The new year has brought many exciting updates with it, especially for Valorant. Fans of Riot Games’ competitive FPS can now look forward to an improved ranked system when Episode 2 Act I is released on January 13.
According to Riot, these changes are going to “make it easier to see how you stack up against the best of the best, [with] better rewarding of your time invested in ranked.”
The biggest change for ranked is the removal of progression arrows. Prior to these updates, players were forced to speculate on how much they actually ranked up or down based on the arrow system which indicated if they increased or decreased in MMR (matchmaking rating).
The ‘new core ranked system update’ will display a progress bar and Rank Rating (RR), which shows how far players are from ranking up or down. This progress bar will indicate how far players are from ranking up or down in their account, unless they’re still unrated.
Riot has provided the exact numerical figures players gain from wins and losses. After securing a win, players can earn as much as 50 RR to 10 RR — depending on how well they played. After a loss, players will lose 30 RR. But, if they performed well despite that loss, they can also walk away with 10 RR. For matches that end in a draw, players can gain 20 RR if they play well.
Promotions and demotions will be decided by a player’s RR. Players that get promoted to the next rank will start at the minimum 10 RR, on a win. Meanwhile, players close to being demoted will be given a chance to redeem themselves. Because, if they are to be demoted, they need to be at 0 RR prior to dropping down a rank. If they end up getting demoted, their RR ranking will not fall below 80.
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All these new changes apply for players that rank from Iron to Diamond, as their individual performances will always factor in how much RR points they gain or lose. Immortal and Radiant ranked players’ progressions will ultimately be decided by wins and losses.
There will also be a new rank ceremony and celebration visual added to the game for those who rank up.
“With these new changes we hope the rank system is much easier to understand, more fair, and it’s harder to quickly lose ranks for those days when your game is off,” said Riot.
These changes to competitive matchmaking will let players know where they stand after each game, and if they’re really improving from a game-to-game basis.
Riot has also included a top 500 leaderboard for Immortal and Radiant players. These leaderboards will be region-specific, will show exactly how much RR they have, and how many wins they’ve accumulated. Players who manage to make it into the leaderboard will also need to play one game a week to stay on the leaderboard.
Also, the Immortal rank will forgo the three tier system and will only be one rank at the start of the next episode. Radiant and Immortal plays won’t be able to play with a full party anymore. They will only be allowed to queue as a solo or duo.
The new core ranked system update is set to be released at the start of Valorant Episode 2 Act I on January 13.
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