Start from the $10,000 you already have
Every player begins with $10,000 【A】, cash persists between matches, and each life needs its own gear purchase 【A】. The number that decides whether a loadout is affordable is therefore not its price but its price per life — because a death consumes the kit entirely, and surviving to the end of a match only refunds about 90 percent of what you were carrying 【B】.
That single framing removes most of the anxiety from a first purchase. A $675 kit that you can deploy with fourteen times 【C】 is a better loadout than a $35,000 vehicle you can deploy with once, regardless of which one looks more capable on paper.
Starter kits, priced per life
| Kit | Contents | Cost per life | Lives funded by $10,000 | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free deploy | Bushmaster M17S | $0 | Unlimited | 【B】 |
| Scout | Bushmaster M17S + Binoculars (~$75) | About $75 | About 133 | 【C】 |
| Rifleman | T-21 rifle ($600) + Binoculars (~$75) | About $675 | About 14 | 【C】 |
| Builder | Rifleman kit + Large Hammer ($2,400) | About $3,075 | About 3 | 【C】 |
| Marksman | Rifleman kit + 6–10x MRAD scope ($40,000) | About $40,675 | 0 — not affordable from a start | 【C】 |
| Vehicle opener | Rifleman kit + URAL ($35,000) | About $35,675 | 0 — not affordable from a start | 【C】 |
Two things fall out of that column. First, the jump from the free deployment to a full rifleman kit is about $675 【C】 — which is roughly the value of one revive at about $900 【B】. A single successful revive pays for the upgrade. Second, the last two rows are not starter loadouts at all; they are purchases that assume an existing bankroll, and the budget planner will say so in as many words.
The kit prices are marked 【C】 because they are this site’s addition of single-source item prices 【B】, not vendor-stated bundle prices. The individual items are confirmed; the totals are arithmetic.
The buy order, and the reasoning
- Free rifle first. It costs nothing, it works, and deploying with it keeps the entire bankroll intact 【B】.
- Binoculars at about $75 【B】. This is the highest-value purchase in the game per dollar: one recon mark pays $100 【B】, so the tool is repaid on its first use 【C】 and then pays for everything after.
- T-21 rifle at $600 【B】. The first real weapon upgrade, and cheap relative to any income line: less than one revive 【C】.
- Large Hammer at $2,400 【B】, but only if you will build. Completions pay $1,200–$1,500 【B】, so two builds roughly repay it 【C】. Without building, it is dead weight.
- FOB supply at $7,500 【B】, as a squad purchase. It is roughly three quarters of a starting bankroll 【C】 on its own, and it also gates mortars.
- Scopes last. At $40,000 and $45,000 【B】 they cost more than a URAL and more than a Dune Buggy — a luxury line that should not appear in a first month of purchases.
What to skip, and why
- GGX17 pistol at $5,000 【B】. Half a starting bankroll for a sidearm the source list describes as widely regarded as not worth buying first. That $5,000 buys a rifle, binoculars, a hammer and change.
- Any vehicle before you can replace it. A $35,000 vehicle 【B】 is one deployment out of a fresh bankroll, and it is per-life gear 【A】.
- The Artillery Tank as a goal. At $500,000 and career level 90 【B】 it is a season-scale project, not a loadout choice.
- Anything bought after level 9 that was cheaper before. The store discount below level 9 【B】 never returns, so items you know you will want should be bought inside the window.
The discount window is the real starter advantage
Gear is discounted below level 9 【B】, and Season 1 slowed the XP curve between levels 10 and 20 and flattened it after 35 【B】. That combination makes the early levels both the cheapest and the quickest part of progression.
The tactical reading is simple: inside the window, buy the items you will still be using at level 30 — a rifle, binoculars, a hammer if you build — rather than the items that look appealing at level 3. The roles and XP tracks page covers which track each item sits behind, so the two ladders can be planned together.
When this advice does not apply
A starter loadout guide is only valid under certain conditions, and it is worth naming them:
- If you cannot reliably reach the end of a match, a more expensive kit is a worse kit. The 90 percent refund 【B】 only arrives on survival, so a player dying early is paying full price for gear every life.
- If you play solo, the builder kit is wasted. Build completions need a place to build; the squad play page covers what a solo player should run instead.
- If prices have moved, the totals move with them. The Season 1 list is single-source 【B】; the in-game vendor is the final word. Check the prices page and the patch notes before buying.
- If you are on Linux or Steam Deck, none of this applies yet — the game was not supported on those platforms at launch 【B】.
The one-line version
Deploy free, buy binoculars, buy the $600 rifle, and let the team action payouts — $100 marks, $200 heals, around $900 revives, $1,200–$1,500 builds 【B】 — fund everything after that. Then re-price your kit before every session, because a loadout is a recurring cost, not a purchase.