The fastest way to farm Silver Lions and Research Points in War Thunder is combining a premium account with an active battle performance, but it has a ceiling: premium gives plus 50% to SL and roughly halves the RP grind time, while a cheat boost raises your effectiveness in every battle and multiplies both currencies at once, regardless of your subscription type.
Working software with prices and undetected status is collected on the page cheats for War Thunder →. Our tests ran on a client protected by the dual BattlEye and Viking system, active since December 2024, in Arcade Battles and Realistic Battles, on ground vehicles and aircraft.
Anyone who has opened the War Thunder tech tree knows the problem: without RP, new vehicles never unlock, and without SL you cannot buy or maintain them in the hangar. Hence the constant question of whether to get a premium subscription or find a way to farm faster without monthly spending on GE. Below we break down both paths using real grind numbers and specific software options from our catalog, not vague claims that "premium speeds up progress."
What actually speeds up progression: premium account vs cheat boost
A premium account works predictably: plus 50% to Silver Lions earnings per battle and an RP modifier that on average cuts the time needed to unlock a single vehicle roughly in half. The bonus is official and linear: it doesn't care about skill, and it works the same whether you get stomped or win decisively.
A cheat boost works differently: it does not add currency directly, it raises the in-game stats that SL and RP are calculated from. More precise hits on critical zones, more kills and destroyed targets, higher survivability to the end of the battle, which all add up to a higher final score and result multiplier. In our War Thunder catalog that means, for example, MEMEZ with bomb prediction, penetration crosshair and a built-in radar, tested in Realistic Battles on mixed ground-air maps, or MASON INTERNAL with module ESP and auto lead for shooting moving targets. A breakdown of the first option with numbers from our own tests is in a separate review: MEMEZ review for War Thunder.
Why ground vehicles grind slower than aviation
In practice the grind time gap between branches is huge. An advanced ground vehicle can take more than 10 days to unlock even with an active premium subscription, because ground battles have a lower average RP per match and tougher competition for damage dealt in close-range brawls. A top aviation tier is realistically closeable in a week and a half to two weeks of active play, because air combat awards more points for kills and reconnaissance, and sessions are shorter and end in a result more often.
The takeaway is simple: if the goal is catching up on a specific ground vehicle branch, plain premium is often not enough. You need either a large time budget or a tool that raises the result of every battle without adding hours in the game.
How a cheat boost multiplies SL and RP without changing your subscription
Every vehicle in the tech tree has its own SL and RP multiplier, and it is tied to performance in that specific battle, not to whether you win. That is exactly why accurate shooting and precise hits on weak zones give a more noticeable currency boost than just being active on the map. Module ESP, like in MASON INTERNAL, shows vulnerable parts of enemy vehicles before visual contact, while bomb prediction in MEMEZ removes the misses on area targets in aviation that usually eat up most of a sortie's potential score.
For anyone who wants to test the approach without a big commitment, the catalog has a budget Snipe option from 80 rubles a day, affordable even for casual farming over a couple of evenings a week, with no obligation to buy monthly access right away. We covered it separately in a review: Snipe review for War Thunder.
Premium plus software gives a compounding effect
Premium and a cheat do not compete, they stack. The plus 50% to SL from a subscription applies on top of an already higher per-battle score coming from better accuracy and map awareness. Over a week that adds up to a real difference specifically in ground vehicles, where an unassisted grind stretches into months. Gaijin regularly changes economy coefficients with patches, so we make it a point to recheck the premium plus private software combo after every major update instead of relying on year-old data.
What about the navy: the third grind direction
Naval vehicles get left out of farming discussions most often, which is a shame, since it's a full third branch alongside aviation and ground vehicles. Its economy leans closer to ground battles than to air combat: matches last longer, and points come from damage dealt and ships sunk rather than a high count of short, effective engagements. Radar and target highlighting at range matter especially here, because a naval fight is often decided by the first accurate volley rather than a series of exchanges. For players who spread themselves across all three branches, premium helps keep the pace even, but it is specifically software with better map awareness that cuts the time normally spent blindly searching for and scouting a target.
What to pick for War Thunder for this task
The right option depends on your budget and on which vehicle branch you need to close first. Mixing options works too: some players run a budget cheat on weekdays and switch to a more capable one on weekends, when there is time to close harder branches. Below is a breakdown by scenario based on the current prices and statuses in our catalog.
- Casual farming over a couple of evenings: Snipe (good, undetected) from 80₽ a day, the minimal entry point without paying extra for features you won't need in a short session.
- Maximum per-battle effectiveness in aviation: MEMEZ (excellent, undetected) from 300₽ a day with bomb prediction, penetration crosshair and a built-in radar, our pick for quickly closing top aircraft branches.
- Ground vehicles and precise module shooting: MASON INTERNAL (excellent, undetected) from 500₽ a day with module ESP and auto lead, noticeably more effective than manual aiming in drawn-out tank fights.
- An external format with no interference in the game client: MASON external (excellent, undetected) from 399₽ a day or SMG (good, undetected) from 400₽ a day, for those who specifically prefer an external cheat over an internal one.
- Paying in dollars with a week-long subscription: ARCANE LITE from $4 a day or ARCANE PRO from $5 a day, both excellent and undetected, with a monthly option for steady long-term farming.
From a budget standpoint the logic is simple: a day or week subscription costs less than a full month of premium and suits a targeted task like closing one specific branch before an event. Monthly access is the better value per day if you are farming continuously rather than in occasional weekend sessions. We recommend starting with a short period to test things, watching the real SL and RP gain over a few battles, and only then deciding whether to move to a monthly plan.
The full list of current options with price, undetected status, and a feature comparison is always on hand at cheats on War Thunder →. The catalog is updated after every War Thunder patch, including changes to the SL and RP economy and updates to BattlEye and Viking protection, so the statuses are current as of publication, not checked once when the product was added.
If you are unsure which option closes your specific vehicle branch, ask our community: Telegram (200+ members) and Discord (637+ members), where people also share their own farming experience across different modes.
Frequently asked questions about War Thunder cheats
Can you farm Silver Lions and RP without a premium subscription, using only a cheat boost?
Yes, a cheat raises your per-battle score even without premium, because the bonus depends on performance in that specific match, not on account type. The gain will be lower than with an active subscription, since you lose the flat percentage to SL, but still noticeably higher than on a regular account without software. Part of the ForgeCheats community deliberately farms only on a free account, saving GE for other purposes.
Is there a noticeable spike in SL or RP when using a cheat in War Thunder?
Not with reasonable settings. The bonus looks like the result of a normal good battle rather than a direct currency grant bypassing the client, hit count and destroyed targets go up, not the final score directly. We test every loader specifically for how natural the stats look across different modes, including Simulator Battles, not just for the absence of a BattlEye and Viking detection at the time of publication.
What levels up ground vehicles faster: premium or a cheat boost?
In our tests a cheat boost gives a more noticeable gain specifically in ground battles, because there the result depends much more on accuracy against weak zones and surviving to the end of the round, rather than on general map activity like in aviation. Premium adds a fixed percentage on top and works the same in any battle, but on its own it does not fix low effectiveness in drawn-out tank brawls on tough branches.
Is it worth buying premium if you already use private software for farming?
Yes: the bonuses stack instead of replacing each other, so premium speeds up farming further even if you already run a cheat for more accurate shooting and better map awareness. On a tight budget it makes more sense to test the software on a short subscription first and see in practice whether you need premium for the specific branch you are after; current prices and statuses are available at cheats for War Thunder.
Which War Thunder cheat is best for a beginner on a small budget?
Snipe from 80₽ a day is a good first test, the most affordable entry in the catalog without paying extra for advanced features like module ESP or bomb prediction that a beginner may not need yet. After checking the result over a couple of days across different modes, it is easier to decide whether to upgrade to MEMEZ or MASON INTERNAL for more serious ground vehicle or aviation farming.
