War Thunder's Sky Odyssey Update Overhauls Bombers, Adds Falkland Islands Map

War Thunder has deployed its Sky Odyssey update, bringing substantial changes to aircraft balance, a new map, and a roster of vehicles spanning multiple nations.

Greek aviation and ground vehicles join the Israeli military tech tree, reflecting historical cooperation between the nations. Israel's aviation branch now extends to the Mirage 2000-5EG and Rafale EG, the latter serving as Israel's first Rank IX aircraft with eight radar-guided missiles. Russia gains the MiG-35, equipped with eight active-radar missiles. Additional vehicles come from China's J-16, the US-Greek F-102A Delta Dagger, Britain's Hawk T1A, and contributions from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Australia.

The F-102A presents a tactical shift: it carries no cannon and relies on AIM-4 infrared and radar-guided missiles, forcing players to be deliberate in positioning and target selection.

Bombers receive a major overhaul addressing long-standing fragility complaints. Gaijin refined hit zones and damage accumulation, making bombers substantially harder to destroy. Attackers must now target specific systems like fuel tanks, engines, and crew rather than dealing incremental damage across the airframe.

Air-to-air missiles received revised flight models and improved manoeuvrability. Core missiles including the AIM-7, AIM-120, and R-77 now respond more precisely. The MICA-EM gained extended launch range. These changes reward precise deployment and increase evasion difficulty.

The new Ground Battles map features Darwin Hill on the Falkland Islands, presenting rolling grasslands dotted with rural settlements and an airfield. The terrain's natural undulations create defensive positions for hull-down tactics. Red Desert received topographical adjustments to reduce spawn-camping and excessive sniping. Air maps covering the Falklands and Afghanistan received graphical improvements.

A quality-of-life refinement addresses vehicle abandonment during losing engagements. When a player leaves their vehicle, 50% of the standard kill reward now goes to the nearest enemy player or projectile within a 3 km radius. This proximity-based system, previously refined in Air Battles, acknowledges situations where attackers destroy abandoned vehicles and compensates for the denied kill credit.

Sky Odyssey is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S as a free update.