George In The Meta
Why were thermals removed from WARDOGS?
By George In The Meta · · updated
Short answer: BULKHEAD took the infrared range finder, the thermal binoculars everyone calls "thermals", out of the vendor on 2 October 2026 because it was too overpowered. It comes back in Season 02, which starts on 15 October, and from then it needs batteries.
As of 4 October 2026, Early Access, updated 15 October from the 14 October patch notes. Sources: WARDOGS Updates, the Steam hotfix note, 2 October, and the Season 02 patch notes, 14 October.
What did BULKHEAD actually change?
BULKHEAD pulled the IR range finder from the vendor until Season 02. On 2 October at 15:31 UTC, the official WARDOGS Updates account posted that "the IR Rangefinders will be disabled in the vendor until Season 02, where they will require batteries to use". The Steam note that followed says it happens "within the next 12 hours when servers restart across regions". Their reason: "we agree with player sentiment and they cross the line into being too overpowered."
BULKHEAD's CEO, Joe Brammer, added that "player behaviour and data supports the shift in playing style to be too consistent and repetetive."
The same post sped the CIWS back up: it now takes down the Havoc in about 6 seconds instead of 12.
Was the infrared range finder overpowered?
Yes, way overpowered. I play recon every match, so I'd know.
You could sit at only 2x, see a bright white spot, zoom in a little, and spot it. That's it. With anything below it you have to actually use your eyeballs to tell a player from a building, a bush, a tree or the rest of the foliage.
The money was silly. In one match I made $70,000 just from spotting, and I left before the game had even finished. I didn't have a gun. I had nothing but the thermals. That's before all the recon XP on top.
When are thermals coming back?
Season 02, on 15 October 2026. The official line is "until Season 02", and Joe Brammer said "it'll be back Season 2". When it returns it needs batteries to use. The Season 02 patch notes put a battery at around 80 seconds of active use, covered below.
Season 02 also wipes your cash and XP. Joe Brammer confirmed your leftover cash converts into gold bars.
What happens to the ones players already own?
Nobody keeps an IR range finder they already owned. Your inventory starts every match empty, and so do the supply crates. Everything in them gets bought from the vendor during the match, by you or by whoever stocks the crate. So with the infrared range finder gone from the vendor, there's no way to get one at all: not in your own kit, and not from a crate.
BULKHEAD's posts only say "disabled in the vendor", which is why people keep asking. In practice, that means it's gone until Season 02.
What should recon use instead?
Recon should use the plain range finder instead, $400 in the vendor. It still gives you the distance, but no thermal, so you're back to spotting by eye. It pays less too: a spot with the plain range finder paid me $100. With the infrared I was getting $125 to $250 a spot.
It's so, so much worse.
What changes for the IR range finder in Season 02?
It now runs on batteries. Per BULKHEAD's Season 02 patch notes, a battery lasts around 80 seconds of active use, and it drains faster if you quickly toggle the range finder on and off.
Both range finders cost a lot more in the vendor. The Infrared Range Finder goes from $1,200 to $3,200, and the plain Range Finder from $400 to $1,450. On the Recon track, the Range Finder unlock goes from $15k to $25k.
Spotting itself pays less in Season 02 too: the patch notes cut spotting rewards by about 30% compared with Season 01 and scale them to the value of what you spot, so the $100 and $125 to $250 figures above are Season 01 numbers.
