The Deadlock developer announced Ranked Beta Season 2, which runs four months and brings a smaller soft reset and fewer rank loss shields.
Soft reset details
According to the developer, ranked players face a soft reset that is significantly smaller than the previous one. On average, players can expect to lose around 1 badge. Winrate from the previous season will also adjust placement by 1-2 subranks. Existing Ranked players will not have to calibrate again, while players who skipped Ranked last season will need to calibrate as usual.
Global redistribution
The studio says it will run a global redistribution at the start of the season, after monitoring the Ranked playerbase and accounting for the recent influx of new players. It is a two-step operation: ranks are redistributed first, then the soft reset of about -1 badge on average is applied. Some players may therefore gain ranks despite the reset, while others may drop slightly more.
Rank loss shields
The developer says Phantom, Ascendant and Eternus players will no longer have rank loss protection shields, which were previously 5 on full ranks and 2 on subranks. For other players, full rank boundary shields drop from 5 to 3, and subrank shields drop from 2 to 1.
Points per match
Points per match rise from 300 to 350, according to the announcement. The points needed to reach a new badge from a final subrank fall from 2000 to 1500, while points between subranks stay unchanged at 1000.
Hero bans and placement
The studio increased Ranked hero bans per match from 3 to 4. It also says the highest initial placement in the new season will be Ascendant I, with potential for up to Ascendant III based on performance in the previous season, up from an Oracle VI maximum last season.
Hero unlock system
The studio says unlocking a hero in Ranked now uses a point system rather than only progressing on wins. A hero requires 35 points, with 2 points for a win and 1 point for a loss. The previous 15 win system would have equaled 45 points at a 50% winrate.
Our Take
Removing rank loss shields for the top three ranks is the change that will define this season, because it makes the highest ladder a place where a bad evening costs real progress. Pairing that with a fourth hero ban looks like an attempt to keep matches varied under that pressure. Our bet is that the smaller soft reset and the higher starting ceiling will crowd Ascendant early, and the lost shields will then spread the field back out by the season's end.
GamingBroject
Leaderboard rework
The developer says it reworked the leaderboard backend to fix numerous bugs, and each Ranked season now has its own leaderboard. Appearing on one requires at least 50 Ranked matches in that season within the last 30 days. A hero-specific board requires at least 15 Ranked matches with that hero within the last 30 days.
Source: Steam announcement
Deadlock release date, platforms and price
- Release date: Not announced yet
- Coming to: PC
- Price: Not announced yet
- Genre: Action
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