WARDOGS tips: your first five matches

  1. Press DEPLOY, pick your server, and choose a Low-Level community server for your first matches.
  2. Score by standing in the Control Zone — kills earn no points.
  3. Earn cash with revives, transport and spotting, not only kills.
  4. Treat your starting $10,000 as a budget across lives, because every redeploy buys a new loadout.
  5. Never use cash or XP exploits — they cost you your progress and can end in a permanent ban.

1. Pick a Low-Level server on the DEPLOY screen

Where: Update 0.1.2 (September 30, 2026) added a new DEPLOY server pick — you press DEPLOY and choose Official, Community, Infantry Mode or Low-Level. BULKHEAD's stated goal was to better surface the Infantry Mode and Low-Level community servers that already existed.

Why: fan guides recommend Low-Level community servers for new players, so the pick you want is right there in the DEPLOY flow.

Common mistake: clicking DEPLOY and taking the first server without checking the type. The choice is yours on the DEPLOY screen — pick Low-Level first.

Detailed layout of the server selection screen (regions, ping display): To be confirmed.

2. Hold the Control Zone — kills score nothing

What to look at: the Control Zone, a randomized 2x2 km area on the 256 km² map. Up to 100 players in three teams fight over it, the team with the most players inside earns points, and the first team to 100 points wins. Inside the Control Zone watch for the Hot Zone: a smaller zone that shifts around, where players count double and it pays double cash.

Why: kills do not score points. Only having more players inside the Control Zone scores, and the zone — especially the Hot Zone — is also where the cash is.

Common mistake: roaming the map for kills while your team loses the zone. A high kill count with an empty Control Zone still loses the match.

Exactly how your team's zone count is shown in the HUD: To be confirmed.

3. Earn cash with teamplay actions

Where to start: revive downed teammates, give teammates rides, and spot enemies. All of these pay cash, and so do kills — players also tip each other for rides and revives.

Why: cash comes from teamplay actions such as revives, transport, kills and spotting, not only kills. What you buy also defines your role: the patch notes name Career, Medic, Support, Recon, Driver and Pilot XP tracks.

Common mistake: treating kills as the only income and driving past downed teammates. Revives and transport pay on their own.

Exact cash amounts per action: To be confirmed.

4. Budget your $10,000 across lives

Where it shows: every player starts with $10,000 of in-game cash, and you buy your loadout — weapons, gear, vehicles — each life. Cash persists from match to match, so every death is a purchase you make again.

Why: because each redeploy re-buys a loadout from the same wallet, your $10,000 is a budget across lives, not the price of one drop. Keep a reserve so expensive lives don't leave you with nothing to equip next time.

Common mistake: assuming the $10,000 resets every match. It doesn't — cash persists, and so does the hole left by overspending.

Exact item prices: To be confirmed — prices are not listed because they change with season balance updates.

5. Don't touch cash or XP exploits

What counts: abusing cash or XP exploits, and real-money trading of in-game cash. Per the Update 0.1.2 notes, BULKHEAD resets the cash and progression of players who do this and states a permanent ban as a risk.

Why: the policy is written in the official Update 0.1.2 patch notes. A reset takes your cash and your levels together, so an exploit shortcut can wipe everything you ground for.

Common mistake: treating an exploit as a private shortcut. The stated penalty hits both wallet and progression, and it can end in a permanent ban.

Progression expectations

Progression is deliberately slow. Per the Season 1 changelog, BULKHEAD tuned it so a median player at 20–25 hours sits around level 20, and the top items need a long grind.

Cash profits can be exchanged for Gold Bars, which buy cosmetics in the Gold Market. There is no battle pass and no pay-to-win — money buys looks, not power.

Season 02 notes

Season 02 (Update 0.2.0) went live on October 15, 2026. It adds four weapons (TCX Spear assault rifle, M14 DMR, PP-19 Bizon SMG, Evo-3 Ultra LMG), the Molotov, four vehicles (Wolf-110, Wolf-110 Assault, T-72, Flakpanzer Gepard) and a rain weather preset.

Per the Season 02 preview, a losing team gets a 20% vendor discount when it is at least 40 points behind second place, and the preview says this applies to all teams. This comes from the preview only and may change — treat it as announced, not confirmed current behaviour.

Sources

Official

Secondary (support only)