WARDOGS Season 3: Sabatulo, Limited Mode and the progression reset

Season 3 is scheduled to go live around 15:00 UTC on November 12 (16:00 in Paris, 10:00 a.m. EST). Steam maintenance is scheduled for 13:00–15:00 UTC (14:00–16:00 in Paris). BULKHEAD estimates two hours of downtime, so 15:00 UTC is the planned reopening time. Official Season 3 patch notes

Sabatulo takes the fight indoors

Sabatulo is WARDOGS’ first city map. The clinic, indoor pool, power station and river embankment give squads distinct landmarks to call out. Apartment blocks and courtyards connect short street crossings with indoor routes and high ground. Season 3 launch trailer

A squad approaching the clinic may have to account for windows and rooftops before it even reaches a door. Once inside, calls like “emergency entrance” and “one floor up” will be more useful than a direction alone.

The wipe and the move to three-month seasons

Season 2 cut the total XP needed for role level 20 from 250,000 to 111,500. Season 3 raises XP requirements and brings the pace closer to Season 1. Later in the season, low-level players get a catch-up XP bonus and vendor discounts that grow week by week. Eligibility is tracked per role, so the bonus can help when you return or pick up a role you rarely play. BULKHEAD describes the new cadence as roughly three months and lists January 28, 2027 as Season 3’s end date, when the Early Access price is set to rise by $5. Season 2 patch notes · Season 3 patch notes

The Season 3 briefing confirms a wipe. BULKHEAD explained what happens to levels, cash and cosmetics during the previous season transition. BULKHEAD explains the reset and Gold Bars

• Seasonal levels, gear unlocks and spendable cash reset. Expect to work through equipment unlocks again as you level.
• Remaining cash converts to Gold Bars at the end-of-season value under the published reset policy. The Season 3 announcement gives no conversion rate.
• Gold Bars and permanent cosmetics carry over. Gold stays available for cosmetics after the reset, while the new season starts with a fresh spendable cash balance.

One item can unlock on several role tracks

Every role track can now unlock armour, backpacks, tactical vests and parachutes. Assault gets earlier access to armour, Medic to tactical vests and Support to backpacks. Ammo unlocks follow the roles that get the relevant weapons, with Recon getting earlier access to armour-piercing rounds.

Heavy equipment arrives later. Tanks move from Driver levels 20–35 to 35–50, with a general Wardog unlock at level 200. On the Support track, the Large Hammer moves to level 14 and the Verba moves up to level 8. Season 3 progression and economy changes

What Limited Mode restricts

Limited Mode restricts vendor purchases to gear typical of the early and middle parts of a season. You can filter for Limited servers in the server browser. The launch notes give these restrictions:

• Ammo and armour. Hollow-point and armour-piercing rounds are excluded, and armour is capped at Level 2.
• Vehicles. Attack vehicles are excluded.
• Emplacements and explosives. CIWS, Stingray, MG Nest, Drill Rig and anti-tank mines are unavailable.

Progression and cash carry across modes. You can spend a session on a Limited server and keep what you earned when you switch to the regular mode. Official Limited Mode rules

Balance, vehicles and squad changes

• Weapons. The Infrared Range Finder is out of the vendor pending a redesign. Assault rifles and LMGs gain torso damage, DMRs can drop an unarmoured target in two body hits, and the TCX-SPR has less recoil and side-to-side drift.
• Vehicles and logistics. The Little Bird’s cockpit gets better protection and vehicle-mounted miniguns deal more damage to infantry. Wheeled vehicles reverse faster, and the safe drop heights for crates and pallets are lower. The basic parachute is for higher emergency jumps, while the sport parachute is better suited to lower jumps. Helicopter passengers can now see their height above ground.
• Playing with friends. Official servers raise their ping cap to 250 ms across regions, and community servers can set their own limit. Squad invitations and join requests now queue up to five each. The update also adds community server favourites and fixes crashes tied to vehicle damage and lock-on targets.

Steam recordings gain markers for kills, revives and giving up. Season 3 also enables Twitch Drops, with watch targets from 15 minutes to 15 hours, and adds the Tactical ’Stache charity DLC. BULKHEAD says all profits from that DLC go to Movember. Full balance changes, Twitch Drops and DLC details

Anti-cheat changes and what’s planned for 2027

Alongside the reveal, BULKHEAD announced a ban wave covering 185,000 accounts and said it had activated additional anti-cheat measures. The studio says it used machine learning to analyse 187 million gameplay hours. It also reported permanent bans and revoked server-hosting privileges in its crackdown on exploits, real-money trading and gold farming. BULKHEAD and Team17’s press briefing

Starting in Season 3, BULKHEAD says the game will show a warning and block play if it detects third-party graphics settings that remove smoke or grass or alter textures for an advantage. Players who see the warning will need to close the game and restore the affected settings. The client will also reset the Potato Shadows option on hardware above the intended minimum-spec range. WARDOGS Updates graphics clarification

In the November 10 episode of The Hotzone, BULKHEAD explained that player reports flag accounts for review and described how the team checks replay and telemetry data. It also discussed a future server-level trust score. The larger progression overhaul is planned for 2027, and the early infantry skill tree shown in the Season 3 devlog is part of that work. The Hotzone episode on anti-cheat · Developer video

Give your squad a 60-minute plan

1. Spend 10 minutes getting everyone on the same server and faction. Decide whether you want Limited or the default mode. Pick a landmark as your regroup point.
2. Use the next 35 minutes to compare two approaches. Try a route through the streets, then one through the buildings. Have one player watch crossings or upper floors while the others move.
3. Use the last 15 minutes to repeat the better route. Agree on two or three callouts and one place to regroup after a respawn.

Find teammates for your first Sabatulo run

On Teamplay, post that you want an hour of infantry runs on Sabatulo with short callouts. Add your region, time zone, voice language and whether beginners are welcome. If you want Limited Mode, say so in the post so everyone knows what to look for in the server browser.

Sources

BULKHEAD · Road to Season 3 on Steam · November 6
BULKHEAD · Road to Season 03 developer video · November 6
BULKHEAD and Team17 · Season 3 press release via Saving Content · November 6
WARDOGS Updates · Graphics settings clarification · November 7
BULKHEAD · The Hotzone episode 2 · November 10
BULKHEAD · Season 03 patch notes and launch schedule · November 11
BULKHEAD · Season 03 launch trailer
BULKHEAD · Road to Season 02 developer video · October 9
BULKHEAD · Season 02 patch notes · October 14