XDefiant's Ranked Mode launched with the rest of Season 1 on July 2. Ranked is a huge priority for the XDefiant development team, and they've been listening to community feedback to implement updates to make it the competitive experience players have been asking for. In the latest episode of XDebrief, Pat "Aches" Price, system designer for XDefiant, spoke about bug fixes that have already been resolved, what updates are coming in tomorrow's 1.3 patch, and what changes are on the horizon. Here are the five biggest takeaways:
Capture the Flag
A new mode has entered the chat! Capture the Flag is coming to Ranked mode with the 1.3 patch tomorrow, albeit with a twist. In Unranked Capture the Flag matches, the first team to earn four captures wins. Ranked Capture the Flag will function similarly to other arena modes: Teams will play two five-minute halves, switching sides of the map halfway through. The team with the most flag captures at the end of the match wins.
Match Cancellation Event
Playing 4v4 in Ranked Mode is tough, and the pace of gameplay changes even more if you don't have a full party to begin with. To prevent matches from starting when fewer than eight players are in the lobby, the development team created the Match Cancellation event. Essentially, the game will monitor the number of players once the lobby is created, all the way until the game clock starts. During that time, if a player leaves the match for any reason, the match will be cancelled, and all players will be sent back to the Ranked menu. The player who left the match will receive a penalty for quitting, and everyone who stayed will not.
Faction Skill Restrictions
Starting later in Season 1, faction skill restrictions are coming to Ranked. All factions and their abilities will be selectable for players, but only one player can equip an ability at a time. This will prevent multiple teammates from having the same ability, thereby eliminating multiple incinerator drones zipping across maps or Phantoms double-stacking their mag shields. Once you've selected your faction and ability, that ability will be locked out for the rest of your team until you make a change.
Quitting Penalties
The team has heard your feedback and will implement additional penalties for players who quit matches. This will look like matchmaking bans and increased Ranked Points penalties. It's not quite ready for rollout yet, as the team wants to be sure players who are accidentally disconnected don't get penalized, but the update is coming soon. In the meantime, the Ranked Points loss penalty has been increased from 40RP to 50RP. This is in addition to measures already in place to reward players who stay throughout the match; currently, if someone leaves a Ranked match and your team loses, you lose fewer Ranked Points.
Matchmaking Updates
There are a number of server updates coming soon. Input priority is being implemented to a certain extent; during the initial matchmaking wave, you'll only be matched with other players with the same input type. Then, as the search for players to fill the lobby expands, you'll be matched with players with all inputs to ensure you're not waiting in the lobby too long. Additionally, duo queues are being implemented starting at the Emerald rank, instead of being restricted to Diamond and Legends.
Ranked Point ranges are also getting an update, expanding to a maximum of 30 rank levels. Currently, the maximum range is 15 ranks, leading to longer wait times in the lobby. Fair matches are still a high priority but expanding the ranks to 30 will help fill lobbies and keep the matchmaking process moving quickly.
Season 2 Updates
There are even more Ranked updates coming in Season 2. Players will be able to view - and earn a spot on - a Top 500 In Game Leaderboard, which will show off the top Ranked players and their stats. Additionally, players who accidentally get disconnected from Ranked matches - those whose internet cuts out, not intentional quitters - will be able to rejoin matches, therefore avoiding a penalty and having a second chance to win the match.
In addition to faction ability restrictions, Season 2 will introduce Ranked loadouts and loadout restrictions. For Ranked loadouts, all weapons and attachments will be unlocked, but players won't be able to earn XP on them if they aren't unlocked in Unranked. With that, the team is considering the ability to restrict certain weapon items from the Ranked loadouts as well.
XDefiant is free to play on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC through Ubisoft Connect. Work your way up the ranks with the new Ranked mode updates, or squad up in Unranked matches to enjoy everything XDefiant Season 1 has to offer.
