Do Ace Pilots Matter In Warthunder?

Taking a look at pilot crew skills, and doing a direct before-and-after comparison with a regular pilot, then upgrading to full maxed out ace pilot.

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I'm all over the place!

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro To Pilot Skills
03:44 Match 1 : Regular Pilot
07:06 Upgrading The Pilot
09:02 Match 2 : Ace Pilot
11:55 Final Thoughts

[Squeesher]

Just to add, getting the reduced cost and eventually "free" Ace from RP on the vehicle ONLY starts contributing when you purchase the Expert crew. It will not retroactively take into account RP earned on the vehicle while it is at Basic crew level

[lilcj]

Definitely. Without upgrading skills top tier is a nightmare.

[dswngz]

I got my first ace crew on Israeli premium A4. And damn, its like blackouts stopped to exist. Difference even with Expert was so significant it shocked me.

[kitchensynch]

Exactly the kind of information that should be out and available for players. You keep hitting the nail on the head, Tim. Really hope this one blows up.

[Hadgerz]

Apparently IRL viper pilots need to be able to sustain 9G for 30 seconds in order to remain eligible to fly it. A lot of them can go longer than 30sec.
Taking into account the way gaijin models aircraft (in RB anyway) to pull ~1.5x their real-world limits, i don't think it's too much to ask that expert crews be able to do hard pulls of >9Gs for 30sec before losing control, and Ace crews (the best of the best) longer than 30sec.

[jeremysiegel]

Once you taste ace pilot, it's so hard to go back to normal/expert pilot.

[Anti-Villain-Wolf]

The only top tier plane I have upgraded is the F-15, and I noticed the difference immediately. Haven't given him the ace upgrade yet, but I'm either going to do it with that one or the F-16C. Man I love AIM9Ms lol. Thank you for sacrificing some of your GE to the greedy snot rockets at Gaijin for us to see this video Tim! We appreciate it!

[HerraTohtori]

Expert crew qualifications are important because they give you a flat out +3 on every skill. Because of this, I think the best way to level out crews is to first get each crew to a level where you can buy expert qualifications for the tier of your vehicle.

This means, instead of directly putting points in the most critical (and the most expensive) skill slots, it's better to spread out crew points evenly, even on the "dump stats". Putting points in crew skills that are cheap to upgrade allows you to quickly get the crew to a level where you can buy Expert qualification. The +3 skill increase from Expert crew gets you to a higher skill level in critical skills faster than if you just put points on the critical skills alone.

After you have reached a level where you can get Expert qualification for your vehicle of choice, then you should focus on putting crew experience points on the critical skills. For planes, that would be G-Force Tolerance, Stamina, and Weapon Maintenance (and for gunners, Precision and Accuracy). For tanks, it would be gunner's Targeting skill, loader's Reloading, commander's Leadership, and possibly driver's Driving skill (though that is debatable), and secondary skills would be Agility and Field Repairs on all crew members, followed by Vitality and Keen Vision.

Ace qualification, by contrast, is not *as* important but it can still give an edge on planes that rely on sustained high-G turns. That said I would not waste Golden Eagles on Ace crews. Rather I just play a vehicle and eventually get the Ace crew upgrade for free.

[Asspiss]

Working on ace for the f15a currently (for free). It literally feels like you get 2x longer g load with just expert alone. Maybe with ace ill actually compete with a basic crew grippy

[apricity]

This video is exactly why I subscribed to you dude! Thank you

[chemputer]

I know it's a small thing and would've taken a tiny bit more time, but I honestly would've liked to have seen a comparison with an Expert crew thrown in as well, just to see if it's absolutely worth going from Expert *to* Ace.

[dtron]

One thing you missed is the "Keen Vision" upgrade actually effects how soon you can launch an air-to-air missile after acquiring a lock. Not relevant for majority of planes, but in top tier having a 2 second delay between lock and launch and a .5 second delay can be a huge gap between an Ace crew and an un upgraded crew.

[lunar]

You’re awesome! No videos like this out there. Showed the difference very well. At first I wanted a deliberate full elevator turn at a certain speed comparison but I think the first high g turns in both games told the story perfectly fine and did so in a real game environment. I appreciate every video you make! Makes me wish you were in my local government haha. Who knows maybe you are… but I doubt it 😂

[BunnyDahlia]

Can people stop with the "bro fell off" comments? Where did this trend even come from?

Either way, it's unproductive.

Thank you Tim for another great video about lesser known mechanics.

[Ambatukamhorifooq]

Tim, as always; Thank you for taking the time to make these videos. They’re very professional, well organized, and very thorough. Your radar and missile tutorials/info videos most likely has helped thousands of players better understand the game and what they some up against in matches. I wish more creators took the time to make in-depth videos and not just the *insert some in-context meme sound to low effort game clip* compilations. Your effort is appreciated sir!

[dylantreas]

It’s crazy to me how u don’t have more subscribers, ur content is awesome and really put together well

[ashleyhamman]

I only have a fully aced pilot on the F-5E, but it is so worthwhile with a maneuver fighter like that. It's just unfortunate that you're having to spend around 1mill SL for most missile-tier jets.

It would be harder to test, but I'd be curious to see how bomber crew handle being aced vs being brand new-ish. I have a few decently trained gunners that are really solid, where by default they feel borderline useless.

[hrimfaxii]

I've been playing since 2012, and while the info you share here has been relevant since then, it is always nice to see someone answering the basic questions in an easy to understand way for newer players.
I started teaching newer people how to fly in wt about two or so years ago now, and while the concepts are easy to describe, sometimes it is much easier for some people to see a raw comparison like this for themselves to truly grasp the difference. I rarely send people to videos, but yours are an exception.
Keep up the good work.

[tobi]

10:38 “snap shot”. 😂 bro that was a skyflash

[dovidkahn]

For those who didn't count, it took 6 seconds for his pilot to black out at level 5 everything not aced or experr crew, and his pilot was blacked out for 4 seconds