VALORANT players don’t have to worry about a hard rank reset in Episode Three but there will be a “harsh” reset, according to developers.
Riot Games senior competitive designer EvrMoar confirmed that there’s no hard reset planned in Episode Three, which is good news for players worried about losing their competitive rank.
"There is no hard reset planned, I've talked about this on random threads but it's just pure chaos and won't achieve the results people expect. We will have a very harsh reset that will squish ranks, and will effect MMR(along with our other planned changes)." - EvrMoar said.
He did confirm, however, that there will be a “harsh reset” that will “squish ranks.” This reset will also affect MMR, the hidden rating that determines opponents in matches, so players will still encounter changes in Episode Three.
It’s unclear how this “harsh reset” will impact competitive ranks and what players will need to do to get back to their rank. In the past, players were required to play placement matches each act to get their ranks back. Their previous act MMR was also taken into account to determine their rank, but it’s unclear if it will work the same way in Episode Three.
The “squish ranks” comment likely indicates that players will drop a few ranks and will need to work their way back up. Their MMR might also be adjusted to maintain competitive matches without putting players against more or less experienced opponents.
Fans can expect to learn more information about VALORANT ranked changes during the Episode Three livestream on June 21 at 12pm CT.