Roadmap Sneak Peek (Feb 2023): Japanese TDs, Dynamic Maps and More!
7 min readWargaming has released a video in a new format, showcasing some upcoming features on the Roadmap for World of Tanks in 2023:
At the end of 2022, Wargaming shared their plans for the near future in World of Tanks. This announcement sparked a lot of attention within the community, including a number of follow-up questions — some of which have been answered in this video. With this, we are now able to get a first look at some of the game activities and features that are currently under development.
So, with that, let’s get into breaking down everything that was shown in this first episode of Roadmap Sneak Peeks:
Japanese Tank Destroyer Branch
To start with, the new 🇯🇵 Japanese branch of 
Tank Destroyers has officially been showcased in its full glory!
While we already know some details about the line from the vehicles released on Supertest over the past few weeks (see our previous articles: Type 95 Ji-Ro and Chi-To SP, Ho-Ri 2 and 1, Ho-Ri 3), one additional vehicle was shown off in the video, marking an exciting start to the line for Japanese armor enthusiasts: V 🇯🇵Ho-Ni III, a historical tank destroyer mounting a 75 mm on the Chi-Ha chassis! Furthermore, the line has been confirmed to branch off from the IV 🇯🇵
Chi-He, meaning it may be wise to start banking up some experience on this vehicle.
Beyond this, each vehicle in the branch was shown off in a bit more detail (albeit, the still frames are a bit blurry due to the video compression/motion blur in some instances):
Tier 5 – Ho-Ni III
Tier 6 – Type 95 Ji-Ro
Tier 7 – Chi-To SP
Tier 8 – Ho-Ri 2
Tier 9 – Ho-Ri 1
Tier 10 – Ho-Ri 3
Tier 8 Premium – Type 5 Ka-Ri
The premium representing this branch, VIII 🇯🇵Type 5 Ka-Ri, will be made available sometime before the branch’s launch. It has not yet been confirmed exactly when the branch (or the premium) will arrive at this time, but it can likely be expected sometime before Summer 2023.
Dynamic Maps/Objects (to be tested in Recon Mission 2023)
More regarding dynamic objects on maps – primarily, Random Events – was also shown. The video shows several different examples using the 🗺️ Safe Haven (Japort) as a base, including a ship destroying one of the port crossings:
A plane bombing the northern bridge:
A plane crashing into one of the entrances to the tunnels:
Notably, more was also shown on how exactly this system is planned to work, using the last of the above events as an example: areas where a random event is imminent will display with a red box shortly beforehand, and a timer will display indicating how much time you have to leave the area before it is destroyed. If a vehicle is within this area when the random event triggers, it will be destroyed instantly once the event occurs.
Movable Objects
In addition to the Random Events discussed above, a new system of movable objects will also be tested along with the Random Events, including movable containers and concrete blocks which can provide you with cover from shots (albeit, seemingly only temporarily, as the concrete block in the video can be seen breaking apart after being shot).
Night Maps/Dynamic Water
🌙 Night Maps and 🌊 Dynamic Water were also shown again, though no further details were given.
Random Events, Movable Objects, Night Maps, and Dynamic Water will all be tested within the Recon Mission later this year (they will NOT appear in random battles until after these tests).
Gamemodes
As for gamemodes, Steel Hunter: Reborn, Onslaught, and Frontline have all been confirmed for 2023!
Steel Hunter: Reborn
To start off, more details regarding Steel Hunter: Reborn have been discussed. According to the video, the mode is intended to be an “easier version of Steel Hunter, that’s just as competitive and fun”. This will include the following changes from the standard Steel Hunter (which will seemingly be retained as a separate mode):
- AI vehicles (these appear to be different from players’ vehicles)
- The ability to respawn in a safe location upon destruction (from what was shown in the video, it appears you retain your vehicle level after respawning)
- Reduced power gap between upgrade levels
- Rework of the Recovery (heal) ability, including much faster cooldown
- Changes to armor layouts/spaced screens, improved autoaim (for this version of the mode only), adjustments to shells, and more
Onslaught
Onslaught: Season 2 was also announced, including some changes since the first season:
- Relaunched Season of the Griffon, with its own unique progressive
2D style based on your rank in the mode - Changes to progression system for victories, making missions for rewards easier to complete (separate from the rank progression)
- The 🗺️ Airfield and Glacier maps were added to the rotation
- Rebalanced role skills (no details yet)
- Crucially for clan/super platoon players, the map ping limit was removed for players in super platoons (thank you!), and the limit was reduced for non-platooned players
- The limitations for rank matching in super platoons were removed, and super platoons will now NEVER meet solo players
It has been stated that additional mechanics will be tested internally, including changes to qualification battles planned for Autumn (likely season 3 or 4).
Frontline
Frontline will also return in mid-2023, featuring improvements to stability/performance along with the new desert map (🗺️ Fata Morgana) announced in the 2023 preview. This map has been designed to include more opportunity for playing between the “lanes” of the map.
Furthermore, the previously-tested balance changes to 🗺️ Kraftwerk will be included, featuring a number of tweaks across the map + the movement of several objectives into more balanced positions.
As for other modes, it was confirmed that the Arcade Cabinet and Waffenträger modes will return later in the year, in addition to the previous confirmation of Mirny returning in the 2023 preview.
Vehicle Rebalancing: Continued
While we already know the first wave of balance changes for 2023 is coming in Update 1.20, it has been confirmed that there will be more sets of balance changes to vehicles coming later this year. No further details were shared, but it can be assumed this will include more of the vehicles shown in the 2023 preview (several of which were changed in Update 1.20, but many others of which have yet to be changed).
Crew Update
Next up, some news was shared regarding the Crew Update set to take place this year. Namely, we now know it will take place in three separate stages as follows:
Stage 1
Stage 1 will feature the major update to the perk system shown in the 2023 preview, including rebalances/reworks of existing perks + a few new perks for several crew members, as well as the activation of all perks from the moment training is started (all perks will now be active from 1-100%, rather than some only activating once they reach 100%).
Stage 2
Stage 2 will mainly focus on improving the crew system UI, including some major (+ long-awaited) quality-of-life upgrades.
Stage 3
Finally, Stage 3 will feature the removal of crew training below 100%, as well as the ability to convert untrained crew members in the barracks to crew books.
Future Roadmap Preview
This is all that was covered in the first Roadmap episode — however, a preview of what will be shown in the next episode was briefly shown:
High-tier autocannons will be covered in more detail in the next episode, including details on how the overheat mechanic will work.
Furthermore, a new line of 🇬🇧 British wheeled…mediums (NOT lights) was announced!
This line will STRONGLY differ from the French line of wheeled lights, in that they will NOT feature more-than-one speed mode. They will also move slower than current wheeled lights, seemingly more akin to regular “fast” mediums (and more within the bounds of reality) — just with wheels instead of tracks (+ the traverse restrictions which come with these). Furthermore, being classified as mediums indicates these vehicles will NOT get the same bonus to camo while moving which light tanks do, making these behave much more like regular vehicles.
It appears the line will feature six vehicles (from tier 5-10), and will branch off from the V 🇬🇧
Covenanter.
Additionally, an early model of what is likely the tier 10 from this line was shown at the very end:
And yes, the Roadmap video series has been confirmed to be… well, a series!
This is the first of a whole series of Roadmap Sneak Peeks that we have prepared for you. In the following videos, we will share our goals and objectives for the near future, as well as let you know about planned tests for features and mechanics. We put a lot of work into these ideas and are excited to hear what you think of them. Your input is crucial as World of Tanks continues to evolve, so be sure to leave any suggestions or questions you might have!
Expect to see more videos of this style in the future, previewing where the game will be headed in the months(/years) to come. The next episode has even been confirmed to arrive in April of this year — stay tuned!
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