Beginner's Guide

12:34 In your first hours of Wardogs, the guides agree on a short list: play the tutorial, join a team and a squad, buy a cheap kit instead of spending the $10,000 every player starts with, get a ride to the Control Zone, stay in it, and wait to be revived rather than giving up, because dying without a revive costs your whole loadout. Wardogs is slower and more punishing than Call of Duty or Battlefield, and Bulkhead says so itself: "If you're running in like you're playing Call of Duty or Battlefield, you will likely die to someone playing more cautiously," as GameSpot quoted from Bulkhead's "10 reasons not to buy" video. This guide takes the first hours in order, with each tip credited to the outlet that gave it and Season 2 (Oct 15, 2026) prices where they changed. The rules of a match are on Control Zone and Scoring; money is on Economy and Cash.

Quick facts

Sources: Steam store page, Bulkhead's FAQ, PC Gamer, Bulkhead's Season 2 notes, PC Gamer on bribes, Steam global achievement stats, Oct 26, 2026.

1. Play the tutorial, then the Firing Range

The first time you start Wardogs it offers "Play Tutorial" before matchmaking, and Insider Gaming (Oct 16, 2026) recommends doing it because it explains the rules and the money systems; you can leave it from the pause menu after a countdown. Finishing it earns the "This is WARDOGS" achievement, which 81.0% of players had on Oct 26, 2026; punching the tutorial's Kristopher earns the hidden "That was rude" (Achievements).

Then use the Firing Range to test guns and gear before you pay for them. Its Vehicle Vendor, on the left, spawns any vehicle for free, per GameSpot, and GamesRadar+ says to learn to fly there before you carry other players (Helicopter Flying Guide). Set up your keys and graphics while you are there: Controls and Keybinds, Best Settings.

2. Pick a team and join a squad

The three factions, Lonestar (blue), Valkyra (red) and Manticore (green), play the same apart from their looks. Blue has had the lowest win rate since the betas; Bulkhead CEO Joe Brammer said in September that green wins most often and blue is "losing badly," per PCGamesN, and Season 2 rebuilt the team spawns on Bakurani and toned down Lonestar's uniforms to even things out. Pick the team your friends are on, or the emptier one. Since Season 2, once a team leads by more than 10 points you cannot switch again for 15 minutes, and a player who switches or joins mid-match has the map hidden and cannot use the spawn vehicle until reaching the Control Zone, per Bulkhead's notes. More on Factions.

2:22 Then join a squad. Squad size is "Unlimited!", and squads get extra UI, communication tools and vehicle locking. Since Season 2 a squad leader can post a Squad Intent such as building, attacking FOBs or "noob friendly", as Rock Paper Shotgun describes it, which is the easiest way in. Eurogamer advises following a squad if you play Assault. Wardogs has no party system in Early Access: to play with friends, join the same low-population server and pick the same team and squad, or right-click a friend in Steam and choose "Join Game," per Dexerto. Server choice is on Servers and Matchmaking.

3. Buy a first loadout you can afford to lose

3:38 Every life you buy your kit at the vendor, and when you die without a revive you respawn with nothing (Best Loadouts). Each faction's starter rifle is free, as are the Pouch backpack and the one-per-life Emergency Resuscitator, and since Season 2 the AK74 is unlocked for everyone at $800. PC Gamer's beginner tips (Morgan Park, Sep 10, 2026) say never to leave spawn without two extra magazines, 3 to 5 bandages, a dot sight and a class gadget such as binoculars, a hammer or an RPG. Buy loose ammo in stacks of 100 and press C in the inventory to refill your magazines, which it says is cheaper than buying five magazines. Dexerto adds: start with basic loadouts, skip the sidearm, don't overstock bandages unless you are the medic, and loot enemies for better gear. Any dead body can be looted for everything it carried. In the clip LevelCapGaming says a loadout under $2,000 can still be effective.

4. Spend and save cash

Your bank balance sits top right with a second figure beside it, this life's profit or loss, red when you are behind and green when you are ahead, per TheGamer. Cash persists between matches within a season (Seasons and Wipes). Eurogamer says $10,000 "is just about enough" for a rifle, ammo and a basic revive kit, that any half-decent loadout costs at least $4,000 to $5,000, and that being killed is the only way to lose money. PCGamesN puts the danger plainly: "A couple of deaths with a full loadout and you'll basically be on nothing." Unlocking an item also costs a one-time sum on top of its price, so save for the unlocks that matter to your role (Progression and Unlocks). If your team falls 40 points behind second place, Season 2 gives it 20% off at the vendor.

5. Get to the zone

7:22 The zone is about 3 km from spawn, 4 to 5 minutes by car, so PC Gamer says to wait for a transport helicopter, flown by volunteer pilots for whom the job pays well. Pilots often drop you at the nearest friendly FOB; leave it unless you have a job there. Passengers can jump from about five meters without a parachute, per GameSpot. Since Season 2 parachutes open more slowly, will not open below about 10 m, and opening below about 50 m while falling fast causes fall damage; Bulkhead's advice is "Make sure you trust a pilot before getting into their aircraft," per its notes. Eurogamer says landing a few hundred meters outside the zone is usually safer, and that opening too early gets you sniped while opening too late gets you killed. Your team's spawn APC can also put you closer (Spawning and Redeploying).

6. Play the zone

0:26 About every 30 seconds, the team with the most players in the Control Zone earns a point, and the first to 100 wins, per GameSpot. Only bodies in the zone count: towers and FOBs add nothing to the score by themselves. Inside the zone, the yellow Hot Zone counts each player twice and pays double cash, and standing in it pays "hundreds of dollars by the minute," PC Gamer found in the beta. Capturing the zone's towers gives your team digits of a code that pulls the Hot Zone to a tower you hold (Hot Zone and Towers). Move carefully: Kotaku notes the movement is slower than in modern shooters, with no slide canceling, and unarmored players drop in a few hits. Matches are long; PC Gamer logged one at 50 minutes.

7. Revive, and wait to be revived

9:17 Anyone can drag a downed teammate and revive them; a revive with bare hands takes about 20 seconds, per PC Gamer, which counted 123 million kills and 61 million revives in the first weekend. When you are down, wait: a revive keeps all your gear, GameSpot notes, while giving up means rebuying everything. Press F1 to offer a bribe of up to $500 to whoever revives you. Voice chat is proximity-based, so enemies hear you too: PC Gamer's advice is not to call out your medic's name while being revived, and to use team text chat for enemy positions (Voice Chat). Reviving others pays well, and GameSpot says to carry bandages so you are also paid for healing afterward. See Healing and Revives and Medic.

8. Earn without winning fights

0:35 Wardogs pays for teamwork: revives, transport, kills, spotting "and MORE," in Bulkhead's words. The easiest start is binoculars ($180 in Season 2): holding the fire button on an enemy spots them for your team and pays XP and cash, and an assist when a teammate kills them is "worth hundreds," per PC Gamer; Season 2 cut spotting pay by about 30%. Driving or flying teammates to the zone, delivering supply crates and pallets to FOBs, and parking your team's spawn APC where teammates can spawn on it all pay too, and Season 2 added streak bonuses for repeat deliveries, per Bulkhead's notes. Values for each are on Money Making Guide; driving is on Driver.

9. Build, but do not hide at the base

Building is Support's job: an FOB kit costs $7,500 and creates a building radius, and hammers (Small $100, Medium $800, Large $2,400) turn build supplies into walls, towers and emplacements. PCGamesN suggests building a base if you are not ready to fight, and in the beta each productive hammer swing paid $15. Close doors behind you: players hate open FOB gates, GameSpot reports, and since Season 2 closing a friendly FOB door pays $75. But PC Gamer says not to sit at your FOB unless you are building, sniping or firing artillery, and Eurogamer watched FOBs fill while "the Hot Zone wanders around almost completely uncontested." See Building and Fortifications and Support.

10. Your first levels

1:39 There are no fixed classes. Using a role's items earns XP on that role's track (Assault, Medic, Recon, Support, Driver or Pilot), and all of them add up to your overall Wardog level, which opens armor, ammo and general items, per GameSpot. Season 2 made the curve faster: reaching level 20 on a track takes less than half the Season 1 playtime. Each season wipes progression and starts everyone at level 1 again; Season 3 is expected on Nov 12, 2026, per Brammer as PCGamesN reported, not yet in a Bulkhead post. Do not join XP-farm servers or use cash exploits: Bulkhead bans both, permanently for farm servers joined "for more than a few minutes," per its Sep 12 post (Anti-Cheat and Bans). The role pages: Assault, Medic, Recon, Support, Driver, Pilot.

Mistakes guides warn about

• Overspending. A full kit lost twice can empty your account (PCGamesN).
• Giving up too soon. Waiting for a revive keeps your gear (GameSpot).
• Parachuting badly. Open too early and you are sniped, too late and you die (Eurogamer).
• Leaving doors open at a friendly FOB (GameSpot).
• Camping towers with a scoped rifle instead of pushing the objective (PC Gamer).
• Driving the spawn APC around so no one can spawn on it, a complaint PC Gamer quotes.
• Snitching on your medic in proximity chat (PC Gamer).
• Rebuying the same kit forever. Bulkhead found testers who used rebuy quit sooner, and wants players to try new gear (GamesRadar+).

Frequently asked questions

How do you play Wardogs? In Wardogs, three teams of up to 100 players in all fight over a randomized 2x2 km Control Zone, and the team with the most players inside it scores, first to 100 points, per the Steam store. You buy your gear each life with cash you earn by teamwork.

Should I do the Wardogs tutorial? Yes: Insider Gaming recommends the Wardogs tutorial because it explains the rules and the money systems, and 81.0% of players had finished it by Oct 26, 2026. You can leave it from the pause menu.

What should I buy first in Wardogs? PC Gamer's minimum Wardogs kit is two extra magazines, 3 to 5 bandages, a dot sight and a gadget such as binoculars. Since Season 2 the $800 AK74 is the cheapest real rifle and unlocked for everyone.

Which team should I pick in Wardogs? The three Wardogs factions play the same; pick the team your friends are on or the one with fewer players. Blue (Lonestar) has had the lowest win rate since launch, which Season 2's Bakurani spawn changes aimed to fix.

How do I not go broke in Wardogs? Buy cheap kits, loot bodies, wait for revives instead of giving up, and earn by spotting, transport and standing in the zone. In Wardogs, being killed is the only way to lose money, Eurogamer notes.

How long is a Wardogs match? Wardogs has no time limit: a match ends when a team reaches 100 points. PC Gamer logged a 50-minute match, and Kotaku says matches can last an hour or more.

Does Wardogs have proximity chat? Yes, Wardogs has proximity voice chat, so enemies nearby can hear you. PC Gamer advises using team text chat for enemy positions.

Sources

• WARDOGS - TOP QUESTIONS, Bulkhead (Steam news), Feb 18, 2026
• Scheduled Maintenance & Patch 0.11, Bulkhead (Steam news), Sep 12, 2026
• WARDOGS | Season 02 Patch Notes, Bulkhead (Steam news), Oct 14, 2026
• WARDOGS store page, Steam, read Oct 26, 2026
• Global achievement percentages for WARDOGS, Steam, read Oct 26, 2026
• Do I Have to do the Tutorial in WARDOGS?, Insider Gaming, Oct 16, 2026
• Believe the hype for Wardogs, possibly the next great multiplayer FPS, PC Gamer, Aug 11, 2026
• How to make money fast in Wardogs, PC Gamer, Sep 9, 2026
• 10 beginner tips to not suck at Wardogs, PC Gamer, Sep 10, 2026
• Bribing medics to revive me first in Wardogs is one of my favorite shooter mechanics in ages, PC Gamer, Sep 11, 2026
• Wardogs players are actively avoiding one team in particular, PC Gamer, Sep 14, 2026
• Wardogs is the only FPS where I actually expect to get revived, PC Gamer, Sep 17, 2026
• I did the math on my Wardogs XP grind, and now I wish I hadn't, PC Gamer, Sep 25, 2026
• Shooter Climbing Steam Charts Lists 10 Reasons Not To Buy It, GameSpot, Aug 13, 2026
• How To Fly In Wardogs, GameSpot, Sep 11, 2026
• How To Win Matches In Wardogs, GameSpot, Sep 14, 2026
• How To Level Up Each Skill In Wardogs, GameSpot, Sep 14, 2026
• Wardogs Players Really Want You To Close The Doors, GameSpot, Sep 14, 2026
• Wardogs helicopter controls and flying tips, GamesRadar+, Sep 16, 2026
• Wardogs is getting loadouts, CEO confirms, GamesRadar+, Oct 14, 2026
• How to make Wardogs money fast, PCGamesN, Sep 11, 2026
• Wardogs Season 2 is just weeks away, and it already looks "sick", PCGamesN, Sep 18, 2026
• Wardogs season 2 deepens the sandbox shooter's capitalist hell by letting you bet cash on your own performance, Rock Paper Shotgun, Oct 9, 2026
• Wardogs early access review - a shooter for the gig economy, Eurogamer, Sep 29, 2026
• Steam's Latest Super Hit Is A Massive 100-Player Warzone Simulator Fueled By Cash That Has Me Hooked, Kotaku, Sep 11, 2026
• How To Make Money Fast In Wardogs, TheGamer, Sep 11, 2026
• Dexerto: How to get money fast, Sep 7, 2026; How to play Wardogs with friends, Sep 11, 2026; Forward Operating Base, Large Hammer, Sep 4, 2026
• WARDOGS | Game Mode Explained, Bulkhead, Feb 12, 2026 (video)
• WARDOGS | 10 Reasons NOT to Buy, Bulkhead, Aug 11, 2026 (video)
• The Ultimate Beginners Guide To WARDOGS, LevelCapGaming, Sep 29, 2026 (video)