Aiming to amp up the challenge and competition, the XDefiant Ranked Play mode offers up smaller, more tactical matches that put your skills to the test. With various ranks, your performance will be judged, so you’d be wise to get to grips with the rules, meta, maps, and more before the XDefiant Ranked release date arrives.
With different rules to the standard game modes on offer, XDefiant’s Ranked Play has a slightly different playstyle and meta. This makes it even more important to understand the best XDefiant guns and best XDefiant loadouts, especially if you’re aiming for the top ranks.
XDefiant Ranked Release Date
XDefiant’s Ranked mode will be released on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, alongside Season 1. This follows a trial run of the mode that gave a taste of Ranked play in the early stages of the roadmap.
Not only is Season 1 adding Ranked play at long last, but it's also introducing heaps of new content that is also available in Ranked. So, you'll have to get to grips with all the new weapons and maps to be on your A-game right away.
XDefiant Ranks
There are seven ranks in XDefiant Ranked, each with ten tiers to progress through:
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Unknown name
- Unknown name
- Diamond
- Unknown name
Each rank has ten tiers, labelled one to ten, which convey your progression towards the next rank. Winning matches will push you up tiers towards a higher rank while losing will punish you by lowering your tier until you're demoted to a lower rank.
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+ 4XDefiant Ranked Rules and Matchmaking
XDefiant’s Ranked mode is a 4v4 playlist that prioritizes high-quality matches using Skill-Based Matchmaking. You will be placed into a rank based on your skill level that ensures you will only be matched with other players within your skill bracket.
There are no ability limits in Ranked, meaning all players on a team can use the same abilities. This has a much bigger impact than you might expect, as it means the meta will no doubt dominate the team picks. For example, a full team of Intel Suit Echelon is a pain to deal with, able to effectively reveal the enemy team permanently if well-coordinated.
The goal of Ranked is to win matches and perform well to move up through the ranks, making your journey progressively harder. As such, you’re encouraged to only enter Ranked once you have a solid understanding of the game’s systems, gun list, and the like.
As detailed by Ubisoft, Ranked Play uses the following matchmaking parameters:
- Rank Points (RP)
- Only matches within acceptable Rank range.
- Latency
- Prefers similar pings.
- Party Size
- Prefers to match squads against squads of similar size.
- Region
- Prefers players from the same region/language.
- Input Device
- Prefers players using the same input method.
- Platform
- Prefers players using the same platform.
Perhaps most interestingly, however, at least within Ranked Trial Run, competitive matches can be back-filled. If players leave, other players can join. This ensures that matches can stay competitive.
click to enlarge + 4XDefiant Ranked Trial Run
Ranked Trial Run provides a look into how XDefiant Ranked will play. It features the same ruleset as the full competitive mode eventually will - most notably 4v4 matches - but lacks the ranking system. While there’s not much incentive to play this mode right now, it’s a great way to get familiar with the changes in playstyle and meta that come with smaller teams in Ranked.
You can play Ranked Trial Run via the playlist in the main menu.
click to enlarge + 4XDefiant Ranked Meta
With smaller teams and more fierce competition, the XDefiant meta is different in Ranked compared to the standard modes. The biggest difference is the emphasis on defense, as the feature game modes are objective-based, such as Escort. Because of this, the Phantoms Faction is incredibly popular in Ranked.
Boasting bonus health and a deployable shield, Phantoms are able to provide cover while completing objectives easily. With smaller teams making the respawn timer and rushing back into the action more impactful than ever, being able to stay alive is key.
It will be no surprise to see, then, that the Libertad is also a popular class in the XDefiant Ranked meta. The teams that stick together are often the ones that come out on top, and the Libertad’s area-of-effect heals come in clutch.
click to enlarge + 4XDefiant Ranked Maps
Ranked features all the standard maps in the pool right now as it supports both ‘Progression’ and ‘Arena’ modes. As such, these are the available maps:
- Arena – Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot
- Attica Heights – Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot
- Clubhouse (Season 1) - Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot
- DUMBO – Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot
- Echelon HQ – Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot
- Emporium – Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot
- Liberty – Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot
- Mayday – Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot
- Nudleplex – Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot
- Pueblito – Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot
- Rockefeller (Season 1) - Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot
- Showtime – Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot
- Daytona (Season 1) – Escort, Zone
- Meltdown – Escort, Zone
- Midway – Escort, Zone
- Times Square – Escort, Zone
- Zoo – Escort, Zone
XDefiant Ranked Modes
Right now, the game modes featured in Ranked Trial Run are Domination, Occupy, Escort, and Zone Control. As you might’ve figured out, these are the objective-based game modes, seeing players have to attack and defend or control specific areas of the map. The only mode missing from Ranked is Hot Shot, which is intended as a more casual Team Deathmatch-type mode.
XDefiant Ranked Rewards
Playing Ranked in XDefiant will reward you with exclusive items, including:
- Faction skins
- Weapon skins
- Player cards
It's expected that these rewards will change with each Season to keep the incentives fresh. Likewise, rewards are also expected to be based on your rank, with better rewards for placing in higher ranks.
Well, that’s all there is to know about XDefiant Ranked right now, including when you can finally get your hands on the full competitive mode, the meta, and all the available content. While it’s annoying to have to wait, at least it gives us all the time to learn the ins and outs. On that note, check out the best XDefiant controller settings to use for a competitive edge.