WARDOGS Weapons Guide#
One detail about the weapon count at WARDOGS’ launch needs to be cleared up first: the official figure is 37 weapons (the number given in the official launch content announcement of August 11, 2026), but if you count the tabs in the in-game vendor menu, you will land on 33 — that is the community’s tally. The developer has never published a per-weapon list, so exactly which weapons account for the gap cannot be verified. When citing official specs, the number is 37; when counting vendor tabs, it is 33. Neither figure means content is missing.
More important than the raw count is this: weapon classes map directly to progression tracks. Whatever type of gun you use is the track you advance.
Weapon Classes and Progression Tracks#
| Weapon Class | Progression Track |
|---|---|
| Assault Rifles | Assault track |
| SMGs | Medic track |
| LMGs | Support track |
| Shotguns | Support track |
| DMRs | Recon track |
| Sniper Rifles | Recon track |
| Bow | Recon track (late-game unlock) |
| Pistols | Account level |
| Launchers | Support track |
This table is the core logic of the whole weapon system. To push a specific track forward, you have to actually use the weapon type tied to it — playing a hundred matches with an assault rifle will not move the medic track up a single level.
The Three Ammo Types#
The ammo categories and comparisons below come from community testing and may shift with patches during Early Access:
| Ammo | Vs. Unarmored Targets | Vs. Armored Targets and Vehicles | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) | Moderate | Moderate | The general-purpose pick |
| Hollow Point | Higher | Noticeably lower | Best value against unarmored targets |
| Armor-Piercing | Lower | Higher | The mainstream pick against armored targets |
Most weapons can swap between ammo types, and the ammo you load often changes your damage output more than swapping between similar rifles does. This matters most early on: rather than saving cash for a new gun, get the right ammo first.
The Three Faction Rifles Named in the Official Announcement#
The supporters-edition announcement of August 11, 2026 is the only official document for this game that names specific firearms, because it includes three faction liveries:
| Weapon (official spelling) | Faction |
|---|---|
| Valkyra A-91 | VALKYRA (red faction) |
| Lonestar Bushmaster | LONESTAR (blue faction) |
| Manticore KH-2002 | MANTICORE (green faction) |
One clarification: the claim circulating in the community that “these three are free starter rifles every account gets out of the box, no unlock required” is not confirmed by any of the official sources checked for this page. Whether they are actually free to use, defer to the in-game vendor interface.
Weapons Seen in the Community and the Closed Test#
The names below come from players compiling the in-game vendor catalog during the closed test. They are not an official list, and spellings may differ from the release version:
| Class | Models spotted |
|---|---|
| Assault rifles | AK-74, M4, Galil, FAL, T-21, MP43 |
| SMGs | PP-19 Vityaz, MP5, AMP-9 |
| DMRs | SKS, SVD |
| Sniper rifles | Mosin Nagant, Scout Rifle TD |
| LMGs | M249 SAW, PKM |
| Shotguns | M500, Super-45 |
| Pistols | Judge, M1911, GGX17, Deagle |
| Launchers | RPG-7 |
Whenever you quote these names, remember where they came from: a test-period compilation, not an official spec sheet.
Field-Tested Early-Game Lessons#
- SMGs are easier to live with than assault rifles early on. At most realistic engagement distances, early SMG recoil is far more controllable, and SMG use advances the medic track — the better your gun feels, the faster your medic line climbs.
- Replace the recon starter gun as soon as possible. Community feedback is blunt about the default bolt-action: it struggles badly at mid range because one shot will not put down a helmeted opponent. Move to the semi-auto SKS or the heavier Mosin Nagant quickly.
- An LMG without a firing position is a liability. Its suppression power depends on the bipod — which means it depends on your willingness to stop moving and hold one spot. It is not built for run-and-gun play.
- You can skip shotguns entirely. On a 100-player battlefield where most fights happen at longer range, shotguns have noticeably fewer useful scenarios than any other class.
Weapons, Magazines, and Ammo Are Three Different Things#
This is the mechanic new players get burned by most often:
| Item | What it means |
|---|---|
| Weapon | Once purchased, it enters your loadout |
| Magazine | A separate item that must be manually loaded before you deploy |
| Ammo | Loose rounds go into your backpack for in-match resupply |
Deploying with empty magazines is the most common fatal rookie mistake. A safe baseline: one full magazine in the gun, two or three pre-loaded magazines in the backpack, plus a stack of loose rounds on top.
Unlocking vs. Paying Per Spawn#
| Concept | Meaning |
|---|---|
| One-time unlock | Pay a larger chunk of cash to permanently unlock a piece of equipment; you still pay per use afterwards |
| Per-spawn payment | The cost of buying that equipment again with every life |
The difference shows most clearly on vehicles, and weapons and attachments work the same way. Understanding it is what lets you plan where your cash should go first.
One Piece of Advice on Switching Guns#
In a cash economy, changing primary weapons frequently is expensive: every swap means buying the gun again and relearning a recoil pattern from scratch. The community’s advice is to pick one main weapon and stick with it for at least ten hours, adjusting attachments only and never swapping guns, until you know its ballistics inside out.
| Situation | Should you switch? |
|---|---|
| Just finished two matches and still not comfortable | No — keep using it |
| You deliberately want to push a different progression track | Yes — experience follows weapon class |
| You just feel like you “can’t kill anyone” | Change your ammo first, then think about a new gun |
On the “Optimal Pick”#
Early Access numbers move with every patch. The one patch that is officially documented, Patch 0.11 (announced September 12, 2026 and deployed on the 14th), adjusted the server browser and community server payouts; community claims that it also included a batch of weapon balance changes have never been confirmed by official sources. So this page will not hand you a single “best gun” — only a framework for deciding: choose the class by the progression track you want to advance, choose the specific model by the distance you fight at, and choose the ammo by what your opponents are wearing.
To keep digging, read Gunsmith and Attachments for how attachments change handling, Loadouts for how full builds come together, and Classes and Roles for each track’s upgrade path.