The ranking system in Valorant is an integral part of the gameplay. If you want to test your skills in competitive play, you should head into ranked games. In this article, we will discuss everything you need to know about ranks and even more.
What is the ranking system in Valorant?
Like many competitive games, Valorant has its own ranking system that helps track players' skill levels. The game features a variety of unique ranks that reflect a player's abilities at a given stage of the game.
How does the ranking system work?
Valorant has its own MMR/RR system, where you lose points for a defeat and gain points for a victory. Important factors such as K/D should not be overlooked, as they directly influence the acquisition of RR points. In short, if you play a match with high K/D and lose, you'll lose fewer points than if you play with low K/D and the same outcome. Likewise, victory also has a similar impact on the system.
A brief explanation
- You won't be able to directly find out your MMR. It's a hidden system in Valorant that determines the skill level of players during the initial calibration stages. When you play a significant number of matches, your MMR and rank will converge.
- As for RR, these are points that are added or subtracted after each ranked game (reaching 100 RR moves you to the next rank).
Approximate RR point distribution
- Defeat: -10-30 RR points
- Victory: +10-50 RR points
The point accumulation or deduction works according to the system described at the beginning.
All ranks in Valorant
Before you embark on your journey through the Valorant ranking system, you'll have to meet certain conditions before stepping on this road. First, you must reach level 20 on your account, after which you will gain access to the Competitive game modeis mode. This rule was introduced in Act 1, Episode 4. Keep in mind that if you haven't played any ranked matches in two weeks, your rank will be hidden.
Currently, the game has nine ranks, with eight of them having three levels that you need to advance through in the system. The ninth and final rankis looks like a leaderboard where the world's best players compete, and not all of them are professional esports players.
- Iron (1 to 3)
- Bronze (1 to 3)
- Silver (1 to 3)
- Gold (1 to 3)
- Platinum (1 to 3)
- Diamond (1 to 3)
- Ascendant (1 to 3)
- Immortal (1 to 3)
- Radiant (The highest rank achievable only by the top 500 players in the region).
Why does the rank reset after each Act/Episode?
To accurately assess players' skill levels, developers in Valorant reset your rank at the end of each Act/Episode.
At the end of each Act, your rank is reset, but don't worry; to get it back, you just need to play one game, and your rank or one close to it will be restored.
If you hold the highest rank (Radiant), which only 0.04% of players achieve, the system treats you differently. After each Act, the Valorant leaderboard is reset, and everyone's ratings are reduced by 10%. This makes RR fair for everyone and ensures that no one remains on the leaderboard indefinitely.
How many players are at a specific rank at the moment?
Actually, these numbers change every month and season, but we've selected fresh statistics for you. If you find yourself in the lower ranks, don't be disheartened, as the majority of players are in those ranks. The data is taken from the Esports Tales analytical site.
- Iron (5.1%)
- Bronze (15.9%)
- Silver (22.5%)
- Gold (20.9%)
- Platinum (16.2%)
- Diamond (11.1%)
- Ascendant (4.8%)
- Immortal (2.0%)
- Radiant (0.05%).
As you can see from the list above, the most popular ranks among all players are in the range between Bronze and Platinum, where the highest number of players is found. From Diamond and above, the percentage drops rapidly, indicating the difficulty of achieving those ranks.
Which ranks can play Valorant together?
To climb the Valorant rank, some players prefer to rely more on their team's abilities than their individual skill. However, Riot Games foresaw this and introduced restrictions.
To climb the rank, you can form a group of two, three, or five people (groups of four cannot play in ranked matches). This is done to prevent solo players from encountering a pre-made party, which could lead to imbalances in matching players of similar skill levels.
Five-person group
For a group of five people, there are no rank restrictions. Participants in the party can have any rank, but there are small penalties:
- If there are participants in the group with a rank of Diamond or below, the number of RR points obtained will differ depending on the rank. If there are participants in the group with a rank of Diamond 2 and above, a penalty of 50% reduction in points earned is applied.
- If there are friends with a Radiant rank in your group, the possible penalty varies from 75 to 90% reduction in points earned.
This system is introduced to ensure that groups of five people with a wide range of ranks cannot boost each other unfairly.
Three-person/two-person group
For a party of two or three people, there are also certain restrictions, which we will discuss.
- Representatives of the lowest ranks (Iron and Bronze) can play with the same ranks or slightly higher ranks like Silver. Similarly, Silver players can play together with Gold, and so on.
- There is a separate rule for Immortal ranks. They can only participate in groups of 2 or 5 players or play solo.
Understanding the information in this article will equip you with everything you need to start your journey in ranked play, whether in a party or solo.
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