The current Rank III requirement for Battle Pass and event tasks unnecessarily limits vehicle choice and prevents players from using many iconic vehicles they enjoy.
Many nations have vehicles at Rank II that are fully capable of contributing to event progression, yet they are excluded solely because of their rank. This is especially noticeable for smaller tech trees, where players have fewer options compared to major nations.
The purpose of events and Battle Pass challenges should be to encourage gameplay, not to force players into a narrow selection of vehicles. A player performing well in a Rank II vehicle is still actively participating and contributing to the match.
Another issue is that Rank II vehicles can already be matched against Rank III vehicles through the BR system. For example, my Italian P40 and M43 tanks are Rank II, yet they regularly face Rank III vehicles in battles due to BR matchmaking. This creates a strange situation where I am fighting in the same matches as players who are progressing their Battle Pass and event tasks, but I cannot progress mine simply because of the vehicle’s rank. The matchmaking system considers these vehicles suitable for the battle, but the progression system does not.
Most people have not realized that the distinction between Rank II and Rank III plays a massive role in gaijin’s steering process of player behaviour AND of the BR setting process. In addition it is also a tool to push sales of premium aircraft.
Rank II has a lot of under-BRd aircraft (i don’t play tanks) which are placed there to allow “newer” players to score even if they don’t know what they are doing. Getting more or less easy progress in a TT is (often) solely based on vehicle performance and keeps players attached and creates the illusion that progress is a walk in the park.
A lot of these planes deserve actually higher BRs but experienced players don’t use them as there is the Rank III restriction for daily / special / BP tasks or grinding events.
In other words: Without this restriction a lot of aircraft would get higher BRs - as BRs and Ranks are connected.
Examples:
The J2M2 was for years op at BR 4.3 - but as a Rank II plane there was no real incentive for experienced players to use it. As soon as the plane was reclassified as Rank III the BR went in two steps to BR 5.0 (Air RB)
Some vehicles are c+p across multiple tech trees. If you compare on StatShark the 3 P-51Cs ((Link) you see that the Rank II US version was used in April 2026 10 times more often than the JP premium version at Rank III - whilst the JP players scored 3 times more kills per death than US players.
So your argument meeting Rank III hardware with your (preferred) Rank II vehicles does not consider that the BRs in itself are influenced by the Rank in the first place. Rank pushes also premium sales and has an impact on research efficiency.
A great example is the US F6F-5 at Rank II at BR 3.3 - if you use it you meet frequently the Czech postwar Avia S-199 (“Sakeen”) at the same BR of 3.3 but the Sakeen is Rank IV. As a fun fact: My UK c+p premium F6F-5 (Hellcat MK I) sits at the same BR of 3.3 but is Rank III and meets both of them quite often in same team as enemies.
Regarding gaijin's goals with BP tasks i wrote this 2 years ago:
In most discussions regarding Rank III restrictions you see the topic "seal clubber prevention" - my view on this:
I would love to see them remove the rank III requirement for all decal task! There’s no reason to not let us grind the monthly decals at lower BRs. And if not that then let us grind the monthly decals with the vehicles they were on irl along side the Rank III+ requirement. It just makes sense to be able to grind for a decal that went on the SU-76M with the SU-76M (example).
Twas like that for years. Pretty sure the 4.0 Sherman still isn’t moving to rank 3, even through 3.7 Shermans in other nations are still rank 2, and 4.0 has consistently been the cap for rank 3 in America.
i am not sure what you expect and how to respond, but i will use common sense.
Even as an absolute post WW 2 tank rookie i found 3 clear identical (based on pictures) M24s on SS:
1 x USA
1 x Italy
1 x Japan
There were CHN and USSR versions too - both at Rank II but all BR 4.0 so i assume that you excluded them from your “every other is Rank III” claim.
Based on comparing the Rank II US version with the Rank III IT and JP versions the Rank II US version shows clearly the lowest numbers of SL/RP income and (ofc) the lowest number of kills per spawn and kills per death. But the US version is nearly played twice as much (~ 80%) as the IT and JP versions together.
So even without wearing a tinfoil hat you might come to the following conclusions:
Keeping a way more popular tank at a lower rank decreases the progress of these vehicle users. SL and RP rewards are not only related to multipliers, they are also connected to the Rank. Basic rule: The higher the rank, the higher the rewards. In addition the research penalties for researching higher ranks plays a role too.
As long as US players play this tank more but are less successful than players of other nations they prevent the need for a BR adjustment for the tank as a whole as gaijin tries to keep identical vehicles at the same BR.
Gaijin enforces US M24 tank players to use other, potentially higher in BR or harder to use vehicles to have the same amount of SL & RP income - therefore they hamper the progress of US players.
So even as in this case they do not support sales of identically BR’d but at a higher Rank placed premium versions in other TTs they delay progress of US players by lower SL & RP income.
To make this clear - i loved playing the Rank II US F6F-5 but i played it really just for fun for Rank II daily tasks. I use the UK version way more often with an identical play style but besides that i have with the Rank III UK version a slightly higher K/D (~ 11 vs ~9:1) my WR exploded from 58% (US) to 74% (UK) - and the bonus SL and RP for victories are not considered by StatShark.
Therefore i quote myself:
Edit:
Based on your answer i have nothing more to add to my comments. I don’t defend Rank II or III decisions but as long as you refuse to accept that Rank II/III decisions are automatically also progress and SL & RP decisions futher exchanges make no sense for me. Thx for understanding.
Not talking about BR. That is irrelevant wrt Ranks as seen by the wide range of BRs overlapping the ranks.
Add the Sweden version of M24 to the list of Rank 3 m24s.
The China version should also be rank 3 along with US version. It’s ridiculous the US must us a 6.0 vehicle to get a rank 3 light tank.
I don’t see any Russian m24 - unless it’s a premium that is no longer available. I’m pretty much talking about Main TT that everyone has easy access to in order to complete BP tasks.
I understand why its seen as unwarranted to have a rank 3 limit. but it stops reserve tier being full of uptiers into sweats in the AMD 35 pak and other rather powerful rat vehicles of the rank. to me the only bit that makes no sense is that event vehicles in rank 1 and 2 can often contribute to the event grind
gaijin wants to grip as many people as possible. keeping newbies away from the sweaty no-lifers during an event is quite important
From a tank player’s perspective, Italy is a good example of why this restriction is frustrating.
At BR 3.3, the P40 is still Rank II, while the M43 Leoncello sits at BR 3.0 and Rank III. Both are genuine Italian WWII vehicles, yet only one can be used for Battle Pass and event tasks.
For players who enjoy historical Italian lineups, this creates an unnecessary gap. Instead of using iconic Italian Axis vehicles, many players are pushed toward post-armistice American vehicles to fill their Rank III lineup. While those vehicles are useful, mixing US lend-lease equipment with native Italian WWII tanks feels odd and hurts the historical identity of the lineup.
The issue is not about fighting stronger opponents with Rank II vehicles. In Italy’s case, we already have a clear example of a BR 3.0 vehicle being Rank III while a BR 3.3 vehicle remains Rank II. The P40 would fit naturally at Rank III without any BR changes, allowing players to complete tasks with one of Italy’s most iconic tanks.
