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Wardogs has two voice channels: proximity (local) chat that every nearby player hears, enemies included, on K, and squad chat on J. If your mic stops working, toggle Voice Chat off and on in the settings, the developers' own fix.
Wardogs has two voice channels: proximity chat, which everyone near you hears, enemies from both other teams included, and squad chat, which only your squad hears. By default K is push-to-talk for proximity and J for squad, and U toggles voice chat from the scoreboard (Dexerto, read Oct 26, 2026). Bulkhead built the game around it: the Steam store says every moment is "tied together with local voice chat" (Steam, read Oct 26, 2026), and Team17 says that local voice carries across all three teams (Team17, Aug 11, 2026). If your mic stops working, toggle Voice Chat off and on in the settings.
Quick facts
| Proximity push-to-talk | K |
| Squad push-to-talk | J |
| Voice chat toggle (scoreboard) | U |
| Text chat | Enter |
| Ping | Mouse wheel click |
| Who hears proximity | Every nearby player, all three teams |
| Mic not working | Toggle Voice Chat off and on in settings |
| Loudspeaker buildable | 200 supplies, carries your voice far |
Sources: Dexerto, read Oct 26, 2026; Team17, Aug 11, 2026; Dexerto on the mic, read Oct 26, 2026; Dexerto on the Loudspeaker, Sep 4, 2026.
Proximity and squad chat
Proximity (local) chat is the voice of everyone around you, friend or enemy. Bulkhead's FAQ answered "YES!" to proximity chat and pitched it as a way to "Coordinate with teammates, chat with your squad, or even construct loudspeakers to blast faction propaganda" (Bulkhead, Feb 18, 2026). Squad chat reaches only your squad, and squads can be any size: the same FAQ calls squad size "Unlimited!" Use it for anything the enemy should not hear. Joining a squad with friends is covered on Servers and Matchmaking.
Because enemies hear everything said on proximity, PC Gamer's advice is to keep enemy positions to team text chat (Enter) when they are close, and never to call out the name of the medic reviving you (PC Gamer, Sep 10, 2026; see Healing and Revives). Since Season 2 (Oct 15, 2026), wearing the Level 4 Helmet muffles both game audio and proximity chat (Bulkhead, Oct 14, 2026), a trade for its protection described on Armor and Gear.
Loudspeakers and other ways to talk
The Loudspeaker is a buildable: a climbable tower for 200 supplies that projects your voice over long distances (Dexerto, Sep 4, 2026): Bulkhead's "faction propaganda" machine. Its neighbor, the Builder's Radio, plays music at a FOB. Both are on Building and Fortifications. The clip is jackfrags' beta match, where a teammate's tower carries a loudspeaker everyone can hear.
Without a mic, there are signals. Clicking the mouse wheel places a ping, and Season 2 raised the assistance request ping timer from 20 to 60 seconds (Bulkhead, Oct 14, 2026). M18 Signal Grenades ($50 each) leave colored map markers: yellow Alert, orange Damaged Vehicle, blue Friendly, red Hostile, purple Landing Zone and green Supply Request (Dexerto, Sep 4, 2026). Season 2 also added Squad Intent, which lets a squad leader post what the squad is doing for the whole team to see (Bulkhead, Oct 14, 2026).
Voice chat settings
Dexerto sets both voice channels, VOIP Proximity and VOIP Squad, to 50 next to Effects at 100 and music at 0 (Dexerto, read Oct 26, 2026). The rest of its audio setup is on Best Settings, and every key can be rebound on Controls and Keybinds.
Voice chat not working
If your microphone goes silent, the developers said a third-party VOIP outage was behind the problem and that "Toggling Voice Chat off and on in settings should fix it" (Dexerto, read Oct 26, 2026). Bulkhead's launch changelog fixed voice chat cutting out for good after a failed server join, improved its reliability under load and added a visible communication status, so you can see whether you are connected (Bulkhead, Sep 9, 2026). If toggling does not help, check that Windows lets the game use your microphone and that the right input device is chosen, then see Crashes and Errors. In the clip, from its August beta recap, Bulkhead names VoIP issues, with crashes, its number one priority.
Frequently asked questions
Does Wardogs have proximity chat? Yes. Wardogs has proximity voice chat that every nearby player hears, enemies from the other two teams included, on K by default.
How do I talk to my squad in Wardogs? Hold J, Wardogs' default squad push-to-talk key, to speak only to your squad; K speaks to everyone nearby.
Can enemies hear you in Wardogs? Yes. Enemies hear everything you say on Wardogs' proximity chat, so PC Gamer advises using squad chat or team text chat for callouts near them.
Why is my mic not working in Wardogs? The Wardogs developers blamed a third-party VOIP outage and said toggling Voice Chat off and on in the settings should fix it; a launch fix also stopped voice dying after a failed server join.
What does the Loudspeaker do in Wardogs? The Wardogs Loudspeaker is a 200-supply buildable tower that projects your voice over long distances, which Bulkhead suggests using to "blast faction propaganda."
Sources
- WARDOGS - TOP QUESTIONS, Bulkhead (Steam news), Feb 18, 2026
- WARDOGS is coming to Steam Early Access on 10 September, Team17 (Games Press), Aug 11, 2026
- Loudspeaker, Dexerto, Sep 4, 2026 (read Oct 26, 2026)
- M18 Signal Grenade: Landing Zone, Dexerto, Sep 4, 2026 (read Oct 26, 2026)
- Pre-Load Live & Season 1 Changelog, Bulkhead (Steam news), Sep 9, 2026
- 10 beginner tips to not suck at Wardogs, PC Gamer (Morgan Park), Sep 10, 2026
- WARDOGS | Season 02 Patch Notes, Bulkhead (Steam news), Oct 14, 2026
- Best Wardogs keyboard and mouse settings & keybinds, Dexerto, undated, read Oct 26, 2026
- Best Wardogs audio settings, Dexerto, undated, read Oct 26, 2026
- How to fix Wardogs mic not working, Dexerto, undated, read Oct 26, 2026
- WARDOGS on Steam, Steam, read Oct 26, 2026
- WARDOGS | Game Mode Explained, Bulkhead, Feb 12, 2026 (video)
- WARDOGS | 10 Reasons NOT to Buy, Bulkhead, Aug 11, 2026 (video)
- WARDOGS Gameplay and Impressions..., jackfrags, Aug 11, 2026 (video)
- WARDOGS | Beta Recap & Next Steps, Bulkhead, Aug 24, 2026 (video)
- WARDOGS Pro Tips and Tricks..., jackfrags, Sep 10, 2026 (video)
Moments
WARDOGS | 10 Reasons NOT to Buy
BULKHEAD
WARDOGS | Game Mode Explained
BULKHEAD
WARDOGS Pro Tips and Tricks...
jackfrags
WARDOGS Gameplay and Impressions...
jackfrags
WARDOGS | Beta Recap & Next Steps
BULKHEAD
Related
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FactionsWardogs has three factions: Lonestar (blue), a Western paramilitary company; Valkyra (red), out to restore the Soviet People's Republic; and Manticore (green), Persia's shadow army. They play the same, but blue has lost more often since the betas, and Season 2's one-day Lonestar bonus did not fix it.
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AchievementsWardogs has 10 Steam achievements, one of them hidden ("That was rude": punch Kristopher in the Tutorial). "Top Dog" asks you to finish a match as the top cash earner across all three teams; "Big Spender" ($100,000 on one loadout) is the rarest, held by 0.0% of players on Oct 26, 2026.
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Gold Bars and the Gold MarketGold Bars are Wardogs' endgame currency: you get them by exchanging in-game cash, and leftover cash turns into Gold Bars at the end of a season, so they survive wipes. They are spent on camos in the Gold Market, which unlocks at Wardog level 35 for $150,000 in Season 2. Bulkhead has pledged never to sell cash, Gold Bars or camos for real money.
See also
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Servers and MatchmakingWardogs has no matchmaking button: you pick a match from a server browser, through the Deploy screen's Official, Community, Infantry Mode and Low-Level choices. Official servers have kicked high-ping players since Season 2, with a 175 ms maximum since Oct 21, 2026, and limited servers are planned.
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Building and FortificationsIn Wardogs you build with a hammer and build supplies ($10 each), mostly inside a Forward Operating Base ($7,500), whose radius lets your team build and keeps enemies from building. In Season 2 a Bremmer wall costs 32 supplies for 6,500 health, a mortar 600, a Talon SAM 650 and a Vanguard CIWS 1,200.
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Best SettingsThe guides agree on the core of a Wardogs setup for frame rate and visibility: Motion Blur, Depth of Field, Lens Flare and Bloom off, shadows and reflections at their lowest, view distance kept high, Nvidia Reflex on and an upscaler (DLSS or FSR) for frames. They disagree on VSync and on Reflections (Potato or Low).
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Controls and KeybindsWardogs' default PC keys are W, A, S and D to move, Left Shift to sprint and hold breath, F to interact, R to reload, Tab for the inventory, M for the map, J for squad push-to-talk and K for proximity push-to-talk. Helicopters fly on Shift or Space and Ctrl (sources differ). Gamepads work, with an aim assist slider since Season 2, though Steam lists no controller support.