Before we continue, we need to highlight the fact that this is the first pass at rewards and account levelling. This will likely change and evolve over time.
It’s also important to bear in mind that the speed at which you level up has been increased considerably over what will be the normal live rate. This is to allow you to unlock content at a rate more suitable for testing.
And finally, we would like to reiterate that account wipes will continue until further notice, as we continue to improve the progression system.
With all of that said and done, let’s dive into the juicy details of levelling in Dirty Bomb! 
Over the course of DB’s alpha and beta we’ve hinted on various occasions at how we might add mechanics to the game that reward players over time. We’ve also debated it a lot here at the studio and today I want to update you on where we’ve gotten to with that design.
Rewards
It’s important for all types of game that they reward their players for spending time in-game and Dirty Bomb is no different.
Rewarding players with new items, mechanics and gameplay allows players to set additional goals for themselves in the game in addition to enjoying the general moment to moment gameplay experiences. As players play the game they progress, improving the game, their characters and their knowledge.
We have two main goals for our reward systems in Dirty Bomb:
[ul]
[li]It should reward players with new items that allow them to customize the way they play and to show off their achievements
[/li][li]They should introduce the game’s core concepts and systems over time, to help ease new players into the game
[/li][/ul]
So what do you unlock in Dirty Bomb and how are you rewarded? Well we have three main reward systems….
Account Levelling
As your personal level goes up you unlock various features, game modes and items. These include:
Mercenaries
You currently start with six Mercs at level 1 and unlock more as you level up.
Squads
Squads allow you to build a group of three Mercs, customise them and save them. This allows you to have pre-set combinations of Mercs for specific maps or modes.
Initially you’ll have just a few squad slots available but you will be able to earn more.
Badges
Badges provide XP bonuses for performing skilful moves or important actions during matches. To avoid overwhelming new players with content these aren’t available at level 1 but are unlocked at level 4.
Loot
At some levels you will unlock loot crates which provide additional gear with which you can customize your Mercs, more on this later!
Mercenary Levelling
Each Merc also has a small level curve. When you play with them in matches they gain XP and level up unlocking various rewards, chief among them being Augments.
Augments
Augments are Loadout card attributes that allow you to slightly adjust the way Mercs perform.
They vary wildly from the increasing the health of a deployable Ammo Station to making nearby enemy’s footsteps louder, or from reducing weapon reload times to swapping melee weapons for throwing knives.
Examples:
We’ll have around 40 augments available at launch, which are organised into six types:
[ul]
[li]Offensive
[/li][li]Defensive
[/li][li]Support
[/li][li]Scout
[/li][li]Intel
[/li][li]Specialist
[/li][/ul]
Each Merc comes with three augments by default. These augments are locked to start with, to ease players into the feel of their Merc, but they are quickly unlocked as the Merc levels up.
As an example Proxy starts out with these three Augments:
Taunts
Levelling up a Merc currently grants some additional special quick chat taunts they can use.
Loot Crates
As you play Dirty Bomb you will periodically be rewarded with free open Loot Crates. These crates contain additional gear that you can use to customise Mercs, the most important of which is the Load-out.
Load-outs
Load-outs are predefined collections of equipment that can be applied to a Merc to modify the way they play. This equipment includes a mix of alternate primary, secondary and melee weapons, Augments and custom outfits…
Essentially each load-out is a side-grade for the equipment the Merc already carries.
We’ve been very careful to ensure Load-outs don’t break a Merc or radically change their behaviour or what they stand for. The type of Load-outs a specific Merc can use are limited to weapons and augments that suit their combat role and style of play.
For example Vassili is designed to be a long range defensive reconnaissance Merc, as such he can only use Load-outs that include variants of Sniper Rifles and Augments from the Intel, Defensive and Specialist types.
This system of collectible Load-outs allows you to constantly tweak your favourite Mercs, to adapt them to specific play styles, maps or squad combinations.
Other Loot
Initially loot crates will only contain Load-outs, but who knows what other items you might see such as customized weapons, XP boosters and aesthetic character modifications like masks and…er…well, hats 
Summary
Hopefully this post makes the forthcoming update slightly easier to jump right into and begin to enjoy out of the gate.
You’ll be able to level up your account whilst learning the game and unlocking content and you’ll also be able to level up Mercs and customize them with load-outs.
We aim to continue to build on and add to all of these systems over time, based on your feedback and our own hopes for the game, with the goal of making Dirty Bomb the best FPS we can.
