WARDOGS runs on a persistent cash balance, and that balance does not last forever. At the end of each major update cycle, your level progression and your money go back to zero. What you spent during the cycle is gone by definition. What you did not spend gets converted into Gold Bars, which stay on your account permanently.
Quick answer: Gold Bars and any cosmetics bought with them survive every reset. Cash and XP do not — leftover cash is automatically exchanged for Gold Bars at the reset, so spend down into gear you will actually field before the announced date, and open your first Early Access session by building a loadout under $1,000 instead of unlocking anything expensive.
What resets and what stays on your account
The rule is printed inside the game itself, on the Gold Exchange panel. Level progression and cash reset at the end of a major update cycle, the date of that reset is announced ahead of time, and any cash still sitting in your balance when the cycle ends is automatically exchanged for gold bars.
| Item | Survives a reset? |
|---|---|
| Gold Bars | Yes — permanent on the account |
| Cosmetics bought with Gold Bars | Yes — unlocks are permanent |
| Cash | No — converted to Gold Bars, not deleted |
| Role XP and Wardog level | No — reset alongside cash |
| Game ownership | Unaffected — separate from in-game progression |
Two currencies sit underneath all of this. Cash is seasonal and buys weapons, gear, and ammunition in matches. Gold Bars are permanent and buy cosmetics only. There are no real-money currency sales, so the exchange runs one way: you earn cash by playing, and you turn cash into gold.
How the cash-to-Gold Bar conversion works
The exchange rate between cash and gold moves daily. That matters because the conversion at a reset happens at whatever rate is live that day, not at a fixed number you can plan around months in advance. Converting early on a strong rate and converting late on a weak one are genuinely different outcomes for the same pile of money.
For scale, beta cosmetic pricing put items like the Black & Gold AK74 at 30 bars. Gold has no combat effect at all, so a large gold balance is a record of unspent cash rather than an advantage in the next cycle.
Note: The reset is tied to major update cycles rather than a fixed calendar. No permanent season length has been published, and no official date for the first Early Access reset is currently confirmed. The client carries a “Season Ends In” countdown, so the game will eventually display the answer directly.
Does Closed Beta progress carry into Early Access?
Nothing has been stated either way about the August and September Closed Betas, both of which ran on the separate WARDOGS Playtest application. The only official line on carry-over predates both tests and concerns the pre-alpha, where earned cash was confirmed not to transfer to the full game because the game was still in active development.
There is a second reason to expect a clean slate. Beta progression was deliberately compressed because the event only lasted three days, which let players hit weapon and vehicle gates far faster than intended for the live game. A leveling pace built for a weekend test is not a pace anyone wants preserved permanently.
Treat beta cash, XP, unlocks, and statistics as temporary. Anyone stating a firm carry-over policy in either direction is guessing.
Beta rewards and Twitch Drops in your Vault
Reward tiers unlocked through the beta campaigns and Drops are a separate layer from match progression. Those items sit in your Vault on launch day rather than being earned again through cash or XP, which is why linking your accounts before you queue matters more than any pre-launch grinding.
Before the download finishes
Day one spending: your first $10,000
You start with $10,000, and it is easier to burn than it looks. Every spawn costs money — the weapon, the attachments, the ammunition, all of it is rebought each life. Players below level 9 get a shop discount, which makes the early hours the cheapest time to learn what you actually like using.
Build a loadout under $1,000 and stick with it. Spotting binoculars are worth carrying, because marking targets contributes without requiring you to win expensive duels. The one thing to skip early is the $5,000 GGX 17 pistol unlock — half your starting balance for a sidearm is a trap when a cheap rifle and repeated matches will earn far more.
If you go completely broke, you are not locked out. A zero balance still gets you a free basic iron-sight rifle, which is enough to hold a position, revive teammates, and start climbing back.
Where the money actually comes from
Matches are three-team Control Zone fights, and income comes from more than shooting. Zone control, kills, transporting players, and revives all pay. Medics healing squadmates and pilots ferrying people from base to the frontline earn cash without needing a strong gunfight record.
| Earning route | What it pays |
|---|---|
| Hot Zone presence | Double cash and XP |
| Finishing a match alive or downed | 90% gear refund |
| Team placement at match end | Bonus payout by finishing position |
| Transport and revives | Bounty-style payments |
The 90% refund is the single most important number for a new player. Dying and staying downed until the match ends still returns most of your kit cost, so abandoning a match early is usually the expensive choice, not the safe one.
Server population also affects your bill. Community servers scale what you pay by slot count — under 10 players costs nothing, while 60 or more charges the full rate.
Levels grant permission, cash makes the purchase
Progression has two keys and you need both. Six role tracks — Assault, Medic, Recon, Support, Driver, and Pilot — each cap at level 100 and feed an overall Wardog level up to 600. Reaching a level grants you the right to buy an item. Spending persistent cash is what actually unlocks it for use at the vendor. A full XP bar with an empty wallet leaves the item grey.
You do not pick a class in the lobby. Your equipment and actions decide which track grows.
| Track | What feeds it |
|---|---|
| Assault | Assault rifles and many sidearms |
| Medic | SMGs and medical tools |
| Recon | Marksman and recon equipment |
| Support | LMGs, shotguns, launchers, build and repair tools |
| Driver | Ground vehicles |
| Pilot | Helicopters |
Tank players should note one change from the beta. Tanks were temporarily placed on the main War Dog route for testing and are moving to the Driver track for Early Access, so vehicle handling, transport, and repair work is the route to armor rather than a generic level climb. Verify the live Driver track before committing cash to it.
Some levels give no reward at all. Those are normal empty rungs, and the XP curve steepens as you climb — early levels move quickly, later ones need real session time.
Spending down before an announced reset
Once a reset date is posted, the strategy inverts. Saving stops being useful and spending becomes the point. Cash you never converted into loadouts is cash that never helped you hold a zone.
After the reset, rebuild cheap first. A basic attachable rifle, plates, bandages, and solid Control Zone routing get you back to being useful in a lobby faster than chasing whatever you had at the end of last cycle. The reasoning behind the whole system is straightforward: resets let new players start closer to level with veterans in a game where the persistent cash balance is the progression, and they leave room to overhaul that progression during Early Access without stranding accounts on an old design.
Your map knowledge, your lane discipline, and your sense of when a Hot Zone push is worth the rebuy do not reset. That is the part of the account that compounds.
