Competitive tankers face a familiar dilemma every fall—new Onslaught seasons arrive packed with content, but rewards demand ruthless consistency. Fall behind in missions, ignore prime times, or misjudge your grind, and that dream reward tank slips through your fingers. That’s especially true in 2025–2026, where the stakes are higher than ever. With the Year of the Dragon cycle introducing not just seasonal cosmetics but also the exclusive Tier X Ashbringer heavy tank, one slip in weekly missions or season progress could cost players months of effort. Worse, time zone quirks and shifting maps mean players risk missing optimal queues or burning credits for little return.
This guide breaks down the Onslaught 2025–2026 cycle in a clear, tactical way—covering annual rewards, seasonal bonuses, weekly missions, vehicle additions, and map rotations. The focus? What matters most for players who want to maximize rewards without sacrificing sanity.
Season I — Season of the Azure Dragon:
Start: September 29 2025 at 03:30 (CEST)
End: November 10 2025 at 02:00 (CET)
Seasons II & III:
Their dates haven’t been officially published yet, but based on previous Onslaught cycles, each lasts about 6–8 weeks, with short breaks between them.
That means the full Onslaught 2025–2026 cycle should run approximately from late September 2025 through August 2026.
TL;DR: Quick Takeaways
- 🏆 Annual Reward: Ashbringer, a Tier X Polish heavy with four unlockable 3D style variants.
- ✅ Seasonal Rewards: New Rex Draconis (Azure) 2D style, dog tags, badges, and medals.
- ❌ Don’t skip weekly missions—30 missions secure premium prizes like bonds, credits, and WoT Premium time.
- New maps: Ruinberg debuts, Airfield returns, and Tundra/Steppes get adjustments.
- Onslaught Light (Tier VIII only) offers casual entry but does not count toward the Year cycle.
Annual Reward: The Ashbringer Heavy Tank
The centerpiece of Onslaught 2025–2026 is the Ashbringer, a Polish Tier X heavy modeled on the 60TP Lewandowskiego. It’s not just another reskin—this reward tank includes:
To unlock the Ashbringer at the end of the Year of the Dragon, players must collect at least nine Banners across all three Onslaught seasons. Each rank — including the qualification stage — grants one Banner. That means you’ll earn one for qualification, two for Bronze, three for Silver, and so on, up to six total for reaching Legend. Based on this structure, the minimum rank required to obtain the Ashbringer is Silver in all three seasons, which guarantees a total of nine Banners. In short: stay consistent and hit Silver each season to secure the annual reward tank without having to grind to the very top.
- A unique progressive 3D style (four tiers: Silver, Gold, Champion, Legend).
- A special crew with XP to train three full perks.
- Unlock conditions tied to collecting Onslaught Colors—nine or more across the three seasons secures the tank.
For players, the challenge is simple but demanding: stay consistent across all three seasons. Missing a season risks losing the Ashbringer entirely. The payoff? A prestige vehicle no tech tree offers and a flex piece for competitive play.
Seasonal Rewards: Rex Draconis and Beyond
Each season in the Year of the Dragon delivers its own loot. The debut Azure Dragon season includes the Rex Draconis (Azure) 2D progressive style, complete with:
- Custom decals, emblems, and inscriptions tied to battle achievements.
- Dog tag elements like Eternal Blizzard and engravings tied to Prestige Points.
- Badges such as Winter’s Curse and Frozen Horizon, plus a unique medal, Break the Ice.
Unlike the annual tank, these rewards allow incremental progress. Even players who can’t grind every week can still secure high-quality cosmetics and show off seasonal accomplishments.
Weekly Missions: The Real Grind
Weekly missions in Onslaught 2025–2026 reset every seven days but never expire until the season ends. The mission ladder is straightforward:
- Complete 5 missions: small valuables (credits, directives).
- Complete 15 missions: mid-tier rewards (bonds, consumables).
- Complete 25 missions: premium payouts.
- Complete 30 missions: jackpot—extra WoT Premium Account days and significant bonds.
With EU prime times dominating, Commanders should focus on evening play windows where queues stabilize. Grinding missions early each week reduces last-minute pressure.
Vehicles: Tier X Additions and Rentals
Two new Tier X vehicles join the Onslaught pool:
- Stinger — the main prize of the previous cycle, now battle-ready.
- FV215b (183) — the British “Death Star” returns to shake up tactics.
Additionally, three rental vehicles are in circulation:
- Object 705A
- Jagdpanzer E 100
- Concept No. 5
Note: rentals don’t contribute to Tech Tree grinding, so they’re best seen as low-cost ways to experiment with high-tier meta without long-term commitment.
Map Pool: Ruinberg, Airfield, and Reworks
Map variety is expanding with strategic consequences:
- Ruinberg makes its Onslaught debut, offering dense urban combat lanes.
- Airfield returns after reworks, balancing cover-heavy zones with sniper nests.
- Tundra gets major layout changes to open flanking opportunities.
- Steppes receives minor balance tweaks for more even engagements.
Unlike Random Battles, Onslaught versions of these maps feature optimized layouts and Points of Interest, making old strategies obsolete. Players should invest early time into map-specific practice—team comps and role skills shift dramatically here.
Onslaught Light: Casual Fun, No Stakes
Running from September 3–18, 2025, Onslaught Light gives Tier VIII tankers a taste of competitive 7v7 play. Key notes:
- No ranks, no qualification—just casual competition.
- Progression Points earned without risk of losing progress.
- Event-only rewards like the See the Light 2D style and decals.
For players, this is a low-pressure warm-up for the main cycle. But remember—Light mode does not count toward the Ashbringer grind.
Conclusion
Onslaught 2025–2026 is shaping up as the most reward-rich cycle yet, anchored by the exclusive Ashbringer heavy tank. Between seasonal cosmetics, returning Tier X legends, and map reworks, there’s more variety than ever. But the grind is unforgiving. Players who plan prime-time schedules, chip away at weekly missions, and pace themselves season by season will walk away with prestige tanks and styles others only dream about. The Year of the Dragon isn’t just another cycle—it’s a proving ground. Miss it, and you’ll be left wishing you hadn’t.
