Of course. To argue that a vehicle as controversial as the 2S38 should be at 10.0, and not a step higher, requires looking past the highlight reels and focusing on the brutal, unforgiving reality of the top-tier meta. The argument to keep it far away from 11.0 isn’t a defense of the vehicle’s power, but rather a cold, hard analysis of its profound and crippling limitations in an environment it was never designed to fight in. Placing the 2S38 at 11.0 would be the equivalent of taking a finely-honed scalpel designed for specific, delicate work and trying to use it as a sledgehammer to break concrete—it would shatter instantly, its intended strengths rendered completely irrelevant.
First and foremost, any discussion of an 11.0 Battle Rating must begin with a clear understanding of what that ecosystem entails. This is the domain of the Leopard 2A7V, the M1A2 SEPv2, the T-80BVM, and the Strv 122. These are vehicles with advanced composite armor arrays and ERA packages that can shrug off rounds with over 600mm of penetration. They fire APFSDS rounds like DM53 and M829A2 that are fast, flat-shooting, and can punch through nearly a meter of steel. The air is filled with Ka-52s and Apaches firing long-range, fire-and-forget missiles from behind cover, and supersonic jets dropping laser-guided bombs from altitudes where they are untouchable by cannon-based SPAA. To suggest the 2S38 belongs here is to fundamentally misunderstand the scale of this threat.
The 57mm cannon, the source of so much frustration at lower tiers, becomes a peashooter at 11.0. Its APFSDS round, with its ~225mm of penetration, is functionally useless against the frontal aspect of any top-tier MBT. It cannot penetrate the turret, it cannot penetrate the upper plate, and it often cannot even penetrate the lower plate. Its entire anti-tank capability would be relegated to desperate, high-risk flanking maneuvers where it would have to expose itself to get a shot at a side profile. Even then, the post-penetration damage is so anemic that it would require multiple, perfectly placed shots to disable, let alone kill, an opponent. While this is happening, the MBT it is flanking can simply turn its turret and erase the 2S38 from existence with a single click. The 2S38’s gun is a bully’s weapon; it’s incredibly effective when it can punch down on less armored targets, but it is completely and utterly outclassed when it has to punch up.
Furthermore, its much-vaunted anti-aircraft capability becomes a severe liability at 11.0. The IRST system is a fantastic point-defense weapon, but that is all it is. It is a short-range system. At top tier, the primary aerial threats are not jets making low-altitude gun runs; they are helicopters and drones launching missiles from 8-12 kilometers away. The 2S38 has absolutely no way to counter this. It can sit there and watch the missile trail approach, completely helpless. It would be a free kill for any competent pilot. Its role as an SPAA is only effective against opponents who make the mistake of getting close. At 11.0, no one makes that mistake. It would be a less effective anti-air platform than even the dedicated gun SPAAs like the Gepard, which at least have a search radar to provide early warning.
Finally, and most critically, the 2S38 is a glass cannon with an emphasis on “glass.” Its armor is non-existent. At 11.0, it would not just be vulnerable to main battle tank rounds; it would be vulnerable to everything. The 30mm and 40mm autocannons on enemy IFVs like the Puma and CV90 would shred it from any angle. Even a burst from a .50 caliber machine gun could penetrate its weaker sections. It is a massive, unsloped box that is trivial to hit. The idea that its “unmanned turret” provides survivability is a myth when any penetrating hit to the hull—which is where every competent player aims—will detonate its massive ammunition rack for a catastrophic one-shot kill.
In conclusion, moving the 2S38 to 11.0 would be a catastrophic error in judgment that ignores every single one of its fundamental design flaws. It would be a vehicle with a gun that can’t penetrate its targets, an anti-air system that can’t reach its targets, and armor that can’t protect it from anything. It would be a rolling coffin, a free kill for every other vehicle in the match. Its entire playstyle is predicated on being able to leverage its high-rate-of-fire cannon against targets it can actually damage. By placing it at 11.0, you remove that capability entirely, leaving it with nothing. The argument for a 10.0 BR is not about making it stronger; it’s about placing it at the absolute ceiling of its effectiveness, a bracket where its strengths are still relevant but are balanced by its paper-thin armor and the presence of more capable MBTs. Pushing it any higher would be to delete the vehicle from the game in all but name.
