Dirty Bomb Presents… Ranked Season 1 Update

Let’s cut to the chase – Ranked Season 1 starts today, and you should get involved. For honor, glory, and the dangly doodad you’ll get at the end of it! All the grisly details on Ranked Season 1 and other additions lie ahead…

Ranked Season 1

After test-driving the Ranked Preseason for more than half a year, it’s time shit got real – Today we’re kicking off Ranked Season 1!

First off, if you qualified for a Preseason Trinket you’ll find it in your inventory sometime in the next day or two. Slap it on your Primary and show the world how high you climbed.

Where Do I Sign Up?

To get a head start on the season, hit ‘Ranked Match’ in the Play menu. Remember, you have to be at Level 7 or higher to get stuck in.
When you enter the new season, you’ll battle through ten placement matches to determine your starting Rank.
Your placement is affected by where you ended up in the Preseason, but if you’re fresh to Ranked these ten games will be the proverbial sorting hat for where you begin.

We’ve ditched the oft-confused numbering system from Pre-Season, and lovingly named the Ranks within each league from Recruit to Master. Icons have also been given a facelift to separate them further from each other.

What Else Has Changed?

• Skill Limit Update – We’re significantly tightening up the maximum allowed skill difference between players for more evenly matched games. While we will always match the closest available players, you might occasionally come across a difference of 3-5 Ranks.
• Rank Bracket Update – We’ve updated the point at which new players enter the system to the top of Bronze, rather than the top of Silver.
• Leaver Penalty – To discourage players from leaving Ranked games, anyone who leaves will no longer receive ANY credits at the end of the match. Previously they would leave with anything they had earned up until that point.
• Solo/Duo Queue – For this first Season, we’ll be limiting queues to Solo/Duo. This is to prevent the majority of players who join as Solo coming up against 5-Player pre-made Parties. We plan to re-introduce full 5vs5 Ranked play with a few improvements as soon as we can, as we consider organised teamplay the lifeblood of Dirty Bomb. For a greater breakdown on the change, check out this forum post.
• Disabled AU & Asia Regions – We will be disabling the AU and Asia regions in Ranked play for the time being, to avoid overly long queue times due to the smaller player counts in these regions

What Do I Get?

The chance to claw your way up through the unwashed masses, emerging in the golden glow of sweet, sweet victory…
Also, a healthy 50% Credit Bonus that’s applied to your Credit total at the end of every match (as of January’s Fine Tuning Update).
On top of that, you’ll be rewarded an exclusive Season 1 Trinket for the highest Rank you attain during the Season when it wraps up. Moving down a Rank won’t cost you the higher Rank Trinket, so don’t be afraid to fight your way back to the top!

Alright, time to prove your mettle – Get in there and start raising your Rank!

For the full rundown of the latest patch, check it out on the forum here!