World of Warplanes Best Planes Per Tier Guide

World of Warplanes Best Planes Per Tier Guide by Reagalan

In case you didn’t know who I am, I have 10,000 kills and almost every plane in game to 100 kills. So, in the interest of furthering knowledge and hoping some of you can gain something from this, here are the best planes per tier.

Tier I

Focke-Wulf Fw 56
The Cessna of Doom. By and large the best tier I by every metric. Turns best, highest firepower, climbs well. The only downside is it doesn’t lead to any other trees, so it’s only good for farming money or just having fun. Given the skill of most tier Is, you’ll have more trouble dodging enemy planes than shooting them down with this thing.

Tier II

Polikarpov I-15
The very concept of a jet-powered biplane evokes many emotions, obviously, it was Russians that came up with this amazing contraption. While it’s firepower is nothing special, and it’s turn rate and roll rate is inferior to other tier 2s, this thing has ~engine power~. It can go over 400kmh, climb as well as a tier 4, and still outmaneuvers almost everything higher tiered than itself. Very deadly to higher tier planes.

Arado Ar 68
Best fighter firepower of the tier, very good climbing rate, decent engine, and turns well enough. The wing guns don’t do much dps, but coupled with the 7.92s in the nose, it’s very good.

Tier III

Polikarpov I-16 Early Model
Probably the best plane in the game, a relatively brainless death machine. More firepower than most tier 4s, extremely responsive, turns on a dime, and keeps up with tier 4s pretty well. The only weakness is fragility, it’s hp is kinda low and it’s easy to damage. Closest thing to a Zero in game right now.

Grumman F3F
One of the most annoying planes in the game by virtue of a decent engine and the most troll turn radius in game. Once on you, this nasty thing will whittle you down, very slowly, as the firepower is somewhat lacking, but it’s very very hard to get off you. It’s slow death.

Tier IV

Polikarpov I-16 Late Model
Believe it or not, I consider the Early Model a far greater threat than the Late Model due to it’s maneuverabilty. While the Late can fit 20mm cannons, it sacrifices engine power and maneuverability to achieve it, and becomes meat to anything behind it. Best used as a more powerful yet worse-turning Early Model.

Messerschmitt Bf 110B
This plane can turn very tightly, outclimb almost anything it’s tier, and has a lot to offer in the firepower department. The tailgun is useless and the roll rate leaves much to be desired, and it presents a large target, but this plane, in the hands of capable pilots, has the ability to annihilate enemy teams. Very hard to master though.

Messerschmitt Bf 109C
Nothing outwardly special about this plane, the firepower and the climb rate are not very special(Bf 110), the roll rate isn’t very special (I-16) nor the turning radius very special (P-36) But, when all the metrics are averaged together, it’s just a tad bit better than everything else. Decent firepower, good turning, good engine.

Tier V

Messerschmitt Bf 109E
It’s scary just how deadly this plane is, despite being low on the firepower scale for this tier. It’s incredible engine power and climbing rate lets it kill most anything higher tiered with ease, and it’s maneuverability makes low tier stuff die just as well. While the G model might have far more firepower, the E can out turn everything it’s tier and kills Gs with ease.

Grumman F4F
While it’s firepower isn’t better than the P-40, it’s engine certainly is, and that’s why the P-40 isn’t on this list. It’s turn rate isn’t spectacular, and it’s generally outclassed in everything but firepower by the 109E, but it does shred things when it gets on target and is easier to aim by virtue of spewing a wall of lead, instead of a beam of bullets.

Tier VI

Messerschmitt Bf 109G
The vaunted 109G, with it’s nose mounted 30mm doom cannon. While (correctly) believed to be the best tier 6, it has a couple weaknesses, namely poor low-speed performance and horrible recoil problems. Certain players like to exacerbate these probems, and sacrifice the 109G’s greatest asset (engine power) by added two more 30mms to the wings and pretending to be a tailgunless heavy fighter. Nevertheless, if you’re a smart one and go for the G-14, you’ll be rewarded with an amazing boom and zoom plane which can take almost anything out in one pass and run away from anything else (except 109Es and higher tiers). Enjoy it while it lasts, because if the La-9 is an illustration of what “nerf” means, the 109G will soon be the worst tier 6.

Bell P-39Q Airacobra
Once the best tier 6, now the second due to engine upgrades (which are unavailable for this Premium Plane), but still relatively underused. It has an absolutely constrictive turn rate, tighter than most tier 5s and some 4s, though it can’t do high altitiude work as well as some other tier 6s. The firepower is blaptastic, with a 37mm cannon capable of one-shotting all tier 4s, and two hitting everything else. However, it’s very hard to aim, exacerbated by the aircraft’s touchy handling and the cannon’s low rate of fire. Additionally, the round’s travel time is significant, meaning the lead pip isn’t as useful. Like the Bf 110, this thing is hard to fly, but concentrated malice in capable hands.

Messerschmitt Me 410
The Germans really like their 30mm cannons, so much that this heavy fighter has two of them in addition to some other guns, and is stable enough to use them. Decently maneuverable, it cannot climb as well as the light fighters, but turns well enough to get it’s huge guns on target just long enough to make things die really easily. Has a decent tailgun, but it’s placed in such a way that it can only fire to the side, so to make it work you have to fishtail, although most often you’ll die too fast to make much use of it, since the 410 is a large target. Like the 109G, some people think bigger guns is better, and ruin this amazing plane with a horrible 50mm cannon, which is just overkill and makes it turn like a pig. It also has four very powerful rockets, with a large radius, for dealing with Bigger Things, or other 410s.

Tier VII

Messerschmitt Me 209-II
Imagine a 109G with an even better turning rate, less recoil and more engine power, and you have the 209. A favorite of top aces, this plane has the power to catch and down most planes higher than it, and if not, then it can snipe them at range with it’s 30mm. It’s the bane of the dreaded 109G, outclassing it in everything. And yes, the Me 209-II is a correct designation for it.

Goodyear F2G Super Corsair
A very recent discovery, since it’s previous version was a piece of crap, most pilots deemed it a bad plane. However, decent engine power and amazing firepower come together to produce a very adequate airframe, capable of downing almost anything higher tier, and most thing equal or below. Like everything it’s tier, though, the 209 still outclasses it.

Messerschmitt Bf 109Z Zwilling
If the prospect of two 109Gs glued together doesn’t induce spinal tremors, then quad 30mm cannons and the turning rate of an La-9 should. A derp machine with enough power and maneuverability to ruin many days, the only real drawback to this plane is the incredible bullet spread, frustrating the most expert snipers. The firing rate, however, is sufficient that throwing up a wall of lead is nearly guaranteed to knock a wing or two off. It also has difficulty shaking
pursuers, but which heavy fighter doesn’t?

Tier VIII

Vought F5U Flying Flapjack
Falling victim to the same prejudice of the F2G, the F5U is now, in fact, the best tier 8. Deadly firepower, an amazingly tight turn radius, good engine, enourmous propellers, and  ellipsoid form combine to make this plane utterly amazing. Dying to it is no longer a means of getting trolled, but now an expectation.

North American P-51JP
Once the only feasible tier 8, and until someone got an F5U, assumed to be the best tier 8, it’s now better placed as the second best tier 8. It has good firepower and a very nice turn radius, holds energy well and goes a bit faster than the Flapjack at low altitudes.

Messerschmitt Me 609
It’s an upgraded version of the 109Z, meaning more quad-30 madness. However, the spread on this plane is even worse due to greater fuselage spacing, meaning it’s even harder to get those snipes off, and comparatively the engine power is a bit worse, but like the 109Z, you fire in their general direction and they’ll feel some stink.

Tier IX

Messerschmitt Me 109TL
By virtue of being the least-bad tier 9, the 109TL was good last patch. It maintains it’s supremacy, being challenged only by the La-160, the only other not-entirely-awful plane in this tier. The firepower is very good, turn rate amazing, but it
does have very poor low speed handling, and the acceleration isn’t too good either.

Tier X

Lavochkin La-15
Unfortunately, I’ve only played two tier 10s so far, the HG.III and the La-15, and, like before, the La-15 comes out on top. Ironic that potentially the best tier 10 comes after a plethora of nearly unbearably bad Russian fighters, a grind so insidious it would placate even Asian MMO devs. Still, information is incomplete, from what I’ve heard (and seen) of the Sabre it’s nothing special. While the firepower of the La-15 is less than the HG.III, and even got hit by the same nerf as the La-9, the higher turn rate and better energy conservation make it superior.