War ThunderHow to Get the Most Free Silver Lions in War Thunder
War Thunder is one of the few games where the premium currency can be earned by selling what you win in-game. The official Gaijin Market, not codes, is the serious route to accumulating Golden Eagles.
What is the fastest and most efficient way to get Silver Lions in War Thunder?
Golden Eagles are the premium currency: they pay for store vehicles, premium accounts, talismans and battle pass levels. Silver Lions are the progression currency and come out of every battle. What sets War Thunder apart is that Gaijin runs its own marketplace where players buy and sell each other coupons, trophies, decals and camouflages obtained by playing. That market uses Gaijin Coins, and Gaijin Coins are exchanged for Golden Eagles in the official store. It is a closed and legitimate circuit.
Every day
- From 50 Eagles and up to 500, 1,000 or 1,500 depending on the grade
Golden wagers from the Golden Battles
Golden wagers are inventory items that award Golden Eagles when you meet a condition in battle. There are three grades: Recruit, Officer and Commander, with caps of 500, 1,000 and 1,500 Eagles respectively and a minimum of 50. The Commander ones are the most demanding, because they require a victory and three kills. Unlike other wagers, the ones that pay in Eagles do not require you to stake anything: they always hand over the reward stated. They arrive through battle pass progression, trophies and login campaigns.
Every week
- Gaijin Coins convertible into Golden Eagles in the official store
Selling what you win in the Gaijin Market
The market accepts vehicle coupons, camouflage coupons, decals, profile icons, trophy boxes and crafting event materials. Prices are set by buyers and sellers, not by Gaijin. What you are paid is Gaijin Coins, and Gaijin Coins buy Golden Eagles in the official store. That is the bridge that turns hours of play into premium currency without spending money. Trophy keys are the exception: only Gaijin sells them, so a trophy is usually worth more listed whole than opened.
One time only
- Access to the market; without this no sale is possible
Getting the account ready to trade
The market requires a verified email and two-step authentication enabled from your profile management page, plus an account with no restrictions from penalties. There are important exclusions worth checking before you invest time: accounts linked to PlayStation, Xbox or DMM have no market access, and Gaijin Coins cannot be bought with a Steam wallet. If you play on console and your goal is to accumulate Eagles this way, the first step is understanding which account you are actually using.
- Fixed payments or revenue share for accepted camouflages and models
Revenue share programme for user-created content
Gaijin runs a revenue share programme for content created with its CDK: camouflages, 3D vehicle models and cockpits. What gets accepted is integrated into the game and paid for, either with a fixed fee or with a percentage of what Gaijin earns when the camouflage is distributed inside a market trophy. Authors who make the cut also receive their own title, icon and decal. It is not a route for most people, but it is the only one that turns creative work into real income inside the ecosystem.
Events only
- Warbonds, Silver Lions, wagers and orders without paying for the pass
Free branch of the Battle Pass
The Battle Pass can be worked through without buying it: the levels marked as free unlock purely through combat progress, special challenges and daily logins. The free branch includes warbonds for the seasonal shop, Silver Lions, wagers and orders. That flow of wagers is exactly what feeds the previous method, so the two routes reinforce each other. On top of that, if you manage to save enough Eagles, the pass itself can be bought with them, which closes the loop without ever going through the paid store.
- An event vehicle goes from personal use to tradable asset
Turning an event coupon into something sellable
A vehicle coupon obtained in an event cannot always be sold. To make it tradable you need an upgrade coupon, a separate item that takes additional effort. The Battle Pass includes two of them, placed at very high levels of the track, around 105 and 125. Anyone who gets that far can turn an event prize into something sellable and use it to fund the next pass. It is the slowest route of all, but it is also the one that moves the biggest numbers for a non-paying account.
What does not work
No generator can add Silver Lions to your War Thunder account: the balance is handled on the game’s servers and there is no way to touch it from outside. If you arrived looking for one, we explain in detail how they work on the inside and why they always end the same way.
See why Silver Lions generators are a scam →Frequently asked questions
How do market earnings turn into Golden Eagles?
You sell the tradable items you have obtained by playing on the Gaijin Market: vehicle or camouflage coupons, decals, icons and trophy boxes. Payment arrives in Gaijin Coins, the market's internal currency. With that balance you go into the official Gaijin store and buy Golden Eagles directly. The selling price is set by supply and demand between players, not by a fixed rate from the studio.
What requirements does Gaijin set for trading on the market?
You need a verified email set from your profile management page and two-step authentication enabled, and the account cannot be under any restriction from a penalty. There are also platform exclusions: accounts linked to PlayStation, Xbox or DMM cannot access the market. Gaijin Coins also cannot be bought using a Steam wallet. It is worth checking all of this before stockpiling items with selling in mind.
How do you get golden wagers and how much do they pay?
They arrive as inventory items through the Battle Pass, through trophies and through rewards for logging in consistently. There are three grades: Recruit, Officer and Commander, with a minimum of 50 Eagles and caps of 500, 1,000 and 1,500 respectively. The higher grades require a victory and three kills in the same match. Wagers that pay in Eagles do not require you to stake anything: they always deliver what their description states.
Why can an event vehicle coupon not always be sold?
Because event coupons start out bound to the account and can only be activated by you. To list them on the market you have to apply an upgrade coupon, which is a separate and hard to obtain item. The Battle Pass includes two of them, placed at very high levels, around 105 and 125. Without that intermediate step the vehicle stays in your hangar and generates no Gaijin Coins.
