What's it like starting WARDOGS Season 02 from zero?

By George In The Meta · 16 Oct 2026

Short answer: starting WARDOGS Season 02 from zero means the tutorial again, $10,000 in cash, a 50% "new recruit" discount until level 9, and almost none of the new Season 02 kit unlocked. The way round that is other players: on my first server, people were already selling the new TCX-SPR rifle out of supply crates at spawn.

This is from my first games of Season 02 on 16 October, the day after launch, starting fresh after the wipe like everyone else.

Do you have to do the WARDOGS tutorial again in Season 02?

Yes. The tutorial is forced on your first load of Season 02, after the wipe. I cancelled the game while the tutorial was still loading. After that, the menu let me go straight to deploy into a real match.

WARDOGS Season 02 loading screen: Area of Operations, Tutorial, with a close button bottom right — The tutorial loading screen on first launch of Season 02. Cancelling here is how I got out. Tap to enlarge.

What is the WARDOGS new recruit discount?

Everything in the vendors is half price until level 9. The equipment vendor shows a "New recruit discount, -50%, expires: LVL 9" box, so the PP-19 Bizon, which the patch notes price at $1,000, cost me $500. I couldn't find the discount in BULKHEAD's Season 02 patch notes, so this is from the game itself on 16 October.

WARDOGS equipment vendor with the PP-19 Bizon at $500 and a New recruit discount -50% expires level 9 box — The PP-19 Bizon at $500, with the new recruit discount box bottom right. Tap to enlarge.

What can you buy with $10,000 at the start of Season 02?

Not a lot, but the discount stretches it. You start Season 02 with $10,000. The PP-19 Bizon is unlocked by default this season, per the patch notes, so I picked it up for Medic, and it comes with a grip. The AK74 is also unlocked by default for Assault.

How do you get the new Season 02 guns before you unlock them?

Buy the new Season 02 guns from other players. Supply crates let you sell items to your teammates: you buy a crate, fill it with gear, set a markup, take it to the zone and deploy it. On my first server, a teammate's crate at spawn already had two TCX-SPR rifles in it at $2,000 each, with a 25% markup.

That price adds up. The TCX-SPR is $3,200 in the patch notes; half that with the recruit discount is $1,600, and 25% on top is $2,000. Unlocking it yourself takes level 20 and $100,000.

WARDOGS supply crate at spawn selling two TCX-SPR rifles at $2,000 each with a 25% markup — A teammate's supply crate at spawn: two TCX-SPRs at $2,000 each. Chat blurred. Tap to enlarge.

The game explains supply crates itself, as an "advanced mechanic": purchase a crate (no refunds), buy the items you want to sell into it, confirm your markup before leaving the safe zone, drive to the control zone, deploy the crate, and teammates buy from it.

WARDOGS logistics vendor explaining supply crates: buy a crate, fill it, set a markup, deploy it in the zone, teammates buy — The in-game explanation of supply crates in the logistics vendor. Tap to enlarge.

What's locked at the start of Season 02?

Nearly all the new kit, per the Season 02 patch notes:

New in Season 02	Unlocks at	Unlock cost
PP-19 Bizon	Unlocked by default
Molotov	Level 13	$25,000
Wolf-110	Driver 8	$50,000
Wolf-110 with M2 Browning	Driver 16	$125,000
TCX-SPR	Level 20	$100,000
T-72B3	Driver 20	$250,000
M14	Level 25	$100,000
Flakpanzer Gepard	Driver 25	$300,000
Evo-3 Ultra	Support 30	$200,000

WARDOGS vehicle vendor, tank tab: T-72B3 locked at Driver level 20, Flakpanzer Gepard at Driver 25, L2A6 at Driver 35 — The tank tab on day two: the T-72B3, the Gepard and the L2A6, all locked. Tap to enlarge.

Is money a problem in WARDOGS Season 02?

No, money isn't a problem in WARDOGS Season 02. By the end of 16 October, maybe my fourth or fifth game of the season, I'd got a bit higher in the Driver tree (Driver 12, Wardog 18) and had $77,000 in the bank, with all these vehicles ready to unlock. That's from the same player who was poor as heck after spending $35,000 on the Ural a few hours earlier.

WARDOGS Season 02 vehicle vendor at full price: Bobcat $500, Kodiak $2,500, Ural $5,000, with the Dune Buggy, Kodiak Pickup, Kodiak M249 and Wolf-110 ready to unlock — The vehicle vendor once the recruit discount has gone: a Ural is $5,000 to buy, and four vehicles are ready to unlock. Tap to enlarge.

I could unlock the Wolf-110 for $50,000 if I wanted to, but I'm not gonna lie, a Land Rover with no walls doesn't seem appealing. It's got an average max speed, and it doesn't have any crates.

What am I doing first in Season 02?

First in Season 02, I'm levelling Driver. I'm running supplies in the Kodiak, the starting truck ($1,250 with the recruit discount), and working my way back towards the Ural.

It stacks up into three tracks at once. I take building supplies out of my own supply crate, which I've set to a zero markup so they're free to me, and deposit them into the FOB. That gives me builder points on top of the Driver points for driving and, I think, for delivering the crate in the first place. And the Bizon is there for Medic, if I ever see anyone that needs shooting.

You also get paid for closing FOB doors now. The patch notes list it as a new friendly FOB door closed reward of $75; I got the pop-up once, and it seems to be on a cooldown, because I couldn't get it to come up again straight away. Later that day, after driving back out through a FOB, the feed showed two door closes back to back: $75, then $38, so a second close straight after seems to pay about half. It's cash only: there's no XP line for the door, just for the supplies I'd delivered (30 Driver XP).

WARDOGS Season 02: a closed FOB door, the feed top right showing Supplies delivered 30XP, FOB door closed +$75 and FOB door closed +$38 — Closing the FOB door: $75, then $38 for the second close. Kill feed blurred. Tap to enlarge.

After one round at Driver 3, the Ural was unlocked by level, but the unlock itself costs $35,000 and I had $8,789, so that's what I'm saving for. Once you own it, the patch notes put each Ural Defender at $7,200, which shows as $3,600 with the recruit discount.

WARDOGS Season 02 vehicle vendor at Driver 3: Ural unlock $35,000, Bobcat and Kodiak at -50%, and the Driver level for every land vehicle — The land vehicle vendor at Driver 3: the Ural wants $35,000 to unlock, and every other vehicle shows its Driver level. Tap to enlarge.

The same screen lists the Driver level for every land vehicle in Season 02: the Kodiak with the M249 at 6, the Wolf-110 at 8, the Dune Buggy at 9, the Kodiak Pickup at 10, the Humvee at 14, the Ural Defender at 15, the Wolf-110 with the M2 at 16, the T-72B3 at 20, the Ural Defender with the M249 at 22, the Humvee with the M249 at 24, the Gepard at 25 and the Humvee with the minigun at 30.

Can you be poor at the start of Season 02?

I don't think you can be poor at the start of Season 02. By this point I'd already made my initial investment back and was $1,000 up. I don't think I'm going to be rich or growing quickly, but I can't see myself ever being in the state some people claim, with no money left at all and needing others to give them stuff.

My first full round shows why. We came second, and the end screen paid $400 for "2nd place + contribution". Across the round I spent $8,865, earned $9,185 and got $175 refunded, and the game put my total profit at $129. That round also took me to Driver 3 (1,400 of 3,000 XP towards the next level) and Wardog 3, with 110 Support XP on the side.

WARDOGS end of round screen: Defeat, second place, cash spent $8,865, cash earned $9,185, total profit $129, promoted to Driver level 3 — End of my first Season 02 round: second place, $129 profit, Driver 3. Chat blurred. Tap to enlarge.

WARDOGS first-person view holding the PP-19 Bizon next to the Kodiak pickup in the rain — The Bizon and the Kodiak, on a wet first day. Chat and names blurred. Tap to enlarge.

Where did the rest of this page go?

This page started as a running log of my first Season 02 days and got too long, so the rest now has its own pages:

Driver XP from repairs, refuels, round trips, the spawn vehicle and found vehicles: what gives Driver XP in WARDOGS Season 02?
Locked pallets, the fuel pallet test and the Ural dropping pallets over its cab: why can't I buy pallets in WARDOGS?
The day-two T-72 and tanks in general: are tanks overpowered in WARDOGS Season 02?