realistic mode, increases the range at which the enemy players detected by the allied team are displayed (through red arrows pointing downward). Either effect can be increased up to 100%.

Logistical services

This skill group is not affecting in-game combat, but rather allows you to repair your vehicles for free over time, if you uncheck "automatic repair" at the right of your lineup bar. Function is mostly used by players, which play many nations at once.

• Repair Speed - Affects the speed at which vehicles are repaired. Repair time can be shortened up to three times (down to 1/3).
• Repair Rank - Affects ability of your crew to repair vehicle. The higher is the rank of vehicle, the higher level of skill is required to start repairing it. Isn't affected by vehicle expertise.

Naval vehicles crew skills

Ship commander

• Leadership -
• Crew interchangeability -
• Radio Communication -

Observers

• Air targets detection distance -
• Surface targets detection distance -
• Enemy torpedoes detection distance -

Engine room

• Ship control -
• Fire prevention -

Gunners

• Main caliber reload speed -
• Auxiliary caliber reload speed -
• AAA caliber reload speed -
• AAA gunner accuracy -
• Auxiliary gunner accuracy -
• Distance fuse set accuracy -

Damage control

• Unwatering time -
• Fire extinguishing -
• Breach repair -
• Survive leadership -

Logistical services

• Repair Speed -
• Repair Rank -

Qualification Levels

Players can level up their crews' skills through two ways - spending the aforementioned crew XP points and investing in crew qualification through Silver Lions .

Unlike skills, qualification levels (beyond "Current skill training" - the training achieved by spending crew points) are acquired only for a named vehicle. Qualification is an exceptional skill of the crew in controlling this particular vehicle. To learn it, a certain crew level needs to be achieved. Crew level is a total of all skills learned by the crew.

Air vehicles

Spending crew points, in aircraft crews, accounts for 50% of the attainable skill levels. There are three levels of qualification altogether before one can reach the full 100% of the crew, which are "Current skill training", "Expert" and "Ace".

Diagram showing the distribution of skill levels through the levels of qualification.

The first level of qualification, "Expert," increases all skill set by 3 levels, meaning a full 30% increase in efficiency. The second level afterwards, "Ace," increases these skills by another 2 levels, adding up to a total 50% increase with a jump of 5 levels.

In order to use these skills at their maximum level, a pilot needs to research them up to level 5 and obtain two qualifications to reach up to level 10. For instance, a pilot who leveled the "Keen Vision" skill up to 5 will detect targets approximately 6 km away; after getting the “Expert” qualification he will then see enemy targets at 7.2 km; finally, reaching "Ace" grade qualification will increase this detection distance to the maximum of 8 km.

Ground vehicles

In the case of ground crews, "Current skill level" accounts for 40% of the required qualification to reach the maximum skill level, the "Top" level. The remaining 60% are delegated another three qualification levels - "Expert", "Ace" and "Leadership".

Diagram showing the distribution of skill levels through the levels of qualification

Crew points to level

The following charts should be used to gauge the amount of crew XP points are needed to level up a skill. Every skill with the exception of the "Repair Rank" skill are increased by increments of 0.5.

The maximum achievable crew level for aviation crews it is 75, for tank crews is 150, and for naval crews is 100.

Highlighted color skills - the basic skills of a crew member

Air crew

Skill	1		2		3		4		5		Total
Logistical services
Repair Speed	12	35	55	80	110	140	170	205	240	275	1322
Repair Rank	0		120		240		390		590		1340
Reload Speed	16	60	120	190	285	385	505	640	780	930	3911
Weapon Maintenance	22	64	110	160	215	275	330	395	470	530	2571
Pilot
Keen Vision	15	50	90	145	195	270	340	415	500	600	2620
Awareness	15	50	90	145	195	270	340	415	500	600	2620
G-Tolerance	22	64	110	160	215	275	330	395	470	530	2571
Stamina	22	64	110	160	215	275	330	395	470	530	2571
Vitality	27	80	150	225	320	415	520	640	760	890	4027
Defensive armament
Number of Experienced Gunners	0	170	230	300	360	430	490	560	630	690	3860
Fire Accuracy	12	29	55	80	110	135	165	195	235	265	1281
Fire Precision	12	29	55	80	110	135	165	195	235	265	1281
G-Tolerance	17	40	60	100	110	150	160	200	215	250	1302
Stamina	17	40	60	100	110	150	160	200	215	250	1302
Vitality	17	40	60	100	110	150	160	200	215	250	1302

Total

33881

Ground crew

Skill	1		2		3		4		5		Total
Logistical services
Repair Speed	12	35	55	80	110	140	170	205	240	275	1322
Repair Rank	0		120		240		390		590		1340
Driver
Keen Vision	20	47	100	135	175	215	260	310	360	410	2032
Field Repair	15	50	100	155	230	310	395	495	600	710	3060
Agility	15	50	100	155	230	310	395	495	600	710	3060
Vitality	23	70	125	185	255	325	400	480	570	660	3093
Tank Driving	11	24	50	70	85	110	130	155	180	205	1020
Gunner
Keen Vision	20	47	100	135	175	215	260	310	360	410	2032
Field Repair	15	50	100	155	230	310	395	495	600	710	3060
Agility	15	50	100	155	230	310	395	495	600	710	3060
Vitality	23	70	125	185	255	325	400	480	570	660	3093
Targeting	11	24	50	70	85	110	130	155	180	205	1020
Rangefinding	11	24	50	70	85	110	130	155	180	205	1020
Tank commander
Keen Vision	20	47	100	135	175	215	260	310	360	410	2032
Field Repair	15	50	100	155	230	310	395	495	600	710	3060
Agility	15	50	100	155	230	310	395	495	600	710	3060
Vitality	23	70	125	185	255	325	400	480	570	660	3093
Leadership	16	60	120	200	290	400	515	650	800	970	4021
Tank Loader
Keen Vision	20	47	100	135	175	215	260	310	360	410	2032
Field Repair	15	50	100	155	230	310	395	495	600	710	3060
Agility	15	50	100	155	230	310	395	495	600	710	3060
Vitality	23	70	125	185	255	325	400	480	570	660	3093
Weapon Reloading	15	50	100	155	230	310	395	495	600	710	3060
Radio Operator Gunner
Keen Vision	20	47	100	135	175	215	260	310	360	410	2032
Field Repair	15	50	100	155	230	310	395	495	600	710	3060
Agility	15	50	100	155	230	310	395	495	600	710	3060
Vitality	23	70	125	185	255	325	400	480	570	660	3093
Artillery Targeting Accuracy	8	18	25	45	50	55	75	75	90	100	541
Artillery Strike Calling Time	8	18	25	45	50	55	75	75	90	100	541
Radio Communication	11	24	50	70	85	110	130	155	180	205	1020

Total

71130

Naval crew

Skill	1		2		3		4		5		Total
Logistical services
Repair Speed	12	35	55	80	110	140	170	205	240	275	1322
Repair Rank	0		120		240		390		590		1340
Ship commander
Leadership	15	60	120	200	290
Crew interchangeability	15	50	100	155	230	310
Radio Communication	12	29	55	80	110	135	165
Observers
Air targets detection distance	15	50	100	155	230
Surface targets detection distance	16	60	120	200	290
Enemy torpedoes detection distance	15	50	100	155	230
Engine room
Ship control	15	50	100	155	230
Fire prevention	20	47	100	135	175	215
Gunners
Main caliber reload speed	16	60	120	200	290
Auxiliary caliber reload speed	20	47	100	135	175	215
AAA caliber reload speed	20	47	100	135	175	215
AAA gunner accuracy	20	47	100	135	175	215
Auxiliary gunner accuracy	20	47	100	135	175	215
Distance fuse set accuracy	11	24	50	70	85	110	130
Damage control
Unwatering time	20	47	100	135	175	215
Fire extinguishing	15	50	100	155	230
Breach repair	16	60	120	200	290
Survive leadership	20	47	100	135	175	215

Total

___