WARDOGS Season 2: what is confirmed so far

When Season 2 went live

BULKHEAD dated Season 02 for 15 October. Maintenance began at 08:00 UTC, but at 09:39 BULKHEAD said the window was being extended and existing servers would restart across regions. WARDOGS Updates announced Season 02 live and services back online at 10:00 UTC. No patch number or technical cause for the overrun was given.

Read the Season 02 announcement on Steam →

The 9 October preview is now published

At 16:00 UTC on 9 October, BULKHEAD published the complete Season 02 Preview on Steam alongside its Road to Season 02 devlog. The written preview names the content below; the video separately confirms that the end of Season 1 brings the first full progression reset. It was a preview: the full patch notes followed at 14:59 UTC on 14 October, and where the two differ the patch notes are the later word.

Read the complete Season 02 Preview →

Season 3 begins on 12 November; no reset hour is published

THE HOTZONE revised Season 02 from the earlier six-to-eight-week target to four or five weeks. A Steam review response by brammflakes, marked [developer], now says Season 3 has been brought forward to 12 November 2026 for a fresh start. It also says Limited Mode servers with no power weapons and no vehicles arrive with Season 3. The response gives no maintenance window, reset hour, patch notes or full Limited Mode rule set.

Read the developer response on Steam →

24 October: the first official podcast publishes the wipe data

THE HOTZONE Episode 1 — titled “The Wipe” in BULKHEAD’s feed — says retained top-quartile players progressed 2.4× faster than in Season 1. Driver participation rose from 9% to 44% on day one after the earlier tank unlock; fewer than 400 accounts used the Driver exploit. BULKHEAD says the current Career/role-track relationship is fundamentally broken and targets Q2 2027 for Intel. The later Steam developer response supplies the 12 November Season 3 date, but neither source publishes a new XP table or reset hour. The separate Season 3 preview vlog remains due in the week after 23 October.

Watch THE HOTZONE Episode 1 on BULKHEAD’s channel →

Read BULKHEAD’s 17 October progression response →

Four weapons, four vehicles, one throwable and three buildables

The preview names the TCX Spear assault rifle, M14 DMR, PP-19 Bizon SMG and Evo-3 Ultra LMG, supported by new attachments. The press conference adds that the Bizon becomes the default SMG and the Mosin is limited to its 3.5× PU scope rather than a 6× option; broader Gunsmith work is for future patches. It also names a Molotov throwable; the Wolf-110 and an M2 Browning-equipped assault variant; the T-72; the Flakpanzer Gepard; and MG Nest, Large Shelter and Wooden Step buildables. The 14 October patch notes add the numbers: vendor prices of $3,200 (TCX-SPR), $7,400 (M14), $1,000 (Bizon, unlocked by default on the Medic track) and $7,250 (Evo-3 Ultra), and the T-72B3 at Driver level 20 and the Gepard at 25.

See the newly publisher-named weapons in the database →

TCX Spear (TCX-SPR) in the database →

M14 marksman rifle in the database →

Flakpanzer Gepard anti-air in the database →

T-72 main battle tank in the database →

Wolf-110 transport in the database →

PP-19 Bizon SMG in the database →

Evo-3 Ultra LMG in the database →

Rain: one weather per match

The preview says rain changes visibility, engagement ranges and sound, interacts with damaged and destroyed structures, and uses server-synchronised thunder that can temporarily mask footsteps. The press conference confirms one weather state is set for the whole match; dynamic transitions are not being worked on, for performance reasons. At 10:22 UTC on launch day, WARDOGS Updates said rain is selected at random on map change and should appear across all regions within 24 hours. That does not guarantee it in a particular match; the selection rate and whether community-server admins can force it remain unpublished. Snow is an idea, not an announced preset.

Read the official rain rollout notice →

IR Rangefinders come back with batteries

On 2 October BULKHEAD disabled IR Rangefinders in the vendor as servers restarted, saying they “cross the line into being too overpowered”. The 9 October preview now repeats that they return running on batteries. The 14 October patch notes add that a battery lasts around 80 seconds of active use and drains faster if toggled on and off quickly, and raise the vendor price from $1,200 to $3,200. They do not describe battery replacement or what happens to units already in player inventories.

The 2 October balance hotfix in full →

The end of Season 1 brings the first full progression reset

BULKHEAD now confirms it directly in the Road to Season 02 devlog: at the end of each season, cash and progression reset, and outstanding savings are automatically exchanged into gold bars using their value at season end. Gold bars buy permanent cosmetic unlocks. The studio also says it banks the XP players earn across Early Access for retroactive use by future long-term systems such as Player Skills. It does not publish the exchange rate or a complete field-by-field carry-over list; the 14 October patch notes put the changeover in the 08:00–09:30 UTC maintenance window on 15 October.

Will WARDOGS wipe? What resets and what carries over →

Squad Intent arrives before a full friends queue

Season 02’s Squad Intent lets a leader label an open squad by what it plans to do, with examples including building, attacking a FOB and welcoming new players. BULKHEAD says queueing into a match with friends needs substantially more work and is not arriving in Season 02. Custom squad names were removed from this pass because the studio was not prepared to rush the moderation and profanity-filter work; automatic callsigns remain the current shape.

Squads, joining friends and the Season 02 intent labels →

Player Skills and Intel are later systems; Intel targets Q2 2027

BULKHEAD says stored Early Access XP will eventually become skill points spent across persistent role skills. Intel is planned as a paced seasonal resource that unlocks equipment without forcing a player through one role tree. THE HOTZONE now says the Intel system “looks like Q2 next year” — a Q2 2027 development target, not an exact release date. The studio still gives no allowance, cap, XP conversion formula or complete skill tree.

Current progression versus the planned Skills and Intel systems →

The Wager Vendor is experimental and optional

Players choose objectives, a death allowance and a cash stake, then combine objectives for longer odds and a larger payout. Examples in the preview include kills in the Hot Zone and delivering players; a tracker above the minimap shows stake and progress. BULKHEAD calls this a first pass, says it may expand it, and warns it may remove the feature during Season 02 if it proves too exploitable. No stake limits, odds formula, objective catalogue or payout table is published.

Read the official Wager Vendor description →

What the Wager Vendor publishes — and what it does not →

Balance update: helmets, combat, logistics and the removed Lonestar bonus

The Super Heavy Helmet gains muffled audio, restricted field of view and sprint fogging; Heavy and Super Heavy helmets gain suppression resistance. Weapon damage, recoil and suppression are adjusted to make weapon classes more distinct. On Bakurani all faction spawns moved and Lonestar uniforms became less saturated. The 14 October notes also gave Lonestar Season 02-only cash and XP modifiers, but at 20:58 UTC on launch day BULKHEAD said it was removing that experiment; the video names the removed values as 5% cash and 2.5% XP. The separate 20% vendor discount for any team at least 40 points behind second place was not named for removal. The same update says Driver progression had run 40–50% faster than other tracks, applies a temporary correction and promises a further exploit fix.

Read the launch-day backend correction →

What a season changelog looked like last time

Season 1 began with BULKHEAD’s Pre-Load Live & Season 1 Changelog on 9 September 2026, and it is the best guide to what “balance reworks” has meant before. Alongside server-browser, voice and stability work, it changed prices and moved unlocks between progression tracks:

Read the full Season 1 changelog →

• The Forward Operating Base’s vendor price rose from $2,500 to $7,500.
• The Large Hammer moved to the Support track at level 8.
• The Deagle’s Career unlock moved from level 90 to 85.
• The 5.56mm AP round’s Career unlock moved from 85 to 83, and 7.62x54mm AP from 83 to 82.
• The PP-19 50-round drum moved from Medic 33 to Medic 29.

The metagame BULKHEAD planned around seasons

Seasons are the frame for the metagame BULKHEAD set out in April 2026: a Gold Exchange, Player Skills that build permanent account value, a Challenge System, a Black Market and a Vault. THE HOTZONE targets Q2 2027 for Intel as the paced seasonal equipment-unlock resource alongside persistent role skills; neither is part of Season 02, and no exact release date is published. Other parts are already running: players show the Gold Exchange, Black Market and Vault working in the client since launch, though BULKHEAD has not published their complete rules.

What Early Access includes, and what is still a plan →

What is not announced, stated plainly

The 14 October patch notes answer the start time, maintenance length, prices, unlock levels and the numeric balance changes. Still unpublished after them:

Every date BULKHEAD has published, on one timeline →

• A patch number.
• The exact hour Season 02 ends and Season 03 begins — 12 November is dated, but no maintenance or reset clock is published.
• How a flat IR Rangefinder battery is replaced.
• The rate at which leftover cash converts into gold bars at the season boundary.
• The exact release date for Player Skills or Intel; Intel currently targets Q2 2027.
• Intel’s earning rate, accumulated allowance or seasonal cap.

The full Season 02 patch notes are out

BULKHEAD published the complete Season 02 Patch Notes at 14:59 UTC on 14 October. Beyond the content above they carry a full vendor price list, new XP requirements that make level 20 take less than half the Season 1 playtime, unlock moves on all six role tracks and the WARDOG track, 16–25% damage cuts for .308, 7.62x54mmR, 7.62x39mm and .50 Cal, a building cost pass, team-switching limits, a team-kill Forgive or Punish vote and region-based ping limits.

Read the Season 02 patch notes, sorted and tabled →

Returning players are seeing the tutorial again

Not in the patch notes, but widely reported: after the reset on 15 October, players who completed the tutorial in Season 1 were sent back into it. The Steam board's answer is the same exit as at launch — open the Esc menu, wait until Leave Match unlocks, and leave. BULKHEAD has not commented.

How to skip the WARDOGS tutorial in Season 2 →

Common questions