Valorant Act 3 Patch 1.10: Riot implements competitive changes to fix Ranked system

Valorant patch 1.10 has officially arrived with several new changes, including a new map. While the early access gave us a look at Icebox and Skye, few of these changes were already expected. For instance, the changes with competitive Valorant was something that was impending.

Icebox won't be available for competitive play until October 27th.

— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) October 13, 2020

Riot Games took their time to come up with a video called Dev Diaries, where they explained how the new competitive scenario is going to build up, especially before First Strike. Hiko also commented on the latest changes, as it would balance the competitive side much better.

That's a wrap on Act II. Who's ready for tomorrow? pic.twitter.com/YmwAyBQfTL

— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) October 12, 2020

With new maps come new issues; thus, Riot has mentioned in the patch notes that Competitive players will have to hold for at least two weeks before they can rank in Icebox. Simultaneously, they also announced that preferred servers can now be accessed as well. This is an improvement, especially after the changes introduced in patch 1.09.

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Valorant Act III patch 1.10 competitive changes added by Riot Games

Image Credits - Riot Games

The introduction of Act Rank made things far more balanced. This made sure that players will have a steady record of their best wins in competitive matches. Ranking based on how the player wins and how many times they win is the key to understanding the subtle differences between Valorant and CS:GO.

"Competitive Act II will end with Patch 1.10 and roll into the start of Act III. This means progress towards your Act Rank for Act II will be saved and you'll be put back into placement matches for Act III. Let's see how you stack up with the new content and changes in Act III.Good luck on the climb!"

With patch 1.10, Valorant developers are taking competitive integrity to the next level. The change includes a substantial stabilization of the queuing process. From now on, Valorant players will be matched up against opponents with three tiers rank gap.

"Competitive players will receive their Act Rank Badge for Act II and can start making progress on their badge for Act III. The center of your Act Rank Badge is your ninth best ranked win, but you'll also be able to see your highest rank achieved at the top of the badge.The badge displays only for Competitive games and is displayed on the player card in: Competitive lobbies, map load, in-game combat report, and End-of-Game: MVP."

Thus, preferred servers, ranking parity and reduced skill disparity, will definitely balance the game for numerous players worldwide.

• You can now select your preferred server(s), increasing the chance you will play on a server you want
• Rank disparity for parties capped at 3 tiers (from 6).
• We have also tightened our competitive matchmaking to reduce skill disparity.
• Immortal+ ranked changes will only be impacted by winning and losing and the decisiveness of the game outcome (how many rounds won or lost by) and not factor individual performance into the calculation
• We'll be testing and monitoring this change in Act III for potential future implementation in all ranks.

With a bunch of new changes for Deathmatch, a new Agent, and a new map, Riot Games are making the right moves. The early access had already delivered a comprehensive idea about Icebox. Players have already figured out all the lineups and how the map is structurally different from every other map in Valorant.

This new Act will hopefully bring forth an upsurge in competitive proficiency that ushers in the required level of balance before Valorant First Strike begins.