Crossout: a practical guide to the post-apocalyptic tank battle

Crossout is a free-to-play, post-apocalyptic tank combat game from Targem Games. You build your own war machine from interchangeable parts, then fight other players in large-scale battles across a ruined world. This guide covers what the game is, how combat works, how the garage and economy work, and the tips that help new players survive their first weeks.

Crossout drops you into a world after a global catastrophe. Cities are rubble, the old order is gone, and the only thing that matters is the machine you can build and the crew you can trust. The core loop is simple: scavenge parts, build or upgrade your tank, then enter a battle where up to 16 players fight for control of the map. Matches are fast, destructive, and forgiving — your tank is a collection of swappable modules, so a bad fight is a lesson, not a loss.

The game is free to play. You can earn in-game currency (scrap and metal) by playing, and you can buy premium currency (silver) if you want to speed things up. Nothing essential is paywalled: you can build a competitive tank entirely from earned parts, it just takes more time.

Battles are team-based, usually 8v8, on maps that range from tight urban ruins to open wasteland. The objective is to destroy the enemy team or hold the objective until the timer runs out. Your tank is not a single object — it is a chassis with a turret, armor plates, a power plant, a suspension, and a set of weapons, each of which can be destroyed independently. When a module is destroyed, it stops working until you repair it or the match ends.

This modular design is the heart of the game. A tank with a heavy turret but no armor will melt fast; a tank with thick armor but a weak engine will get outmaneuvered. The best players constantly rebalance their builds based on the map and the enemy they expect to face. There is no single "best tank" — there is only the best tank for the situation.

Weapons fall into a few broad families: cannons for direct hits, autocannons for shredding light armor, missiles for long-range engagements, and machine guns for close-quarters suppression. Each has a different damage profile, reload time, and effective range. Learning which weapon fits which range is the single biggest skill jump a new player can make.

The garage is where the game earns its name. You start with a basic chassis and a handful of parts, and every battle you win (or even lose) drops scrap, metal, and occasionally blueprints for new components. You can buy parts from other players on the in-game market, or craft them from raw materials you collect in the wasteland.

A tank build has a few key decisions: chassis (which sets your size and weight), turret (which sets your main weapon), armor (which sets your survivability), power plant (which sets your speed and acceleration), and suspension (which affects how well you handle rough terrain). Each part has a weight, and your total weight affects your speed and handling. A common beginner mistake is to overload the tank with armor and forget the engine — the result is a slow, easy target.

You can save multiple builds and switch between them instantly before a match. This is one of the most underused tools in the game. A light, fast build is great for open maps; a heavy, armored build is better for urban maps. Keep at least two or three builds ready and pick the one that matches the map you are about to enter.

There are three currencies in Crossout. Scrap is the common currency, earned in almost every battle, used to buy basic parts and repairs. Metal is rarer, earned from higher-level battles and special events, used to buy premium parts and blueprints. Silver is the premium currency, bought with real money, used for cosmetics, premium parts, and convenience items.

You do not need to spend money to progress. A dedicated player can earn enough scrap and metal to build a top-tier tank in a few weeks of regular play. Silver is a convenience, not a requirement. If you do spend, the best value is usually in bulk silver packs or in the in-game store during sales events.

The first few weeks are a learning curve. Here are the things that matter most: