Battlefield 6 ditches the half-baked progression of Battlefield 2042 and returns to classic Battlefield with the introduction of clear ranks, defined unlocks, and a long-tail Mastery grind that rewards skill and dedication across every class, weapon, and vehicle. If you’re the player chasing Career Rank 50 or the completionist after every badge and Dog Tag in the thousands, here’s how Battlefield 6 progression works and what you’ll need to do to earn it all.
How Progression Works in Battlefield 6
Everything you do in Battlefield 6 Multiplayer, from kills and assists to repairing vehicles, reviving allies, or capturing points, feeds into your Career Rank XP. XP is earned across all Multiplayer modes and even Verified Portal Experiences (means community-made content can progress your soldier).
At its heart, the system is split into three branches:
- Career Rank Progression – your overall level and source of hardware unlocks.
- Hardware Mastery – weapon and vehicle-specific progression trees.
- Badges & Dog Tags Mastery – endgame bragging rights that track everything you’ve done.
Everything from your class loadouts to your vehicle kits evolves along these paths. Even XP boosts from challenges and ribbons can accelerate them but there’s no shortcut to true Mastery. It’s the most layered progression structure the Battlefield series has seen.
Battlefield 6 Career Ranks
Almost every player’s main goal in Battlefield 6 is Career Rank 50. These first fifty levels are where you unlock the foundation of your loadout such as weapons, gadgets, grenades, and class gear. Each rank increase unlocks a new functional item, loadout slot, or cosmetic reward.
The onboarding phase gives you access to all four Battlefield 6 classes right from Rank 1 — Assault, Engineer, Support, and Recon, and a starter firearm from each signature weapon type.
Here’s the complete list of rewards you’ll earn as you climb during Career Rank progression:
| Rank | Unlock | Type / Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Starter Loadout (All Classes) | Default equipment for Assault, Engineer, Support, Recon |
| 2 | M4A1 | Carbine Rifle |
| 3 | Air Defense Launcher | Engineer Gadget |
| 4 | M39 EMR | DMR |
| 5 | Grenade Intercept System / Playercard Background | Support Gadget / Cosmetic |
| 6 | PW5A3 | SMG |
| 7 | Breaching Projectile Launcher | Assault Gear |
| 8 | Additional Loadout Slot | Assault |
| 9 | DRS-IAR | LMG |
| 10 | Recon Drone / Weapon Sticker | Recon Gadget / Cosmetic |
| 11 | M277 | Carbine Rifle |
| 12 | Additional Loadout Slot | Engineer |
| 13 | Unguided Rocket Launcher | Engineer Gear |
| 14 | B36A4 | Assault Rifle |
| 15 | Additional Loadout Slot / Playercard Background | Support / Cosmetic |
| 16 | LMR27 | DMR |
| 17 | High Explosive Launcher | Assault Gadget |
| 18 | Additional Loadout Slot | Recon |
| 19 | PW7A2 | SMG |
| 20 | M/60 / Playercard Title / Class Challenge Assignments | LMG / Cosmetic / Challenge Unlock |
| 21 | Flash Grenade | Assault Grenade |
| 22 | AK-205 | Carbine Rifle |
| 23 | Sniper Decoy / Weapon Challenge Assignments | Recon Gadget / Challenges |
| 24 | ES 5.7 | Sidearm |
| 25 | SOR-556 Mk2 / Playercard Background | Assault Rifle / Cosmetic |
| 26 | SV-98 | Sniper Rifle |
| 27 | Acoustic Sensor AV Mine | Engineer Gadget |
| 28 | Incendiary Grenade | Support Grenade |
| 29 | UMG-40 | SMG |
| 30 | RPKM / Weapon Charm | LMG / Cosmetic |
| 31 | Missile Intercept System | Support Gadget |
| 32 | M417 A2 | Carbine Rifle |
| 33 | SVK-8.6 | DMR |
| 34 | Mini Frag Grenade | Engineer Grenade |
| 35 | AK4D / Playercard Background | Assault Rifle / Cosmetic |
| 36 | USG-90 | SMG |
| 37 | Tripwire Sensor AV Mine | Recon Gadget |
| 38 | M123K | LMG |
| 39 | M45A1 | Sidearm |
| 40 | EOD Bot / Vehicle Decal | Engineer Gadget / Cosmetic |
| 41 | GRT-BC | Carbine Rifle |
| 42 | M1014 | Shotgun |
| 43 | Throwing Knife | Recon “Grenade” Option |
| 44 | Thermobaric Grenade Launcher | Assault Gadget |
| 45 | KV-9 / Playercard Background | SMG / Cosmetic |
| 46 | M250 | LMG |
| 47 | Long-Range Launcher | Engineer Gadget |
| 48 | M44 | Sidearm |
| 49 | Portable Mortar | Support Gadget |
| 50 | TR-7 / Combat Knife Skin | Assault Rifle / Cosmetic |
Every few levels also give loadout slots, class challenges, and cosmetic drops like backgrounds, stickers, and decals. The grind to 50 is paced to provide you with one or more good unlocks per session.
Once you reach Rank 50, the normal level unlocks stop, and you have every weapon and gadget. But the climb doesn’t end there. Career Ranks 52 through 100 are cosmetic that give new charms, vehicle decals, playercard icons and melee skins every two levels. After Rank 100, the system changes into an open-ended “thousands club” that tracks your progress indefinitely and completes Badge and Dog Tag Mastery milestones.
Battlefield 6 Assignments
At Career Rank 20 and 23, you unlock Assignments, specific in-game challenges that open the door to additional weapons and class gadgets.
Each class has a dedicated Assignment tree:
- Assault – Deploy Beacon, Incendiary Shotgun Rounds, Flanker, and Grenadier Training Paths.
- Engineer – Vehicle Supply Crate, Aim-Guided Launcher, and Combat Engineer Training.
- Support – Smoke and Incendiary Airburst Launchers, Supply Pouch, and Fire Support Training.
- Recon – Demolition Charge, Tracer Dart, and Spec Ops/Pathfinder Training Paths.
Weapon Assignments brings even more depth, lets you earn powerful guns through performance challenges instead of rank milestones.
Battlefield 6 Hardware Mastery: How to Level Up Weapons and Vehicles
Every weapon and vehicle in Battlefield 6 has its own Hardware XP Track, a self-contained progression bar that fills as you use it. Each kill, assist or repair with any weapon or vehicle provides Hardware XP that levels that item independently.
Each hardware rank in this system unlocks:
- Functional Upgrades – attachments, optics, or vehicle equipment.
- Weapon Packages – pre-built loadouts with unique attachment combinations.
- Camouflages and Skins – earned progressively through performance.
For weapons, the Mastery works like this:
- Level up the gun through use.
- Earn attachments at specific milestones.
- Unlock camouflages through challenge ribbons.
- Finish at Hardware Rank 50 to get an Elite (Red & Black) badge.
To get vehicle skins, it counts your time in tanks, choppers, and jets giving unlockable on-vehicle gear, skins, and camouflages specific to chassis type. Both systems fill in the Badge total, a Mastery record.
Battlefield 6 Camos: How to Unlock Skins and Materials
Camos in Battlefield 6 are a direct reflection of how much time you’ve spent with a weapon or vehicle. Each gun, gadget, and vehicle has its own Hardware Mastery that rewards you with new skins as you level them up through kills, assists, and objective play. Unlike Career Rank, weapon mastery focuses completely on performance with that specific piece of gear. As you level up Mastery, you unlock its attachments and cosmetics.
Here are the rewards you get by achieving specific weapon Mastery levels:
- Level 10 – Weapon Package: a pre-built variant with a unique setup and look.
- Level 20 – First Universal Camo: usable on any weapon or vehicle.
- Level 40 – Second Universal Camo: high-tier finish, usually themed for advanced environments.
- Level 50 – Mastery Package: the final reward — a bronze-or-charcoal finish known as the Unstoppable Force skin. For vehicles, there is the Gold Standard look.
Camos are grouped into six style families including Forest, Desert, Snow, Naval, Urban, and Miscellaneous. Early tiers provide classic camouflage suited to their environments, while later tiers unlock rare materials and finishes.
Badges and the Total Mastery Rating
Badges are the heart of Battlefield 6’s long-term progression. Every weapon, vehicle, and class you level up contributes to your Total Badge Rating, the aggregate measure of your overall Mastery.
Each hardware item grants one of five metal-tier badges depending on its rank:
- Bronze (Rank 10)
- Silver (Rank 20)
- Gold (Rank 30)
- Platinum (Rank 40)
- Elite (Rank 50)
Currently, there are 212 Weapon and Vehicle Badges, plus an additional Class Badge set from Assignment completions — 228 total. Future seasons will add more. Your Total Badge Rating is visible on your soldier’s profile, a clean stat-driven metric that replaces the arbitrary service stars from previous titles.
Battlefield 6 Accolade Dog Tags
Dog Tags make their return and not only as collectibles. In Battlefield 6, Accolade Dog Tags are both cosmetic and functional, earned through consistent in-game achievements across sessions.
Each Dog Tag represents a specific feat:
- Metal Tags for basic milestones like early squad kills.
- Bronze Tags for tactical or situational achievements.
- Gold Tags for exceptional multi-kill or precision feats.
Examples are:
- Corpsman – Revive 15 teammates in a match (Support).
- Recon Expert – Earn 3000 Score in one life as Recon.
- Marauder – Kill an enemy within 8 seconds of killing a fourth.
- Flight Dispatcher – Kill a pilot without destroying their aircraft.
Dog Tags are collectible, displayable, and in true Battlefield tradition — lootable when you get taken down in melee. Completing all campaign collectibles further awards the special Winner Take All and Dead Center Dog Tags for those who grind everything.
The design philosophy behind Battlefield 6’s progression is clear:
“Play how you want, and everything counts.”
Unlike the fragmented systems of past games, every weapon, class, and vehicle now makes its contribution to a single overall soldier record in Battlefield 6.
