WARDOGS Season 2 — Start Time, Wipe, New Weapons & Patch Notes

Season 2 went live on Oct 15, 2026 as WARDOGS’ first major Early Access update (patch 0.2.0): a full seasonal wipe, four new weapons, four new vehicles, rain weather, a Lonestar faction experiment and a large balance pass. Everything you need to know about the new season, in one page.

By WARDOGS Wiki Team · Last updated Oct 18, 2026 · About & how we verify

When Did Season 2 Start?

Maintenance ran 08:00–09:30 UTC on Oct 15, 2026 (the new build reached Steam at 08:26 UTC), and Season 2 went live when maintenance ended. "Map offline" and "servers down" searches spike around every maintenance — check the servers page for how to confirm live status. Local times for the start:

The Season 2 Wipe — What Reset

• Cash — reset to a clean slate. Leftover cash converted into Gold Bars automatically; BULKHEAD has not published the conversion rate.
• Rank — reset for the new season.
• Weapon, attachment and vehicle unlocks — reset; everyone re-progresses.
• Gold Bars and purchased permanent cosmetics — carried over.
• XP and role levels: community reports conflict on whether they were kept or reset, and the official full wipe rules have not been published — we list only what is confirmed above.

See the Wipe & Seasons guide for how the seasonal wipe structure works in general.

Four New Weapons

The patch also added new optics, muzzle devices, magazines and bipods, plus a new throwable — the Molotov incendiary bottle (rain weakens its flames). Note the M14 is a .308 marksman rifle, so it inherits the .308 damage nerf below; the 53-round PP-19 Bizon is the standout close-quarters addition.

Four New Vehicles

The T-72B3 is slower than the L2A6 but cheaper and slightly more fuel-efficient. Existing vehicle prices went up sharply: L2A6 $14,000→$22,000, Havoc $18,000→$28,000, Humvee [Minigun] $4,500→$10,000, Little Bird [Rockets] $12,500→$18,800, Z20 Lakota [Miniguns] $8,000→$15,000. Tracked vehicles also feel heavier in the air and bounce less.

New Buildables & Cost Changes

• New: MG Nest (operable M2 machine-gun emplacement, 650 supplies), Large Shelter (250 supplies) and Wooden Steps.
• Building costs rose broadly: Door 22→80, Gate 85→200, L81 Mortar 150→600, Stingray 150→650, bunkers/crow’s nest 100→200, Hot Zone Magnet 2,250→2,750.
• Some got cheaper: Talon 9K-SAM 1,000→650, Vanguard CIWS 1,500→1,200.
• Doors and gates can no longer be breached with hammers — the Halligan bar breaches both.

The Lonestar Blue-Team Experiment

Lonestar had a notoriously lower Season 1 win rate, so BULKHEAD is experimenting for Season 2 only: Lonestar players get a cash and XP win bonus plus teamplay multipliers. Supporting changes:

• All three faction spawns on Bakurani were moved and rebuilt with dedicated routes to the zone.
• Lonestar uniforms were made less conspicuous at range.
• Catch-up mechanic (all teams): any team at least 40 points behind second place gets 20% off at the vendor.
• Anti-exploit: a 15-minute team-switch lock applies once a team leads by over 10 points, and hosts seen exploiting the faction bonus will be punished.
• Teamkilling now uses a “Forgive or Punish” victim vote; repeated punished offenses lead to escalating bans.

Balance Changes

• Calibre damage nerfs across the board: .308 −25%, 7.62×54mmR −20%, 7.62×39mm −19%, .50 Cal −16% — sniper hit-location damage was raised as compensation.
• Armor: Level 3 damage reduction 55%→50% (price $2,000→$2,500; helmet $1,500→$2,000), Level 4 65%→60% ($4,000→$5,000; helmet $3,000→$4,500).
• Level 4 helmets now muffle audio and proximity chat, narrow FOV and fog up while sprinting.
• Suppression rebuilt: near-miss suppression from small/medium calibres is considerably stronger and now considers rate of fire.
• MGL-40 muzzle velocity down 25% with more sway and a slower ADS.
• Parachutes open more slowly and fail below ~10 m — late pulls cause fall damage.

Rain & Thunder

A new rain weather preset wets surfaces, vehicles and players. Rain sounds different under cover, inside vehicles and through destroyed roofs; heavy rain produces server-wide synchronized thunder loud enough to mask footsteps. Rain reduces spotting distance and weakens Molotov flames.

Wager Vendor (Coming Later)

The Wager Vendor is not available at Season 2 launch — it opens later in the season. Players stake their own cash on performance goals (kills, captures) with a tracker above the minimap. It is explicitly experimental: BULKHEAD may remove it mid-season if it proves exploitable.

Progression & Other Changes

• The XP curve was reduced substantially — level 20 now takes 111,500 XP instead of 250,000 (level 15: 54,750; level 30: 318,200).
• FOB hacking now pays the hacker $2,500 / 250 XP and nearby teammates $1,000 / 250 XP.
• Low-population servers were added for quieter hours.
• Squad play is temporarily disabled at Season 2 launch.
• You can now play football in the queue to earn in-game cash.

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