WARDOGS<\/a> gates its vehicles behind three separate ladders: the Driver and Pilot role tracks and the account-wide Career level. This guide covers which ladder owns which seat, how much XP and cash each unlock takes in Season 1, what BULKHEAD has said about helicopters and tanks, and what it hasn’t published yet.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" TL;DR<\/p>\n WARDOGS<\/a> is a 100-player combined-arms shooter from developer BULKHEAD, published by Team17, where three teams fight over a moving Control Zone on a large map. Vehicles aren’t handed out through one universal rank: the three-team Control Zone format<\/a> is backed by separate unlock ladders, two of them role tracks (Driver and Pilot) and one the account-wide Career level.<\/p>\n These are full progression tracks with real unlock ladders<\/span>, not cosmetic titles \u2014 a maxed-out Driver level buys nothing in the air, and vice versa. Career \u2014 the account-wide level our catalogue calls Wardog level \u2014 is the third ladder, and BULKHEAD has not published how it relates to the role tracks: the Season 1 changelog gives Career unlock levels (Deagle 85, Artillery Tank 90) and a role-track XP curve, and no formula joining them. Any claim that Career is the sum of the tracks, or that driving does or does not raise it, is unverified either way.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"table","headers":[{"header_text":"Track"},{"header_text":"Gates"},{"header_text":"What levels it up"}],"rows":[{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Driver"},{"cell_text":"Land vehicles and, since Season 1, the Heavy Tank"},{"cell_text":"Role XP from item usage, per BULKHEAD’s 15 September launch stats; which action pays how much isn’t published"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Pilot"},{"cell_text":"Aircraft: the Little Bird with miniguns and the Z20 Lakota"},{"cell_text":"Same rule. The one published air figure: a player kill from an air vehicle pays 250 XP"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Wardog (Career)"},{"cell_text":"The Artillery Tank at level 90; the Heavy Tank moved to Driver in Season 1"},{"cell_text":"Not published \u2014 BULKHEAD gives Career unlock levels but no rule for how Career XP is earned relative to the tracks"}]}],"size":"small"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" The Career row is the one that trips people up.<\/strong> Driver and Pilot are role tracks with their own unlock lists in the Season 1 changelog. Career is the account-wide level (“Wardog level” in our catalogue): the changelog puts the Deagle at Career 85 and the Artillery Tank at Career 90, and says nothing about how Career XP is earned or whether it derives from the tracks. Formulas you will see elsewhere \u2014 “Career is the sum of six role levels”, “vehicles do not raise it” \u2014 are not from BULKHEAD, and we do not repeat them. What matters for armour: the Heavy Tank is a Driver unlock (Driver 35) since Season 1, so the Driver track is the one to level; only the Artillery Tank sits on Career.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Where to Get Vehicles in WARDOGS","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" BULKHEAD’s store page<\/a> sets the base rules: every player starts with $10,000, each life you buy a loadout from weapons, gear, utility and vehicles, and cash carries over from match to match. On top of that, each vehicle sits behind a level on its track. The Season 1 changelog lists vehicle prices under the track name (“Driver, URAL”, “Career, Artillery Tank”), separately from vendor prices. We read those as the price of the unlock; the changelog doesn’t spell that out, and the unlock screen in game settles it.<\/p>\n BULKHEAD hasn’t published a complete vehicle list for Early Access. The table below holds the 11 vehicles its Season 1 changelog names, with the level, XP and price where the changelog gives them; any other vehicle stays out of this guide until an official post lists it. BULKHEAD says it rebuilt the Driver ladder “to give a satisfying escalation through attack vehicles”: it now runs from the URAL at level 3 to the Heavy Tank at level 35.<\/p>\n Warning<\/p>\n Hitting the required Driver, Pilot or Career level doesn’t give you the vehicle. The purchase still costs cash, and the price listed under the track runs up to $500,000 for the Artillery Tank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Driver and Pilot are separate tracks with separate unlock lists, so time split between them moves each one more slowly; where Career fits is not published. BULKHEAD’s own numbers give the scale. It slowed levels 10 to 20 in Season 1 and expects its median player to be around level 20 after 20 to 25 hours, while “those wanting the big ticket items, the top 5%, will need to grind”. Level 20 on the role-track curve is 250,000 XP; the Heavy Tank at Driver 35 is 500,000. The full curve is in our WARDOGS Season 1 XP curve<\/a> breakdown.<\/p>\n The launch-weekend stats in BULKHEAD’s 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD<\/a> post (15 September 2026) put Pilot at 9% and Driver at 11% of all role XP earned, against 19 to 21% each for Infantry, Medic, Recon and Support.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Vehicle Categories and What Each One Unlocks","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" Flying starts on the Pilot track. The Season 1 changelog names two Pilot aircraft, the Little Bird with miniguns and the Z20 Lakota, without their Pilot levels; BULKHEAD’s Supporter Edition list<\/a> calls the Little Bird a helicopter. The store page gives helicopters a logistics job, “ferry supplies to teammates by helicopter”, and lists transporting friendlies to the zone among the teamplay actions that earn cash.<\/p>\n On handling, the official record is short. BULKHEAD promised “real-world ballistics, audio and flight models” (May 2026<\/a>), and the Season 1 changelog gave the Z20 Lakota a balance pass and a fix for sluggish pitch, applied helicopter input damping to every input device and cut the Lakota’s chase-camera rattle. No BULKHEAD post lists flight controls or key bindings, so use the controls menu in game rather than a third-party key list.<\/p>\n The Heavy Tank moved from Career 35 to Driver 35 in Season 1, and the Artillery Tank from Career 55 to Career 90, the highest vehicle gate in the changelog. For crews, the changelog sets a maximum operator rotation speed for vehicle turrets and fixes a DPI issue affecting tank aiming. How many seats each tank has isn’t in BULKHEAD’s posts.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"table","headers":[{"header_text":"Category"},{"header_text":"How you get it"},{"header_text":"Why it matters"}],"rows":[{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Land transport"},{"cell_text":"Driver level plus the track price"},{"cell_text":"Transporting friendlies to the zone is one of the teamplay actions BULKHEAD says earns cash"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Helicopters"},{"cell_text":"Pilot level plus the track price"},{"cell_text":"Supply runs and troop transport, per the store page"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Artillery (and the Heavy Tank via Driver)"},{"cell_text":"Artillery Tank: Career (Wardog) level 90 plus $500,000. Heavy Tank: Driver level 35 plus cash"},{"cell_text":"Career 90 is the highest vehicle gate in the Season 1 changelog"}]}],"size":"small"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Update 0.1.2 and the 2 October Hotfix: Havoc, CIWS and IR Rangefinders","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" Two posts since the Season 1 changelog change how air and anti-air play out. Update 0.1.2<\/a> (30 September 2026) and the IR Goggles & CIWS Balance Hotfix<\/a> (2 October 2026) list these vehicle changes:<\/p>\n The Havoc is not among the 11 vehicles in the Season 1 changelog: BULKHEAD names it only in these patch notes, so its track, level and price are not published. Neither post lists a vehicle change for Season 02 beyond the IR Rangefinders.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Common Misconceptions About WARDOGS Vehicle Unlocks","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" This is the most common misreading. Leveling Driver, Pilot or Career only opens the purchase: the vehicle is still bought with cash, and the store page says loadouts, vehicles included, are bought each life. Check the WARDOGS money guide<\/a> for how that cash economy works match to match.<\/p>\n Patch 0.11 puts XP farming at the top of its penalties: BULKHEAD says it tracks every server a player enters and bans the account permanently after more than a few minutes on a known XP-farming server. Abusing cash exploits brings a timed ban and resets cash and XP to 0. Our Patch 0.11 breakdown<\/a> has the full list.<\/p>\n Driver and Pilot are separate role tracks with separate unlock lists \u2014 time spent driving trucks does not move your Pilot level. How the account-wide Career level accrues relative to those tracks is not published, so neither “driving raises Career” nor “driving does nothing for Career” is a claim we can back.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Our Take: Are WARDOGS Vehicles Worth the Grind","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" Our Take<\/p>\n Three ladders plus a cash price mean nobody falls into a tank by accident, and Season 1 made the top seats a long climb on purpose.<\/p>\n The changelog of 9 September 2026 settled the levels and prices used here. Still unpublished: the Pilot levels of the Little Bird and the Z20 Lakota, a price for the Heavy Tank, per-life vehicle prices and the Career XP rule. BULKHEAD says each season gets its own XP curve and item order, and Season 02 starts on 15 October 2026 (Season 2 release date guide<\/a>), so every level here is a Season 1 value.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" Where each claim comes from, and how far to trust it.<\/p>\n\n
![\"WARDOGS](\"https:\/\/neonsect.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-wardogs-art-0-2.webp\")
<\/figure>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"How to Unlock a Helicopter, the Heavy Tank or the Artillery Tank","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"steps","intro":"The order is the same for every seat; only the track and the numbers change.","steps":[{"title":"Pick the seat, then its track","description":"the Heavy Tank and every land vehicle in the changelog sit on Driver, the Little Bird with miniguns and the Z20 Lakota on Pilot, and the Artillery Tank on Career level 90.","image":""},{"title":"Earn XP on that track","description":"BULKHEAD says role XP is based on item usage, not fixed classes. Which action pays how much is published only for a few events, so your track screen is the readout.","image":""},{"title":"Check the XP gap","description":"compare your track XP with the table above. Pilot levels for the two aircraft aren’t listed, so read them off the Pilot unlock list in game.","image":""},{"title":"Save the price listed under the track","description":"the changelog gives it for six of the 11 vehicles; it lists none for the Heavy Tank.","image":""},{"title":"Budget for each life","description":"the store page says you buy your loadout, vehicles included, each life. Per-life vehicle prices aren’t in the changelog; the vendor screen shows them.","image":""},{"title":"Stay off XP-farm servers","description":"Patch 0.11 makes time on them a permanent-ban offence; details in the myths section below.","image":""}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Should You Grind Driver, Pilot or Wardog First","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":"Helicopters: What BULKHEAD Has Published About Flying<\/h3>\n
Heavy Tank and Artillery Tank<\/h3>\n
\n
Myth: Hitting the Level Gives You the Vehicle<\/h3>\n
Myth: XP-Farm Servers Are a Shortcut to Pilot or Driver Levels<\/h3>\n
Myth: One Level Track Covers Everything<\/h3>\n
Sources and Confidence<\/h2>\n
\n\n
\n \nClaim<\/th>\n Where it comes from<\/th>\n Status<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Vehicle levels and prices by track, role-track XP curve, 250 XP per air-vehicle player kill, helicopter and turret changes, median player around level 20 after 20 to 25 hours, a new XP curve and item order each season<\/td>\n BULKHEAD, “Pre-Load Live & Season 1 Changelog”<\/a>, 9 September 2026<\/td>\n Official<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Permanent ban for XP-farm servers; timed ban and cash\/XP reset for cash exploits<\/td>\n BULKHEAD, “Scheduled Maintenance & Patch 0.11”<\/a>, 12 September 2026<\/td>\n Official<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Pilot and Driver among six role tracks; role XP based on item usage; launch-weekend XP split<\/td>\n BULKHEAD, “2 MILLION COPIES SOLD”<\/a>, 15 September 2026 (launch-weekend stats image)<\/td>\n Official<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Season 02 on 15 October 2026<\/td>\n BULKHEAD, “WARDOGS | Season 02 Teaser”<\/a>, 22 September 2026<\/td>\n Official<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n $10,000 starting cash; loadout, vehicles included, bought each life; cash carries over; transport earns cash; helicopter supply runs<\/td>\n BULKHEAD, WARDOGS store page on Steam<\/a>, checked 29 September 2026<\/td>\n Official<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Real-world flight models<\/td>\n BULKHEAD, “WARDOGS – Tactical Depth & Teamplay”<\/a>, 21 May 2026<\/td>\n Official<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n The Little Bird is a helicopter<\/td>\n BULKHEAD, “PRE-ORDER NOW!”<\/a>, 11 August 2026 (Supporter Edition list)<\/td>\n Official<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Havoc damage bug from 20mm and 30mm cannon fire fixed; vehicle fly-through rewards capped; no throwables from enclosed vehicle seats<\/td>\n BULKHEAD, “WARDOGS | Update 0.1.2 (Minor Patch)”<\/a>, 30 September 2026<\/td>\n Official<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n CIWS destroys the Havoc in about 6 seconds instead of 12; IR Rangefinders disabled in the vendor until Season 02, then with batteries<\/td>\n BULKHEAD, “IR Goggles & CIWS Balance Hotfix”<\/a>, 2 October 2026<\/td>\n Official<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Prices listed under a track name read as the price of the unlock; XP per vehicle level taken from the role-track curve<\/td>\n Our reading of the Season 1 changelog<\/td>\n Derived from official<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Pilot levels of the Little Bird and the Z20 Lakota, Heavy Tank price, the Havoc’s track, level and price, per-life vehicle prices, Career XP rule, crew seats, flight controls<\/td>\n Not in the BULKHEAD posts checked through 8 October 2026<\/td>\n Not yet verified by us<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"faq","items":[{"question":"How do I fly a helicopter in WARDOGS?","answer":"Level the Pilot track and buy an aircraft: the Season 1 changelog lists the Little Bird with miniguns at $50,000 and the Z20 Lakota at $35,000, but not their Pilot levels. BULKHEAD hasn’t published a controls guide; its changelog says helicopter input damping applies to every input device, and the controls menu in game is the reference for key bindings."},{"question":"How do I unlock tanks in WARDOGS?","answer":"The Heavy Tank sits on the Driver track at level 35, which is 500,000 XP on the Season 1 role-track curve; the changelog lists no price for it. The Artillery Tank needs Career (Wardog) level 90 and costs $500,000."},{"question":"Do Driver, Pilot and Wardog levels share XP?","answer":"Driver and Pilot are separate role tracks with separate unlock lists \u2014 driving does not level Pilot and flying does not level Driver. How the account-wide Career (Wardog) level accrues relative to those tracks has not been published by BULKHEAD."},{"question":"How much XP does a kill from a helicopter give?","answer":"A player kill using an air vehicle pays 250 XP in Season 1, down from 300, per BULKHEAD’s Season 1 changelog."},{"question":"Will vehicle levels change in Season 02?","answer":"BULKHEAD says each season has a different XP curve with different item orders, and Season 02 starts on 15 October 2026. Treat every level in this guide as a Season 1 value until the Season 02 changelog is out."},{"question":"How long does the CIWS take to destroy a Havoc in WARDOGS?","answer":"About 6 seconds since BULKHEAD's 2 October 2026 hotfix, down from about 12; the studio says it had overcorrected the CIWS in the previous patch. Update 0.1.2 also fixed a bug that made the Havoc take extra damage from 20mm and 30mm cannon fire."}]}],"bottom":[{"acf_fc_layout":"more_articles","heading":"","posts":[],"count":10},{"acf_fc_layout":"chat","heading":""}],"meta_description":"Season 1 unlocks for the WARDOGS vehicles BULKHEAD has named: Driver and Pilot levels, Artillery Tank at Career 90, track prices and what is unpublished."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neonsect.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neonsect.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neonsect.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neonsect.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neonsect.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4228"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/neonsect.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7212,"href":"https:\/\/neonsect.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4228\/revisions\/7212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neonsect.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neonsect.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neonsect.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neonsect.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4228"},{"taxonomy":"blog_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neonsect.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog_tag?post=4228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}