BULKHEAD isn’t dropping the three teams in WARDOGS. On 19 October, CEO Joe Brammer told a player who wanted them gone that “we like the 3 team approach”. Good.
With three teams you get attacked from more than one direction, and that’s exactly why I’d keep them. Two teams would make it a much simpler game.
Is WARDOGS keeping 3 teams?
Yes. A player posted on 19 October that BULKHEAD “genuinely just need to remove the 3 teams thing”. His reasons were that there aren’t enough players and one team “feels awful to be on the entire time” (CtrlAltDelrith on X). Brammer replied that evening with some quick maths.
https://x.com/Brammflakes/status/2112289596847337474
Brammer’s point is that three teams means more enemies. WARDOGS servers hold up to 100 players (WARDOGS on Steam). With three teams of about 33, roughly 66 of them are against you.
Split the same server into two teams of 50 and it’s 50 enemies. “Your logic is flawed my friend,” as Brammer put it. By the next day his reply had over 1,300 likes.
Why are 3 teams better than 2 in WARDOGS?
Because you’re getting attacked from more directions. If you’re only getting attacked from one side, you could just fortify that one direction and sit there. With three teams, it comes from more than one side at once, so you can’t.
The game mode is built around that. Every match is three teams fighting over a randomly placed 2x2 km Control Zone inside a bigger map. The team with the most players in the zone earns points, and the first to 100 wins (WARDOGS on Steam).
So everyone wants the same patch of ground, and each team comes at it from its own spawn. I think the variety of conflict three teams bring is better than anything the standard two teams could deliver.
Does one team get ganged up on?
Sometimes. It kind of depends on the match. But I don’t know if it’s a great strategy to just gang up on one team, because the team you’re “working with” could be beating you while you do it.
If you and the other team are both beating up the team that’s already losing, you need to be the one doing more of the damage. Otherwise the team you’re basically partnered with is going to beat you anyway.
Why does one team feel awful to be on?
BULKHEAD has admitted part of it. The Season 02 patch notes say “one team had a notoriously lower win rate than the other two teams”. They also mention “valid complaints around Lonestar’s uniform visibility and certain spawn positions” (Season 02 patch notes on Steam).
Lonestar is blue. In the same notes, BULKHEAD says sentiment around the blue team is the biggest reason players don’t want to play on it. So for Season 02 it ran what it called a Faction Balance Experiment, with a cash and XP win bonus for Lonestar.
It also moved all faction spawns on Bakurani. Any team at least 40 points behind second place now gets 20% off at vendors, whichever team it is. That part is for everyone, not just blue.
The blue bonus didn’t last a day. On 15 October the official account said it was “Removing Blue Cash & XP Bonus” in a backend update (WARDOGS on X). I covered the rest of that week in BULKHEAD admitting its Season 2 mistakes.
What would WARDOGS lose with only 2 teams?
It would become two-dimensional. Front and back, that’s it. I think three teams really is what makes WARDOGS more strategic than two teams could ever be.
It’s not as simple as friend or foe. It’s friend, foe or other foe, and that other foe might be shooting one of your foes. There’s a whole extra level to it just by having three.
Which WARDOGS team should a new player pick?
Lately it’s been green, especially on the Europe servers. They’ve been stomping us. I’m on red, and I’ve been getting stomped on the EU server while green does quite well.
But honestly, I don’t think it matters too much which one you pick. Look at what your team needs and try that out. And if you’re new, don’t worry about winning.
This is one of those games where it’s impossible for one person to carry the team. One person can look like they’re carrying, say in an attack helicopter destroying everyone that comes near the zone. But the points come from having more of your team in the zone.
So the rest of your team still need enough people in there scoring, or the helicopter doesn’t matter. If you want to try flying anyway, switch the helicopter to mouse controls first.
If you haven’t bought the game yet, I wrote about whether WARDOGS is worth buying now. The rest of my WARDOGS pieces are on the WARDOGS hub.
FAQ
How many players are in a WARDOGS match? Up to 100, split into three teams fighting over the same Control Zone (WARDOGS on Steam).
What are the three teams in WARDOGS? Red, green and blue. Blue is Lonestar, the team the Season 02 patch notes single out for its low win rate.
Can one player carry a team in WARDOGS? No. Points come from having the most players in the zone, so even a great pilot needs teammates on the ground.
