The 5 Helpful Features Added In The War Thunder Line Of Contact Update

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Another update for our beloved vehicle combat game, and it’s the War Thunder Line of Contact update. Gaijin has been pumping out updates this year, all with exciting new additions to the game, and this one is no different. The War Thunder Line of Contact update introduces the usual new vehicles, but it also adds new features that might interest you.

The latest update for War Thunder added several famous vehicles, including the BMPT Terminator and McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. This update also added a few features that could help you in-game and in your hangar. So, let’s take a look at the five features that could help you in War Thunder that got added by the new update.

The 5 Features Added By The War Thunder Line Of Contact Update

The cover of the War Thunder Line of Contact update featuring two flying F/A-18 Hornets — The cover of the Line of Contact update featuring two F/A 18 Hornets (Image: Gaijin)

Alongside the new vehicles, the War Thunder Line of Contact update added several new features for players. These additions range from minor quality-of-life features to entirely game-changing additions. And what better way to start our list than to discuss the revamped Poland winter map?

The Revamped Winter Poland Map

The reworked winter variant of Poland (Image: Gaijin)

The winter variant of Poland has finally received some love after its standard version got a rework not too long ago. The amazing artists at Gaijin renovated all of the buildings, structures, environmental elements, and vegetation. And, as always, the structure of the new map has remained the same, with no severe changes to the flow and feel.

The only changes you might notice are that the niche pixel peeks you once had are no longer there. Other than that, no other changes are present on the map.

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The Updated Hangar

The new hangar design in the War Thunder Line of Contact update featuring an A-10 Warthog with all of its munitions — An A-10 Warthog in its new comfy hangar (Image: Gaijin)

Hangars of all types have had a couple of improvements and new features added in by the War Thunder Line of Contact update. Aircraft and Ground vehicle hangars now have the munitions of each selected vehicle presented to the player via trolleys and weapon stands. Hovering over each munition will allow you to view its stat card as usual.

Ground vehicles have a slightly different version, as their munitions get a demonstration of what their shells do. Each piece of ammo comes with a piece of armor that the respective shell damaged. This feature allows players, especially new ones, to see the effects of each shell on varying levels of armor.

Premium vehicles now get their very own special hangar for all vehicle types in War Thunder. Thus making premium vehicles feel more unique and, well, premium. The premium hangars also allow you to click on your war machines to enable special little animations, including moving wingflaps, turrets, and torpedo tubes.

The Naval Severe Damage Mechanic

A battleship firing a salvo of shells with all of its cannons — A ship firing all of its guns in hopes of severely damaging its enemy or outright killing it (Image: Gaijin)

Naval players are now eligible to earn the severe damage award for heavily assisting in the destruction of a ship. The criteria for earning this award require you to deplete at least 50% of the enemy ship’s crew. After earning the award, you’ll earn half of what you’d get from destroying an enemy yourself.

The New Random Top Tier Vehicles

A Strela-10M2 in an urban environment preparing to fire at an air target — A Strela-10M2 preparing to engage an air target (Image: Gaijin)

Ever wanted to run that sweet new premium or event vehicle at its respective BR (Battle Rating), but you haven’t any other tank to choose from? Well, fear not, as from BR 9.3 and above for both Arcade and Realistic, you can use an additional vehicle in your ground lineup. This mechanic acts similarly to the air battles in Ground Arcade mode.

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After you lose your main tank, you can select the random vehicle option to stay in the fight as a slightly lower BR vehicle. In Ground Arcade, you only get one random tank, but in Ground Realistic, you get one random tank and SPAA.

The New Matchmaking System

The map menu in War Thunder — The various ground maps for War Thunder (Image: Gaijin)

With the War Thunder Line of Contact update, you won’t have to play a single map on repeat any longer. Matchmaking now takes into account the maps you and your other players have played previously in your current play session. Thus reducing the instances of having to play the same map twice, or even more times.

However, once you restart or close the game, the map history that the matchmaking accounts for resets.

Is That It For The War Thunder Line Of Contact Update?

The cover of the War Thunder Line of Contact update featuring the upcoming Mig-25PD — The cover of the Line of Contact update featuring the upcoming Mig-25PD (Image: Gaijin)

The War Thunder Line of Contact update features a plethora of additions for the vehicle combat game we know and love/hate. Nonetheless, it doesn’t end there, as another feature is soon to come in the latest update. And that’s the infantry game mode closed beta test that Gaijin announced not too long ago.

As of December 18, 2025, the beta test for the new game mode hasn’t been released, but it’s imminent. More information about the test will arrive soon from Gaijin themselves, but it is safe to say that the test is inevitable. So until then, man your stations, and remember not to bring too much ammo.

For more information on games and War Thunder, stay tuned with us.