Update 1.20.1 Common Test – Japanese TDs, Crew Perk Rework, and More!
24 min readIMPORTANT UPDATE (19 April 2023):
Both WoT Plus and the Crew System Rework have received significant changes since Update 1.20.1’s initial announcement, in response to feedback from some of the community. Please see this post for more details:
Updates to WoT Plus and Crew Rework: They Listened?! (WoT 1.20.1)
Update 1.20.1 will soon arrive in World of Tanks, and today, the first Common Test for it has launched! This update brings quite a few new features to the game, including Japanese TDs, the reworked crew perk system, Random events and Dynamic Cover in Recon Mission, the second season of the Onslaught mode, and much, much more!
1. Japanese Tank Destroyers Are About to Join the Game!
The new branch of Japanese tank destroyers will arrive with Update 1.20.1, and the branch is now available for preliminary testing on the Common Test! This new branch consists of six (6) new vehicles, starting from tier 5 and branching off from the IV 🇯🇵
Chi-He.
All (well… most) of the Japanese tank destroyers have moderate frontal armor and high-caliber naval guns, with great penetration values on their standard AP shells (as well as their special shells, which are also AP!). The damage per shot is also impressive. Despite their large dimensions, these TDs are very maneuverable and can turn quickly on the spot. However, formidable firepower and reasonable frontal armor are counterbalanced by their flat armor plates, extremely-weak side/rear armor, medium speed, poor concealment values, and mediocre gun depression angles.
Due to their relatively-low concealment values, you won’t be able to fire without being spotted. But your enemies should be hiding from you, not the other way round! In most combat situations, these vehicles will play the role of powerful support vehicles, assisting heavy tanks on the front line or from the second line of fire.
Branch Composition
The sub-branch kicks off with the 🇯🇵
Ho-Ni III at Tier V and continues with the 🇯🇵Type 95 Ji-Ro at Tier VI. Wargaming states in their CT article that “both vehicles have the hallmarks of the new lineup and feature strong frontal armor and menacing guns” — however, while the bit about their guns is at least accurate, the same cannot exactly be said for the former… unless you consider 23 mm at tier V or 50 mm at tier VI to be “strong frontal armor”.
That being said, both are reasonable tank destroyers for their tier, playing more like standard snipers. The 🇯🇵Ho-Ni III – a notable inclusion for enthusiasts of historical Japanese tanks – features a fast-firing, high penetration 75 mm as its main gun, along with reasonable mobility and concealment — albeit, the vehicle has a moderately-tall silhouette coupled with poor gun depression (-5).
Meanwhile, the VI 🇯🇵Type 95 Ji-Ro – an interesting, historically-planned alternative to the Ro-Go Experimental – fields a powerful 105 mm top gun with high damage per-shot and excellent penetration values. However, being based on the chassis of the Type 95 Heavy (Ro-Go) leads to this vehicle being extremely sluggish (as it currently stands), with an abysmal single-digit power-to-weight ratio (under 9 hp/t!). Unlike the rest of the line after it, this vehicle also does NOT have much armor to speak of, meaning this vehicle will be stuck living most of its life as a sniper. Luckily, this is the one area in which this vehicle excels, as the gun features fast aiming time and good accuracy (in addition to its high penetration + damage per-shot as mentioned earlier), as well as a fast reload for a gun of its calibre.
The next newcomer is the VII 🇯🇵Chi-To SP. This vehicle has a fairly standard layout for a non-turreted TD, carrying either a 75 mm (stock) or 105 mm naval (top) cannon with decent damage per-shot. What’s a bit less standard, however, is the vehicle’s formidable frontal armor, easily-surpassing most heavies at the same tier in effectiveness. It’s no impenetrable fortress – the vehicle does feature a prominent cupola and a very weak lower plate, as well as paper-thin sides – but will likely prove to be decent at bouncing shots over distance, when placed strategically.
The 🇯🇵Ho-Ri 2, sitting at Tier VIII, embodies all the finest qualities of Japanese tank destroyers: the frontal armor is even stronger, and it fires more comfortably than its predecessors, while retaining decent maneuverability and gun handling. However, this does not come without weakspots — similar to the previous vehicle, the Ho-Ri 2 features a prominent cupola and a weak lower glacis plate (and in addition, the “hump” on the roof is only 35 mm thick, making it overmatchable for guns larger than 106 mm). Here, you will have a choice of two guns: 105 or 120 mm, the latter of which features decent penetration and damage per-shot. (Wargaming has pitched both of these guns as “options”, but at least as they currently stand on the first CT iteration, these are rather clearly-separated into “stock” and “top” guns by their effectiveness. Perhaps this will be subject to change, but we will have to wait and see.)
The line’s main features are further enhanced in the IX 🇯🇵Ho-Ri 1, making it a dangerous opponent in close-to-mid-range combat. This vehicle is based on the hull of the Type 5 — Wargaming states this “Type 5” is of the “Heavy” variety rather than of the “Chi-Ri”, but the design is historically based on the latter, and the version we have in-game appears to match this as well… so, let’s go with that instead. Unlike the previous vehicle, this one ditches the cupola and gains a much stronger (albeit, extremely-flat) casemate, but retains the weak lower plate and side/rear armor. Furthermore, the engine deck of this design is now located at the front, and can be overmatched by guns of 136-mm-or-greater calibre with a well-aimed shot. The Ho-Ri 1 can be equipped with either a 127 mm or 149 mm gun, the latter of which features surprising accuracy for a gun of its size.
The top vehicle of the entire branch is the formidable X 🇯🇵Ho-Ri 3, equipped with a devastating 149 mm naval cannon. In addition to decent frontal casemate armor, its upper glacis plate is at a very steep angle, making it hard-to-penetrate reliably when the vehicle’s full -7 degrees of gun depression is utilized (albeit, it should be noted that the casemate itself is no thicker than that of the previous vehicle in the branch). In terms of gameplay, the Ho-Ri 3 resembles a mix of the German Jagdpanzer E100 and Chinese WZ-113 FT.
We’ll share more details about the Japanese tank destroyers and their gameplay in an upcoming dedicated article. In the meantime, join the Common Test and take these slow but sturdy vehicles for a spin!
2. Reworked Crew Perk System (2023 Crew Rework: Stage 1)
Work continues on a comprehensive rework of crews in World of Tanks. In Update 1.18.1, the Sixth Sense perk became a special Commander feature, which was the first step in implementing changes to the crew concept. Since then, Wargaming has been gradually moving forward, selecting and improving upon some of the ideas shown on the Sandbox server in 2021 (specifically, the ones which received positive feedback from the community). And now, the next big change is ready to test: the reworked crew perk system!
In the new system, all perks become available immediately once you start training them. At first, their effect will be less noticeable, but the more you train the perk, the more its mastery increases. Additionally, the major qualification level now affects almost all perks—the higher it is, the stronger the perk effect. NOTE: The official portal article states this change excludes Brothers in Arms, but the version present on the Common Test appears to contradict this info. It remains to be seen what the intended version is — this will likely become clear in a later iteration.
Many of the existing perks have also been updated as part of this rework: some of them have been improved, while others have received new features to make them more effective. Furthermore, nine (9) new perks have been added. For example, Quick Aiming improves aiming time by 2.5% when fully trained, and Close Combat accelerates gun loading time by 2.5% at distances of 50 meters or less from the enemy when fully trained.
There will be 33 perks in total, and each crew member will have six perks available, regardless of their major qualification. Check it out!
By combining the updated perks with the new ones, you can experiment more freely with your crews, adjusting them to suit your playstyle for each vehicle. To make it easier for you to navigate the whole variety of perks, they will be conditionally divided into the following three categories:
- Group perks that several crew members can have
- Individual perks that are available only to a crew member of a specific major qualification
- Perks with situational effects, which are triggered when certain conditions are met on the battlefield—special notifications will be displayed in the game interface when these perks take effect during battle, which you can enable/disable in the game settings
Interface and Other Improvements
Some of the crew interfaces have also been redesigned, making them clearer and more informative. For example, the effects of all perks will now be displayed in the vehicle characteristics widget in the Garage. On top of that, some new tooltips and perk descriptions have been added to give a better understanding of what each one does.
Last but not least, upon logging in to the game, you will instantly receive 12 Retraining Orders, allowing you to reset perks for free.
In the future, other improvements to the crew concept will follow. Join the Common Test, experiment with different perk combinations, and build dream crews for your favorite vehicles!
3. Recon Mission: Random Events and Dynamic Cover
As highlighted in the February Roadmap Sneak Peek, several maps will have the new Random Events and Dynamic Cover features tested in the Recon Mission mode. In this first iteration on the CT, the following four maps will be available to test:
- Himmelsdorf
- Prokhorovka
- Ruinberg
- Safe Haven
These will likely become available to test in the Recon Mission on the live servers sometime in May (after Update 1.20.1 rolls out in mid-April) — however, for the time being, you can get an early preview of them on the Common Test!
Recon Missions with random events and dynamic cover will take place in May, so don’t miss your opportunity to experience this mode! During the Common Test period, we’re also trying a new questionnaire system to collect feedback. This is an initial technical test, which means answers will not be processed. There is no need to complete the questionnaire, but you can leave your feedback and impressions on all official World of Tanks platforms, including the forum, Discord, and social networks.
Random events and dynamic cover are brand-new features with unique mechanics and complex settings. During the Common Test, they will undergo preliminary technical stability testing in Recon Mission.
Please note that random events may affect the performance of your devices as they include stunning visual effects. Players with low-spec CPUs and graphics cards may experience some stability and performance issues (including FPS drops) when random events occur.
On low-spec devices, random events may be reproduced with loss of visual quality. They will be played in their entirety in terms of gameplay, but their individual visual effects may not be displayed in full quality.
Some settings and various characteristics (e.g., random event timings, areas, etc.) that are relevant for the Common Test may change after the Common Test.
We’re still working on night battles and dynamic water behavior, so these features will be available for testing at a later date.
In regards to the mechanics being tested, here are some more details:
Random Events
This is a new type of activity during which various events take place on the battlefield. They occur at a specific time and in a specific area allocated for this.
Depending on the map, such events may be, for example, the crashing of a ship or zeppelin or the arrival of a train. There may be one or several random events in one battle.
Each random event changes the environment around the players, as well as the combat situation on the battlefield. For example, if a plane crashes into a building, debris can block a passage; on the other hand, it might provide additional cover for your vehicle. This may allow you to unexpectedly break into the rear of the enemy team or more successfully deter the attacks of your opponents.
Shortly before the start of the random event, the area in which it will occur will be framed in a red border with a timer notification. Once the countdown starts, you will have some time to escape from the area, otherwise your vehicle will be destroyed.
The current timer notification type is relevant only for the test period. The notification interface will be improved in the future.
The four maps in this test period will feature the following events:
- Himmelsdorf
- A train departs from the railway station at the edge of the map, after which it comes under an airstrike.
- A damaged zeppelin crashes in the town.
- Prokhorovka
- Two planes crash in the Prokhorovka alley.
- Another plane crashes on the mountain to the east.
- A train arrives on the railroad tracks and is hit by an artillery strike.
- Ruinberg
- A group of bombers attacks the central square and other quarters of the town.
- Safe Haven
- A ship on fire is heading toward the pier, where it demolishes the bridge and crashes into the pier.
- A plane falls on the roof of the entrance to the bunker.
- A squadron of planes bombards the bridge, causing it to collapse.
Dynamic Cover
The second new mechanic is dynamic cover. In some of the battle areas of the four aforementioned maps, you’ll find shipping containers, concrete blocks, and other movable objects that can be used to protect you against enemy fire. For example, you can hide behind a container and push it forward, preventing your opponent from hitting your vulnerable lower glacis plate. Dynamic cover will allow you to implement a wider range of different tactics, both team and personal.
Dynamic cover can be destroyed in just a few shots, so use them wisely!
Additional Info
Recon Missions with random events and dynamic cover will take place in May, so don’t miss your opportunity to experience this mode! During the Common Test period, we’re also trying a new questionnaire system to collect feedback. This is an initial technical test, which means answers will not be processed. There is no need to complete the questionnaire, but you can leave your feedback and impressions on all official World of Tanks platforms, including the forum, Discord, and social networks.
Random events and dynamic cover are brand-new features with unique mechanics and complex settings. During the Common Test, they will undergo preliminary technical stability testing in Recon Mission.
Please note that random events may affect the performance of your devices as they include stunning visual effects. Players with low-spec CPUs and graphics cards may experience some stability and performance issues (including FPS drops) when random events occur.
On low-spec devices, random events may be reproduced with loss of visual quality. They will be played in their entirety in terms of gameplay, but their individual visual effects may not be displayed in full quality.
Some settings and various characteristics (e.g., random event timings, areas, etc.) that are relevant for the Common Test may change after the Common Test.
We’re still working on night battles and dynamic water behavior, so these features will be available for testing at a later date.
Random events and dynamic cover are exciting and spectacular features that bring a fresh twist to familiar gameplay. They open up new tactical opportunities that can shift the tide of any battle. Join the Common Test and help us improve these promising mechanics!
4. Onslaught Returns!
As mentioned in Wednesday’s article, the Onslaught mode will be making its return for a second season in April of this year. This is now available to try out on the Common Test, including a series of improvements based on feedback from the debut season.
Wargaming has stated they want to add more variety in vehicle choices in Onslaught, and to achieve this goal, they have reworked vehicle Role Skills in the mode:
- All vehicle Role Skills are now easier to charge.
- Skill cooldown time has been greatly reduced.
- Some Role Skills are now available from the very start of the battle.
- Some Role Skills have changed how they work in principle (e.g., Inspire affects all allied vehicles on the battlefield).
Given the increased effectiveness of vehicle Role Skills in battle, two special combat modifiers will be tested during the Common Test period. This has been done with the goal of allowing the pace of battles to be maintained, and to make battles in the mode more interesting.
These are the new combat modifiers:
- Increase HP pools of all vehicles eligible for Onslaught by 25%.
- Reduce the cooldown of consumables from 90 seconds to 45 seconds.
Combat modifiers that will be tested during the Common Test, together with reworked vehicle Role Skills, will add variety and excitement to the Onslaught gameplay. They will allow you to try out more different tactics and maneuvers. Note, however: these new combat modifiers will only be implemented if testing is deemed successful (i.e. feedback on the modifiers is positive enough).
Additionally, the Season of the Crimson Griffin features the following:
- A reworked progression system that, instead of a progression for a certain number of victories, will now be a system with a set of consecutive weekly combat missions with useful in-game rewards
- Two new maps available in the Onslaught mode: Glacier and Airfield
- Cool progressive 2D style and other brand-new customization items in stunning crimson tones
If you enjoy these changes and find combat modifiers useful, they will be included in the next Season of Onslaught. Join the Common Test and share your feedback on these additions!
5. WoT Plus
In Update 1.20.1, a new monthly subscription will be introduced, known as WoT Plus. At its launch, this subscription will include five (5) benefits:
- Gold Reserve. All players with active WoT Plus subscriptions can earn up to 500 gold per-week. It will be accumulated in a special vault that will open once per week, similar to the existing Credit Reserve (which will remain available for all Premium Account holders as before).
- Extra excluded map. All WoT Plus subscribers will have one more slot for map exclusion. If you also play with WoT Premium Account, you’ll be able to exclude a total of three maps.
- Free equipment demounting. You can demount equipment of any type for free, including improved (bond) equipment. However, this excludes Experimental Equipment at Upgrade Levels II and III.
- Intensive Crew Regimen. You can select any one (1) vehicle whose crew members will each passively receive additional Crew XP, regardless of whether you are offline, in battle, or just in the Garage. Currently, this is set at a rate of 40 crew XP every 5 minutes. No cooldown is applied when changing the vehicle whose crew receives the bonus.
- Exclusive rental vehicle. After activating WoT Plus, you’ll instantly find in your Garage the unique VIII 🇺🇸
TS-54, a Premium American heavy tank featuring a double-barrel gun setup! This powerful vehicle will remain on your account as long as WoT Plus is active. Another notable feature of the TS-54 is that the tank can accommodate any American crew members, no matter which vehicle type they come from (so long as their major qualifications match).
Wargaming has stated they plan to further develop the subscription based on feedback/player needs.
Join the Common Test to test-drive the brand-new TS-54 and try out other WoT Plus bonuses!
6. Battle Pass Collection
The Battle Pass Collection, announced at the start of Season X, brings together certain Base and Improved Rewards (i.e., crew members, progressive and 2D styles, and decals) that you get as you advance through the Season’s Progression. To assemble the Collection, complete Battle Pass in the usual manner—you will receive Collection elements automatically!
Assembling the current Season’s Collection will earn you extra Battle Pass Tokens (up to three per Season). You will also be able to unlock the backstories of the Season’s heroes.
If you don’t manage to complete the Collection in the current Season, you will be able to do so in the following Seasons by purchasing the missing elements with Battle Pass Points. However, you will ONLY receive Tokens for the current active Season.
7. Slots in the Garage for Credits
Some good news for those who want to expand their garages, and/or save some gold to spend on other in-game items: Starting with Update 1.20.1, you’ll be able to purchase new slots in the Garage with credits! Instead of 300 gold, purchasing a slot will now cost 250,000 credits. Once purchased, Garage slots cannot be sold.
8. Back in Action / Warm-Up
With this feature, we begin to branch into territory not yet discussed in the official articles. However, this has been spotted on the Common Test and is mentioned in the patchnotes, so it is worth a mention: as part of the Update 1.20.1 Common Test, the progression for Daily Missions has been replaced with the new “Back in Action” system.
While not much is known at the moment, and the missions themselves appear unchanged, the overall progression which Daily Missions contribute towards now features a number of different milestones (rather than receiving a set of rewards only once every 45 Daily Missions completed). The progression has been simplified for the purposes of the Common Test, but will notably consist of new rewards including rentals of tier VIII premiums, tokens which can be used to unlock/receive researchable tier VI vehicles, discounts on researching tier VII-X vehicles, and more!
This also comes with a new mode: Warm-Up, featuring battles against AI-controlled vehicles which do not count towards your statistics. However, this mode is not yet available for the general public to test, and has only been included for Supertesters — at least, for now. More details will likely come in a later iteration of the Common Test, so stay tuned for more info.
9. Customization
Two new 3D styles were added to the files in this update:
“Kampfgruppe Sandsturm” for VII 
Tiger I
“This is a great injustice. We are better than the Brits in every respect. Well, almost every respect. Our tanks have better guns, engines, armor, trained crews… We are head and shoulders above them. Those things they call tanks have nothing on our vehicles, but the victory will still be theirs, however difficult it is to admit. The British do have one thing that negates all our advantages, however; one thing that puts an end to the entire war machine of the great Germany in North Africa… The British have fuel.”
“Zweihundertzwölf” for VII Panther
“The final entry in the journal of Feldwebel Axel Kestner:
‘Three years ago, I was freezing to the bone, standing against a signpost that read ‘Stalingrad.’ All I could dream about back then was to get as far away from that place as possible… Somewhere where there was a signpost with the heartwarming word ‘Berlin’ on it. How ironic fate can be when your dreams come true. Here it is—a sign that says ‘Berlin,’ but it doesn’t warm my heart the way I thought it would. Be careful what you wish for; it just might come true.'”
Interestingly, the stock (historical) turret has its own unique detail: the mantlet has shroud similar to the one used to attached additional spaced armor to the face of late Panzer III tanks. (Now, it’s too bad this only applies to a stock turret…)
Additionally, a number of 2D styles were added to the files (no previews are available yet, but their icons have been found in the files):
- “Ninja”
- “Never Forgotten” (Memorial Day)
- “Random Happenstance” (Recon Mission 2023)
- “Wing and Claw (Crimson)” (Onslaught 2023, dynamic style with 7 levels)
- “Nec Pluribus Impar” (Foreign Legion 1)
- “Spray Paint” (Foreign Legion 2)
- “Pumped Your Tank” (Steam April 2023)
10. Vehicles
On top of the new Japanese Tank Destroyer branch, three new vehicles were added to the files for testing by Supertesters in this update:
IX 🇺🇸
TS-60
VIII 🇵🇱56TP
X 🇩🇪
LKpz.70 K
The TS-54 also received some further adjustments (buffs) ahead of its inclusion in WoT Plus:
VIII 🇺🇸TS-54
Firepower:
- Reload time: from 8 to
7.5 s
Mobility:
- Forward speed: from 35 to40 kph
- Engine power: from 650 to800 hp
Additionally, several vehicles had their armor models updated to better match their visual models:
IV 
SU-5
IV 
T-80
NOTE: Despite the color change, the frontal armor did not change from 35 mm — rather, some tiny sections of 40 mm armor at the turret corners were removed, making the color scale narrower.
Overall, the model was updated to more closely match the visual model, including a slight change to the cupola shape, a significant improvement to the detail of the chassis hitbox, and the addition of the engine intake shrouding as spaced armor (25 mm thick).
IV D. W. 2
This change is extremely minor — a small section of the barrel was changed to match the thickness of the rest of the barrel (10 mm). Furthermore, the small hole in the mantlet behind the barrel was removed, resulting in a very slight improvement around the base of the gun (50+10 mm, rather than 50 mm).
11. Official Patchnotes
With all that out of the way, here are the patchnotes for the first iteration of the Update 1.20.1 Common Test:
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