DATABASE
The three WARDOGS factions
VALKYRA, LONESTAR and MANTICORE, their official colours, and the removed Season 02 Lonestar bonus experiment.
Filters
How to read evidence grades
A row is graded by its weakest published cell — a sparse row can grade higher than a fuller one that publishes a less-confirmed value.
Each published value below is underlined in its own grade’s colour, so a row’s cells can disagree with the row chip above them.
| Name | Colour | Who they are, in BULKHEAD's words | Branded item in the Supporter Pack | In the field | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LONESTAR | Blue (Publisher stated) | “The heavy-hitters in the Western paramilitary world” (Publisher stated) | Lonestar-branded Bushmaster camo (Publisher stated) | Blue armband (Confirmed) | Confirmed |
| MANTICORE | Green (Publisher stated) | “The Kingdom of Persia, Tehran’s shadow army” (Publisher stated) | Manticore-branded KH-2002 camo (Publisher stated) | Green armband (Confirmed) | Confirmed |
| VALKYRA | Red (Publisher stated) | “Aims to return the Soviet People’s Republic to greatness” (Publisher stated) | Valkyra-branded A-91 rifle camo (Publisher stated) | Red armband (Confirmed) | Confirmed |
Evidence and context
Three factions, one per team, all named in BULKHEAD's own text. Season 02 launched with less saturated Lonestar uniforms and a blue-team cash/XP experiment; BULKHEAD removed the 5% cash and 2.5% XP modifiers later on launch day. A separate 20% vendor discount applies to any team at least 40 points behind second place and was not named for removal.
The receipt
Missing data and verification limits
- What CONTROL: means exactly
- We previously read VALKYRA and LONESTAR as Control Zone names. The Supporter Pack listing shows all three are factions, so the HUD line most likely names the faction holding the zone. Nothing published states it outright, so the reading stays labelled.
- Faction differences
- Season 02 introduced temporary Lonestar cash/XP modifiers, desaturated uniforms and moved Bakurani spawns. BULKHEAD later disclosed and removed the 5% cash / 2.5% XP experiment. No faction-exclusive equipment or ability is published.
- Team assignment
- Nothing published explains how players are placed into one of the three.
What changes for Lonestar in Season 02?
BULKHEAD said Lonestar had a notably lower win rate and cited uniform visibility, spawn positions and player sentiment around the blue team. Season 02 moved all faction spawns on Bakurani, made Lonestar uniforms less saturated and launched a blue-team cash/XP experiment.
At 20:58 UTC on 15 October, BULKHEAD said it was removing that experiment after progression-focused players concentrated on blue; its video disclosed the removed values as 5% cash and 2.5% XP. The separate 20% vendor discount for whichever team is at least 40 points behind second place applies to all factions and was not named for removal.
Sources: BULKHEAD · WARDOGS Season 02 Preview, 9 October 2026; @WARDOGS · Season 02 backend balance update, 15 October 2026.
How many factions are in WARDOGS, and do they play differently?
Three, one per team. All three — VALKYRA, LONESTAR and MANTICORE — are named in BULKHEAD’s own Supporter Pack listing, which is why they are on this page at all rather than read off a screenshot and guessed at.
Season 02 briefly added a temporary cash/XP asymmetry for Lonestar, then BULKHEAD removed it later on launch day. Any trailing faction can still qualify for the separate 20% vendor discount. Nothing published assigns exclusive weapons, vehicles or abilities to a faction.
How a player ends up in one of the three is also unpublished. There is no stated team-assignment rule — no pick screen described, no balancing behaviour, nothing. If you are choosing a faction expecting it to change how you play, there is currently no published basis for that choice.
Sources: Steam · WARDOGS – Supporter Pack store listing; Official WARDOGS screenshots on the Steam store page.
Each row above is graded by how well it is evidenced, not by how complete it is — see how we source and grade for what a grade means and how it is checked. For the mechanics these figures sit inside, see Your first match, Reload & ammunition, Vehicles & logistics and Ammo supply & resupply.
Where these rows came from
- @WARDOGS · Season 02 backend balance update, 15 October 2026 — Published at 20:58:48 UTC with a 10:38 studio video. BULKHEAD says it is removing the blue-team cash/XP experiment, applying a temporary Driver-progression correction and fixing an abused Driver exploit. The video names the removed modifiers as 5% cash and 2.5% XP, says Driver had progressed around 40–50% faster than the other role tracks in its data, and previews later Limited Mode/‘Prim’ servers without high-end weapons and vehicles. No client download, downtime or completion time is published. Read 2026-10-15.
- BULKHEAD · WARDOGS Season 02 Preview, 9 October 2026 — Published through Steam at 16:00:14 UTC (Steam News API gid 1846018067933823). The complete announcement names four weapons, a Molotov, four vehicles, three buildables, rain behaviour, an experimental Wager Vendor, headline balance work and Season 02-only Lonestar bonuses. It repeats the 15 October release date, says full balance notes and a maintenance window will follow early the next week, and gives no start time, patch number, item prices, unlocks or numeric combat values beyond a 20% losing-team vendor discount that activates at least 40 points behind second place. Read 2026-10-09.
- Steam · WARDOGS – Supporter Pack store listing — BULKHEAD’s own listing for the cosmetic pack. On 17 September the US store sold it separately for $12.99 and also listed the $49.99 Supporter Edition bundle; the listing is also where the three faction names, three weapon names and the Littlebird helicopter are published in official text. Read 2026-09-17.
- Official WARDOGS screenshots on the Steam store page — Publisher-published media. Used for what is legible on screen — the HUD, the CONTROL line naming a faction, two weapon slugs — and for nothing that is not. Read 2026-10-10.
From here
What the HUD does with those three names
The Supporter Pack tells you who they are. The scoreboard is where you'll actually meet them.
You are here
You have just read who VALKYRA, LONESTAR and MANTICORE are, and which weapon camo the Supporter Pack brands for each
- Read the CONTROL: line on your own HUDThat line under the scoreboard almost certainly names whichever faction currently holds the zone — a live readout, not a map label.
- Find the weapons their camos are branded onVALKYRA's camo brands the A-91, LONESTAR's the Bushmaster M17S, MANTICORE's the KH-2002 — three of the 34 weapons in the full table.
- See what actually differs between one match and the nextSeason 1 names Career, Recon, Medic, Support, Pilot and Driver. Roles are player-defined; progression requirements are separate from faction identity.