Apex Legends Season 13 Ranked Mode Changes Explained

Since Apex Legends’ ranked mode released in Season 2, Respawn Entertainment has made some changes over the years but it did have some glaring issues that the community always pointed out. Individual performance mattered more than team play and players were hard-capped by the scoring system each game. Respawn is completely reworking the game’s ranked mode to ensure teams play for the win and are incentivized to go for kills.

What’s new in Apex Legends’ Ranked Mode in Season 13?

Apex Legends at its core is a team-based game, so players should be rewarded at a team level. Now, everyone on a team will receive some RP (Ranked Points) when a teammate secures a kill. However, the value of each kill will diminish to negate the problem of “kill farming” lobbies. The current assist timer of 10 seconds is too short, allowing for simple retreats to break the timer. The timer has been extended to 15 seconds and revived enemies being knocked again will still count for an assist.

Tier Demotions

Players can no longer stay “hard stuck” in any rank. Demotions will create a better and truer distribution of skill across the ladder. Players will get demotion protection for three games. Once demotion protection is exhausted, dropping below the tier threshold will trigger a demotion penalty, dropping the player halfway down the previous division. Like previous seasons, rewards will be given out based on the highest tier achieved so dropping out of your desired rank will not result in worse rewards.

Third Party Kill Fixes

Previously, if Team A downed players from Team B, but Team A was subsequently eliminated, players from any team could misappropriate these downed players on Team B for kill credits by executing them, regardless of their involvement in the initial conflict. This issue has been fixed and these kills are now properly voided. Kills are earned, not given.

Ranked Point Adjustments

The ranked points relevant to match entry costs, kills, placements, kill tier differences are being adjusted. To check out the changes for each tier and rank you can check out the official blog post here. All divisions in each rank are also getting their thresholds increased by 200 ranked points which means players need more points to climb but points are much more accessible now if your team secures kills.