This comes up often enough in World of Tanks that it deserves a straight answer rather than a thread to scroll through.

Short answer

Do the simple thing first. It is correct more often than the complicated thing people recommend instead.

  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.
  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Check the version you are actually running before assuming anything is broken.

Picking the wrong line in World of Tanks costs weeks, so the research order matters more than any single tank. Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does.

Worth knowing alongside this

The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of World of Tanks. The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why.

When the usual advice fails

Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time.

  • Try the straightforward approach before the elaborate one.
  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.
  • Prefer the in-game option over an external tool when both exist.
  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.

What to do instead

What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first.

Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over.

The practical answer

A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.

If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. Everything below is framed around the current state of World of Tanks rather than a launch-week impression. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

Why it works this way

Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see.

Where people go wrong

  • Treating a rare edge case as the normal behaviour and planning around it.
  • Rushing the last step, which is usually the one with the actual requirement in it.
  • Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.

World of Tanks FAQ

Does this work the same on console and PC?

The logic is identical. Menu paths and button prompts differ, and any real difference is flagged above.

Do I need any mods or third-party tools for this?

No. Everything described here works with the base game on any supported platform.

What is the short answer?

It is the paragraph near the top. Everything after it exists for the cases where that paragraph does not quite fit.

What if none of this works for me?

Then something in your setup differs from the assumption — version, region or platform. Check those three before anything else.

If you only take one thing from this: the answer near the top is the part that matters, the rest is context.