Valorant’s Patch 2.02 is out but leaks of the next one are already in sight. The next update to Riot’s shooter will introduce ranked reward changes and more penalties.
Patch 2.02 is already live and it addressed one of the biggest issues in the game – moving accuracy. Fans have long requested an improvement in that area and Riot delivered. Whether the changes will be as effective as everyone hoped will become clear in the next few weeks.
What’s Coming in Patch 2.03?
Riot’s latest blog post was mostly about patch 2.02 but they also shared some info on the next update.
Jon Walker, aka @RiotEvrMoar, shares some extra detail behind the changes to Competitive in Patch 2.02 and the ranked changes the Competitive team is working on for the rest of Episode 2. Read up on it here: https://t.co/J6wflnQycV pic.twitter.com/9X0xZosnJo
— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) February 2, 2021
There are two big entries in the post – Ranked rewards changes and AFK penalties.
Ranked Rewards Changes
In the old system, nine games was the measure we used to test whether you earned your correct rank. The new system tests you at the rank it thinks you belong, and you converge with your MMR over a handful of matches.We’re more confident in the new system: Once you’ve achieved a rank, you’ve been tested enough and should be rewarded the instant you reach that rank. This means your Act rank will be decided by the highest triangle rank in your Act Rank Badge, instead of your top nine wins. You still need to earn a total of nine wins to fill your Act Rank Badge, but you will be rewarded for the highest of those nine wins. This will also be what determines your end of Episode reward as well.Regarding leaderboards, we want to make sure to properly award you for their end of Act standings. We won’t say how we’re gonna reward just yet, but we plan on rewarding you for the standing you have at the end of an Act. The plan is to still keep our reward cadence on an episode basis so you have a few chances to reach news each Act throughout an Episode.That means those of you that climbed early, may have an Act rank of Immortal/Radiant, but if you’ve fallen or dropped off the leaderboard by end of the Act, you won’t get their specific leaderboard standing as a reward. We want to celebrate, next Act, that you were top 5, 10, etc. on the leaderboard.
With the introduction of 2.03 players will be rewarded with the highest rank they’ve achieved throughout the Episode. It’s still not clear whether the rewards themselves will be changed as well.
AFK Penalties
Yeah, AFK teammates usually ruin a ranked match, as well as make you lose RR when you don’t deserve it.The first step for us is penalizing ranked players who AFK in-game. Players who AFK in-game will lose additional RR, which can go above our maximum caps. This is the first step to help combat AFK players, we have more things in the works and hopefully can talk about them in later updates!We’ll share more specifics around how exactly the AFK in-game rank penalties work in the 2.03 patch notes along with a more comprehensive overview of upcoming penalty changes soon after.
It’s certainly good news that AFK players will be punished harder by even exceeding the cap of points they can lose. The sad part is that AFK-ers will probably still be around. Perhaps an even better option will be to reduce the amount lost by teammates? We’re sure Riot will figure out the best solution, eventually.Are you happy with the changes in patch 2.02? Are you looking forward to the next patch? Tell us on Facebook or Discord!
- READ MORE: Why You Should Play Spellbreak!
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