Wardogs XP grind: 13 hours for one item

A Wardogs player has done the math on the game's experience grind and discovered an uncomfortable truth: unlocking a single desired item will require roughly 13 additional hours of gameplay. The revelation highlights an ongoing debate within the community about whether the game's progression system strikes the right balance between casual and hardcore players.

The player, who has invested 30 hours into the game so far, reached Medic level 18 and set a goal to unlock all Medic gear. The final piece missing is a medical bag that can both revive and heal teammates simultaneously, available at Medic level 24. Initially, climbing seven more ranks seemed manageable, but a closer look at the experience requirements told a different story. To reach level 24 would require 337,000 total Medic experience points. Having accumulated 177,619 points across 17 levels, the player realized they were only 52 percent of the way to their goal.

To estimate how long this final stretch would take, the player conducted an informal test by playing a typical match with a focus on revives and healing. During a 50-minute match on the winning team, they accumulated enough experience to suggest that unlocking the medical bag would require approximately 16 more matches, or about 13 hours of playtime. For someone who typically plays only two to three hours per session, this represents at least a week of dedicated grinding.

The experience has become emblematic of a larger tension within Wardogs. The community remains divided on whether the steep progression curve is intentional design or a problem requiring adjustment. Some players argue that experience thresholds climb too aggressively, while others contend the grind would be acceptable if not for planned seasonal resets that will wipe player progress. A third faction believes the demanding progression is essential to keeping the game engaging for its most committed players.

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Developer Bulkhead Interactive faces a genuine balancing challenge. Reducing experience requirements would allow more casual players to access powerful items and feel progression, but it would also accelerate how quickly those items become commonplace in matches, potentially flattening the game's meta progression. Conversely, maintaining the current grind risks alienating players with limited time to invest. The studio has acknowledged community feedback on the issue and hinted at future features designed to vary the grind from season to season, but has not announced specific changes.

The timing adds another layer of complexity. Season 2 is scheduled to begin on October 15, which will reset all players back to level 1. This means any progress made now will eventually be wiped, creating additional friction for players weighing whether the long-term grind is worth their time investment. Bulkhead's first major patch since early access launch is expected a few weeks after the season begins, which may address some of these concerns.

For now, players like this one face a choice: commit to the grind knowing the payoff is weeks away, or accept that some items may remain locked until the next seasonal reset. The question of how much a multiplayer game should accommodate players with varying time commitments remains unresolved, and Wardogs' community continues to grapple with it daily.