How the map is structured
WARDOGS is a 100-player match split across three teams 【A】, and the map is not a fixed set of lanes. Two competing zones generate over it each match, and almost every decision a squad makes flows from where those two zones sit relative to each other.
The Control Zone is the win condition. It is a random area of roughly 2 by 2 kilometres that appears each match 【A】, and inside it the team with more players present scores. First team to 100 points wins 【A】, settling roughly every 30 seconds 【B】.
The Hot Zone is the money. It is a yellow circular area that moves 【A】. Standing inside it counts you as two players for scoring and doubles your cash and XP 【A】. It is not the win counter, but it is the highest-value ground on the map.
Four towers sit on the map 【A】. Capturing one means climbing to its upper level and operating a PC terminal 【A】, and each captured tower reveals one digit of a code 【A】. Collect the full code and your team launches the Hot Zone Magnet, which drags the Hot Zone toward a tower your team holds 【A】.
That last mechanic is the reason the map is worth understanding rather than memorising. A team that controls towers can move the highest-value ground toward itself. The tower codes page covers the capture flow and the cost of the run.
The zone comparison
| Attribute | Control Zone | Hot Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Shape and behaviour | Fixed random area, roughly 2×2 km 【A】 | Yellow moving circle 【A】 |
| Scoring effect | Out-numbering team scores 【A】 | Players count as two 【A】 |
| Cash and XP effect | Normal payouts 【A】 | Doubled 【A】 |
| Passive income | None described 【A】 | Described as hundreds of dollars per minute 【B】 |
| Interaction with towers | None 【A】 | Pulled by the Hot Zone Magnet 【A】 |
| Settlement cadence | About every 30 seconds 【B】 | Continuous while held 【B】 |
The practical reading: the Control Zone is where you win, the Hot Zone is where you earn, and the towers are what let you bring the second one to the first one.
Risk and recommended people by zone
| Area | What is there | Risk | People recommended | Resource density | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control Zone, contested | The win counter, settling about every 30s 【B】 | High — all three teams converge | 4+ to out-number | 【Unconfirmed】 | Risk 【B】 |
| Control Zone, uncontested | Free scoring ticks | Low, until it is noticed | 2+, spread out | 【Unconfirmed】 | Risk 【C】 |
| Hot Zone | Double cash and XP, double scoring weight 【A】 | Very high — the map’s focal point | 4+ including a medic | 【Unconfirmed】 | 【A】 |
| Tower, lower approach | The route to the terminal | Medium — a known funnel | 2+ | 【Unconfirmed】 | 【C】 |
| Tower, upper level terminal | One code digit 【A】 | High — you are stationary and exposed | 2+ with one covering | 【Unconfirmed】 | 【A】 |
| Anywhere between zones | Rotation ground, marks pay $100 【B】 | Medium — you are a target in the open | 1–2 | 【Unconfirmed】 | 【B】 |
| Rear area after 20 points by any team | APC becomes available 【B】 | Low | 1 | 【Unconfirmed】 | 【B】 |
The resource-density column is written out as 【Unconfirmed】 on every row on purpose. The column was asked for, and the honest answer is that no resource-density map could be traced — so instead of inventing one, the column stays empty and the two columns that are verified (risk and people) carry the weight. Anything with “highest loot here” attached to it would be untraceable in a game whose spawns are random by design.
Likewise, this page contains no coordinates, no callouts, no jump routes and no farming spots. Those change between patches, they are not in the verified source list, and a guide that publishes them is publishing its author’s luck rather than the game’s rules.
The only confirmed place names
Two Control Zone names have been observed and recorded: Valkyra and Lonestar 【B】. They are listed here as observations, not as a faction system: the traced source list does not establish that these names form a rotation, belong to teams, or predict anything about the match. Treat a name as a label for a shape of terrain you have seen, not as a scouting report.
Where the money is on this map
Ranking locations by what they pay, using only verified amounts:
- Inside the Hot Zone, holding. Passive income described as hundreds of dollars per minute 【B】, plus doubled cash and XP 【A】. Nothing else on the map competes per minute.
- Inside the Hot Zone, fighting. A kill assist pays $1,600 there against $800 in the Control Zone 【B】.
- Rotating between zones as a transporter. A rider delivered to the Hot Zone pays $500–$1,000, plus $500 if they survive and $750 per kill they get afterwards 【B】. This is the only income line that improves when someone else does well.
- Anywhere, scouting. A recon mark pays $100 【B】 wherever you are, including from cover.
- Behind the line, building. A completed build pays $1,200–$1,500 【B】 and does not require being in the contested area.
The money per hour page turns those five lines into hourly bands with the cadence assumptions printed, and the hot zone page covers the decision of when chasing the circle is worth the risk.
How to decide where to go
- If you need cash now and have a squad, the Hot Zone is the only place whose passive income is worth the exposure 【B】. Alone, it is the fastest way to lose a life.
- If your team is behind on points, the Control Zone out-numbers everything else. Doubling your weight elsewhere does not move the win counter.
- If you control towers, your position matters less than your timing. The Magnet 【A】 lets you bring the Hot Zone to ground you already hold, which converts a contested circle into a defended one.
- If you are solo, work the edges: mark from cover for $100 【B】, build when the front settles for $1,200–$1,500 【B】, and stay out of the two-zone overlap, where all three teams converge at once.
One field note that is worth more than a route: the map rewards being early to a zone rather than fast across it. Unlike the Control Zone’s 30-second settle 【B】, positions inside the Hot Zone pay continuously, so the first minute you hold it is worth as much as the last — which is why a squad that moves on the circle’s new position before it fully arrives out-earns a squad that fights its way in afterwards.