WARDOGS Season 2 goes live on 15 October 2026 after a maintenance window from 08:00 to 09:30 UTC. BULKHEAD's full patch notes add four weapons, four vehicles, a Molotov, rain and three new buildables, and they cut the damage of the game's high-calibre rounds. The experimental Wager Vendor shown in the Season 2 preview is not in at launch: the studio says it opens later in the season.
What's in the update
Four new weapons
- TCX-SPR (7.62x39mm), an assault rifle. It unlocks at Assault level 20 and costs $3,200 at the vendor.
- PP-19 Bizon (9x19mm), an SMG, unlocked by default on the Medic track with its 53-round magazine.
- Evo-3 Ultra (.308 Win), an LMG, at Support level 30.
- M14 (.308 Win), a marksman rifle, at Recon level 25, with bipod, 10, 20 and 30-round magazines and its own muzzle devices further up the track.
A batch of new optics, muzzle devices, magazines and bipods comes with them.
Molotov, range finder and helmet changes
The Molotov splashes fire on impact, deals impact damage and then burns anyone standing in the flames. You can throw it overarm or underarm, it burns destructible foliage, and rain weakens the fire. It sits on the Assault track, which BULKHEAD now describes as "the role for attacking enemy bases" (C4 moves there too).
The Infrared Range Finder now runs on batteries. One lasts around 80 seconds of active use and drains faster if you flick it on and off.
The Level 4 Helmet now muffles your audio and proximity chat, narrows your field of view and fogs over while you sprint. In return, Level 3 and Level 4 helmets cut suppression by 68% and 80%.
Four new vehicles
- Wolf-110: a fast, light wheeled transport (Driver level 8).
- Wolf-110 [M2 Browning]: the same truck with a ring-mounted M2 (Driver level 16).
- T-72B3: a main battle tank, "slower than the L2A6, but cheaper and slightly more fuel-efficient" (Driver level 20, $16,000).
- Flakpanzer Gepard: an anti-air vehicle (Driver level 25, $14,000).
Tracked vehicles also feel heavier in the air and bounce less on landing, and the Humvee's handling has been reworked. Purchased vehicles now keep their inventory private to the driver and their squad by default.
Three new buildables
The MG Nest is a manned M2 Browning emplacement built with the large hammer. The Large Shelter is a metal roof for covering key assets or "keeping the rain off", and the Wooden Step is, in BULKHEAD's words, "A step. Made of wood."
Building costs went up across the board, so structures are "a considered investment rather than something you spam". The mortar now costs 600 build supplies (up from 150), doors 80 (up from 22), and a Drill Rig needs 2,000 fuel to start and runs for at most 300 seconds. Hammers can no longer breach doors and gates; the Halligan bar breaches both.
Rain
The new rain preset soaks surfaces, vehicles and players, sounds different under cover or inside a vehicle, and comes through any roof you destroy. Rain also affects spotting range. During heavier rain, thunder hits every player on the server at the same moment from the same direction, and it is loud enough to mask footsteps.
The Lonestar faction experiment
One team has had a "notoriously lower win rate" than the other two, and BULKHEAD says player sentiment around the blue team is "the largest driving factor". Season 2 runs what it calls a social experiment:
- Lonestar gets a cash and XP win bonus and teamplay multipliers, for Season 2 only.
- All three faction spawns on Bakurani have moved, each with purpose-built routes to the zone.
- Any team at least 40 points behind second place gets 20% off at the vendor.
Combat balance
High-calibre rounds were doing near-sniper damage in faster-firing guns, so their base damage drops for every weapon that uses them, vehicle guns included:
- .308 Winchester: 25% less
- 7.62x54mmR: 20% less
- 7.62x39mm: 19% less
- .50 Cal: 16% less
Sniper rifles get more hit-location damage to compensate. Level 3 armour and helmets drop from 55% to 50% damage reduction, and Level 4 from 65% to 60%. Suppression has been rebuilt, and near-miss suppression from small and medium calibres is "considerably stronger". The MGL-40 loses a quarter of its muzzle velocity, and parachutes now punish a late pull (more in the FAQ).
Faster progression
Role tracks level faster: reaching level 20 now takes 111,500 XP instead of 250,000. The Medical Bag unlocks at Medic level 14 instead of 24, and the PKM at Support level 15 instead of 30. The Little Bird AH-6M [Miniguns] goes the other way, to Pilot level 8 and $125,000.
Logistics pays less per run but adds delivery streaks for consecutive crates, pallets, passengers and return trips. Spotting pays about 30% less than in Season 1, scaled to what you spotted. Big vehicles cost more to buy: the L2A6 rises from $14,000 to $22,000 and the Havoc from $18,000 to $28,000, while the AK74 halves to $800.
Gold Market camos
Eight weapon and vehicle skins join the Gold Market across four camo families. The Season 2 exclusive is Black & Gold for the Little Bird; Chocolate Chip, Two-Tone Desert and Digital Wood cover the new guns and older ones like the Galil, Mosin and M500.
What you need to do on 15 October
- Plan around the downtime. Maintenance runs from 08:00 to 09:30 UTC (09:00 to 10:30 in the UK), and BULKHEAD estimates roughly 90 minutes.
- Let Steam download the new build before you launch the game.
- Check your controller binds if you play on a pad. Open Inventory moves to Menu, Drop becomes a hold on Y, Bribe moves to X, and LB/RB now switch the primary tabs.
- Budget for the new prices. Armour, helmets, range finders and most armed vehicles cost more than they did in Season 1.
Community server admins get two changes of their own. Official servers now kick players whose ping stays above a regional limit, and BULKHEAD says "Community Server admins will be able to configure their own ping limits", for looser cross-region play or stricter rules. The studio also warns that community server hosts "seen to exploit the faction bonus will be punished".
What's coming next
Later in Season 2: the Wager Vendor. It lets you bet your own cash on your own performance, with a live tracker above the minimap. The patch notes say it "is not available at Season 2 launch" and is "intended to come and go throughout a season". In the preview, BULKHEAD added that it "may well pull it from the game during the season if it turns out to be too exploitable".
Within Season 2: Steam Trading Cards and Point Shop items, "pending Valve's approval". No date has been given.
FAQ
Can I still switch teams to play with friends? Yes. The new limits only apply once a team is more than 10 points ahead. From then on you can't switch again for 15 minutes after joining a team, and if you switch or join mid-match, your map stays hidden and the spawn vehicle stays locked until you first reach the control zone.
What happens if a teammate kills me? You're asked to Forgive or Punish. Punishments stack against the teamkiller and lead to kicks and escalating bans. If you respawn and leave the safe zone without voting, it counts as forgiving.
Why did my parachute not open? Parachutes now take longer to open and won't open at all below about 10 metres. Open below roughly 50 metres while falling fast and you'll still take fall damage. The Basic Parachute also rises from $100 to $500, while the Sport Parachute drops to $700.
Can I put a different scope on the Mosin? No. The Mosin gets the new PU 91/30 (3.5x) scope at Recon level 10 and loses access to the other optics, which BULKHEAD says were never meant to fit until later customisation features arrive.
Can I turn off aim assist on controller? Yes. There's a new slider under Settings > Controller > Advanced. It defaults to 1, and 0 turns aim assist off.
Is there a reward for seeding an empty server? Yes. Players who join and populate empty servers now earn rewards and a vendor discount once the match starts, and there's pre-match entertainment (target practice, a football and a hidden radio in each spawn) while you wait.
Sources: WARDOGS Season 02 Patch Notes, WARDOGS Season 02 Preview.