Loadout Calculator
Every WARDOGS life starts with a $10,000 budget. Pick a role and gear below to see the exact cost before you buy in-game — no more finding out mid-match that your loadout was $1,200 over what you had saved.
Budget Progression: What to Buy as You Grow
A real tier path multiple early-access and beta players independently converge on for an Assault/Medic-hybrid loadout — not four disconnected examples, but what to upgrade into as your saved cash grows. Use the calculator above to adapt any tier to your own budget and role.
Free faction rifle + smallest backpack + free resuscitator, then either bandages or extra loose ammo
The free rifle every faction gets costs nothing to buy, so this tier is really just backpack, healing, and ammo choices. Skip the $100 tactical vest unless you're carrying extra equipables — bandages alone cover most of what you need.
T-21 + first backpack upgrade + an early attachment (skip the compact red dot, it's not worth it) + more healing
A real step up from the free rifle with automatic fire, for well under half the price of an AK74. A good low-risk kit for consistently banking a couple thousand per life while you're still learning sightlines.
AK74 + Tier 1 armor + tactical vest + parachute + free resuscitator + 10 bandages + backup ammo
The AK74 is a genuine laser beam at mid-range and easier to control than the T-21's faster fire rate. This is roughly where most players' "default" loadout settles once they're comfortable.
Galil + bigger backpack (2 mags, 3 loose reloads) + Tier 1-2 armor + healing or Defibrillator kit once Medic Lv.11 is unlocked
Once you're reliably surviving fights, the Galil's damage-per-shot and easier long-range control over the AK74 starts paying for itself. This is also the natural point to add a Defibrillator if you've hit Medic level 11 — see the role guide for the defib+heal money loop.
M4 (30-round mag) + Tier 2-3 armor + tactical vest + parachute + large defib battery + loose ammo
This tier needs saved cash on top of your $10,000 baseline — it's not a starting-life budget, it's what a well-funded life looks like once you've banked winnings from lower tiers. Bigger backpacks beyond this add another $10-20k of value but make you a bigger, more visible target.
Watch your weight class
A bigger budget doesn't always mean a better loadout — total weight puts you into Light, Medium, or Heavy, and crossing into Heavy disables tactical sprint entirely and slows your ADS. Loose ammo is cheaper andlighter than full magazines, so it's often the better spend once you're past the basics.
Full weight-class breakdown in the beginner tips guide →How the WARDOGS economy works
You start every life with $10,000. Cash doesn't reset between matches — it persists, earned through kills and assists, revives, transport, logistics, construction, and objective or Hot Zone play. That means your actual buying power any given life is your saved cash plus that $10,000 baseline, not just the $10,000 alone.
Vendor and unlock prices move per patch — the Season 1 launch changelog alone raised the Support role's Large Hammer unlock from $25,000 to $75,000. Check the news hub before assuming a price here is still current.
The economy also resets on a season basis — roughly month-long during early access — so role XP, account level, and most unlocks are season-relative, not permanent. For the tactics that actually move the needle on cash and XP per life, see How the WARDOGS Economy Works.