New Perks | New System | Reasoning | Test Participation | Next Steps

Commanders!

Vehicle crews are one of the base mechanics of World of Tanks, and as such they need to be refined and refreshed. Because of the mechanic’s importance, this must be done with great care—which is why we invite you to participate in an early test of the new crew perk system that will take place from June 10 through June 20 on a separate game server. Sign up straight away so you can get familiar with the new system’s key features:

• New perks like Practicality, Armorer, Engineer, and Ammo Tuning (to name a few; see the interactive image below for the details)
• A number of reviewed classic perks (Firefighting, Mentor, Adrenaline Rush, etc.)
• Bonus perks for crew members with extra qualifications (e.g. Commander/Radio Operator)
• The maximum number of perks capped at six, with compensation for "overqualified" crews
• Partially reworked crew directives

Explore New Perks

Familiarize yourselves with the new (highlighted) perks below. Revised and unmodified perks are listed too.

New Perk System: The Basics

• The maximum number of perks a crew member can train for their major qualification is six (including zero perks).
• For each major qualification, you can choose from six individual (qualification-specific) perks and three group perks.
• The three group perks are all familiar (Brothers in Arms, Repair, and Concealment). Firefighting is now a Radio Operator individual perk.
• If a crew member previously had more than six perks or has trained all six possible perks under the new system, special rules apply (see below).
• With the new perk system, you cannot effectively obtain a seventh perk by equipping certain crew directives. For every vehicle, you can only use crew directives which amplify a perk that at least one of the vehicle's crew members possesses. Please note that we intend to add two new directives that improve the Practicality and Sound Detection perks, respectively (Duty Comes First and Increased Focus Directives will be phased out).

Bonus Perks for Additional Qualifications

Many crew members have additional qualifications. In most cases, this applies to vehicles with a limited number of crew members. With the current perk system, this often puts extra pressure on the player, who has to research more perks per crew member than usual.

The proposed perk system aims to solve this problem with bonus perks. Any crew member with one or more additional qualifications will passively train a chosen individual perk specific to the qualification(s) in question as they train their chosen major qualification perks, at 50% speed. No extra XP will be spent on training bonus perks. Their maximum number is three.

Duplicate Major Qualifications

If two or more crew members have the same major qualification (see the case of multiple Loaders in some large vehicles with big guns), every one of them must have the same individual (qualification-specific) perk trained to 100% for this perk to have 100% efficiency.

Duplicate Secondary Qualifications

Currently, some vehicles have crew configurations where:

• A crew member has a secondary qualification that someone else on this crew has as their Major Qualification, or
• Multiple crew members have a secondary qualification that no one on this crew has as their Major Qualification.

In the new perk system, for the absolute majority of such crews, only a single crew member will keep this qualification as their Major Qualification (in the former case) or their secondary qualification (in the latter case). This will simplify the system and make it more convenient without decreasing the effectiveness of crews. The XP invested in the perks of crew members who lose their secondary qualification will be compensated for in the usual manner.

The Fate of Super-Experienced Crew Members

The proposed perk system limits the number of major qualification perks by six. Once it is applied, for every crew member that has more than six perks, you will be compensated the Crew XP over the cap—in Crew Books of the same nation.

Crew members that have six major qualification perks fully trained will continue to accumulate Crew XP. This extra Crew XP will transform into Universal Guides as it accrues and reaches certain increasing thresholds (starting at 100,000 XP), with no limit.

Besides helping you train your novice crews, this feature is quite realistic: Your ace crew members become so adept at armored combat that they end up writing memoirs and treatises.

Why Do We Need a Reworked Perk System?

We are planning to introduce an improved perk system to:

• Bring back meaningful choice: The proposed system, with its six-perk cap for every crew member, encourages you to select perks based on your personal playing style and promotes experimentation with multiple setups. (In the current system, the role of choice is diminished, as it’s often possible to research every possible perk.)
• Bridge the skill gap: World of Tanks has been around for well over a decade, and there are lots of tankers with tremendous battle experience and outstanding playing skills. Under the current system, crews with all (or next to all) perks researched give our veterans an extra advantage over the newcomers.
• Balance the scales: The new system is fairer to both small and large crews. It is also more structured in general, with an equal number of possible perks for every major qualification.

Who Can Participate in the Test?

Any player can sign up. We will choose the participants randomly among the applicants. Our goal is to form a substantial player pool that is representative of our audience, which is large and diverse (regarding years of service, skill level, demographics parameters, etc.).

If you are chosen for testing, you will receive an email invitation to download the test game client (from a special tab in the Wargaming.net Game Center that will become available for you). You will be provided with a test account with enough resources to experiment with various perk setups as much as you wish. If you don’t get an invitation, be sure to follow our news coverage!

During the test, you’ll be able to use the mass perk fill/reset system to fill all untrained perks or reset all perks for every crew member. (Please note that you may have to modify some choices manually to optimize the set of a character’s perks for their vehicle.)

What Are the Next Steps?

The coming test aims to prove that the new perk system is well balanced. Most of the changes should make their way into the main game later this year (after possible adjustments). Once the new system is implemented, expect:

• A grace period starting from your first login date after the change. During this period, you can re-select any crew member‘s perks (including zero ones) an unlimited number of times for free. Also, the first perk reset operation after the end of the grace period will be free for every crew member (including newly recruited ones). Until the end of the grace period, you will be able to assign and reset perks automatically for all crew members on your account (not optimized for their role or their current vehicle). If left unmodified at the end of the grace period, the crew members will keep these perks.
• A mass perk fill/reset system that will allow you to fill all unassigned perks or reset all perks for every crew member on your account. (The specifics of particular vehicles won’t be taken into account; the system is set to help you get into battle ASAP.)
• Compensation of Crew XP in excess of the sixth perk for every crew member. Currently, we’re planning compensation in Crew Books of respective nations.
• A steady supply of Universal Guides as your crew members with all (six) possible perks fully trained accumulate extra Crew XP.
• The effects of all perks shown in vehicle comparison in the Garage (rather than those of select perks).

The new crew perk system has much to offer, so sign up for the test and get to grips with it in advance!

Roll Out!