WARDOGS Patch Notes: Season 2 Update and Balance

Mechanics and patch telemetry reflect community-verified testing and official patch data.

Season 02: Full Patch Notes & Balance Matrix (October 15, 2026)

Deployed on October 15, 2026, Season 02 introduces four new firearms, four combat vehicles, three fortifications, an environmental dynamic rain system with server-synced audio masking, and a comprehensive overhaul of weapon calibres, buildable supply costs, and role progression requirements.

1. Calibre Base Damage Reductions

Base damage across heavy and medium rifle calibres has been reduced across all infantry and mounted weapons to normalize engagement durations and eliminate sudden one-shot burst deaths.

Calibre Round	Base Damage Reduction	Affected Weapon Platforms
.308 Winchester	-25% base damage	M14, Evo-3 Ultra, BMR-308
7.62x54mmR	-20% base damage	Mosin, SVD, SV98
7.62x39mm	-19% base damage	TCX-SPR, AK74, Galil
.50 Cal	-16% base damage	AMR 50, mounted M2 Browning turrets

2. New Weapons & Attachment Pricing

Weapon / Attachment	Type	Vendor Price	Unlock Position
PP-19 Bizon	9x19mm SMG	$1,000	Medic Level 1 (Default)
PP-19 Bizon 53 RND Magazine	Helical Magazine	$200	Medic Level 1 (Default)
TCX-SPR	7.62x39mm Assault Rifle	$3,200	Assault Level 20 ($100k)
TCX-SPR 28 RND Magazine	Standard Magazine	$50	Assault Level 20
Evo-3 Ultra	.308 Win LMG	$7,250	Support Level 30 ($200k)
Evolys 50 RND Box	Drum Magazine	$110	Support Level 30
M14	.308 Win Marksman Rifle	$7,400	Recon Level 25 ($100k)
M14 10 RND Magazine	Box Magazine	$60	Recon Level 25
M14 20 RND Magazine	Extended Magazine	$110	Recon Level 31 ($27.5k)
M14 30 RND Magazine	High-Cap Magazine	$180	Recon Level 36 ($50k)
Molotov Cocktail	Incendiary Gear	$340	Assault Level 13 ($25k)
Infrared Range Finder	Optic Gear (80s battery)	$3,200	Recon Unlock ($25k)
Level 3 Helmet	Protective Headgear	$2,000	WARDOG Level 70
Level 4 Helmet	Heavy Headgear	$4,500	WARDOG Level 70

Plan out customized squad requisitions with our interactive Loadout Builder.

3. New Combat Vehicles & Destroy Rewards

Vehicle	Class	Vendor Price	Destroyed Reward	Handling Notes
Wolf-110	Light Transport	$2,200	$450	Rapid 4-seat wheeled deployment
Wolf-110 [M2 Browning]	Armed Transport	$7,800	$3,900	Ring-mounted heavy machine gun
Flakpanzer Gepard	Anti-Air Vehicle	$14,000	$7,000	Twin rapid autocannons vs air targets
T-72B3	Main Battle Tank	$16,000	$8,000	Heavy armor, fuel-efficient tank

Navigate vehicle routes and resupply FOBs using our Interactive Map.

4. Buildable Fortifications & Supply Rebalance

Buildable Structure	Previous Cost	Season 2 Cost	Destruction Reward	Rebalance Details
L81 Mortar	150 supplies	600 supplies	$650	Munition restock increased 75 to 150 supplies; new drop firing animation
Talon 9K-SAM	1,000 supplies	650 supplies	$650	Reload time 2s to 5s; munition restock 50 to 200 supplies
Drill Rig	1,500 min fuel	2,000 min fuel	None	Max uptime reduced 375s to 300s; max fuel capacity 7,500 to 10,000
MG Nest	New Structure	650 supplies	$650	Manned M2 Browning fortified position
Large Shelter	New Structure	250 supplies	$250	Heavy overhead metal rain cover
Wooden Step	New Structure	15 supplies	$15	Rapid low-cost parapet mounting step
Gate	85 supplies	200 supplies	$200	Increased gate durability

Calculate firing coordinates and trajectory arcs for the updated L81 Mortar using our Artillery Calculator.

5. Vendor Price Adjustments & Reductions

• AK74: Decreased from $1,600 to $800 (now unlocked by default for Assault).
• L2A6 Main Battle Tank: Increased from $14,000 to $22,000.
• Havoc Attack Helicopter: Increased from $18,000 to $28,000.
• Little Bird Minigun (AH-6M): Increased from $7,000 to $12,000.
• Level 3 Armor: Increased from $2,000 to $2,500.
• Level 4 Armor: Increased from $4,000 to $5,000.
• Basic Parachute: Increased from $100 to $500.
• Sport Parachute: Decreased from $1,000 to $700.

6. Progression Acceleration: Levels 10 to 20 Speedup

To eliminate early-career grind bottlenecks, total XP required for career progression between levels 10 and 20 has been reduced by up to 55%:

• Level 10: Total XP required reduced from 35,000 to 25,000 (29% quicker).
• Level 15: Total XP required reduced from 110,000 to 54,750 (50% quicker).
• Level 20: Total XP required reduced from 250,000 to 111,500 (55% quicker).

7. Vehicle Physics & Quality of Life Fixes

• Vehicle Inventories: Purchased vehicle inventories default to private for the driver and squad, preventing theft.
• Tracked Vehicle Physics: Tanks feel weightier, with reduced floatiness over ridges and reduced bounce upon landing.
• Humvee Dynamics: Handling retuned with slower acceleration to top speed and superior torque for hill climbing.
• Spawn Vehicle Protection: Vanguard CIWS damage against Spawn Vehicles lowered, requiring 2.25x longer to kill.

IR Goggles & CIWS Balance Hotfix (October 2, 2026)

Deployed as a live server-side update (Steam Announcement GID 1845383656386801, no client download required), the October 2 balance hotfix addresses two major Early Access pain points: thermal/IR spotting dominance and Havoc attack helicopter spawn-camping around faction bases.

Target System	Previous Behavior	October 2 Hotfix Change	Tactical Impact
IR Rangefinders (Vendor)	Purchasable at vendor	Disabled in vendor until Season 02	Existing owners keep theirs in inventory; Season 02 adds battery requirement
Base CIWS vs. Havoc Gunship	12 seconds time-to-kill	Buffed to 6 seconds time-to-kill	Cuts Havoc base-strafe survival window in half

Update 0.1.2: Minor Patch, WD-L020 Fix & RCON (September 30, 2026)

Released on September 30, 2026 (Steam Announcement GID 1845383656376490), Update 0.1.2 resolves the critical Windows 11 startup crash, overhauls server selection for new recruits, expands Community Server administration, and closes several vehicle and economy exploits.

1. Windows 11 Crash Fix & New DEPLOY UX Flow

• Fixed WD-L020 Crash Error: Resolved the startup crash that occurred after installing Windows 11 update KB5124010.
• New DEPLOY UX Flow: Added a streamlined front-end deployment screen to help players choose between Official, Community, Infantry Mode, and Low-Level servers.

2. Community Server & RCON Improvements

• Scheduled Restarts: Server operators can now configure automated scheduled server restarts to maintain tick health.
• RCON Security & Validation: Added AllowedHosts whitelisting for RCON connections, capped RCON broadcast message lengths, and implemented strict ServerImageURL validation.

3. Anti-Exploit Economy & Vehicle Combat Fixes

• Server-Authoritative Revives: Made revive validity checks strictly server-authoritative to block XP and cash farming scripts.
• FOB & Buildable Reward Scaling: Capped vehicle fly-through rewards, scaled buildable destruction rewards proportionally with actual build progress, and reduced cash/XP rewards for depositing supply pallets into a Forward Operating Base (FOB) located outside the active Control Zone.
• Vehicle Combat & Throwables: Disabled throwing grenades, smoke, or C4 from enclosed vehicle seats; fixed the Havoc helicopter taking abnormally increased damage from 20mm and 30mm autocannon fire; and fixed buildable critical spots not consistently reducing time to destroy.

Patch 0.11: Server Browser Overhaul (September 14, 2026)

The September 14 maintenance patch addresses the most urgent community feedback: the server browser. WARDOGS hit 400,000 peak concurrent users at launch, and the server infrastructure struggled to keep pace.

Server Browser Changes

Change	Details
Split browsers	Front end now has separate Community and Official server browsers
Official filtering	Removed unnecessary filters from Official Servers (no modified game modes yet)
Community filtering	Improved filter reliability and added text-based search
Server ID persistence	Community Server IDs now persist between matches and restarts
Quick bar	Added Show Empty/Full toggle to browser quick bar
Host button	Updated to direct to the correct hosting location
Server naming	Enforced alphabetical ordering regardless of special characters; max one space allowed

Community Server Cash Bonus

As an apology for the poor launch server experience, community servers offer a bonus 5% End of Match cash bonus for one week following the patch. Players looking to grind faster should prioritize community servers.

Cash and XP Reset

All player cash and XP have been reset to zero as part of this stabilization patch.

Bug Fixes

• Multiple cash exploits patched
• Additional GPU crash fixes
• Increased server capacity in the Asian region

Upcoming Features In Pipeline

These features are not yet in the patch but are confirmed as in-development priorities:

• Community server favouriting
• Tiered priority queues for Community servers
• Message of the Day prompt
• Improved warmup activities
• AFK kicking during seeding disabling
• Team switching controls

Launch Stability Hotfix #1 (September 10, 2026)

Released shortly after the Early Access launch, this hotfix required all logged-in players to close WARDOGS and restart the game with a forced client update.

Issue Fixed	Details
Server join failures	Players unable to join servers after queuing
Unexpected kicks	Players being kicked from servers during active play
Login queue times	Extended queue durations causing long waits

After installing the update, all players returned to the login queue and were admitted in controlled batches as the developers confirmed server stability.

Season 1 Changelog: Progression & Economy (September 10, 2026)

The transition from beta testing into Early Access introduced the Season 1 Changelog. BULKHEAD executed a wide-ranging economy and progression rebalance based on server scale telemetry gathered during the Open Beta.

Progression Curve Adjustments (Levels 6 to 50)

Telemetry showed squads unlocking endgame armaments too quickly. XP thresholds were adjusted: requirements below level 6 remain unchanged, while the curve steepens between levels 10 and 20 before flattening past level 35.

Career Level	Previous Beta XP	Season 1 XP	Impact
Level 6	8,750	9,250	Earliest curve adjustment
Level 10	25,000	35,000	Early-game specialization gate
Level 15	54,750	110,000	Mid-tier progression gate
Level 20	111,500	250,000	Median player target (20-25 hours)
Level 25	192,000	325,000	Intermediate squad veteran tier
Level 30	293,750	400,000	Advanced equipment unlock tier
Level 35	416,500	500,000	Progression curve flattening point
Level 40	551,250	650,000	Late-career veteran bracket
Level 45	689,500	800,000	High-end competitive tier
Level 50	838,000	1,000,000	Elite dedication benchmark (top 5%)

Requisition & Vendor Price Adjustments

Each player starts with $10,000 in-match. Key pricing changes:

Equipment	Beta Price	Season 1 Price	Role
Forward Operating Base	$2,500	$7,500	Tactical squad forward spawn
Large Hammer (Vendor)	$1,600	$2,400	Basic construction tool
Artillery Tank (Career)	$400,000	$500,000	Long-range bombardment
Recon 6-10x MRAD Scope	$25,000	$40,000	Precision long-distance optics
Medium Hammer (Support)	$10,000	$25,000	Combat engineer building tool
Large Hammer (Support)	$25,000	$75,000	Heavy fortification kit
Little Bird w/ Miniguns	$25,000	$50,000	Close air support gunship

Scoring & Unlock Shifts

Parameter	Beta Setting	Season 1 Setting
Kill via Air Vehicle	300 XP	250 XP
Supply Crate Sold Under $75	25 XP	1 XP
Artillery Unlock	Prior Tier	Career Level 90
Heavy Tank Unlock	Prior Tier	Driver Level 35

Vehicle & Loadout Changes

• Z20 Lakota: Balance pass fixing sluggish pitch, chase camera rattle reduced by 6 dB
• Deployables: 155mm, 122mm, and flare deployables now occupy more loadout space
• Supply Drops: Pilot crate requisitions require coordinated team funding

Launch Period Milestones

Milestone	Date
All-time peak concurrency (SteamDB)	September 13, 2026
Two million copies sold announced (official Steam news)	September 15, 2026

WARDOGS passed 400,000 concurrent users at launch and reached an all-time peak of 428K on September 13 per SteamDB. On September 15, BULKHEAD announced two million copies sold directly on the official WARDOGS Steam news feed, followed by Update 0.1.2 on September 30 and the IR Goggles & CIWS Balance Hotfix on October 2, 2026.

Development Timeline

Event	Date
Closed Beta #2	September 1, 2026
Open Beta	September 5, 2026
Early Access Launch	September 10, 2026
Launch Stability Hotfix #1	September 10, 2026
All-time peak concurrency (SteamDB)	September 13, 2026
Patch 0.11	September 14, 2026
Two million copies sold announced	September 15, 2026
Update 0.1.2 (Minor Patch)	September 30, 2026
IR Goggles & CIWS Balance Hotfix	October 2, 2026

Related Guides

• WARDOGS Best Loadouts for squad loadout budgeting within the updated economy.
• WARDOGS Weapons Guide for primary weapon choices following early leveling paths.
• WARDOGS Server Hosting for community server setup following the browser overhaul.
• WARDOGS How To Play for the beginner loop after the Season 1 economy rebalance.
• WARDOGS Release Date, Price & Platforms for what the Early Access edition costs and which hardware it supports.
• WARDOGS Season 2 for the roadmap window, cut content and the Family Sharing anti-cheat lockdown.