diff --git a/modules/dt-ve/CommentTarget.js b/modules/dt-ve/CommentTarget.js
index c4b925641..10ca4e6bc 100644
--- a/modules/dt-ve/CommentTarget.js
+++ b/modules/dt-ve/CommentTarget.js
@@ -88,21 +88,30 @@ if ( OO.ui.isMobile() ) {
 
 CommentTarget.static.importRules = ve.copy( CommentTarget.static.importRules );
 
-CommentTarget.static.importRules.external.conversions = ve.extendObject(
-	{},
-	CommentTarget.static.importRules.external.conversions,
-	{
-		mwHeading: 'paragraph'
-	}
-);
-
 CommentTarget.static.importRules.external.blacklist = ve.extendObject(
 	{},
 	CommentTarget.static.importRules.external.blacklist,
 	{
 		// Annotations
 		// Allow pasting external links
-		'link/mwExternal': false,
+		'link/mwExternal': false
+	}
+);
+
+CommentTarget.static.importRulesForReplyTool = ve.copy( CommentTarget.static.importRules );
+
+CommentTarget.static.importRulesForReplyTool.external.conversions = ve.extendObject(
+	{},
+	CommentTarget.static.importRulesForReplyTool.external.conversions,
+	{
+		mwHeading: 'paragraph'
+	}
+);
+
+CommentTarget.static.importRulesForReplyTool.external.blacklist = ve.extendObject(
+	{},
+	CommentTarget.static.importRulesForReplyTool.external.blacklist,
+	{
 		// Strip all table structure
 		mwTable: true,
 		tableSection: true,
@@ -122,8 +131,10 @@ CommentTarget.prototype.getSurfaceConfig = function ( config ) {
 	config = ve.extendObject( { mode: this.defaultMode }, config );
 	return CommentTarget.super.prototype.getSurfaceConfig.call( this, ve.extendObject( {
 		commandRegistry: config.mode === 'source' ? registries.wikitextCommandRegistry : registries.commandRegistry,
-		sequenceRegistry: config.mode === 'source' ? registries.wikitextSequenceRegistry : registries.sequenceRegistry,
+		sequenceRegistry: config.mode === 'source' ? registries.wikitextSequenceRegistry :
+			this.replyWidget.isNewTopic ? registries.sequenceRegistry : registries.sequenceRegistryForReplyTool,
 		dataTransferHandlerFactory: config.mode === 'source' ? ve.ui.wikitextDataTransferHandlerFactory : ve.ui.dataTransferHandlerFactory,
+		importRules: this.replyWidget.isNewTopic ? this.constructor.static.importRules : this.constructor.static.importRulesForReplyTool,
 		// eslint-disable-next-line no-jquery/no-global-selector
 		$overlayContainer: $( '#content' )
 	}, config ) );
diff --git a/modules/dt-ve/CommentTargetWidget.js b/modules/dt-ve/CommentTargetWidget.js
index e43c12741..52bb9d2ae 100644
--- a/modules/dt-ve/CommentTargetWidget.js
+++ b/modules/dt-ve/CommentTargetWidget.js
@@ -11,8 +11,23 @@ var CommentTarget = require( './CommentTarget.js' );
  * @param {Object} [config] Configuration options
  */
 function CommentTargetWidget( replyWidget, config ) {
-	config = $.extend( {}, {
-		excludeCommands: [
+	var excludeCommands = [
+		'blockquoteWrap', // T258194
+		// Disable to allow Tab/Shift+Tab to move focus out of the widget (T172694)
+		'indent',
+		'outdent',
+		// Save commands get loaded from articletarget module, which we load
+		// to get the edit switching tool for mobile
+		'showSave',
+		'showChanges',
+		'showPreview',
+		'saveMinoredit',
+		'saveWatchthis'
+	];
+
+	if ( !replyWidget.isNewTopic ) {
+		excludeCommands = excludeCommands.concat( [
+			// Disable commands for things whose wikitext markup doesn't work when indented
 			'heading1',
 			'heading2',
 			'heading3',
@@ -21,20 +36,12 @@ function CommentTargetWidget( replyWidget, config ) {
 			'heading6',
 			'insertTable',
 			'transclusionFromSequence', // T253667
-			'blockquoteWrap', // T258194
-			// Disable to allow Tab/Shift+Tab to move focus out of the widget (T172694)
-			'indent',
-			'outdent',
-			// Disable preformatted
-			'preformatted',
-			// Save commands get loaded from articletarget module, which we load
-			// to get the edit switching tool for mobile
-			'showSave',
-			'showChanges',
-			'showPreview',
-			'saveMinoredit',
-			'saveWatchthis'
-		]
+			'preformatted'
+		] );
+	}
+
+	config = $.extend( {}, {
+		excludeCommands: excludeCommands
 	}, config );
 
 	this.replyWidget = replyWidget;
diff --git a/modules/dt-ve/dt.ui.registries.js b/modules/dt-ve/dt.ui.registries.js
index 7e4eb2a5e..c8f289b53 100644
--- a/modules/dt-ve/dt.ui.registries.js
+++ b/modules/dt-ve/dt.ui.registries.js
@@ -57,43 +57,46 @@ sequenceRegistry.register(
 
 // TODO: Show a warning when typing ~~~~ in wikitext mode?
 
-// Show wikitext warnings for disabled sequences (disabled via excludeCommand):
+// Show wikitext warnings for disabled sequences (disabled via excludeCommands):
+var sequenceRegistryForReplyTool = new ve.ui.SequenceRegistry();
+importRegistry( sequenceRegistry, sequenceRegistryForReplyTool );
 
 // insertTable
-sequenceRegistry.register(
-	new ve.ui.Sequence( 'wikitextTable', 'mwWikitextWarning', '{|' )
+sequenceRegistryForReplyTool.unregister( 'wikitextTable' );
+sequenceRegistryForReplyTool.register(
+	new ve.ui.Sequence( 'wikitextTableWarning', 'mwWikitextWarning', '{|' )
 );
-ve.ui.commandHelpRegistry.unregister( 'table' );
 
 // transclusionFromSequence
-sequenceRegistry.register(
-	new ve.ui.Sequence( 'wikitextTemplate', 'mwWikitextWarning', '{{' )
+sequenceRegistryForReplyTool.unregister( 'wikitextTemplate' );
+sequenceRegistryForReplyTool.register(
+	new ve.ui.Sequence( 'wikitextTemplateWarning', 'mwWikitextWarning', '{{' )
 );
-ve.ui.commandHelpRegistry.unregister( 'template' );
 
-// blockquoteWrap
+// blockquoteWrap - note, this one applies to `sequenceRegistry` as well
+sequenceRegistry.unregister( 'wikitextDescription' );
 sequenceRegistry.register(
-	new ve.ui.Sequence( 'wikitextDescription', 'mwWikitextWarning', [ { type: 'paragraph' }, ':' ] )
+	new ve.ui.Sequence( 'wikitextDescriptionWarning', 'mwWikitextWarning', [ { type: 'paragraph' }, ':' ] )
 );
-ve.ui.commandHelpRegistry.unregister( 'blockquote' );
 
 // heading1-6
 // This sequence doesn't usually have a command as we don't know what
 // heading level is required, but for warnings this doesn't matter.
-sequenceRegistry.register(
-	new ve.ui.Sequence( 'wikitextHeading', 'mwWikitextWarning', [ { type: 'paragraph' }, '=', '=' ] )
+sequenceRegistryForReplyTool.unregister( 'wikitextHeading' );
+sequenceRegistryForReplyTool.register(
+	new ve.ui.Sequence( 'wikitextHeadingWarning', 'mwWikitextWarning', [ { type: 'paragraph' }, '=', '=' ] )
 );
-ve.ui.commandHelpRegistry.unregister( 'heading2' );
 
 // horizontal rule
-sequenceRegistry.register(
-	new ve.ui.Sequence( 'horizontalRule', 'mwWikitextWarning', [ { type: 'paragraph' }, '-', '-', '-', '-' ] )
+sequenceRegistryForReplyTool.unregister( 'horizontalRule' );
+sequenceRegistryForReplyTool.register(
+	new ve.ui.Sequence( 'horizontalRuleWarning', 'mwWikitextWarning', [ { type: 'paragraph' }, '-', '-', '-', '-' ] )
 );
-ve.ui.commandHelpRegistry.unregister( 'horizontalRule' );
 
 module.exports = {
 	commandRegistry: commandRegistry,
 	sequenceRegistry: sequenceRegistry,
+	sequenceRegistryForReplyTool: sequenceRegistryForReplyTool,
 	wikitextCommandRegistry: wikitextCommandRegistry,
 	wikitextSequenceRegistry: wikitextSequenceRegistry
 };