War Thunder has just released the final version of the Vehicle Research Bonus system, which will make researching a heck of a lot easier.

It’s a relatively complicated system, but the short version is that you gain a research bonus for all vehicles in a specific research tree for your first five battles per day, providing you own a ‘top’ vehicle.

What’s a Top Vehicle in War Thunder?

For a vehicle to be considered top, it must match the following criteria:

  • It’s researchable
  • It sits on the last line, or maximum rank, of the research tree
  • It features a Battle Rating of no lower than two steps beneath the maximum for that tree

An easier method of checking this is to simply look at the tree for a vehicle that features an arrow pointing towards the Research Bonus Block.

How Do I Get the Research Bonus?

If a vehicle you own matches that criteria, you gain a bonus when researching a vehicle of the same nation and type for the first five battles per day. The bonus percentage changes depending on the rank of vehicle, broken down as so:

  • I – III: 25%
  • IV: 25 – 40%
  • V: 50 – 100%
  • VI: 75 – 100%
  • VII – VIII: 100%

You can check the exact amount of rank bonus and how many battles you have left to earn it by hovering over a new lightbulb-shaped icon just next to a vehicle within the tree.

Given that battles can take an extraordinary amount of time to complete (looking at you, Enduring Confrontation), War Thunder has mercifully made it so that each 30 minutes in battle counts as one ‘bonus battle’.

So, spend three hours in one battle, and that will use up all of your bonus research for that day. It then resets at 00:000 GMT every day.

Can I Earn a Research Bonus For Numerous Vehicles in One Battle?

The best part of this system is that you can double up your research bonuses by spawning multiple vehicles in a single battle. For example, if you want to research a new tank and helicopter, simply spawn one of each in your next battle.

Provided the battle matches the criteria to earn the research bonus, you will get it for both vehicles. You can check this by viewing the ‘my results’ screen after a battle, where a new ‘vehicle research bonus’ field will appear.

This handy new system will make researching vehicles a heck of a lot easier. If that’s a reason you’ve lapsed in playing War Thunder, go ahead and grab it again from Steam or the official site to check out the new system.

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