Yesterday, Wargaming uploaded the third episode of the Roadmap Highlights series, detailing what’s coming to the game over the coming months!

Quite a lot was discussed in this episode, so let’s get right into breaking down the details:

Upcoming Gamemodes

Overwhelming Fire Arcade Cabinet (August 2023)

• It was mentioned that the mode featuring autocannons is intended to be “an enhancement to our usual fun events, finding new and fancy ways we can experiment and play with new mechanics and weird tank combinations”. It can be assumed, then, that this mode is BOTH intended to test the upcoming autocannon mechanics (coming as a new Czech branch in 2024), as well as to test other potential autocannon formats (rotary ACs [see Hailstorm’s T250], quad-barrel ACs [Prut’s AZP-23], higher-calibre ACs [Thunderclap’s 75mm ARES], etc).
• Supporting this speculation, the video notably shows how it appears each separate autocannon mechanic has been set up with surprisingly-high visual fidelity for “just a fun mode”, including the Flakmaus’s alternating fire between barrels, the firing animation + unique sounds (previewed on the CT) for the rotary autocannons, the shell casing ejections from the Obj 143 “Prut”‘s guns, etc.

• Do keep in mind, however — it was specifically called out that “before any of you start getting over-excited, these tanks are intended to be fun and experimental only, NOT a precursor or plan for future tank releases or designs for the live server. Sorry to ruin your dreams of role-playing as an A-10 Warthog on tracks”. (While this is likely specifically referring to the tanks used in the mode not being meant for random battles, it does also mean that none of these autocannon types [besides the ones intended for the upcoming Czech branch] are promised to come to the game in the future.)
• As unveiled in the WoT Monthly article for August 2023, the mode will take place over the next three weekends (after this weekend) — 11-13, 18-20, and 25-27 Aug 2023).

Waffenträger Event (late September 2023)

• The mode will stick with the same format as usual, but will introduce new mechanics (including what appears to be a new damage ability for the Waffenträger, along with what seems to be a healing/restoration ability for the Harrier vehicles) as well as a new vehicle for the mode: the TVP T50/51!
• In terms of the story, Ermelinda will be making a return this year as the main driver of the WT auf E 110, along with a new face — her older sister, Hannelore Ritter. Meanwhile, Yana has joined the Harriers team as a new commander. Both new characters will likely be available to receive as commanders with unique voiceover, though this has not yet been confirmed.
• To quote the video: “This game mode will feel like a blast from the past for our experienced players, but with new exciting twists and updates to keep things fresh.”

Mirny-13 (Mid-October 2023)

• This upcoming episode will serve as “the epic conclusion to the currently-planned trilogy” — however, it has been noted that “the future of the town of Mirny remains uncertain”, hinting the mode may return in future years as well. However, this remains to be seen, so for now, let’s focus on the upcoming 2023 iteration.
• This year’s Mirny-13 will feature new enemies, including two new bosses (currently without names, but they have temporarily referred to as “Rob” and “Fluffy”). These will each await players at the end of each of the three difficulty levels, with a different, more difficult boss with each higher difficulty level (rather than having the same boss [Immortal] scaled to each level).
  • These two vehicles appear to be very-loosely based upon the M103 and TITT Rozanov, respectively. The latter has created some speculation that the VIII TITT Rozanov might be made available to earn from the mode (or alternatively, be made available for sale before/during the event period), as the vehicle has not yet been released, but nothing has been confirmed at this time.

• Additionally, new mechanics will be introduced for the players’ team, including the ability to temporarily become invisible to enemies or improve your reload speed for a short time.

• To quote the video: “Let’s hope for a nice conclusion to the story for our characters… [but] again, you never know. It’s not the first time we’ve been surprised by the Immortal…”

Maps

• Some brief previews of the revamped visual effects were shown in the video (see around 06:02), including the train on Himmelsdorf being destroyed in two sections and the central area on Ruinberg being bombed.

• The new format for danger zones was shown: instead of the bright red, map-border-style boxes, the danger zones will instead be marked by red smoke from flares.

• Additionally, instead of all vehicles inside the danger zone being destroyed immediately when the event is triggered, only the vehicles which interact with the big main object(s) inside the danger zone will be destroyed (i.e. if a large building or object crashes directly onto a vehicle). If an object or its debris falls near a tank, then the vehice may instead be damaged, meaning there is a chance to survive even if you don’t manage to leave the zone in time.

• Furthermore, the way in which the events trigger during the battle has been refined, though no further details have been given at this time. It was said that this has been done “based on the testing and feedback… [to] make the event occurrence more dynamic and not obstructive”.

• Notably, while most of the line appears to follow the same composition as WoT Blitz’s version, the tier 8 has been switched, with Blitz’s premium (Type 57) now filling the slot of the standard tier 8 in the branch.
• Additionally, the premium tier 8 for the branch is very different to Blitz’s: VIII 🇯🇵Type 63, featuring an oscillating turret (very unusual for a Japanese tank) and hydropneumatic suspension.
• (Unfortunately, this means the Chi-Se has been entirely cut from the WoT PC’s branch, at least for now.)
• The branch was also confirmed to have hydropneumatic suspension on the high-tier vehicles (likely starting from tier 8), along with a brand-new mechanic: gun cooling!
  • This will allow you to either fire at your maximum RoF with “normal” accuracy, or wait a little bit longer than your reload to get noticeably-improved accuracy.
  • It is not yet known exactly how this will look for the whole branch, but it has been stated that the default accuracy of these heavies will be “comparable to other heavies of the same tier”, and the Type 63’s initial supertest stats show the vehicle as having as good as 0.28 accuracy when the gun is fully-cooled (vs 0.38 at full RoF).
  • Though the video only confirmed as far as “certain vehicles of the line” receiving it, this new gun cooling mechanic will likely apply to all of the high-tier vehicles, starting from tier 8 (judging from their guns all featuring some form of thermal sleeving).
• All of this will lead to “a different type of gameplay than what you would normally expect from a heavy tank line”. It has been stated the goal for these tanks is “to be versatile, fun, and not frustrating to play with OR against”.

• More information on these vehicles should arrive as they start heading to supertest in September, and the premium (Type 63) can likely be expected to make an initial appearance at the end of the year in Large Holiday Ops Boxes.
• The branch itself is not expected to release until sometime in January 2024, but their early arrival on supertest may hint at an earlier release before the end of 2023. Regardless, stay tuned for more info in September!

Vehicle Rebalancing

• Vehicle rebalancing was very briefly touched upon at the end of the video, and while no further information was presented “since there’s a lot of work going on and a lot of discussions, we really want to get it right”, it was mentioned that updates on vehicle balance changes will arrive over the coming months.
• On the new Roadmap Highlights info page (see below), however, it was mentioned that Update 1.22 will include both “new AND modified vehicles”, hinting that we will see balance changes to some vehicles in this patch.
• As a brief refresher — currently, the list of vehicles shown in the 2023 Preview which have yet to receive balance changes is as follows (crossed out vehicles have already received balance changes this year):
  • China: WZ-132-1, 121, 110
  • Czech: TVP VTU
  • France: B-C 25 t, AMX 65 t, ARL 44, ARL V39
  • Germany: E 50 M, VK 30.01 (P)
  • Italy: Rinoceronte
  • Japan: Type 5 Heavy
  • UK: Centurion I
  • US: M46 Patton, T95
  • USSR: Obj. 430 II, IS-3, KV-4

• Stay tuned for more info!