Valorant is revising the ranked system with the upcoming “Act 2”, making many aspects clearer and introducing new features. Some of the changes are the new ranks and badges that document how well you play and display that in your profile.
What is changing in Ranked? The basic idea behind the revision of the ranked system is that everything will be a bit clearer. For example, Valorant wants to move away from the system that only shows how good you are based on the matchmaking rating (MMR). However, this can vary greatly depending on the day’s performance and has caused significant issues for stronger players.
Instead, only your best performances will be shown. How you finish the current act and start the next one will depend on those performances. The performance will then be immortalized on your profile at the end of an act.
There will also be a new rank system and badges that document your best performances. The rank updates continuously during an act, and you will receive the badge at the end of an act. Other changes to the system include:
- shortened placement matches – you only need to play three matches instead of five to be ranked
- individual performance in the first matches counts much more, allowing you to climb to the rank that suits you faster
- placement matches do not count towards earning the act rank
The performances from Act 1 will be carried over to the upcoming Act 2. However, there won’t be a badge for that yet. Riot believes you should first know what to expect, which is why that feature will only come at the end of Act 2.
When does Act 2 come? The acts in Valorant are supposed to last about 2 months, and Act 1 started with the release on July 2, 2020, along with the new agent Reyna.
If the timeline stays consistent, the release would roughly be in the first week of August – likely August 4, if it remains on a Tuesday as the patch day. The new agent is possibly the German engineer Killjoy, who has already been leaked by Riot.
Ranked in Valorant – Rank and Badge
What are Rank and Badge? Rank and Badge are the two major new features for Act 2. The rank updates while you play Ranked. The rank is divided into triangles, which represent different victories.
The act rank is somewhat like a record of your best victories in Valorant. It builds up as follows:
- each triangle represents a victory in ranked
- your rank when entering the match determines how this victory is counted. So if you move up from Bronze to Silver due to a win, it still counts as a Bronze victory
- wins at higher ranks replace older wins at lower ranks
- the frame changes when you achieve a different number of wins, specifically at 9, 25, 50, 75, and 100 wins
At the end of the act, you will receive a badge based on your act rank. The badge displays the nine best victories from that act. So if you want to receive the Diamond badge, you must have earned at least nine victories at the Diamond rank.
You will then find your badges along with a history of your previous rank on your profile. This allows you to show your friends how well you have played over the past months.
How does it work? Act ranks do not replace the matchmaking rank, which still corresponds to the current rating. The ranks only accumulate your best achievements and form your badge at the end of the act.
Stronger achievements overwrite weaker ones. For example, if you have already filled the rank with wins in Bronze and Silver, and then achieve wins in Gold, those Gold wins will replace the older displays.
You can learn more about the ranked mode of Valorant in our guide:
Problems with Ranked in Valorant
Recently, the ranked system in Valorant has repeatedly caused problems. Players find it somewhat opaque and even a bit random. However, Riot is working on this, as noted in a final note.
The goal is to improve the “transparency and clarity of the changes”. Recently, Riot had problems with the fact that there is no one taking care of the ranked system – the original person responsible is no longer there. How Act 2 and Ranked will perform in the future remains to be seen.
