Apex Legends: Arsenal Ranked Update Patch Notes

Electronic Arts has released a new Ranked update for Apex Legends: Arsenal today, and we have its complete list of changes here. After the official launch of Apex Legends: Arsenal on May 1, 2023, the quest has received its first patch introducing changes in its Ranked system. After today, the Ranked and matchmaking systems in Apex and Arsenal will have modernization aspects. Without further ado, here are the changes and improvements on Apex Legends: Arsenal Ranked update patch notes.

Apex Legends: Arsenal Ranked Update Patch Notes

Ranked Updates in Arsenal have two main goals:

• Evolving Matchmaking to enable consistently competitive matches.
• Adjusting scoring to further focus on playing the Battle Royale and playing as a team.

The Key Changes

• New matchmaking by hidden Matchmaking Rating (MMR), with skill adjustments for premade squad sizes to account for the competitive advantages gained.
• New Scoring system that emphasizes winning the Battle Royale
• New Bonus system that conditionally rewards wins and compensates losses
• No more split reset, with a full seasonal reset, started with 10 provisional games.

Consistently Competitive Matches

• The former matchmaking algorithm matches players based on their current Ranked Points.
  • However, the dev team noted that RP only had a solid correlation to the player’s skill at the high end of the play.
  • It had little to no correlation at the lower tiers. For instance, a Diamond/Platinum skill level player who misses a season or two of Ranked may return to Bronze lobbies due to their absence.
  • This meant RP did not accurately represent a player’s skill, and ranked matchmaking had to be revised.
• EA enables matchmaking in Ranked from Arsenal onward based on a hidden Matchmaking Rating (MMR). 
  • Matchmaking based on MMR will bring the right level of heat to your Ranked experiences.
  • The new matchmaker values match fairness more than its predecessor, so you may experience a slight but noticeable increase in queue times.
• The MMR system is new and engineered for the Battle Royale experience.
  • Your MMR will rise when you do well in placements, and eliminating other players and teams will accelerate this growth.
• Matchmaking prioritizes creating matches with similar party builds (solos vs. solos, duo + solo vs. duos + solos, etc.). However, it’s not always feasible to find 60 players of equal skill and party size within a reasonable time frame.
  • Inevitably, parties of different sizes and skills will be mixed together.
  • To account for the competitive advantage gained as a premade squad, premade duos and trios effectively have small advantages added to their team’s MMR during matchmaking.
  • This way, the intensity and fairness of your experience will remain relatively the same whether you’re playing as a solo, duo, or trio.

We’re letting the community decide which Limited Time Mode should get its own dedicated playlist during the first in-game event coming in Arsenal! Choose from Control, TDM, or Gun Run.

Be sure to vote here before May 8th to make your voices heard! 👉https://t.co/jmb0CM6Xqk pic.twitter.com/5C1tjeDFh2

— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) May 5, 2023

New Scoring System (Apex Legends: Arsenal Ranked Update)

• A new scoring system uses Ladder Points (LP) and retiring Ranked Points.
  • The two systems look and feel similar but will be different under the hood.
  • The new scoring system revolves around Bonuses that amplify your LP gains and mitigate your LP losses. T
  • This new system focuses on the Battle Royale goal of the last team standing; the magnitude of these bonuses is directly tied to your placement results.
• The differences will be evident during the match,
• However, your updates in the game will not include bonuses, as they are only revealed at the end of the match.
• Bonuses are based on your placements and the challenges presented in your competition
  • the more complex a match, the more rewards you can expect. 
  • Remember, bonuses are called bonuses for a reason: they must be earned, are not guaranteed, and are given at the system’s discretion.

Group Bonuses

• In Arsenal, there are 3 significant groups of bonuses:
  • Elimination Bonuses: given when your team eliminates other players.
    • This bonus is individually calculated, and multiple eliminations against the same players are discarded.
    • To be clear: we use your personal individual kills, assists, and participations.
    • In addition, the Assist Timer has increased from 15 seconds to 30 seconds.
  • Rating Bonuses: when your hidden MMR vastly outperforms your Ladder Points, helping you catch up to where the system believes you should be.
  • Skill Bonuses: when your team interacts with a stronger opponent or performs exceptionally in an unfavorable match.

Bonus Contribution (Apex Legends: Arsenal Ranked Update)

• The bonus system introduces several complexities that will be hidden under the hood.
  • This will allow the system to intelligently reward you based on the difficulty of your match and premade squad size while filtering for abusive behaviors like kill farming.
  • Bonuses are directly tied to your in-game placements, so ensure you aim to survive and place as high as possible for the best return on Bonuses.
• Wondering why 10th is a special breakpoint in scoring?
  • The key goal of a Battle Royale is to be the last Squad standing – placements are prioritized over eliminations.
  • While there may not be advancing players to consistently be in the last Squad standing, expect successful players to be better than half of the lobby.
  • Thus, placing 10th or better is considered a win in the new scoring system.
  • With that reasoning, the per-match point adjustments are tuned to guarantee gains to the top and losses to the bottom.
• As for entry costs, you will pay an entry cost per game and earn points based on your placements.
  • What’s different is that the entry cost will always be the same.
  • Previously, the harsh scaling entry cost was necessary to filter out unskilled players from higher ranks, but put excessive pressure and focus on eliminations.
  • This effect caused the goals of Ranked to change throughout the tiers. Scaling entry cost is no longer necessary with the MMR system.
• All skill levels will have the same Ranked experience with the same common goal: winning.
  • This helps create a common team goal and helps players learn from each other.
  • It ensures macro strategies from lower tiers remain valid throughout the levels.
  • As a result, we are unifying scoring and standardizing the game across all tiers.
  • Entry cost will be set to be the same value at all tiers, which will also help to relieve entry cost pressure.

Total Points per Match

• The flat 35 LP Match Entry Cost is included in the table below.
• The value of each bonus will be adjusted based on match placements.
• You will start your Ranked journey in Arsenal with 10 Provisional Matches to calibrate your ranking.
  • This is also done at every seasonal reset.
  • You will start from the bottom (Rookie 4), and over the next 10 matches, observe your ranking rise quickly toward your skill level.
  • Provisional matches are unique: your losses are fully mitigated, and your gains, including other bonuses, are significantly magnified.
  • Doing exceptionally well in your placements can accelerate your rank climb.

Ranked Structure Patch Notes

• We are removing the ranked split reset near the middle of the season, and we will only reset your ranking at the start of a season.
  • It is essential to note the Ranked progression pacing is adjusted with this split removal in mind

Overall Ranked Structure update:

• Split Reset: Removed
  • At the same time, the math at each tier is simple by setting each division to be 1000 LP and simplifying the nomenclature of tier and points.
  • Instead of saying 5134 LP, we present it as Bronze 3 – 134 LP in-game.
• Division Width: 1000 LP Per division
  • We are revising the promotion bonus and demotion with the new tiers and division widths.
  • A Rookie is now a rank that can be demoted.
• Promotion Bonus: 300 -> 250
• Demotion Penalty: Half of a division -> 150.
  • Can be demoted into Rookie
  • Ranked reset will entirely reset your progress back to 0 LP.
    • Based on your performances in your provisional matches and your hidden MMR, your LP ranking will quickly recalibrate after the 10 provisional games.
    • You’ll also see your projected rank throughout the provisional matches, becoming increasingly accurate as you progress through them.
• Ranked Reset:  6 Division → Full Reset; MMR undisclosed
  • Finally, to ensure new players are ready for the new Ranked experience, we are raising the Ranked Level Requirement to level 50. 
  • This will also help slow down Smurfs and give us more time to detect cheaters trying to load into Ranked quickly.
• Ranked Level Requirement 20 → 50

Ranked Arena Rewards

• To all our Ranked Arena legends, we want to remind you to log in before the start of the next season to redeem your rewards.
• Claim your Ranked Arena rewards before they expire, and jump back into the game!

The EA Apex Legends: Arsenal Ranked update patch notes are available on the developer’s official website.

Apex Legends is available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, GeForce Now, PC, Android, and iOS.