War Thunder Sky Odyssey: What's Confirmed and How to Test It

War Thunder's next major update, Sky Odyssey, has a trailer and a dev server — and the dev server is the part you can act on today.

It's open from 4 September (16:30 GMT) until 10 September (07:00 GMT), which means you can fly, drive and test everything in the update before it reaches live servers. Gaijin hasn't announced a release date, and it typically doesn't until the day before.

Here's what's confirmed so far, and how to use the test window properly.

The short version

• Sky Odyssey is the next major War Thunder update. Release date unannounced.
• Dev server open 4 – 10 September, downloadable as a separate Dev Client.
• Greece is being added, bringing Hellenic aircraft and tanks.
• AW159 Wildcat HMA2 joins Great Britain at Rank VII.
• Gaijin announces major update releases a day ahead, sometimes on the day itself.
• The dev blog rollout is still in progress — the full vehicle list isn't public yet.

The dev server is the actionable part

From 4 September at 16:30 GMT to 10 September at 07:00 GMT, the dev server runs with the Sky Odyssey build. You download a separate Dev Client to access it.

This matters more in War Thunder than in most games. Progression here runs on Research Points and Silver Lions, and committing a tech tree line is a decision measured in weeks or months. The dev server lets you fly a vehicle before deciding whether to spend that time on it.

Three things worth doing while it's open:

Test the vehicles you'd actually grind for. Not the top-tier jets everyone will queue for on day one — the ones sitting on the line you were already working through.

Check Battle Rating placements. New additions shift BR brackets, and a vehicle that looks strong on paper can land in a bracket where it's outclassed. Forum discussion around the F-106 at 9.3 is already running along those lines.

Note what changes about your existing lineup. Major updates adjust existing vehicles as well as adding new ones, and a BR shift on something you already own affects which matches you'll be pulled into.

Dev server data is not final. Values change between the test build and release, sometimes significantly, so treat what you find as a preview rather than a spec sheet.

Greece joins — with a caveat

Sky Odyssey adds Greek aircraft and tanks, bringing the Hellenic forces into the game.

New national additions are usually the headline of a War Thunder update, and this one arrived unexpectedly — Greece wasn't among the nations most commonly speculated about.

The community reaction has been notably cool, and the reason is worth stating plainly: the criticism is that the Greek additions contain no unique vehicles. Hellenic forces have historically operated aircraft and armour licensed or purchased from other nations, which means much of the line-up is recognisable from existing trees rather than new to the game.

That's a real consideration for how you spend your time. If you were hoping for genuinely new hardware, a nation built largely from familiar vehicles may not change your play much. If you enjoy nation-specific lineups and camouflage, it's a fuller reason to engage.

Whether Greece arrives as a full tech tree or a sub-tree attached to an existing nation is a detail worth confirming on the dev server rather than assuming.

AW159 Wildcat HMA2

Great Britain receives the AW159 Wildcat HMA2 at Rank VII — a modernised Lynx carrying 20 Martlet missiles.

Twenty light missiles on a single helicopter is a distinctive loadout rather than an incremental upgrade, and it's the kind of addition that changes how a nation's helicopter lineup plays rather than simply extending it.

The vehicle list isn't finished

Worth being clear about, because War Thunder coverage often implies more certainty than exists at this stage.

Gaijin releases dev blogs for individual vehicles in a staggered rollout over several weeks before a major update lands. What's public now is a fraction of what will ship.

Any "full vehicle list" published this week is incomplete by definition. The dev server itself is the most complete source available, which is another reason to spend time in it if the update matters to you.

The Space Program collision

Here's the scheduling problem nobody's flagging.

The Space Program event runs from 3 September (11:00 GMT) to 21 September (11:00 GMT), handing out the F-16XL as a Rank VIII event jet for the USA. It's a stage-based grind requiring 360,000 mission points for the coupon, with an additional 750,000-point track if you want a tradable version.

Event jets reward time, not skill, and the two-day stage rotation means hours have to land inside specific windows rather than whenever you're free.

If Sky Odyssey releases before 21 September, those two demands collide. A major update is exactly the moment players want to try new vehicles — and every hour spent doing that is an hour not spent on mission points inside a rotation window that won't reopen.

The practical advice: prioritise the event. The F-16XL has a hard deadline. Sky Odyssey's content is permanent. Whatever the update adds will still be there on 22 September; the event jet won't.

What isn't announced

• Sky Odyssey's release date. Gaijin typically confirms a day ahead.
• The complete vehicle list across all nations.
• Whether Greece is a full tech tree or a sub-tree.
• Battle Rating changes to existing vehicles.
• New maps, modes or economy adjustments.

What to do this week

Download the Dev Client and test before 10 September. It costs nothing, and it's the only way to evaluate new vehicles before committing RP to them.

Keep grinding the Space Program event. It ends 21 September and its stages rotate on a two-day cycle.

Don't start a new tech tree line yet. BR changes and new vehicles can reshape which lines are worth pushing; a week of patience avoids a wasted month.

Watch for the release announcement. A day's notice is the norm, so if you want to be online at launch, follow the official channels rather than guessing.

Check your Silver Lion balance. New vehicles need buying and kitting out, and a top-tier account with no SL can't actually use what it unlocks.

Getting ready for the update

War Thunder's progression is famously slow — every vehicle unlocked with Research Points, then bought and modified with Silver Lions — which is why a major update lands hardest on accounts that already have a line ready to play. Push a tech tree line with War Thunder boosting, where every order is handled manually by verified players and payment is only released once you confirm delivery, book War Thunder hourly services to cover the Space Program rotation windows you can't play yourself, or browse War Thunder accounts and check the nations, Battle Rating and Silver Lion balance stated in each listing before ordering.

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