BF6 Season 5 Weapons: Fastest Way to Level All 4 New Guns

The fastest way to level the four new Battlefield 6 Season 5 weapons (the Mk 24, RSPR, Z84M and ELR-40) is to unlock them early through the Season 5 Battle Pass and then level one gun at a time in the setup that gets you the most kills per hour. If you spread your XP across all four, you end up with four half-built guns. If you'd rather skip the grind and go straight to having the attachments, our Battlefield 6 weapon leveling boostfrom $19.99 can take any of them to Mastery 50 for you.

As of Season 5: Siege of Vegas (Game Update 2.1.1.0, live since October 13, 2026 at 12:00 UTC), every one of these guns starts at level 1 with nothing unlocked. Below we cover what changed, how much an hour of play is worth with each method, and which approach suits which kind of player.

Quick-Start Checklist

1. Find your unlock route in-game. Open the weapon's class list and select the locked gun. It shows the exact requirement.
2. Choose one gun to level first. Base it on your class and your favorite Season 5 map, not on hype.
3. Turn on any Bonus XP you own. Check that it applies to Hardware XP, because not every boost does.
4. Play in high-kill-density lobbies. Weapon XP comes from what you do with that weapon.
5. Move to the next gun only once the attachments you want are unlocked.

What Changed in Season 5

Update 2.1.1.0 is a big patch. Here's what matters if you're focused on weapons:

• Four new weapons at launch. The Mk 24 assault rifle gives up magazine size for steady, hard-hitting fire at range. The RSPR (some outlets list it as an SMG, others as a PDW) has a steady fire rate and high damage. The Z84M LMG is built for aggressive close-range play. The ELR-40 bolt-action sniper has, according to EA, the furthest damage sweet spot of any rifle in its class.
• Two new maps: Vegas Strip and Area 51. A third Vegas-themed map is due later in the season.
• Less recoil help on controller. Gamepad recoil compensation went from 11% to 5%. This matters for leveling, because a fresh gun with no grip or muzzle now kicks noticeably harder on a pad.
• Vehicle changes. Tanks and IFVs now take longer to heal, and mobile anti-air got a buff, so expect more infantry fights.
• More players. Battlefield 6 is free to play on PlayStation and Steam from October 15 to 19, and it's now included with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

How do you actually unlock them?

Sources disagree on this, so here it is plainly. At least one outlet reports that each new gun sits at Tier 11 of its own Battle Pass path, for example the Mk 24 on the Audacious Breach path and the RSPR on Access Defied. Other trackers found that EA's official weapon roster page hadn't been updated with Season 5 unlock labels as of launch week. Your in-game locked-weapon screen is the authority here, so check it before you plan anything.

Pro tip: Battle Pass XP and weapon XP are separate tracks. You can get the gun quickly by working through the pass, but its weapon level only rises from playing with that gun. Plan two separate grinds, not one.

Why the Order You Level In Matters

A brand-new weapon is at its weakest at level 1. With controller recoil help cut back, the first stretch of levels, where the core grips, muzzles and optics unlock, is where a gun goes from frustrating to competitive. Every hour you put into a gun you'll drop in two weeks is an hour not spent on the one you'll actually use.

Match the gun to how you play:

• Recon mains / Area 51's open desert: ELR-40 first.
• Mid-range Assault players: Mk 24 first.
• Players pushing through the Vegas Strip casinos and close quarters: RSPR or Z84M first.

Leveling Methods, Ranked Best to Worst

We ranked these by weapon XP earned per hour you spend, with ban risk and effort factored in.

1. Bot lobbies (you play it yourself). Our BF6 bot lobbiesfrom $14.99 put you in a match with 5 or 8 AI bots and average roughly 1,000 to 1,600 kills per hour. It works because kills drive weapon XP, and normal matches spend a lot of time on respawns, travel and empty stretches. Best for players who want to level the gun themselves.
2. Done-for-you weapon leveling. Costs none of your playtime. Best for players short on time who just want to show up with a finished gun.
3. Regular Conquest or Breakthrough on the new maps. Slower, but it's real practice with the gun. Take the gun to a map that suits it (the ELR-40 on Area 51, the close-range guns on Vegas Strip) so you get kills instead of losing range fights.
4. Portal farm servers. EA has cracked down on XP farming before, so this is unreliable. See our breakdown of whether you can still farm XP in Battlefield 6 Portal before you count on it.
5. Rotating between all four guns. This is the worst option for time spent. You get four partly unlocked guns and none that are ready.

Pro tip: In Season 4, EA's own comparison table listed Bonus XP of +10% for Battle Pass owners and +15% for Battlefield Pro, and it applied to Hardware XP. The 15-minute XP boosts only double Career and Battle Pass XP, not weapon XP. EA hasn't confirmed the Season 5 percentages yet, so check the Season 5 pass details in-game.

A simple worked example

This is an illustration, not a measured rate. Say one gun takes you 10 hours of normal play to max. A 15% Bonus XP multiplier brings that down to about 8.7 hours. Across all four new guns, that's roughly 35 hours instead of 40, which is a useful saving but nowhere near a shortcut. Getting more kills per hour does far more than any multiplier. For a deeper look at where weapon XP comes from, see our Battlefield 6 weapon XP guide.

Is It Safe?

No service in any live game is risk-free, and we won't claim ours is ban-proof. What we can do is explain how the risk works: bot lobbies are a different setup from account-sharing services, and each carries its own considerations. Our guide on BF6 boosting safety and ban risk covers this in detail so you can decide for yourself.

What to Expect Next

Season 5 rolls out in phases, so the weapon list keeps growing:

• October 20 to November 7: a Dead Space crossover event on Area 51, with rewards that include an SMG Weapon Package.
• November 10 (Casino Heist): the NSW4 Carbine, the European Casino map and new hardware.
• December 8 (Frozen Aces): reportedly the MK 1 Mod 0 DMR.

That means more guns to level in the next eight weeks. If you finish your main Season 5 weapon before Casino Heist, you'll have room to start on the NSW4 the day it arrives.

Bottom Line

Pick the one Season 5 gun that fits how you play, unlock it through the pass, and level it somewhere with plenty of kills before you touch the next one. Players who want to stay hands-on get the most out of bot lobbies, players short on time get the most out of a done-for-you boost, and anyone who mostly wants practice with the gun should stick with regular Conquest on the map that suits it.

Taking four new weapons to Mastery 50 the normal way costs dozens of hours, and two more guns are already scheduled. If you'd rather spend that time actually playing Vegas Strip and Area 51, our weapon leveling servicefrom $19.99 can max out whichever Season 5 gun you pick.