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.

  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Read the whole sequence once before doing the first step.

Picking the wrong line in World of Tanks costs weeks, so the research order matters more than any single tank. 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 practical answer

If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first.

It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. 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. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.
  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.
  • Stop and reassess after two failed attempts rather than repeating the third.
  • Try the straightforward approach before the elaborate one.
  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.

Worth knowing alongside this

Everything below is framed around the current state of World of Tanks rather than a launch-week impression. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over.

Why it works this way

World of Tanks is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over.

There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional.

What to do instead

The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration.

Where people go wrong

  • Treating a rare edge case as the normal behaviour and planning around it.
  • Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.
  • Copying a setup wholesale from a streamer without understanding what each part does.

World of Tanks FAQ

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

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

How long does this take?

Minutes if it goes cleanly, an evening if you hit the edge case in the caveats list. Neither is unusual.

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.

Is there a faster method?

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

Anything that shifts with the next World of Tanks update will show up as a changed number, not a changed approach.