WARDOGS · Economy · Loadouts

WARDOGS Loadouts Guide: 8 Builds Priced Per Spawn (Season 2)

Eight WARDOGS loadouts priced at Season 2 vendor prices — from a free-rifle starter to an armoured assault kit, a medic, a spotter, a builder, an anti-vehicle kit and a supply run — with the break-even rule, the armour and helmet trade-offs and when to downgrade.

Updated 2026-11-08 · 12 min read · by the BoostPirate crew

Kit is lost on death
L4 armour: 60% reduction
AK74 kit from $1,000
Assault kill bonus $2,000

Loadouts · priced per life

Same rifle slot, eight times the bill.

Everything you spawn with is bought from your bank and lost when you die. Two Assault receipts at Season 2 vendor prices — and how many $2,000 kill bonuses each build needs to pay for itself.

Budget AKWARDOGS spawn vendor · Season 2 prices

AK74 + 30 RND$800
Bandage*$200

PER LIFE$1,000

Paid back by 1 assault-weapon kill at $2,000 each — or the same cash from pallets, drills and hacks.

Pays in 1 kill

Armoured assaultWARDOGS spawn vendor · Season 2 prices

TCX-SPR$3,200
Level 3 helmet$2,000
Level 3 armour$2,500
Bandage*$200

PER LIFE$7,900

Paid back by 4 assault-weapon kills at $2,000 each — or the same cash from pallets, drills and hacks.

Needs 4 kills

Break-even meter · assault-weapon kill bonuses per spawn

Free-rifle starter

$200

Budget AK

$1,000

Armoured assault

$7,900

Field medic

$3,425

Recon spotter

$2,830

Support builder

$4,400

Anti-vehicle

$2,800

Supply run

$3,400

* Season 1 community price the Season 2 notes did not restate. Other prices: BULKHEAD's Season 02 patch notes (14 Oct 2026). The kill bonus is a yardstick — Medic, Support and Driver builds earn from other actions. Checked 8 November 2026.

A WARDOGS loadout is a shopping list. When you spawn you buy every piece of it from your own cash bank, and when you die all of it is gone — the unlocks stay, the purchase doesn't. Your bank carries from match to match for the whole season, so the question every loadout has to answer is simple: does one life with this kit usually earn more than the kit cost? This guide prices eight builds at BULKHEAD's Season 2 vendor prices, from a free-rifle starter to an armoured assault kit, a medic, a spotter, a builder, an anti-vehicle kit and a supply run, then covers the armour trade-offs, gear worth paying for and when to spawn cheaper. Where a price is a Season 1 figure the Season 2 notes didn't restate, it's marked.

Short answer: Keep a spawn below what one of your lives earns. In Season 2 the AK74 is unlocked by default and costs $800, so a rifle-and-bandage kit is $1,000 — one $2,000 assault-weapon kill pays for two of them. A TCX-SPR with Level 3 helmet and armour is $7,900 and needs four kills. Medic ($3,425), Support ($4,400) and Driver supply runs ($3,400) earn from revives, building and deliveries instead. Add armour when your lives get longer, not when your bank gets bigger. Prices change with Season 3 on 12 November 2026.

Key takeaways

Kit is lost on death; the unlock and your earnings stay. Every spawn is a new purchase.
The AK74 halved to $800 and the assault kill bonus rose to $2,000 — the lowest-cost kit is also one of the best earners.
Armour got weaker and dearer: Level 3 now stops 50% ($2,500 armour, $2,000 helmet), Level 4 60% ($5,000, $4,500).
Role tools beat gun upgrades: the Medical Bag, Range Finder and hammer earn every life.
A team 40+ points behind second gets 20% off at vendors — the one time a bigger kit is cheaper.

How the spawn economy works

There are three moments in every life. At spawn you pay the vendor for each item you carry — weapons, armour, gear, a vehicle if you're driving. During the life you earn cash and XP for what your role does: Season 2 pays $2,000 for a kill with an assault-archetype weapon, $1,250 for a supply pallet deployed in the Control Zone (plus $250 per consecutive pallet), $1,500 for capturing a hostile drill tower and $2,500 for hacking an enemy FOB, with $1,000 to every teammate in its radius. At death the kit is gone but every dollar the life earned is already in your bank. So the loadout's job isn't to win every fight — it's to keep the gap between what you spend at spawn and what you earn per life positive.

The WARDOGS spawn loop: buy the kit at spawn from your bank; earn cash and XP during the life from kills with assault-archetype weapons, supply deliveries and streaks, drill-tower captures, FOB hacks, destroyed vehicles and the Control Zone; at death the kit is lost but earnings stay; a team 40 or more points behind second place gets 20 percent off at vendors. Rule: keep a spawn below what one of your lives usually earns — **The loop every loadout lives in.** Rewards and the discount from BULKHEAD's Season 02 patch notes; the rule is ours.Graphic: BoostPirate

The break-even rule

BoostPirate's rule of thumb: divide the kit price by what one of your lives typically earns. Below one, the build makes money; above one, it's a luxury you fund from other lives. You don't need exact numbers — after an evening you know roughly how many kills or deliveries a life of yours brings. For Assault the yardstick is the kill bonus:

Kit price÷$2,000 per assault-weapon kill=Kills a life must get Budget AK: $1,000 ÷ $2,000 = half a kill. Armoured assault: $7,900 ÷ $2,000 ≈ four kills. If your lives average one or two kills, the armoured build loses money even when you top the scoreboard.

Zone play changes the maths in your favour. By Season 1 community tracking that the Season 2 notes didn't restate, holding the Control Zone pays about $160 every 22 seconds ($320 in a Hot Zone) and kills inside it pay five times the normal rate (ten in a Hot Zone). A kit that keeps you alive inside the zone earns while you stand there; the same kit at the zone's edge doesn't. Our free loadout planner does this sum for any kit and role.

Eight Season 2 builds, priced

Each card is one spawn at the Season 2 vendor. Items marked * are Season 1 community prices the Season 2 notes left alone; unlock gates and fees are in the notes under each card. Swap pieces freely — the totals are there so you can see what each change costs.

Free-rifle starter$200

assault · Learn the map without paying for it.

Bushmaster M17S^*$0
Bandage^*$200

Earns from: Anything — even one zone tick.
Use it for your first hour and every time your bank is nearly empty.

Budget AK$1,000

assault · The Season 2 default rifle at half its old price.

AK74 + 30 RND$800
Bandage^*$200

Earns from: One assault-weapon kill ($2,000) pays two spawns.
The workhorse: most of your Assault lives should look like this.

Armoured assault$7,900

assault · TCX-SPR with Level 3 helmet and armour.

TCX-SPR$3,200
Level 3 helmet$2,000
Level 3 armour$2,500
Bandage^*$200

Earns from: Four kill bonuses to break even.
Only for a squad that holds ground in the zone; never for a lone push.

Field medic$3,425

medic · Default Bizon, the bag and the resuscitator.

PP-19 Bizon$1,000
Medical Bag$1,800
Field Resuscitator$425
Bandage^*$200

Earns from: Revive XP, zone time, squad survival.
The Medical Bag needs Medic 14 ($50,000); before that, run Bizon and bandages.

Recon spotter$2,830

recon · Cheap rifle, real optics.

Scout Rifle TD$1,200
Binoculars$180
Range Finder$1,450

Earns from: Marked kills by your team (spotting paid ~30% less in S2).
Drop the Range Finder until Recon 8 ($25,000 access).

Support builder$4,400

support · A machine gun and the hammer.

PKM$4,100
Small hammer^*$100
Bandage^*$200

Earns from: Build and resupply XP all match.
Before Support 15 swap the PKM for the AK74 and keep the hammer.

Anti-vehicle$2,800

support · RPG-7 plus a rifle for everything else.

RPG-7$1,800
AK74 + 30 RND$800
Bandage^*$200

Earns from: A destroyed Humvee pays $600; a T-72B3 $8,000.
Spawn it when a tank or Gepard is on the zone, not by habit.

Supply run$3,400

driver · A Wolf-110 and one pallet into the zone.

Wolf-110$2,200
Supply pallet^*$400
AK74 + 30 RND$800

Earns from: Pallet $1,250 in the zone, +$250 per streak.
Needs Driver 8 for the Wolf-110 ($50,000) and Wardog 5 for the first pallet.

Two builds deserve a note. The field medic doesn't earn from kills at all — revives and heals pay its XP — so the useful measure is how many squadmates it keeps in the fight; BULKHEAD also raised the Medical Bag's durability from 100 to 150 in Season 2. The supply run is the money build: a $2,200 Wolf-110 with a pallet earns $1,250 the moment the pallet is deployed in the zone, +$250 more for each pallet in a streak — three pallet runs in one life (three $400 pallets) earn $4,500 against $4,200 spent, before any player deliveries. It needs Driver 8 for the Wolf-110 and Wardog 5 for the first pallet type.

A WARDOGS medic kneeling to revive a downed soldier in a muddy street while a tank rolls past — **The medic build pays in revives, not kills.** A $3,425 spawn that keeps a squad in the zone earns more over a match than a cheaper rifle that dies alone.Screenshot: BULKHEAD / Team17 via Steam

Armour and helmets: when they pay

Armour is the most expensive line on most receipts, and Season 2 made it a worse deal per dollar. Level 3 armour and helmets now reduce damage by 50% (was 55%), Level 4 by 60% (was 65%), while the prices went up:

Item	Damage reduction	Spawn price	Extra
Level 3 armour	~~55%~~ 50%	~~$2,000~~ $2,500	—
Level 3 helmet	~~55%~~ 50%	~~$1,500~~ $2,000	68% suppression resistance
Level 4 armour	~~65%~~ 60%	~~$4,000~~ $5,000	—
Level 4 helmet	~~65%~~ 60%	~~$3,000~~ $4,500	80% suppression resistance; muffled audio and proximity chat, narrower view, fogs when sprinting

A full Level 4 set is $9,500 — almost ten budget AK74 spawns — and the Level 4 helmet now muffles your hearing and proximity chat, narrows your view and fogs up when you sprint. BoostPirate's advice: Level 3 is the sensible ceiling for most lives, Level 4 is for a held position where you'll stand and fight for minutes. BULKHEAD's notes also list a Level 3 Helmet & Armor unlock on the Wardog track at level 70 (was 60), so check what your own vendor offers before you plan around it. The full breakdown is in the armour and helmets guide.

Gear worth paying for

Below the gun and the armour sits the gear, and Season 2 moved most of it. A few lines are worth knowing before you build:

OpticsBinoculars $180 · Range Finder $1,450

Both went up (from $75 and $400). The IR Range Finder is now $3,200; BULKHEAD's October hotfix said IR rangefinders would need batteries from Season 2.

CarryBackpacks got cheaper

Ruck $1,600 (was $2,400), Gunner + Sling $2,400 (was $3,500), Arsenal + 2 Slings $4,000 (was $5,000).

ParachutesBasic $500 · Sport $700

The basic one went up from $100; both open slower now and not at all below about 10 m.

BreachingHalligan Bar $885

Down from $1,100, seven uses (was five) and $100 per door breached, once per door.

UtilityMolotov $340

New at Assault 13. Cheap enough to carry every life once unlocked.

MedicalMedical Bag $1,800

Down from $2,000, Medic 14 ($50,000), with 150 durability.

Role by role: what to cut first

When the bank is tight, cut what your role doesn't earn from. BoostPirate's priorities per role:

AssaultCut armour before the rifle
The $800 AK74 earns the same kill bonus as a $3,200 TCX-SPR. Drop Level 3 first, the TCX-SPR second.
MedicNever cut the bag
The Bizon is free to unlock and $1,000 to spawn; the Medical Bag and resuscitator are what you're there for.
ReconCut the scope tier, keep the optics
A $1,200 Scout Rifle with binoculars still marks targets; the AMR 50 at $14,800 is never a default.
SupportCut the machine gun, keep the hammer
Building and resupply pay your XP; an AK74 instead of the PKM saves $3,300 a life.
DriverCut the vehicle size, not the pallet
A Wolf-110 ($2,200) delivers a pallet as well as a Humvee [M249] ($8,500).

When to spawn cheaper

Two deaths in a row with the same kit. The map or the fight is wrong for it; drop a tier until a life pays again.
Your bank is below ten spawns of your usual kit. Rebuild with the budget AK or a supply run.
You're crossing open ground to the zone. Spawn light, buy up from a friendly FOB or the next spawn.
An enemy tank or Gepard owns the zone. Swap armour for an RPG-7 ($1,800) — see the anti-vehicle guide.
The season ends in days. Cash converts to gold at the wipe; spend it on lives that earn, not on unlocks.

A WARDOGS soldier fires an RPG at a Humvee bursting through a wooden fence in a village — **Spawn for the threat that's there.** An anti-vehicle kit is $2,800 a life and earns nothing until a vehicle shows up — then a destroyed T-72B3 pays $8,000.Screenshot: BULKHEAD / Team17 via Steam

Discounts that change the maths

Season 2 added a comeback rule: any team at least 40 points behind second place gets 20% off at vendors, and seeding servers get their rewards and vendor discount once the match begins. On a losing team the armoured assault build drops from $7,900 to $6,320 — the one situation where buying up is cheaper than usual. Season 1's New Recruit rule, half-price vendors below Wardog level 9, isn't mentioned in the Season 2 notes, so check the vendor before you count on it. The vendors guide covers every shop and the Wager Vendor, and the weapons guide lists every gun's gate and spawn price.

Want the Medical Bag or the TCX-SPR sooner? We level any role in normal matches — Medic 1 → 14 is $32.25 today — and cash farming fills the bank for the spawns. Season 3 starts 12 November and resets both, so time it.

Sources

BULKHEAD — "WARDOGS | Season 02 Patch Notes" (Steam, 14 Oct 2026: vendor prices, armour and helmet changes, parachutes, Halligan, Medical Bag durability, rewards and streaks, the 20% vendor discount and seeding rule)
BULKHEAD — Season 1 changelog (10 Sep 2026) and Season 1 community tracking kept in our WARDOGS tables (starter rifle, bandage, small hammer, supply pallet; Control Zone ticks and multipliers; New Recruit rule) — marked as Season 1 above
BULKHEAD — "IR Goggles & CIWS Balance Hotfix" (Steam, early October 2026: IR rangefinders need batteries from Season 2)
BULKHEAD — "WARDOGS | Road to Season 3" (Steam, 6 Nov 2026: Season 3 on 12 November)
Checked 8 November 2026. The break-even rule and the role priorities are BoostPirate's advice, not BULKHEAD's.

Free: WARDOGS XP Calculator Pick a role and two levels — the Season 2 XP between them, the hours at your pace, and the booster timeline. Plus the loadout planner, Gold Exchange converter and season calendar.

All free tools: calculators, percentiles & season countdowns →

FAQ

Common questions

What is the best loadout in WARDOGS?

The one that pays for itself. Kit is bought every spawn and lost on death, so a $1,000 AK74 kit that dies twice costs less than one $7,900 armoured kit that dies once. BoostPirate's advice: start cheap, add armour only when you survive long enough to earn its price back.

Is Level 4 armour worth it in WARDOGS?

Only if you live long. Season 2 cut Level 4 armour and helmets from 65% to 60% damage reduction and raised the prices to $5,000 and $4,500; the Level 4 helmet also muffles audio and proximity chat, narrows your field of view and fogs while sprinting. Level 3 gives 50% for $2,500 and $2,000.

Do you lose your loadout when you die in WARDOGS?

Yes. Everything you bought for that spawn is gone when you die; the unlock stays, so you can buy the item again at the next spawn. Your cash bank carries between matches until the season ends.

How do I make my loadout pay for itself?

Count what one life usually earns and keep the kit below it. Season 2 pays $2,000 for a kill with an assault-archetype weapon, $1,250 for a supply pallet deployed in the zone, $1,500 for a drill-tower capture and $2,500 for a FOB hack. A team 40 or more points behind second place also gets 20% off at the vendor.

Is there a loadout planner for WARDOGS?

Yes — our free WARDOGS Loadout & Unlock Planner prices a spawn from the Season 2 vendor list and compares it with what your role earns. It uses the same prices as this guide.

Ready to level up?

Class Leveling

Any role from your level to your target — Assault, Medic, Recon, Support, Driver or Pilot.

from $2.40 / levelLive price →

Medic Leveling

MP5 at 4, Medical Bag at 14, Defibrillator at 22 — levelled in a pro squad.

from $2.25 / levelLive price →

Cash Farming

A bank for unlock fees and spawns, priced per 100K.

from $4.10 / 100KLive price →

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