WARDOGS Pilot Leveling: Season 2 Fastest XP
The fastest way to level Pilot in Season 2 is to fly supply crates and pallets in chained deliveries, because carrying passengers now pays only 25 XP each. A full Z20 Lakota earns about 300 XP in passenger fees, less than the 400 XP one air-delivered pallet pays. Take the Lakota at level 10 before the Little Bird, which now unlocks at level 8 for $125,000. Repairing helicopters also pays Pilot XP now.
Practise before you spend a cent
Flying is hard in WARDOGS and a crash costs you the whole helicopter. Go to the firing range from the main menu, talk to the vehicle handler, and spawn any helicopter to practise. Crash, respawn, repeat until you can take off and land cleanly. Passengers carry a new risk this season: parachutes take longer to open and will not open below about 10 metres, and anyone who opens below roughly 50 metres falls too fast to slow down in time. If you drop a squad, drop them low and land.
The fastest farm: deliveries by air
Logistics changed, and the numbers rank the cargo for a pilot. By air, a pallet pays 400 XP, a large crate 300 XP and a small crate 150 XP, with cash of $1,250, $500 and $250. A delivered player pays $100 and 25 XP. Each also builds a streak: pallets add $250 and 100 XP per pallet in a row up to 10, crates add $100 and 50 XP per crate in a row up to 10, and passengers add $25 and 5 XP per player up to 25. Return trips add $50 and 25 XP up to 10.
Add that up and the Lakota's 12 passengers pay 300 XP before any streak bonus. One pallet beats the whole load. A rotation that carries a pallet in, takes a squad back out, and repeats the circuit keeps both streaks alive. Pallets need the right unlock first: the Mechanical pallet at War Dog level 5 ($10,000), Ammo at level 9 ($25,000) and Fuel at level 16 ($50,000). Drop your cargo inside the control zone, since the published logistics values are the amounts paid when dropped there.
Repairs now pay you
Repair XP goes to the Pilot track when the vehicle is a helicopter, instead of a flat Support amount. Land at a repair station or bring a wrench ($180) and fix your own helicopter between runs, or fix a teammate's. It turns downtime on the ground into XP.
The helicopter ladder
Every helicopter Pilot can fly, in unlock order, with the vendor price and the cash fee on top of the level.
| Helicopter | Unlock | Cost | Role / use |
|---|---|---|---|
| MH-6 | Level 0 | $6,250 | Six seats, the scout and transport you learn to fly on. |
| Little Bird AH-6M (miniguns) | Level 8 (was 4), $125,000 | $12,000 (was $7,000) | Two seats. First attack helicopter. Unlocks later and costs more because it was too strong this early. |
| Z20 Lakota | Level 10, $35,000 | $7,400 | Thirteen seats. The big transport for ferrying and cargo. |
| Little Bird AH-6R (rockets) | Level 20, $250,000 | $18,800 (was $12,500) | Two seats. The rocket-armed variant. |
| Z20 Lakota (miniguns) | Level 25, $85,000 (was $75,000) | $15,000 (was $8,000) | The transport Lakota with miniguns fitted, still thirteen seats. |
| Havoc | Level 35, $650,000 (was $500,000) | $28,000 (was $18,000) | 800 health and 400 top speed. The gunship you grind toward. |
Which helicopter to fly, and when
Start on the free MH-6. Level 10 is the first real choice. The Lakota costs $35,000 to unlock and $7,400 to buy, while the Little Bird with miniguns costs $125,000 and $12,000 even though it comes two levels sooner. That is $90,000 cheaper in fees for the Lakota, and 13 seats suit cargo and passenger runs better. The fees through level 20 (Little Bird, Lakota and the rocket Little Bird) add up to $410,000. The Havoc at level 35 needs 525,000 XP and $650,000 on top. The XP curve is on the leveling hub: level 20 is 111,500 XP.
Miniguns also lose damage this season, because the high-calibre cuts apply to the Little Bird and Lakota miniguns. Treat the armed helicopters as late purchases, and ferry and haul in the Lakota. For controls, landings and surviving anti-air, see the helicopter flying guide.
After you touch down, hold the collective down for a second or two before you do anything else. A helicopter left neutral will slowly lift off on its own, and pilots lose aircraft this way because it floated away while they were healing or buying ammo.
Written by Kaze, who plays WARDOGS and checks the numbers in game before they go on the page. Facts change with each patch. This page was last updated 15 Oct 2026 (Early Access).