How to make money in WARDOGS: every payout ranked, and the penalties
WARDOGS' economy is simple to state and easy to lose at: you start with $10,000, it carries between matches, every life you buy your kit from it, and if you die that kit's gone. Money comes from teamplay actions (revives, transport, supplies, spotting), kills in the zone (double in the Hot Zone), and big-ticket demolition (spawn vehicles, FOBs, artillery). The reliable earners early are flying and healing; the jackpots are explosives.
The payouts, ranked
| Action | Pays | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kill an enemy spawn vehicle | $15,000 (players report up to $25,000 with supplies aboard) | Takes 2 IEDs, placed and detonated separately |
| Kill an artillery tank | $10,000+ | Even outside the zone |
| Destroy an enemy FOB | $2,500 + 500 engineering XP | 1 IED does it. Go FOB hunting |
| Teammate kills someone you tagged | ~$800 | Binoculars/monocular: tag players, vehicles, bases. Also pays XP on the tag itself |
| Kills inside the Hot Zone | Double | Kills outside the zone pay substantially less |
| Deliver passengers to the zone by helicopter | Per surviving passenger, plus tips | A full Littlebird on the point roughly pays for the aircraft |
| Revive with the rebreather | Cash + medical XP | Rebreather is free, cuts a 30 s revive to ~5 s |
| Bandage a teammate | Cash + XP | Self-aid is expensive; buddy-aid pays. Heal others first |
| Drop ammo crates / supplies | Cash | Buy crates, fill them at a markup, drop what the push needs (IEDs at a compound, RPGs near a tank) |
| Shoot unarmoured enemy ammo boxes | Cash | Check the minimap first: a shopping-cart icon means it's friendly, and you get fined |
| Hold the zone | Cash | Bodies in the zone score points; Hot Zone bodies count double |
The penalties
- Team kill: $1,500 per player. Crash a full Littlebird and that's five to eight fines. Practise flying on the range first.
- Killing friendly ammo boxes: fined.
- Dying: everything you bought that life is gone, and the walk back is your respawn timer.
Start-of-season plan (first week)
Everyone's bank is thin and armour-piercing ammo hasn't unlocked for most players, so:
- Fly. Pilot income is the most reliable early money and levels your primary track fast, which unlocks attachments. Buy parachutes into the heli's inventory so passengers can bail if you can't land.
- Heal. Free rebreather every life, bandage others not yourself, revive anyone (you're paid, and it denies the enemy a stuck kill).
- Spot. Binoculars in the loadout; tag everything you see. Tagged kills pay you without firing.
- Hunt FOBs and spawn vehicles once you have IEDs. One IED = one FOB = $2,500. Two IEDs = one spawn vehicle = $15,000.
- Tip your pilot. Spam it. It's how the pilots you rely on keep flying.
Where the money leaks
- Rushing the zone in a $5,000 kit and dying to someone prone in a bush. Investing in armour every life is essential; investing in a full loadout before you know the map is not.
- Buying a vehicle solo. A tank with one person in it is a donation to the other two teams.
- Buying an armed vehicle and forgetting to buy its ammo before leaving base.
- Not rebuying kit with the Re-buy button (bottom left of the buy screen) and re-shopping every death instead.
Spawn-vehicle economics
Spawn vehicles have a ~10-minute teleport cooldown. Dying fast doesn't just cost kit, it costs the travel time back, which is why the respawn "timer" in WARDOGS is the choice you make at base: buy a vehicle, catch a lift, or walk.
How cash and XP relate
Hover any item in the shop and it shows which of the six XP tracks it feeds (a shotgun kill pays engineering XP, for example). Cash buys, XP unlocks. Full detail on the progression page.
Real payouts will shift as BULKHEAD balances Early Access; this page tracks the changes.
FAQ
What is the best way to make money in WARDOGS?
Fly. A loaded Littlebird dropped on the zone pays for itself in delivery and tip income, and pilot XP unlocks the good attachments early. Second best: revives with the free rebreather, and spotting.
How much do you start with?
$10,000, and your balance persists between matches. Everything you take into a life is bought from it.
What is the team-kill penalty?
$1,500 per teammate killed, including crashing a helicopter with people in it.
Does the Hot Zone pay double?
Yes. Everything inside the Hot Zone is worth double cash, and players inside it count double toward the zone score.
Sick of full servers and queues?
Rent your own WARDOGS server from an approved host and play with your mates on your rules. UK/EU: QONZER (bare metal, no slot fees). Anywhere else: BisectHosting (21 locations). Casual group: xREALM (pay by the hour). Full comparison.