WARDOGS: How to Get a Gun From the Equipment Vendor

Guns in WARDOGS are not handed out. Every life you buy your own kit, and the fastest way to get armed mid-match is the Equipment Vendor, an NPC shop marked on the map that sells weapons, gear, utility items, and loose ammo.

Quick answer: Open the map, drive or run to the Equipment Vendor icon, press F to open the shop, click an empty slot under EQUIPMENT SLOTS, pick a weapon, click the AMMO button beside it to add matching rounds, then hit PURCHASE in the bottom right.

Player aiming a scoped rifle at stacked cargo containers inside the Safe Zone — Aiming a bought rifle in the Safe Zone before heading out. Image: BULKHEAD

What you need before buying a gun

Two separate gates control every weapon in the game, and both have to be clear before the gun is yours.

The first is cash. You start a match with $10,000, and each weapon has a price tag you pay every time you buy it. Die, and you pay again for the replacement. The second gate is progression. Most weapons list a class level requirement, and once you hit that level you still have to pay a one-time unlock fee to gain permanent access to the item before you can buy copies of it in a match.

Anything with no level requirement is available from the moment you load in. That is where new players should shop, because the entry-level tier is cheap enough to leave money for ammo, armor, and medical gear.

Weapon	Type	Ammunition	Price
Bushmaster M17S	Assault rifle	5.56x45mm	$0
GGX 17	Sidearm	9x19mm	$200
MP43	Shotgun	12 Gauge	$400
T-21	Assault rifle	5.56x45mm	$600
AMP-9	SMG	9x19mm	$900
Scout Rifle TD	Sniper rifle	5.56x45mm	$1,100

The Bushmaster M17S is the safety net. It costs nothing, fires 5.56x45mm, and only gives up full-auto fire and attachment support. If a bad run empties your account, it gets you back into a fight with a working rifle.

Find the Equipment Vendor on the map

Open the map. The overlay shows your own marker on the coordinate grid, so you can work out which vendor is closest and whether you can reach it on foot or need a vehicle.

WARDOGS map overlay showing the player marker on the coordinate grid — The map overlay with your own position marked on the grid. Image: BULKHEAD

Look for the shopping cart and gear icon. That marker is the Equipment Vendor, and highlighting it confirms what the shop sells: class-based weapon systems, personal gear, and utility items.

Equipment Vendor marker highlighted on the WARDOGS map with its description panel — Selecting the Equipment Vendor marker, which sells weapon systems, personal gear, and utility items. Image: BULKHEAD

Close the map, walk up to the vendor NPC, and wait for the OPEN Vendor prompt to appear. Press F to open the shop interface.

Buy a weapon and matching ammo at the vendor

Get your bearings in the EQUIPMENT VENDOR window. It splits into EQUIPMENT, GEAR, ITEMS, and LOOSE AMMO tabs. Weapons live under EQUIPMENT.

Click an empty slot under EQUIPMENT SLOTS. This tells the vendor where the gun is going, and it opens the weapon list for that slot.

Pick a category and then a weapon. The list is sorted into assault rifles, SMGs, shotguns, LMGs, marksman rifles, snipers, and bows, and every entry shows its price, level requirement, and weight. Weight is not cosmetic, so a 12.5kg AMR 50 will slow you down far more than a 2.92kg M4.

Equipment Vendor menu with the Scout Rifle TD selected and its details shown — The Scout Rifle TD highlighted in the Equipment Vendor list, with its stats and purchase status. Image: BULKHEAD

Click the AMMO button next to the selected weapon and add rounds in the correct caliber. A rifle without ammunition is dead weight, and 5.56x45mm is the easiest caliber to standardize on early because six weapons share it, including the free Bushmaster M17S.

Click PURCHASE in the bottom right corner. The cost of the gun and the ammo is taken from your cash in one transaction.

Tip: if you only need to top up rounds for a gun you already carry, skip the weapon list entirely and buy from the LOOSE AMMO tab.

Confirm the purchase went through

You know it worked when the weapon fills the equipment slot you clicked and your cash total drops by the combined price of the gun and its ammunition. Close the vendor and the gun is in hand, ready to aim down sights.

Sniper scope centered on an industrial area while aiming down sights — Aiming down the scope after leaving the vendor with a loaded rifle. Image: BULKHEAD

Why a weapon purchase fails

If PURCHASE does not give you the gun, one of a short list of reasons is responsible.

You do not have enough cash for the weapon plus the ammunition in the same transaction.
You have not reached the class or WARDOG level listed under the weapon.
You hit the level but never paid the one-time unlock fee, which grants permanent access to buy that weapon.
No ammunition was added, so you end up carrying a weapon you cannot fire.

Class levels that unlock the rest of the arsenal

Beyond the starter tier, which weapons ever appear as buyable comes down to which class track you level. The classes are progression tracks, not loadout restrictions, so nothing stops you from pairing a sniper rifle with a defibrillator once both are unlocked.

Class track	Weapons it opens up	How you level it
Assault	Assault rifles such as the GALIL, M4, and FAL, plus attachments	Kills with assault rifles, pistols, and grenades
Medic	SMGs including the MP5 and Super-45	SMG kills, healing, and reviving teammates
Support	LMGs, shotguns, launchers, and mines	Heavy weapon kills, repairs, and building FOBs
Recon	Sniper rifles, marksman rifles, long-range scopes, and the bow	Sniper and DMR kills, and spotting enemies
Driver / Pilot	Ground vehicles and helicopters, supply cases	Transporting players and supplies, vehicle kills

Pistols are the exception. They gate on your overall WARDOG level rather than a class, starting with the Judge at level 18, the M1911 at 40, and the GGX 18 at 70, so sidearm progress is identical no matter what you play.

The habit worth building early is treating the vendor as an economic decision rather than a wish list. Cash comes from kills, revives, healing, spotting, building, transporting teammates, and time spent in the combat zone, and every dollar spent on a $6,500 rifle is a dollar you lose the moment you go down. Buying cheap, staying useful, and banking the difference is what eventually pays for the expensive stuff.