WARDOGS has no character classes that you would pick before a match. Your role is defined by the gear you buy for that life: with a defibrillator you are a medic, with a hammer a builder, with a sniper rifle a scout. Progression does exist, though. You collect XP in six trees (Assault, Medic, Recon, Support, Driver and Pilot), and alongside them the game has a Career level, with levels unlocking the option to buy further items. This article covers how XP is earned, how unlocking works, the official XP curve and the main Season 1 unlocks, and what is worth unlocking first.
There are no classes, you buy your role
The developers at BULKHEAD say it plainly in the official trailer: roles in WARDOGS are entirely in the player’s hands and the game has no traditional locked roles. Every item you add to your loadout opens up its own way of earning money and XP. No class limits how you combine gear, only what you have unlocked and what you can afford. If you want to revive in one life and build fortifications in the next, you simply buy different gear at the vendor.
When you come across “Assault class” or “class leveling”, what is meant is a progression tree, not a class you would have to choose. The trees are named after roles, but they do not dictate who you play as: they only decide what you can buy at the vendor.
Six trees and Career
XP goes into a tree based on what you are currently using. Here is an overview of the trees, what earns XP in each and what you will find there:
| Tree | What earns you XP | What it unlocks (examples) |
|---|---|---|
| Assault | assault rifles | assault rifles and attachments, tactical equipment is not in this tree |
| Medic | submachine guns (SMG), medical gear | resuscitators, smoke grenades, IFAK, defibrillator, Medical Bag |
| Recon | sniper rifles, DMRs, spotting | monocular, rangefinder, SKS, optics |
| Support | shotguns, machine guns (LMG), building, resupplying, vehicle repairs | hammers, C4, RPG-7, anti-air and anti-tank weapons |
| Driver | driving ground vehicles, transporting players, APC spawns | trucks, armored vehicles, Heavy Tank, supply crates |
| Pilot | flying, kills and structures destroyed from a helicopter | transport and attack helicopters, armored supply crate |
| Career | – | pistols, helmets and armor, backpacks, AP ammo, sports parachute, artillery tank |
Two things are worth keeping in mind. XP from ground vehicles does not go into the Pilot tree and vice versa, so drivers and pilots do not share trees. Some activities do fill a tree you would not expect, though: hauling supplies to a FOB collects Support XP. Career is a career level with its own unlocks of general gear. Exactly how Career goes up has not been explained by the developers in official announcements.
How you earn XP
The principle is simple: you play with the gear of a given role and the XP goes into its tree. A few concrete examples:
- Spotting with binoculars or a monocular gives XP in the Recon tree, and when the marked enemy goes down, you get more.
- Building fortifications and repairing teammates’ vehicles fills Support.
- The APC: the driver gets Driver XP for every teammate who appears on the mobile spawn.
- An attack helicopter gives Pilot XP for enemy kills and destroyed structures.
- Kills with a submachine gun feed the Medic tree, kills with a shotgun or machine gun feed Support.
Season 1 adjusted two XP rewards: killing a player from an aircraft gives 250 XP instead of 300 and selling an item cheaper than $75 from a supply crate gives 1 XP instead of 25. Watch out for farming as well: anyone who connects to an XP farm server for more than a few minutes gets a permanent ban under the rules from patch 0.11.
The developers have a system of player skills and challenges (Player Skills & Challenge System) planned for early access. Treat it as a planned feature, not a finished part of progression.
How unlocking works
An item is unlocked in two steps:
- You reach the required level in the tree the item belongs to.
- You pay a one-off unlock fee. It tends to be high.
Only then can you buy the item at the vendor, at its regular price for every life. The Large Hammer illustrates this well: it unlocks at level 8 of the Support tree for $75,000 and after that every unit costs you $2,400 at the vendor. You pay the unlock once, while the unit you bought is lost every time you die and nobody revives you. How to budget money for unlocks and gear is covered in the article on money in WARDOGS.
The pace of progression has a clear target in Season 1. According to the changelog, the median player should reach roughly level 20 after 20 to 25 hours of play. The developers say the most expensive items are for the top 5 % of players, who will have to grind for them.
The Season 1 XP curve
The table shows how much XP in total you need for a given tree level according to the official Season 1 changelog (accurate as of 15 September 2026). Levels below 6 have not changed.
| Level | Total XP (Season 1) | Before Season 1 |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 9,250 | 8,750 |
| 10 | 35,000 | 25,000 |
| 15 | 110,000 | 54,750 |
| 20 | 250,000 | 111,500 |
| 25 | 325,000 | 192,000 |
| 30 | 400,000 | 293,750 |
| 35 | 500,000 | 416,500 |
| 40 | 650,000 | 551,250 |
| 45 | 800,000 | 689,500 |
| 50 | 1,000,000 | 838,000 |
The stretch between levels 10 and 20 slowed down the most: level 20 now takes more than twice the XP it took before the season. Higher levels slowed down less. According to the developers, every season has its own XP curve, so the numbers will be different next season. What gets reset at the end of the season is explained in the article on Season 1 and the reset.
Official Season 1 unlocks
Levels and one-off prices according to the official Season 1 changelog, accurate as of 15 September 2026. Where the changelog does not give a figure, the cell has a dash.
| Tree | Item | Level | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Career | Sports Parachute | 35 | – |
| Career | Large Backpack | 55 | – |
| Career | 7.62x54mm AP ammo | 82 | – |
| Career | 5.56mm AP ammo | 83 | – |
| Career | Deagle | 85 | – |
| Career | Artillery Tank | 90 | $500,000 |
| Medic | PP-19, 50-round drum magazine | 29 | – |
| Support | Medium Hammer | – | $25,000 |
| Support | Large Hammer | 8 | $75,000 |
| Recon | 6-10x MRAD scope | – | $40,000 |
| Recon | 6-10x MOA scope | – | $45,000 |
| Driver | URAL | 3 | $35,000 |
| Driver | Kodiak Assault | 6 | – |
| Driver | Dune Buggy | 8 | $25,000 |
| Driver | Kodiak Flatbed | 10 | $35,000 |
| Driver | Large Supply Crate | 16 | – |
| Driver | URAL Covered | 18 | – |
| Driver | Music Tape H | 23 | $2,500 |
| Driver | URAL Attack | 25 | – |
| Driver | Humvee with minigun | 30 | – |
| Driver | Heavy Tank | 35 | – |
| Pilot | small armored supply crate | – | $10,000 |
| Pilot | Z20 Lakota | – | $35,000 |
| Pilot | Little Bird with miniguns | – | $50,000 |
In Season 1 the artillery tank moved from level 55 to 90 and the Heavy Tank moved from Career level 35 into the Driver tree at level 35. With the artillery tank, the developers tied the change to the idea that the most expensive items should be the goal of a long grind. Vehicles are covered in detail in the article on vehicles.
What to unlock first
These unlocks are worth having as soon as possible. The levels apply to Season 1:
- Up to Support 5: C4 with a detonator and the RPG-7. Worth it even for players who do not otherwise play Support, because a rocket launcher and a charge let you attack enemy APCs. The RPG-7 is the basic anti-tank weapon for beginners.
- Career 3: Level 1 Armor. Tier 1 armor is worth equipping as soon as you unlock it.
- A red dot sight. Get one as soon as you can.
- Recon 2: the monocular. It is smaller and lighter than binoculars and fits into a quickslot on the tactical vest, so you can spot without digging through your backpack.
- Recon 5: the SKS. The DMR with the best price-to-performance ratio. The Scout Rifle sniper rifle you have from the start, on the other hand, is not worth it.
- Medic 2: the Field Resuscitator. You only get one free Emergency Resuscitator per life, while the Field Resuscitator has no such limit.
- Medic 5: the white smoke grenade for cover.
- Medic 9 and 11: the IFAK and the defibrillator. The IFAK heals to full health in one go, and the defibrillator revives considerably faster than resuscitators.
- Career 12: the Field Backpack with 12 inventory cells.
Pistols, on the other hand, are not worth unlocking early, they are usually pointless in a kit. Which weapons to unlock and how much they cost is in the article on weapons, and medical gear in the Medic guide.
FAQ
It does not. Your role is defined by the gear you buy for a given life. The game does have six progression trees named after roles, plus a Career level.
Assault, Medic, Recon, Support, Driver and Pilot. Alongside them is the Career level, which unlocks general gear such as armor, backpacks or the artillery tank.
You have to reach the required level in the tree and pay a one-off fee. After that you buy the item at the vendor at its regular price for every life.
In Season 1 it is at level 90 of the Career tree and the unlock costs $500,000. Accurate as of 15 September 2026.
In Season 1 a total of 250,000 XP in the tree. The developers expect the median player to reach level 20 after 20 to 25 hours.
The most common recommendations are Support 5 for the C4 and the RPG-7, tier 1 armor from Career 3, the monocular at Recon 2 and medical gear such as the Field Resuscitator and the defibrillator.