This guide will help you earn Experience as fast as possible in World of Tanks. Part of the appeal of World of Tanks is working toward your next big purchase, but in order to make the purchase, you first need a vast quantity of Experience. Sometimes you need both Combat and Free Experience types as well. Here’s how to earn Experience in World of Tanks.
Experience Types
There are two forms of Experience in World of Tanks: Combat and Free. Combat Experience can only be used within the nation on the tank it was unlocked on, while Free Experience can be used anywhere.
Combat Experience
Combat Experience is awarded after a battle ends and is applied to the tank you used. Any Combat Experience on a tank can only be used within that tank’s nation. For instance, if you have 30,000 Experience on a USSR tank, you can only use that Experience in the USSR Tech Tree. You can't take that 30,000 Experience and use it going down one the best USA tank lines in World of Tanks.
Aiming to get a large amount of Combat Experience or Silver before having a Tier 5 tank is ill-advised, as the lower-tier tanks have trouble staying alive during a battle. However, this isn’t to say it’s impossible to earn a lot of Combat Experience at lower tiers, so if you are trying to grind the lower tiers, use an Elite vehicle to help ensure survivability.
There are a few tips you can take into consideration in order to earn more Combat Experience, all of which will help you improve at World of Tanks. First, is to try and stay alive for as long as possible. While this is an obvious tip on the surface, putting it into practice is the real challenge and comes down to map awareness and cautiousness. You will need to know where the safe places are in any given map and how to move from one location to another.
Don’t over expose yourself or sit in one location shooting for too long - unless of course you are practising going hull down. If you get hit, relocate. Even if you think you might kill the other tank, it’s better to quickly get back into cover. Obviously, there are exceptions to the rule, but for beginners, if you’re close enough to cover you should try and protect yourself.
One aspect that may not be obvious at first is that dealing damage is more important than collecting kills. If you were to deal only 10% of a tank’s health as the killing blow, and repeat this process and earn five kills, you would be earning less than if you’re primary goal was to deal damage to numerous tanks.
Despite this, you should still try to earn kills, but don’t focus on sitting in one position when you could be repositioning to earn more damage elsewhere. On top of this, if you damage an enemy in close combat you will be earning less experience than if you were to damage them over a long distance. Only approach an enemy tank if you know you need to get behind them or have no other option available. And while it's good to get damage, don't get greedy when trying to attack an enemy player, as that is one way to wind up dead.
Most importantly you should be constantly trying to spot enemy vehicles for your allies. Any damage dealt to vehicles you spotted for your team will help you earn more experience. This is why it can be a good idea to play Light tanks or tanks with a far view range so you are the one spotting for your team and in turn earning more experience.
Another excellent way to increase your earnings is to pick up a Premium account or Premium tank. With a Premium account, you will earn 50% more Experience in every battle while a Premium tank has many other benefits.
Free Experience
Free Experience is a rare commodity that can be used on any tank in any nation, so it will help bridge some gaps when starting new nations or if you’re running low on Combat Experience. Free Experience is given to you after each battle and equates to roughly 5% of the Combat Experience you managed to earn.
Another means of gaining Free Experience is through Conversion. Any Premium Tank is able to accrue Elite Experience that can be Converted to Free Experience using Gold, which in turn requires real world dollars. Unfortunately, there is no fast and hard way of earning a lot of Free Experience, so it’s a good idea to save up every bit of Free Experience you earn until you reach the higher tiers.
Silver
Silver, aside from Combat Experience, is the most important resources in World of Tanks and should be a primary focus of players looking to improve their tanks. Silver is rewarded to you after the end of every battle and is based on your performance during the fight. In order to earn more Silver, you should follow the tips laid out in the Combat Experience section.
One thing to remember is that Silver will be deducted from your balance after each fight if Automatic Resupply is selected, which can make earning Silver seem difficult. It’s also a good idea to avoid using Consumables during combat unless you really need to, as resupplying these will set you back between 5,000 and 20,000 Silver. The difference here being you must choose what to fix or heal with the small Repair Kit or First Aid Kit while the Large versions fix or heal everything in a single press of the button.
You should also be frugal with shells. If you cannot score a hit with a shot, you shouldn’t take it as you will simply be wasting Silver on the backend.
Use all these tips together in order to help you increase the amount of Silver, Combat Experience and Free Experience you earn during each battle. Remember to save your Free Experience until you absolutely need to use it in the higher tiers. If you have the Gold you can invest in a Premium Tank and Account which will help you earn more experience and silver. But just remember, the best way to earn Combat Experience and Free Experience is to keep trying to improve at World of Tanks.