The WARDOG track is the account-wide progression track in WARDOGS, the one Season 1's patch notes called Career. Season 2 (Update 0.2.0, live since 15 October 2026) rewrote it. The Gold Market is now a WARDOG level 35 unlock that costs $150,000, the Deagle dropped from level 85 to 65, Level 3 armor and helmets moved up from 60 to 70, and the three supply pallets that used to be free are now gated at levels 5, 9 and 16. The SPH-2 artillery left the track entirely.
A thread on r/WarDogs on 27 October asked whether progression is now time-gated. Replies were split on how fast role tracks feel this season. The WARDOG track is where the long gates still are. This guide lists every WARDOG unlock BULKHEAD added, moved or repriced for Season 2, what each one costs, and the order we'd unlock them in before the Season 3 wipe.
Quick answer: In WARDOGS Season 2 the Gold Market unlocks at WARDOG level 35 for $150,000. The Deagle moved from WARDOG 85 to 65, the GGX 18 moved from 70 to 85 (unlock fee up from $50,000 to $125,000), and Level 3 helmet and armor moved from 60 to 70. The Mechanical, Ammo and Fuel Supply Pallets are no longer free: they unlock at levels 5, 9 and 16 for $10,000, $25,000 and $50,000. The SPH-2 artillery moved off the WARDOG track to Driver level 31. WARDOG levels reset when Season 3 starts on 12 November 2026.
Updated 27 October 2026. Applies to WARDOGS Season 2, Update 0.2.0 (patch notes posted on Steam 14 October 2026, season live 15 October 2026). WARDOGS is BULKHEAD's 100-player, three-team Control Zone shooter on PC. It is not a battle royale or an extraction shooter. Every level, price and fee below comes from the official Season 02 Patch Notes unless it's marked as a player report.
WARDOGS - Cash
Get up to 5,000,000 Cash farmed for you
What is the WARDOG track in WARDOGS?
WARDOGS has one account track and six role tracks. The Season 02 Patch Notes call the account track the "WARDOG Progression Track". In the Season 1 changelog the same unlocks sat under Career, so if you see "Career level" in an older guide, it means WARDOG level. The six role tracks in the Season 2 notes are Assault, Medic, Recon, Support, Pilot and Driver.
Most unlocks have two gates. A level makes an item available, usually with a one-time unlock fee in Cash. After that you pay its per-life vendor price every time you buy it. Losing the item on death doesn't remove the unlock.
The WARDOG track holds the general kit that isn't tied to one role: sidearms, ammo types, armor, parachutes, supply pallets, a few optics, and the Gold Market. BULKHEAD's Season 1 changelog set the expectation for the late gates: "those wanting the big-ticket items, the top 5%, will need to grind."
What changed on the WARDOG track in Season 2?
Four things matter.
- The Gold Market is gated. It's a new WARDOG unlock at level 35, $150,000. The Gold Market is where you spend Gold Bars on cosmetics.
- The supply pallets cost money now. The Mechanical (level 5, $10,000), Ammo (level 9, $25,000) and Fuel (level 16, $50,000) Supply Pallets were "previously unlocked by default", per the notes.
- The sidearms swapped places. The Judge dropped from level 18 to level 1 and its fee fell from $15,000 to $5,000. The GGX 17 went the other way, from level 1 to level 18, and its fee rose from $5,000 to $15,000. The Deagle came down to 65 and the GGX 18 went up to 85.
- Armor moved later, artillery moved out. Level 3 helmet and armor went from 60 to 70. The SPH-2 left the WARDOG track (it was level 90 for $500,000) and now sits at Driver 31 for $350,000.
There's a reason the top of the tree changed. On BULKHEAD's official podcast, recapped by PCGamesN on 25 October 2026, executive producer Joe Brammer said the studio wants to move away from the "heavy vertical progression" of Season 1, where "all of the 'best stuff' was at the end of the tree." Moving the artillery to a role track at level 31 is the clearest example of that.
What are the WARDOG unlock levels and fees in Season 2?
This table lists every WARDOG unlock the Season 02 Patch Notes added, moved or repriced, sorted by Season 2 level. "Not listed" means the notes gave no fee for that item. WARDOG items the notes didn't touch aren't listed.
| Unlock | Season 1 level | Season 2 level | Unlock fee (Season 2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Judge | 18 | 1 | $5,000 (was $15,000) |
| Kobra Reflex | 21 | 4 | not listed |
| Mechanical Supply Pallet | default | 5 | $10,000 |
| 5.45x39mm Flesh Damage (HP) | 16 | 6 | not listed |
| Ammo Supply Pallet | default | 9 | $25,000 |
| 9x19mm Flesh Damage (HP) | 6 | 10 | not listed |
| 5.56mm Flesh Damage (HP) | 10 | 13 | not listed |
| Fuel Supply Pallet | default | 16 | $50,000 |
| Compact T-2 Red Dot | 4 | 17 | not listed |
| GGX 17 | 1 | 18 | $15,000 (was $5,000) |
| Compact P-1 Red Dot | new | 21 | $12,500 |
| Tricon 1.5x Compact Prism Scope | Assault 12 | 26 | not listed |
| Music Tape "Blue (Da Ba Dee)", Lonestar only | new | 29 | $25,000 |
| Spitfire 3X | Assault 26 | 31 | not listed |
| Sport Parachute | 35 | 34 | not listed |
| Gold Market | new | 35 | $150,000 |
| 12g Rifled Slug | 41 | 36 | not listed |
| 7.62x39mm Armor Piercing (AP) | 63 | 60 | not listed |
| .308 Win Flesh Damage (HP) | 65 | 63 | not listed |
| Deagle | 85 | 65 | not listed |
| Level 3 Helmet and Armor | 60 | 70 | not listed |
| 5.56mm Armor Piercing (AP) | 83 | 84 | not listed |
| GGX 18 | 70 | 85 | $125,000 (was $50,000) |
| 5.45x39mm Armor Piercing (AP) | 93 | 90 | not listed |
The fees the notes do list add up to $417,500. That's the Gold Market, the three pallets, the Judge, the GGX 17, the GGX 18, the P-1 Red Dot and the music tape. The real total is higher, because many WARDOG unlocks keep fees the Season 2 notes don't restate.
Three unlocks left the WARDOG track this season:
- SPH-2 artillery: WARDOG 90 → Driver 31, fee $500,000 → $350,000. Our Driver unlocks guide covers it.
- 2.5x Combat Optic: WARDOG 26 → Assault 17.
- 3x Tactical Prism Scope: WARDOG 31 → Assault 33. See the Assault unlocks guide.
The notes don't give a Season 2 level for Level 4 armor or for the large backpack, so we don't print one.
Why does the Gold Market unlock at WARDOG 35 matter?
Gold Bars are the only part of your WARDOGS account that survives a season. BULKHEAD, from the Early Access & Beyond devlog (7 April 2026): "At the end of a season, your cash and XP progression will reset with your cash auto converted into gold bars… Your gold bars and cosmetics from a season will stay permanently on your account across seasons." The Gold Market is where those Gold Bars buy cosmetics.
In Season 2 you can't open it until WARDOG level 35, and you pay $150,000 of Cash to do it. That's a lot of Cash to sink into a menu, but nothing else you buy this season carries over. If you want to choose cosmetics yourself this season, rather than only bank Gold Bars at the wipe, WARDOG 35 is the gate to aim for.
BULKHEAD has never published a Cash-to-Gold rate, and the rate moves daily. One player in a 27 October r/WarDogs thread about the end-of-season exchange put it simply: they doubt the price is "going to be minimum at the end of the season." Our Gold Bars and Gold Market guide explains how the exchange works.
What sidearms are on the WARDOG track in Season 2?
Four sidearms sit on the WARDOG track, and Season 2 reordered all of them.
- Judge: now level 1 for $5,000. It used to be a level 18 unlock for $15,000, so it's now the cheap early sidearm.
- GGX 17: now level 18 for $15,000. It was the level 1 pistol in Season 1 for $5,000.
- Deagle: now level 65, down from 85. Its per-life price also fell, from $900 to $750.
- GGX 18: now level 85, up from 70. The unlock fee rose from $50,000 to $125,000 and the per-life price from $800 to $1,000. It's the most expensive WARDOG unlock fee in the Season 2 notes after the Gold Market.
The Deagle moved twice in a short time. It sat at Career 90 in the beta, moved to 85 for Season 1, and is now 65. If you remember it as an "end of tree" gun, that isn't true any more.
Why are supply pallets locked behind WARDOG levels now?
In Season 1 the Mechanical, Ammo and Fuel Supply Pallets were unlocked by default. In Season 2 a new account has to reach WARDOG 5, 9 and 16 and pay $85,000 in unlock fees in total before it can buy all three.
That matters for anyone who earns their Cash through logistics. The Season 02 Patch Notes pay $1,250 / 400 XP for deploying a supply pallet (500 XP from a ground vehicle) and add a delivery streak of +$250 / +100 XP per pallet in a row, up to 10. Those are Control Zone drop values, per BULKHEAD's own correction note in the patch. The notes don't say which progression track that XP goes to.
So the first $85,000 a logistics player earns this season effectively goes back into unlocking the pallets. Our FOB money and XP guide covers how pallets feed FOBs. Stick to normal play here. BULKHEAD has warned it bans for repeatable exploits, and Season 2's notes closed several supply-crate and FOB payout exploits.
WARDOGS - Career Leveling
Get your WARDOG career pushed to 150
When do you get armor and AP ammo in Season 2?
Level 3 helmet and armor now unlock at WARDOG 70, up from 60. Per-life prices also went up in Season 2: Level 3 armor $2,000 → $2,500, Level 3 helmet $1,500 → $2,000. The notes cut Level 3 damage reduction from 55% to 50%. They don't list a Season 2 unlock level for Level 4, so we don't print one. Our armor tiers guide covers what each tier does.
The armor-piercing rounds are WARDOG unlocks too, and most of them sit late:
- 7.62x39mm AP: level 60 (was 63)
- 5.56mm AP: level 84 (was 83)
- 5.45x39mm AP: level 90 (was 93)
The flesh-damage (HP) rounds come much earlier: 5.45x39mm HP at 6, 9x19mm HP at 10, 5.56mm HP at 13 and .308 Win HP at 63. The Season 2 notes also cut base damage for several calibres, including .308 by 25% and 7.62x39 by 19%.
How fast does the WARDOG track level in Season 2?
BULKHEAD hasn't published it. The Season 02 Patch Notes include an XP table, but it's labelled "Role Track XP". It covers Assault, Medic, Recon, Support, Pilot and Driver, not the WARDOG account track. For role tracks, BULKHEAD says verbatim: "Reaching level 20 now takes less than half the playtime it did in Season 1." Level 20 needs 111,500 XP (was 250,000) and level 50 needs 1,150,000 (was 1,500,000).
There's no equivalent table for WARDOG levels, so any "XP to WARDOG 35" figure you see is a guess. What we do have is player reports. In the 27 October r/WarDogs thread on progression, one player said they were "Wardog level 132" this season, and that they hadn't bothered unlocking Level 3 or Level 4 armor. That suggests the track runs well past 100, but BULKHEAD hasn't published a cap, so we won't state one.
Players in the same thread disagreed on role-track speed. One wrote "Getting level 20 in a role is so easy now", while another said it takes "around 20-25 hours for the average person." Both are player views, not BULKHEAD figures.
What's the best WARDOG unlock order in Season 2?
This is our order for a player starting now, with about two weeks of Season 2 left. It favours things you'll use every life over things you'll use once.
- Judge (level 1, $5,000). Cheapest sidearm upgrade on the track.
- Kobra Reflex (level 4) and the early HP rounds (5.45 at 6, 9x19 at 10, 5.56 at 13). These cost Cash per life but change most fights.
- Supply pallets (levels 5, 9 and 16) if you play logistics. Skip them if you don't. $85,000 is a lot to spend on kit you won't deploy.
- Gold Market (level 35, $150,000). Only if you care about cosmetics this season. Gold Bars and cosmetics are the only things that survive the 12 November wipe.
- 7.62x39mm AP at 60 and the Deagle at 65. Worth it if you're already that high.
- Level 3 armor at 70. At least one high-level player in the progression thread skips it, and Season 2 cut Level 3 damage reduction to 50% while raising its price.
- GGX 18 at 85 ($125,000). The worst value here with two weeks left. Skip it unless you have spare Cash.
Will WARDOG levels reset in Season 3?
Yes. Season 3 starts on 12 November 2026. In a developer response on Steam posted 23 October, BULKHEAD's brammflakes wrote: "Season 3 has been brought forward to November 12th to give everyone a proper fresh start. It also brings Limited Mode servers, with no power weapons and no vehicles." PCGamesN reported the same date on 25 October. No start time has been published.
BULKHEAD's seasonal model resets Cash and XP at each wipe and converts your banked Cash to Gold Bars. Gold Bars and cosmetics stay. So every WARDOG unlock fee in this guide is a Season 2 spend, and the Season 3 WARDOG track may not keep Season 2's levels. BULKHEAD has said it uses a different XP curve with different item orders each season. On THE HOTZONE, Episode 1 (24 October 2026), the team also said future seasons should run about three months with a smaller update halfway. Brammer, as quoted by PCGamesN: "We've got to slow down. We can't do monthly seasons."
Our Season 3 release date tracker has the latest. For Season 1's gates, see our Season 1 unlock levels guide.
Short on time to reach WARDOG 35 or 65? WARDOGS Career Leveling pushes your WARDOG account level to the number you name, whether that's the Gold Market at 35, the Deagle at 65 or Level 3 armor at 70, levelled by hand by our team. It's a piloted service (a booster plays on your account), and the WARDOGS EULA restricts paid boosting, so read our guarantee and refund policy on the product page before you order. Rent a Pro is the option where you keep playing yourself.
- WARDOGS Cash: hand-farmed Cash with a fast turnaround, for unlock fees like the $150,000 Gold Market
- WARDOGS Career Leveling: your WARDOG account level pushed up by hand
- WARDOGS Class Leveling: Assault, Medic, Recon, Support, Pilot or Driver levelled by hand to the unlock you want
- WARDOGS Rent a Pro: squad up with an experienced player and play it yourself
- All WARDOGS services
FAQ
What level is the Gold Market in WARDOGS? In WARDOGS Season 2 the Gold Market unlocks at WARDOG level 35 and costs $150,000 to unlock, per the Season 02 Patch Notes (14 October 2026). It's a new gate this season.
What level is the Deagle in WARDOGS Season 2? The Deagle unlocks at WARDOG level 65, down from 85 in Season 1. Its per-life price fell from $900 to $750.
What level is Level 3 armor in WARDOGS? Level 3 helmet and armor unlock at WARDOG level 70 in Season 2, up from 60. They cost $2,500 (armor) and $2,000 (helmet) per life. The Season 2 notes don't list a level for Level 4.
Is Career level the same as WARDOG level in WARDOGS? Yes. The Season 1 changelog called the account-wide track Career. The Season 02 Patch Notes call the same track the WARDOG Progression Track.
What level is artillery in WARDOGS now? The SPH-2 artillery left the WARDOG track in Season 2. It moved from WARDOG level 90 to Driver level 31, and its unlock fee fell from $500,000 to $350,000.
Does WARDOG level reset in Season 3? Yes. Cash and XP reset at each season wipe, and banked Cash converts to Gold Bars, which stay on your account with your cosmetics. Season 3 starts on 12 November 2026, per a BULKHEAD developer response on Steam.
