Gray Zone Warfare vendors sell equipment and provide progression through reputation, tasks and stock unlocks. In the system introduced in 0.4 Spearhead, player rank controls vendor access, while vendor reputation supports further progression. Choose your next target around the gear or access you need, not a list that says everyone must max Gunny first.

A locked shop, an unavailable task and a missing item can have different causes. This guide helps you tell them apart and spend your next session on the requirement that matters.

Research checked October 3, 2026. This is a source-based guide to the 0.4 Spearhead system, not an independently play-tested stock catalogue. Exact live thresholds and prices should come from your game. Update 0.5 Rogue Ops went live on October 22, 2026. Its vendor changes are covered separately below.

🏪 How do Gray Zone Warfare vendors compare?

Check the vendor whose stock addresses your next problem. The comparison below uses official 0.4 examples for Handshake and Artisan, community references for other broad roles, and Vulture's official introduction. It is not a complete inventory or unlock-level chart.

MADFINGER's Spearhead devlog confirms the Handshake and Artisan examples. The community Trading reference supports the broad Gunny and Lab Rat roles, but parts of that wiki retain older stock descriptions. Your current menu takes precedence.

For each available vendor, check four details: your access, your reputation progress, the item you want and any extra unlock condition. A high-level shop is only useful if it supplies something worth buying for your current plans.

⚖️ How do vendor reputation and player rank work together?

Player rank and vendor reputation are separate progression values. Raising one does not automatically satisfy every requirement tied to the other.

The released Spearhead changelog describes rank-based vendor access and reputation earned through tasks and trading. Reputation supports vendor progression and unlocks additional regional tasks and stock. The regions themselves remain open to exploration.

Think of rank as one access check and reputation as another. Vendor level is the shop's progression tier, not your character's level. A task can also carry its own prerequisites.

Suppose you want an attachment from a later stock tier. First identify whether you lack vendor access, reputation or a specific task completion. Spending money on the wrong trader won't solve a separate rank requirement.

Do buying and selling items give reputation?

Yes. The official 0.2.3.0 rerelease notes explicitly added reputation from selling items, not only buying. The current 0.4 notes confirm that trading remains a reputation route.

That does not establish a universal dollars-per-reputation formula. Player calculations from April 2026 disagree. Compare the reputation shown before and after an ordinary transaction instead of budgeting a whole level from an unverified rate.

🔒 What blocks vendor unlocks, regions and stock?

Read the requirement attached to the thing you cannot access. A vendor unlock, a regional task and a stock item are not interchangeable goals.

Use this dependency check before another loot run:

Regional progression matters. The 0.4 release notes describe progression-gated task access; reaching a place on the map does not prove that its tasks are available to you. Use the Lamang map guide for route context, then check your own active task state.

Some task completions unlock stock directly. If you have enough reputation but cannot buy the item, look for that additional requirement before assuming the shop is broken.

Older guides can describe task-based vendor unlocks from a different system. A familiar task name is not proof that the old unlock route still applies after the 0.4 rework.

🛒 What does each Gray Zone Warfare vendor sell?

Use these profiles to decide where to look, not to predict every item at every level. Stock, accepted sale categories and unlock conditions need checking on the same current account.

Handshake: check your protective equipment

Handshake's official 0.4 specialization is primarily Western gear. Start here when a piece of protective equipment is the weak point in your loadout. Compare its actual protection, condition and replacement cost rather than buying simply because the stock tier is higher.

Gunny: support the weapon you already use

Community references place weapons, ammunition and attachments at the center of Gunny's stock. Check ammunition compatibility before buying an upgrade. A rifle you can afford to replace and supply may suit your next task better than a costly build you're reluctant to take out.

For a specific Gunny investigation, use the separate Guns and Ammo task guide.

Lab Rat: build a usable medical kit

Lab Rat's broad community-listed role covers medicine, food and drinks. Prioritize a supply gap you can name: the treatment or consumable you need, how much you carry and what it costs to replace. A higher shop tier does not help if you still leave the kit behind.

Artisan: identify the container you want

Artisan's official Spearhead role includes civilian equipment and locker containers. Don't follow an old guide that treats her mainly as an AK supplier. Compare the container's accepted contents and dimensions with your storage problem before committing reputation or money to it.

Turncoat: compare another equipment route

In 0.4 priority discussions, players associate Turncoat with AK-focused options and compare him with Gunny. If that is the weapon family you prefer, inspect the matching ammunition and parts together. Confirm the whole setup rather than chasing one attractive item you can't yet support.

Banshee: choose a specific target

Banshee is worth evaluating when a particular weapon or attachment is your goal. Official patch notes identify a Sa Vz. 58 sold by him in 0.4.4 and a SIG MCX handguard purchased from him in 0.4.5. Those are dated examples, not a promise of your current stock. Write down the exact item and its displayed requirement before starting a long reputation push.

Vulture: treat access as a separate question

Vulture was introduced as a field vendor at major Combat Outposts, with recovered player gear and special stock. That official 0.3 description explains his different role, not his exact current location or reputation rules.

Update 0.5 changed his access. The Rogue Ops changelog makes Vulture a regular vendor, accessible to all players at the base camp or at COPs. Don't carry over claims that he has no tasks or cannot lose reputation without current evidence.

🎯 Which vendor should you prioritize for your goal?

Prioritize the smallest useful upgrade to your next deployment. This is a planning approach, not a universal vendor ranking.

If you're still learning the game, start with a replaceable weapon, suitable ammunition and medical supplies. The GZW beginner guide covers that first-session setup. Then inspect the shops for whichever part of it is holding you back.

If your ammunition options are the problem, check Gunny's relevant stock. If you need protective equipment, compare Handshake's offers with alternatives you can already access. If storage is the problem, identify a useful Artisan container before treating another weapon purchase as progress.

For a preferred weapon or optic, choose the seller with that exact target. Verify the gun, ammunition and attachment compatibility as a set. A shopping plan built around one usable loadout is easier to fund than an attempt to buy every new unlock.

0.4 players disagree about vendor priorities, often because they want different equipment. Their recommendations can help you spot options, but their order is not a requirement for your account.

Is Gunny level 3 or level 4 the right target?

Choose the level that unlocks something useful for you. Current-cycle community discussions include level-4 progression, so old “all vendors max at level 3” charts are not a safe reference. Those reports still do not verify every vendor's live cap or complete stock.

Before pushing another tier, check what you expect to gain. If the next purchase does not solve a loadout, storage or access problem, you can work on a different goal instead.

📈 How do you level up vendors faster without wasting money?

Use available tasks, keep their reputation rewards in view and direct ordinary trading toward a chosen target when the tradeoff makes sense. No researched route supports a guaranteed completion time for every account.

Start with useful task completions

First-time completions award more reputation than repeats under the official 0.4 system. Most tasks can be replayed, with starter-town exceptions. Compare the reward currently offered, the route and the supplies you'll use, rather than assuming an old mission always gives the same return.

The reputation penalty for failure is based on the task's offered success reward. It isn't 10% of your entire reputation balance. For example, a task offering 200 reputation would imply a 20-point failure penalty. That's an illustration, not a live reward quoted for a named task.

Decide whether a sale is for cash or reputation

A higher sale offer and progress with your chosen vendor can point to different decisions. Compare actual offers from vendors that accept the item. Keep anything needed for an active task or a planned purchase before selling the rest.

Players report uneven task availability for the later vendors. That makes directed sales worth considering, but it does not prove that selling everything to one trader is always best.

Consider a hypothetical sale: one vendor offers $300, while the vendor you're leveling offers $240. These are illustrative prices, not current game offers. Choosing your target vendor costs you $60 in potential sale cash. Compare the reputation benefit with what that $60 would buy for your next deployment. If you can't afford the supplies you need, the higher cash offer may be more useful.

Don't buy and resell stock simply because a comment calls it fast. Without verified costs and reputation returns, that loop can spend money you needed for your next deployment.

Check squad eligibility before leaving

The 0.4.5 squad-task rules require participating players to share a server and meet the vendor, region and task prerequisites. Only selected tasks qualify. Tasks already in progress, long-term contracts, boss-kill tasks and starter-town tasks are among the exclusions.

Shared tasks with a survival condition fail if a squad member dies. Agree on the objective and extraction plan first. Party support cannot remove a progression requirement that a player has not met.

💱 Which vendor stock and economy changes matter now?

The 0.4 stock rework matters more than an old shopping list. Vendor-sold items have unlimited quantities under the general Spearhead system, but some equipment is world-loot only. Unlimited quantity does not mean every item is sold or unlocked for you.

Prices and buyer preferences also need attention. The 0.4.4 patch fixed Banshee failing to pay an increased amount for evidence items. That is a reason to compare the offers shown for your item, not proof that he pays best for all loot.

What did update 0.5 change for vendors?

MADFINGER's October 1 Rogue Ops teaser scheduled update 0.5 for October 22, 2026, and Rogue Ops went live on that date.

The soft wipe kept rank, vendor levels, completed tasks and unlocked apparel, while removing money and locker contents. Don't confuse retained vendor levels with retained purchases.

Update 0.5 changed vendors in several ways, according to the Rogue Ops changelog. Vulture became a regular vendor at the base camp or at COPs, and reaching certain vendor ranks now unlocks the Hideout. Smuggling runs and intercepting smugglers earn vendor reputation. Stims and tracking tags can no longer be bought from vendors and must be crafted.

The total reputation needed to reach Level 4 also increased with 0.5. Hotfix 0.5.0.0 (1) restored Level 4 for players who had reached it before the 0.5 Supporter Preview. Everyone else kept the same percentage of progress toward the new requirement.

🧪 Which vendor progression questions need a live check?

Exact player-rank gates, reputation thresholds, current stock tiers and sale conversion rates need current-client evidence. This guide does not replace those missing checks with numbers from an older patch.

How can you check your own reputation gain?

Use one ordinary transaction for the check:

1. Record your build, player rank, chosen vendor's level and reputation.
2. Select one ordinary item you do not need for a task or loadout.
3. Record the sale offer, complete that one transaction and compare reputation afterward.
4. Treat the change as evidence for that transaction, not a universal rate for every item, vendor or patch.

For a stock question, capture the exact item name and any requirement shown alongside it. For a task question, capture the full objective and prerequisite text. That gives you something useful to compare with a guide or send to support.

If a task appears complete but will not turn in, inspect its details rather than relying only on the map marker. Official 0.4.6 and 0.4.7 notes document fixes involving both completion controls and misleading markers. They do not identify the cause of every similar problem today.

Gray Zone Warfare and its related marks belong to MADFINGER Games. ArmadaBoost is independent and is not endorsed by MADFINGER Games. This article offers free progression guidance; third-party services require their own delivery and game-rule checks.

🤝 Want support with a specific vendor target?

Choose the exact vendor target before paying for support. Once you've checked the free progression route, compare GZW vendor-leveling support against that target. Review the delivery method and what is included before ordering.