Spawning and Redeploying

1:32 In Wardogs you respawn at your team's HQ, roughly 3 km from the fight, or on your team's one spawn APC: there are no squad spawns or rally points, and FOBs are not respawn beacons, per PC Gamer. A death you are not revived from also costs your gear: you come back with nothing and rebuy your loadout, as TheGamer explains. That long trip back is why reviving, transport and parachute drops matter so much, and why ferrying teammates pays.

Quick facts

Sources: PC Gamer, PCGamesN, Dexerto, GamesRadar+, Bulkhead's Season 2 notes.

Spawn points: the HQ

3:45 Each team has an HQ with vendors where you buy your loadout (PC Gamer). The HQs sit outside the Control Zone, about 3 km away per PCGamesN; PC Gamer timed the drive at 4 to 5 minutes depending on the car, and Kotaku estimated a five to six minute run to the front. Each team also gets vehicles that spawn free at the start of a match, with inventories open to everyone, per Bulkhead's Season 2 notes; vehicles you buy are private to you and your squad by default. Season 2 (Oct 15, 2026) moved all three team spawns on Bakurani and gave each pre-match entertainment: guns with targets, a football and a hidden radio.

FOBs are not spawns. A FOB is a base you buy and place to build in and store supplies (GameSpot), and the Recon Tent only hides the players inside it, per Dexerto. What a FOB can do is shelter your team's spawn APC: parked inside a FOB's area, the APC lets your team spawn inside the Control Zone safely (GameSpot). Bases are on Building and Fortifications.

The spawn APC

Each team has one spawn vehicle, the M113 APC SV: a 10-seat tracked vehicle used by all three factions and not sold at the vendor, per Dexerto. PC Gamer describes it as a boxy APC painted the team's color with a satellite dish on top. According to GamesRadar+, it appears at your HQ once your team's score reaches 20, and players spawn on it from the HQ computer; that trigger comes from one Season 1 guide and is not in Bulkhead's notes. After it is used it has a long cooldown (PC Gamer).

Driving it is a job that pays. Park it at a FOB and you earn every time a teammate spawns on it (PC Gamer), and GamesRadar+ lists it as a source of Driver XP (see Driver). Driving it badly draws complaints: PC Gamer quotes players angry at drivers circling so no one can spawn.

Killing the enemy's APC is "both strategically helpful and very profitable" (PC Gamer), which suggests RPGs, IEDs or C4. Dexerto lists a base destroy reward of $4,000, +125% in the Control Zone and +150% in the Hot Zone. Season 2 made the Vanguard CIWS take 2.25 times longer to kill it, and a player who switches teams or joins mid-match cannot use the spawn vehicle until they first reach the Control Zone.

Dying, giving up and respawning

When you go down you can wait for a revive or give up (the Give Up key is F by default, per Dexerto). Waiting keeps your gear, GameSpot notes, so it says to wait when teammates are close; a downed player can also offer a medic a bribe of up to $500 (PC Gamer). Once you give up your body disappears, but a lootable backpack stays for several minutes (PC Gamer). Revives are on Healing and Revives.

Respawning puts you back at the HQ vendor to buy again; Season 2 reworked the Rebuy Last Loadout option. If a teammate killed you, Season 2 asks you to Forgive or Punish them, and respawning and leaving the safe zone without voting forgives automatically. How not to go broke doing this is on Economy and Cash.

Getting back: drop-offs and transport rewards

12:45 The quickest way back is a ride. PC Gamer's advice is to wait for a transport helicopter instead of driving, and to leave the nearest friendly FOB, where pilots often drop passengers, unless you have a job there. Bulkhead's own Season 2 line: "Make sure you trust a pilot before getting into their aircraft. Alternatively - drive to the control zone or fly yourself" (Season 2 notes).

0:42 The driver or pilot is paid for each delivery. In launch week Rock Paper Shotgun logged $1,000 for a "tactical deployment", $500 per unharmed passenger and a $15 tip, $2,515 for one run; Dexerto listed $450 per helicopter drop-off plus $500 if the passenger survives (Sep 7). Season 2 lowered the base rewards and added streaks for repeat runs:

Source: Bulkhead's Season 2 notes, Oct 14, 2026, which give these as the values paid for drops in the Control Zone.

5:32 Pilots also earn assist cash when passengers go on to get kills, and tips (PC Gamer). The vehicles are on Light Vehicles and Trucks and Helicopters, and earning this way on Money Making Guide.

Parachutes and parachute fixes

Helicopter passengers often jump. Two parachutes are sold, each single use:

Sources: Bulkhead's Season 2 notes, Dexerto's Basic Parachute and Sport Parachute entries.

Season 2 made parachutes slower to open: they will not open below about 10 m, and opening below about 50 m while falling fast causes fall damage. Eurogamer names both ways to get it wrong (too early and you are sniped, too late and you are dead) and says landing a few hundred meters outside the zone is usually safer.

If your parachute will not open, check the key. Deploy is Space by default, and a launch-period bug could unbind it, per GameSpot, which fixed it by editing the game's GameUserSettings.ini file; rebinding is on Controls and Keybinds, other bugs on Crashes and Errors. Other gear you wear is on Armor and Gear.

Redeploying between servers

"Deploy" in the main menu is where you choose a match: since Update 0.1.2 (Sep 30, 2026) it offers Official, Community, Infantry Mode or Low-Level servers. A player kicked for high ping cannot rejoin that server until the next map transition. The full flow is on Servers and Matchmaking.

The tutorial and the firing range

On first boot Wardogs offers a "Play Tutorial" option before matchmaking; you can leave it from the pause menu after a countdown, and Insider Gaming recommends finishing it because it explains the rules and the money systems. Punching Kristopher, a character in the tutorial, earns the hidden achievement "That was rude" (see Achievements).

The Firing Range is the place to test gear. It has a Vehicle Vendor that spawns any vehicle for free, reached from the bottom left of the menu (GameSpot), and GamesRadar+ recommends practicing helicopter flight there before carrying passengers. Since Season 2, Aim Assist works on the range's target dummies. More first steps are on Beginner's Guide.

Frequently asked questions

Where do you respawn in Wardogs? You respawn at your team's HQ, about 3 km from the Control Zone, or on your team's spawn APC. Wardogs has no squad spawns or rally points, and FOBs are not respawn points, per PC Gamer.

Can you spawn on a FOB in Wardogs? No. FOBs in Wardogs are not spawn points; GameSpot notes that parking your team's spawn APC inside a FOB's area lets your team spawn there safely.

How does the spawn APC work in Wardogs? Each Wardogs team has one M113 APC SV, a 10-seat tracked mobile spawn. GamesRadar+ says it appears at HQ when your team reaches 20 points, and the driver earns cash each time a teammate spawns on it.

Do you lose your gear when you die in Wardogs? Yes, if you are not revived. You respawn with nothing and rebuy your loadout, and a lootable backpack stays where you fell for several minutes.

Why won't my parachute open in Wardogs? Since Season 2, Wardogs parachutes do not open below about 10 m and open slowly. A launch-period bug could also unbind the deploy key (Space); GameSpot fixed it by editing GameUserSettings.ini.

How much do you earn for transporting players in Wardogs? In Season 2 a delivered player pays $100 in the Control Zone ($350 by ground vehicle), plus streak bonuses of $25 per player up to 25, per Bulkhead's notes.

Is there a tutorial in Wardogs? Yes. Wardogs offers a tutorial on first boot and a Firing Range where a Vehicle Vendor spawns any vehicle for free.

Sources

• WARDOGS | Update 0.1.2 (Minor Patch), Bulkhead on Steam, Sep 30, 2026
• WARDOGS | Season 02 Patch Notes, Bulkhead on Steam, Oct 14, 2026
• WARDOGS achievements, Steam Community, read Oct 26, 2026
• Wardogs is the only FPS where I actually expect to get revived, PC Gamer, Sep 17, 2026
• 10 beginner tips to not suck at Wardogs, PC Gamer, Sep 10, 2026
• How to make money fast in Wardogs, PC Gamer, Sep 9, 2026
• Wardogs players are actively avoiding one team in particular, PC Gamer, Sep 14, 2026
• Bribing medics to revive me first in Wardogs is one of my favorite shooter mechanics in ages, PC Gamer, Sep 11, 2026
• Wardogs is a brilliant exercise in greed as teamwork, PCGamesN, Aug 11, 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
• How To Win Matches In Wardogs, GameSpot, Sep 14, 2026
• What Is A FOB In Wardogs And Why Do You Need One?, GameSpot, Sep 12, 2026
• Try These Steps If Your Parachute Isn't Working In Wardogs, GameSpot, Sep 11, 2026
• How To Fly In Wardogs, GameSpot, Sep 11, 2026
• How to earn Driver XP in Wardogs, GamesRadar+, Sep 17, 2026
• How to fly a helicopter in Wardogs, GamesRadar+, Sep 16, 2026
• Wardogs presents a different kind of FPS power fantasy: making fat stacks as a pacifist rideshare driver, Rock Paper Shotgun, Sep 11, 2026
• Wardogs early access review - a shooter for the gig economy, Eurogamer, Sep 29, 2026
• M113 APC SV, Dexerto, Sep 5, 2026
• Recon Tent, Dexerto, Sep 4, 2026
• Basic Parachute, Dexerto, Sep 4, 2026
• Sport Parachute, Dexerto, Sep 4, 2026
• Best mouse & keyboard settings, Dexerto, Sep 4, 2026
• How to get money fast, Dexerto, Sep 7, 2026
• Do I Have to do the Tutorial in WARDOGS?, Insider Gaming, Oct 16, 2026
• WARDOGS | Early Access & Beyond, Bulkhead, Apr 7, 2026 (video)
• WARDOGS | Tactical Depth & Teamplay, Bulkhead, May 21, 2026 (video)
• WARDOGS | 10 Reasons NOT to Buy, Bulkhead, Aug 11, 2026 (video)
• WARDOGS | Game Mode Explained, Bulkhead, Feb 12, 2026 (video)