You play WARDOGS with friends in a squad, a group of players inside one of the three teams. A squad has no size limit, gives you your own voice channel and the option to lock vehicles for your own people only. The game has no matchmaking, though, so you have to meet your friends on the same server and pick the same team. In this guide you will find how to do that, what the difference is between squad chat and proximity chat, what text chat and spotting are for and how to play and earn when you play alone.
What a squad gives you
Up to 100 players take part in a match, split into three teams. A squad is a smaller group inside your team and according to the developers at BULKHEAD its size is not limited in any way. You can be in it as a pair or as a big crew. A squad brings:
- squad voice chat, which only squad members can hear,
- vehicle locking for the squad, so only your people get into your tank or helicopter,
- extra interface, among other things squad members see each other on the minimap.
A squad is not mandatory. The game also accounts for lone wolves who help the team on their own. It is worth joining a squad even when you play without friends, though.
How to get into the same match as your friends
WARDOGS has no matchmaking. You play through a server list, which Patch 0.11 from 14 September 2026 split into two browsers: Official and Community. The developers themselves admitted that a game with this many players should use matchmaking and that server browsers are not ideal for it.
How to play with friends:
- Agree on a server. In the Official or Community browser, pick one specific server with your friends and connect to it.
- Pick the same faction as your friends. On the team selection screen each of you picks the same faction. You cannot pick a full team, so when a faction is taken, move to another one together.
- Create a squad. One of you creates the squad in the match menu and the others join it.
- Lock your vehicles. When you buy a vehicle, lock it for the squad with the L key.
There are three factions: Lonestar (blue), Manticore (green) and Valkyra (red). All players start with the same resources and the factions differ in color and starting position. Players avoid the blue Lonestar team, though, so on full servers green and red tend to be taken and the free spots are mostly with the blues.
In Patch 0.11 the developers put favorite servers and team switching controls, among other things, on the list of planned features. For now it is a plan, not a finished feature.
Official or community server?
- Community servers are recommended by the developers themselves as the best protection against cheaters, because their admins can ban problem players immediately.
- Avoid XP farming servers. Anyone who spends more than a few minutes on such a server gets a permanent ban, according to the developers.
Bans, queues and crashes are covered in the article Problems and bans in WARDOGS.
Squad chat vs. proximity chat
WARDOGS has two voice channels and it is a good idea not to mix them up:
| Channel | Who hears you |
|---|---|
| Squad voice | only the members of your squad |
| Proximity chat (local chat) | everyone nearby, including enemies from both other teams |
The developers have not published the exact range of proximity chat, so assume that everyone nearby can hear you. Each channel has its own push-to-talk button. Look the keys up in the control settings before your first match so you are not hunting for them in combat.
The developers promote proximity chat as a way to coordinate with the teammates around you, but also to troll enemies or mess with their heads. Two rules follow from that:
- Handle tactics in the squad channel. Where your FOB is, where a helicopter is heading or where your artillery is standing does not belong in proximity chat.
- Do not give your teammates away. When you are down and waiting for a revive, do not say out loud that a medic is running to you. An enemy nearby can hear you.
Season 1 fixed voice dropouts where chat stopped working completely after a failed connection, improved voice reliability under load and added a visible voice connection status.
Text chat and spotting
Besides voice you have text chat. Keep in mind that when you report someone through the in-game tool, the report contains up to the last 50 messages from text chat.
The most useful mark for the team is spotting. You look at an enemy through binoculars or a monocular and hold the left mouse button to mark them for the whole team. You get XP and money for the mark and a further bonus when someone kills the marked enemy. Binoculars cost $75, so it is a cheap way to help the team even when you are not shooting. You can also mark a spot on the map with a ping.
Playing alone? How to contribute and earn
The game pays for everything that helps the team, so you can earn without a crew too. What pays off:
- Join someone else’s squad. You get squad chat and you see your teammates on the minimap.
- Be in the Control Zone. Points go to the team with the most players in the 2 × 2 km combat zone. In the Hot Zone, the smaller moving subzone, you count twice, money for being in it flows continuously and the payouts are doubled.
- Spot. Binoculars for $75 earn money as well as XP.
- Revive and heal. The game pays for reviving and healing teammates. More is in the guide Medic in WARDOGS.
- Build. With a hammer and supplies you earn without fighting.
- Play cheap. The starting rifle is free, you only pay for ammo. The goal is for every life to end in the black.
When someone downs you and nobody comes, you can post a reward (a bribe) for whoever revives you. How a whole match works from your first purchase is explained in the guide How to get started with WARDOGS and more about earnings is in the article Money in WARDOGS.
FAQ
Squad size is not limited. A squad is a group inside a team and a match holds up to 100 players across three teams.
It does not. You play through a server browser split into official and community servers. You have to meet your friends on the same server and pick the same faction.
In proximity chat yes, everyone nearby from all three teams hears you. Squad chat is heard only by the members of your squad.
The developers have not published the exact range. Assume that everyone in your vicinity can hear you.
You cannot pick a full team. When a faction is taken, pick another one with your friend where there is room. On full servers that is mostly the blue Lonestar, which players avoid.
Yes. A squad is not mandatory and the game pays for time in the zone, spotting, reviving and building. Joining someone else’s squad is still worth it for the voice chat.