There is a simple version of this and a complete version, and both are below in that order.

Short answer

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

  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.
  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.
  • Stop and reassess after two failed attempts rather than repeating the third.

Picking the wrong line in World of Tanks costs weeks, so the research order matters more than any single tank. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have. The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here.

What to do instead

Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. 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. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see.

Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of World of Tanks. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over.

Worth knowing alongside this

It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. World of Tanks is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look.

  • Try the straightforward approach before the elaborate one.
  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.
  • Region and platform change more than people expect, so confirm both.
  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.

The practical answer

If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on.

The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional.

When the usual advice fails

Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration.

There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.

Why it works this way

The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

Where people go wrong

  • Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.
  • Downloading a helper tool for something the game already does in its own menu.
  • Treating a rare edge case as the normal behaviour and planning around it.
  • Changing five things at once and then not knowing which one helped.

World of Tanks FAQ

Why do people disagree about this?

Mostly because they are describing different versions. Version drift explains the majority of contradictory advice about World of Tanks.

Is this still accurate after the latest World of Tanks update?

The method is; individual numbers may not be. If a value on your screen differs, trust the screen and keep the sequence.

Is there a faster method?

Sometimes, at the cost of reliability. Where that trade exists it is described rather than recommended blindly.

Why do other guides describe this differently?

Most were written for an earlier version and never revisited. Compare the steps against what your build actually shows.

Come back to the caveats list if it does not work first time — the answer is almost always in there.